The Canadiens players were preparing to jump on the ice for the warm-up period when the Habs broadcast the news of the hasty departure of Martin St-Louis, a little after dinner time in Quebec.
Without giving further details, the Habs press release emphasized that the head coach had returned home for family reasons. It was David Savard, during an interview with Renaud Lavoie, during the first intermission, who spilled the beans a little by maintaining that the team would try to “get a victory for their guy”.
Wishing to respect privacy and the request of St-Louis, the organization refused to elaborate on the nature and seriousness of the problem. And this is very well so.
Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
That said, we can easily understand that it is not benign. You don’t leave your team to go to the bedside of one of your sons for a simple sinusitis. Moreover, we do not know how long St-Louis will have to be absent.
The health of a loved one is much more important than the performance of training. And his players understood that perfectly. Like everyone else anyway.
“We were just told he wouldn’t be there. We have a ton of respect for him. We are behind him and we hope what is best for him,” Cole Caufield told reporters in Calgary after the defeat at the hands of the Flames.
“Our thoughts are with him. We miss him and wish him the best,” said Nick Suzuki, also from the visitors’ locker room at the Calgary Saddledome.
The instiller of hope
However, there is reason to wonder what the impact of this absence will be on the group.
This belief in progress, in the process and in the rosy future, this purchase of the system and concepts by the players, emanates from him.
Trevor Letowski, who previously held the position of head coach in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, will know how to manage very well with the Eskimos is St. Louis.
In the absence of the ship’s captain, the boatswains will have to ensure that the message continues to circulate. Task which will fall to Nick Suzuki, David Savard, Mike Matheson and Brendan Gallagher.
“Obviously it’s different without Martin behind the bench. When you lose a leader like that, everyone has to get involved,” said Suzuki.
“The culture does not change”
The Habs’ first stop in this five-game trip away from the Bell Center was not very conclusive. The news is still fresh – although the players were brought up to speed much earlier – we can understand that not everyone had a hockey head for 60 minutes.
“We talk a lot about the culture we build. We are proud to see how the players have the good of others at heart, argued Letowski. In the last 24 hours, we have seen how much they care about Martin. If we lost, it wasn’t for lack of effort.”
“He is our unifier. It’s tough without him around, Caufield agreed. But even if he’s not there, the culture doesn’t change.”
The culture does not change and “the league doesn’t care”, as St-Louis himself says when he wants to illustrate that life goes on and that, no matter the pitfalls, we must continue to move forward.
This is the challenge that awaits the Canadian. Tuesday night, for example, the Oilers will not put their foot on the brake to be good players.