When an organization like the Canadiens hires a figure as well-known as Martin St-Louis as head coach, it makes perfect sense that it’s the member of the Hall of Fame who receives most of the attention and not the one he replaces behind the bench.
Posted at 2:14 p.m.
Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes, respectively vice-president of hockey operations and general manager of the CH, nevertheless justified their decision to dismiss Dominique Ducharme.
“When I arrived here, my intention was to finish the season with Dom,” maintains Gorton. However, since the latter took office on November 28, 2021, the team has been, by far, the worst in the NHL. Barely two wins in 22 games; last in attack and defense.
The most recent losses have been particularly painful, especially last Tuesday’s defeat against the New Jersey Devils, which spelled the death knell for Ducharme.
His bosses had seen the same thing as the supporters: a disengaged formation.
“I saw things evolve, the way of playing [du club], and I felt it was getting worse,” Gorton continued. The level of effort and energy had “dipped”.
It had become “obvious that the team needed a spark” in view of the 37 games remaining on the schedule.
Management had already decided for a while, apparently, that Ducharme would not be back next season. Discussions with Martin St-Louis have therefore been initiated over the past two weeks, and an agreement was reached with him upon his return from the All-Star Game break.
We claim to have wanted to give Ducharme “a little time” to put the team back on track, given, in particular, the expected return of a few injured players. Tuesday, after the 7-1 defeat at the hands of the Devils, “we felt that it was time”.
“The team needed a change and we had to move on,” Gorton said. Because, he recalls, “there are not just 5 games left to play”. There is still “a big chunk of the season”, months which will be the pretext for “a lot of lessons and development”.
no help
It is fashionable to remember that Dominique Ducharme, regardless of the results, was forced to work with the meager resources at his disposal. That is to say a formation often decimated by injuries or COVID-19, a disorganized defense, inexperienced goalkeepers and an ineffective attack.
From December 28 to 1er January, we persisted in playing even though new cases of COVID were breaking out every day. We deployed a team of mostly American League players to face the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Against the Florida Panthers, on New Year’s Day, we couldn’t even put together a full formation because the state of health of the troops was so critical.
Since mid-January, when Jake Allen was injured, goaltenders Cayden Primeau and Samuel Montembeault have been roughed up night after night. We did not try to find reinforcements for them. Kent Hughes, in a recent interview with The Pressnotably justified this decision by the number of high contracts that the Canadian already has – 48 out of a possibility of 50 – and the uncertainty about the possibility of a return of Carey Price this season.
In fact, since taking office, Jeff Gorton has made a single gesture that has had an impact on the staff on the ice. He claimed defender Kale Clague on waivers.
Asked if he could have helped his coach more, Gorton nodded. “Yes of course, we could have done it,” he said.
However, even when he arrived, and even more so when Hughes was hired, “the season was already in bad shape”. We therefore prioritized the evaluation of the players in place rather than the improvement of the team on the ice.
Because, insisted Kent Hughes, the management does not plan “from match to match”, but according to “long-term objectives”.
“There will be changes,” he promised, and the replacement of Ducharme by St-Louis “is the first of many” others to come.
“Delicate”
Martin St-Louis also finds himself in an unusual situation, as he replaces a longtime friend in Dominique Ducharme.
The two played together for two seasons at the University of Vermont. It was even Ducharme who showed his teammate, two years his junior, around the campus when he arrived there.
Unsurprisingly, the newcomer spoke of “delicate” circumstances on Thursday.
“It’s hard for me, in my first job in the NHL, to take the job from one of my buddies, he agreed. I know that at some point, we will talk about it again, him and me. I also know that Dom is a good hockey head and a good man. He’s going to bounce back and do some good things in hockey. »
St-Louis, moreover, will work on the short term with the assistants who were already in place during the reign of Ducharme – and even that of Claude Julien in the case of Luke Richardson.
The latter has already been the teammate of St. Louis in Tampa Bay, and the Quebecer has already faced Alex Burrows and Trevor Letowski.
“I don’t know them as coaches,” he admitted. I want to observe them, know their philosophy. I don’t want someone who always says yes to me, I want someone who will challenger, with whom to have discussions. I don’t come as a dictator; I want to learn from others. I look forward to working with them. »