The reconstruction process to which the Canadian is involved inevitably creates a gap between the objectives of the organization and the daily lives of the players.
The club’s management has, one imagines, a goal in mind. The path to reach it, however, is barren. The defeats pile up, one after the other.
Whether in sequences – the five consecutive losses that the team has just suffered, for example. Or on a large scale: since the start of the 2021-2022 season, the Habs have essentially lost twice as many games (147) as they have won (75).
Nick Suzuki was on the ice for each of these games. He is therefore a credible interlocutor when he affirms how “frustrating” it can be to deal with such disappointing results, especially recently. If the reconstruction can seem abstract at times, the defeats are very real.
“We want to win as many matches as possible. We’ve had this state of mind all season, it’s not going to change,” he assured Monday morning after his team’s training.
A reporter asked him if he felt an eagerness to finally have a winning season. “Yes, of course,” he replied. The last few years have been difficult in the victory column, and we have lost important elements. »
“We must be patient, the time will come,” he added.
Following the team on a daily basis allows you to measure fluctuations in the group’s mood.
After the two most recent defeats, Thursday in Pittsburgh and Saturday in New Jersey, faces were long. The players entering and leaving the locker room looked as if they were dead. Clearly, no one had the big picture in mind [« big picture »] which they talk about in unison at ease, like Monday morning, at the Brossard training center.
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Jordan Harris
“In the moment, you are frustrated, you are furious,” confirms Jordan Harris. But we had time to sleep on it. Today, we can look at the overall picture. But when you’re in the match, you focus on winning. Emotions rise, and that’s where frustration arises. »
“And I think the way we lost recently makes it even more frustrating: we were in every game, close, right there, but we were unable to finish the job. »
Losing so much, “as a competitor, it’s terrible,” continued the defender.
Duality
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“It’s easy, after a victory, to be convinced that you played well, just as it is easy, after a defeat, to say that you played badly. I pay attention to that,” notes head coach Martin St-Louis.
Martin St-Louis is aware of this duality. He therefore tries to detach himself as much as possible from the emotions of the match, regardless of the final score.
“It’s easy, after a victory, to be convinced that you played well, just as it’s easy, after a defeat, to say that you played badly,” he noted. I pay attention to that. Everything starts with the truth. Sometimes we’ll win games and meetings [subséquentes] are not too positive. And sometimes we lose, but the meetings are more positive. This is the truth, this is how we move forward. If you only focus on the end result of a match, it’s hard to improve and have consistency. There are too many gray areas. »
This is precisely the speech he gave to his players on Monday. “We talked about scoring chances,” said Jordan Harris. Recently, we have had the best of all our opponents. It’s frustrating [de perdre], but there are a lot of positives. »
To journalists, St-Louis even affirmed that his men had just experienced “one of their best sequences of 5 or 6 games of the season”.
The statement may startle you. However, looking more closely, we see that over the last seven games, the Canadian offers a much better performance at five on five than in all 51 games until then. This improvement is reflected in terms of puck possession, sharing of scoring chances and defensive play in general, calculates the Natural Stat Trick site.
Six of these seven matches ended in defeat. Which means, as Martin St-Louis often repeats, not everything in life is fair, especially for such a vulnerable club.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
“Our game is moving in the right direction. We are very close to getting out of this situation and moving forward. We have to look at the overall picture, stay positive and take the small victories,” says Michael Pezzetta (left) in the photo with Johnathan Kovacevic (right).
“Our game is evolving in the right direction,” said Michael Pezzetta. We are very close to getting out of this situation and moving forward. You have to look at the overall picture, stay positive and take the small victories. »
“But ultimately, a defeat is a defeat,” he added. We just lost five in a row. We have to find a way to win. »
Whether the next victory comes on Tuesday against the Arizona Coyotes or after, the head coach’s credo will not change. During the last 24 games of the schedule, he wants to see his players demonstrate “honest intentions that help the team win.” Learning will continue, perhaps sometimes painfully.
In such difficult sequences, are the players sometimes harder to convince of the direction taken?, a journalist asked him.
“It depends how you measure success,” St-Louis replied. If a player isn’t convinced of the way things are done, maybe he doesn’t belong here. »
Montembeault against the Coyotes, Struble in training
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Jayden Struble
Jayden Struble looked in great shape at practice Monday morning. This is very good news, because he was not leading on Thursday evening in Pittsburgh, when he painfully retreated to the locker room after being seized by a strange pain. In the press scrum, he said he felt a “tightness” in his back, but that the pain quickly passed. He nevertheless skipped his turn for Saturday’s match. Seeing him take part in the regular rotations in Brossard, we can expect him to be back in the defensive squad on Tuesday, while Jordan Harris or Johnathan Kovacevic risks being left out. It is also Samuel Montembeault who will be in front of the CH net. The Quebecer has lost his last three matches.