(Brossard) Martin St-Louis supervised a first practice in the role of interim head coach of the Montreal Canadiens on Friday morning, and the least we can say is that the players seemed very attentive to his guidelines.
Posted at 1:04 p.m.
St-Louis had declared the day before at a press conference that he had no intention of turning everything upside down upon his arrival, and added that he was probably going to limit himself to an observer role at the start. This is what he did at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard, leaving his assistant Trevor Letowski to lead the first exercises – while the former star player of the Tampa Bay Lightning watched the scene attentively.
Forward Jonathan Drouin, who is still on the sidelines, took the opportunity to chat with St-Louis at the edge of the rink. He stayed close to the icy surface for much of the practice—probably out of curiosity.
The players then bent on a few two-against-zero and three-against-zero runs, just to warm up and find their rhythm.
St-Louis then whistled the stoppage of activities and asked the players to regroup in front of him near the bench, where he explained using a table what he wanted to see for the rest of the coaching. The players seemed very receptive to his directives. Several unprecedented exercises under Dominique Ducharme were performed, including a three-against-three across the width of the rink, in the neutral zone.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Martin St-Louis on the board in front of his players.
Cayden Primeau was back at work the day after another miserable outing in which he conceded four goals on 14 shots before being ejected from the game in the second period against the Washington Capitals. But as St. Louis repeated the day before after the 5-2 loss to the Caps, “in this league, the most important day is the next day.”
Quebecer Samuel Montembeault, who had taken over and made 8 additional saves against the Caps, also skated with his teammates.
The practice ended with the traditional stretching session at the center of the ice, and St-Louis addressed the players by skating in the center of the circle. The players then hit their sticks on the ice to thank him, before leaving.
The Canadiens will play their next two games in the afternoon at the Bell Centre, as part of the traditional Super Bowl weekend. He will first host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, before crossing swords with the Buffalo Sabers the next day.