(Calgary) This is one of Martin St-Louis’ favorite phrases: “The league doesn’t care. » He generally uses it in English. The league doesn’t care.
It’s his way of saying that in a league where teams play every other day, life goes on, no matter what, and the challenge is to keep winning even when the conditions are unfavorable.
At the start of a five-game trip, the Habs are experiencing one of those moments of adversity. The news was announced Saturday afternoon, an hour before the Canadian-Flames duel, but it was Friday evening that the team learned that St-Louis had to be absent for an indefinite period “for family reasons.” One of his deputies, Trevor Letowski, will take over.
Officially, nothing else has been communicated. In an interview with TVA Sports during the first intermission of the match, defender David Savard suggested that the situation was linked to one of St-Louis’ three sons. “These are never things that are fun to learn. Our thoughts are with Martin’s family. I liked how the guys reacted. We will try to get a victory for his guy. We will try to continue,” said Savard.
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Cayden Primeau stops a shot from Nazem Kadri.
But the league actually didn’t stop. The Flames did not let up against an opponent caught in an unusual situation; they won 5-2.
The league didn’t stop, and it started with the Canadiens players themselves. Before the match, they observed their routine. There were a dozen of them playing with a soccer ball in the bowels of the Saddledome, with the usual howls of joy during this exercise. Cayden Primeau, the starting goalkeeper of the CH, was doing his usual juggling exercises with balls in a corridor.
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Nick Suzuki gets tackled by Martin Pospisil.
“It was different without Martin. But we have a very good group here, good coaches, so it was a day at work like any other, said team captain Nick Suzuki after the match. We miss him, obviously, and we wish him well. »
Mike Matheson was more direct. “Of course there are emotions that are not always easy. But it’s still your job to arrive ready and make sure you do the job,” commented the defender, before giving a firmer reminder, as new microphones massed around him. .
It’s a difficult situation, but we want to respect his privacy and talk about the match. […] I understand that you have a job to do, but we will respect his privacy.
Mike Matheson
Another proof that the league is not stopping? Ryan Huska, head coach of the Flames, had not even heard of the situation in St-Louis. The Canadian made the announcement shortly before the match, at a time when coaches have better things to do than read the news sites, and we guess that unless he clashes with his rival, as has already been done says Patrick Roy and Bruce Boudreau, a head coach may very well not notice who is managing the opposing bench.
After his press briefing, during which he was questioned about St-Louis and clearly did not seem aware of the situation, he came to apologize to the author of these lines. He obviously did not want to appear insensitive to what his rival is going through, even if he knows him very little personally.
Letowski takes over
St-Louis and the team arrived in Calgary Friday afternoon. The players were to train there upon arrival, according to the schedule communicated Thursday evening, but the session was suddenly canceled Friday morning. It is unclear if this decision was related to the head coach situation.
No practice was scheduled for Saturday morning, but St-Louis and some players were scheduled to meet the media at the team hotel, according to the schedule released early Friday evening. It was ultimately the deputy Stéphane Robidas who met the media instead of St-Louis, without us knowing why.
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Cole Caufield
In the end, it was Letowski, the most experienced of the three deputies, who was called in for relief. Neither Alex Burrows nor Robidas have ever held a head coaching position at a high level. Letowski did it for five full seasons in the Ontario Junior League (OHL), two years in Sarnia (2013 to 2015) and three years in Windsor (2017 to 2020).
After the game, Letowski said he spoke with St. Louis on Friday night and then “a few times” on Saturday.
“He was finding out what was going on. We have our morning meetings, our game day stuff. He wanted to make sure everything went well. He is very respectful. So he wanted to know how it was going, what the message was and in which direction it was going,” he summarized.
He nevertheless spoke of “24 emotional hours”. “It’s a private story, but he’s one of the leaders of our group, so it’s an emotional moment. We have to get through this as a group,” argued Letowski.
“We talk a lot about the culture we build. The coaches, we are proud to see how the players have the good of others at heart. We have seen in the last 24 hours how much they care about Martin. If we lost, it wasn’t for lack of effort. »
Victories and defeats can seem secondary in such circumstances. But the Habs nevertheless continue on their way and we can guess that the best player in the NHL, Tuesday in Edmonton, will not let up.
On the rise: Rafael Harvey-Pinard
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Rafael Harvey-Pinard
At the heart of a difficult season, he delivered one of his good performances and helped David Savard to score by pointing his nose in front of the net.
Down: Josh Anderson
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Josh Anderson and Oliver Kylington collide.
It doesn’t work out for him. He missed the target on a golden chance at the start of the match. His usage time is also down, below 14 minutes for a fifth game in a row.
The number of the match: -30
Mike Matheson finished the game with a differential of -3, which gives him a record of -30 since the start of the season. The Canadian’s team “record” in a season is -31, shared by Alex Galchenyuk (2017-2018) and Patrice Brisebois (2000-2001).
In details
It unlocks for Caufield
Cole Caufield’s longest goalless lethargy of the season is over. The lively winger hit the target in the second period to end his streak of games without scoring at 12. He was not necessarily held in check during this sequence, still collecting 7 assists. But his shooting remains his primary quality and he has been less effective in recent weeks. This time, he went two on one with Nick Suzuki, who joined him, allowing Caufield to go for a powerful one-timer. It was also the third two-on-one run for Caufield in this match; the first two times, Suzuki then Matheson preferred to shoot rather than attempt the pass. However, Caufield arrived on the right flank on these two plays, while on his goal, he was on the left, therefore well positioned to shoot. Note that Caufield started this sequence behind his goal, helping his teammates recover a puck. That said, despite his goal and his seven shots, Caufield did not necessarily have a great game and fumbled on a few crucial sequences in the offensive zone.
Disadvantage is no longer perfect
Speaking of streaks that ended, the Canadian had not allowed anything shorthanded in his last six games (18 in 18). Saturday morning, during his meeting with the media, Stéphane Robidas, the assistant responsible for this phase of the game, was also questioned on the subject and notably praised the pressure exerted by the attackers. The sequence ended with the first penalty at CH. Kaiden Guhle, one of the permanent members of these units, was in the penalty box, forcing Montreal to employ Arber Xhekaj, rarely called upon on the numerical penalty. It was this same Xhekaj who was unable to neutralize the stick of Mikael Backlund, who scored on a deflected shot at the end of the first period. Then, in the third period, Nazem Kadri also scored a power play goal. A rare successful evening for the Flames at five against four, who were, before this match, 31e in the NHL on the power play.
Reconciliation of the day
Funny moment in the second period. Martin Pospisil, whose talents as an agitator are increasingly asserting themselves, has a one-on-one time – literally – with Nick Suzuki. Then comes to the rescue Juraj Slafkovsky, who happens to come from Slovakia, like Pospisil. The Canadian’s big winger therefore knocked down his compatriot, a melee followed, at the end of which Pospisil received a double minor penalty. “Martin has this energy in him, but he has to be careful not to cross the line too much,” noted Flames head coach Ryan Huska. Where it gets funny is after the match, when leaving the Canadian’s locker room. Slafkovsky was there, stuffing his face, alongside Pospisil, without any animosity while the Slovak journalists waited to speak to them. A conflict resolved.