Martin St Louis Hired as Interim Coach

[mikeg]

[Willie Dog]

From out in left field ... he's been a special teams consultant with the blues for 3 years... colour me surprised

Maybe this is Richadsons team?

All I know is They better not start winning

[Skilly]

I don't care if they hired Krusty The Clown.... there is literally no one else on Earth that would have worse results than DomDom

[CentreHice]

Welcome aboard, Marty!

[Skilly]

The last head coach to win the Stanley Cup as a player and Head Coach was Larry Robinson ..... your job Marty, is to be the next one

[seventeen]

I'd love to know the thinking behind this hiring. Marty has no coaching experience at all so to throw him into the deep end of the NHL pool is nuts. Is he the face of the team, but Richardson will be doing the actual behind the bench stuff? Frankly, if I didn't know who the coach was, I couldn't be sure from the guys walking behind the bench (other than who yells at the ref) who the 'real' coach is. Does Marty have strong lungs?

[seventeen]

Feb 9, 2022 18:18:28 GMT -5 Skilly said:

The last head coach to win the Stanley Cup as a player and Head Coach was Larry Robinson ..... your job Marty, is to be the next one

I'd be asking him if he'd like to be the Habs defense coach next year, subject to him being satisfied with the permanent head coach. Larry's the greatest.

[folatre]

Marty is interim, so I am not going to panic about his lack of qualifications for the job. He is basically here to change the mood and get a new set of eyes on the players.

Richardson is really the only one behind the bench with head coaching experience, so I would imagine that he will flesh out the systems related stuff and the entire staff will work together on combos-pairs as well as opposition-specific tactics.

I was underwhelmed with what Ducharme got out of the guys during the 2021 season, incredibly surprised by the playoff run, and just bewildered how he took a really bad situation in 2021-22 and somehow made it way worse than could be imagined. There was simply no buy in from the boys to follow his system or give it their all.

[habsask]

Feb 9, 2022 19:27:29 GMT -5 folatre said:

Richardson is really the only one behind the bench with head coaching experience, so I would imagine that he will flesh out the systems related stuff and the entire staff will work together on combos-pairs as well as opposition-specific tactics.

Why does that make me feel uncomfortable? I hope he doesn't rely on those guys too much. So far their track record with the Habs is horrible.

[Boston_Habs]

I like it. No risk beyond the end of the season, it’s a free look at an unconventional candidate that may just be a good fit for what the new regime wants.

They clearly want to lighten the mood in the room and an ex player with a super competitive streak but no baggage and an open mind may be just what the doctor ordered.

I’d let these guys play pond hockey style at this point and lose games 7-4 if it means getting guys playing with more spirit and creativity.

[frozone]

Feb 9, 2022 20:45:15 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

I like it. No risk beyond the end of the season, it’s a free look at an unconventional candidate that may just be a good fit for what the new regime wants.

They clearly want to lighten the mood in the room and an ex player with a super competitive streak but no baggage and an open mind may be just what the doctor ordered.

I’d let these guys play pond hockey style at this point and lose games 7-4 if it means getting guys playing with more spirit and creativity.

I find myself liking the hire too.

Not that we can compare him to Brind'amour, but that's the type of coach that I'm hoping Marty will develop into. Leadership in spades and detail oriented, which is what the team needs most right now (after goaltending, that is).

And most importantly, Marty knows a thing or two about taking the long road. That will be useful for us considering we are currently in tank mode, and may be again next season. Our long road is starting now.

Dom seemed like a great guy, but he really didn't have the leadership skills to lead this team out of a shallow pool, let alone a deep hole. He will coach again, but the challenges of this season have obviously just been way too much for him to handle. I can confidently wish him success in his future endeavors because I don't think he'll be coaching any of our rivals in the NHL anytime soon.

[habsorbed]

This is a great move.

1) Dump Dom, he was always in over his head. He has a terrible record and when he was out with Covid last year it became clear the Cup run was all the players. And I will never get over him not playing KK and Romy in the Cup run. Had he done so KK might still be with us, and Romy would be better than he is. And we would have won the Cup

2) Love Marty and am stunned that he took the job. But he is a competitor and why not. If he's a failure we still win with our draft pick and we can eliminate Marty from the coaching candidates this summer. If he is the smart hockey man who commands respect and demands competitiveness that everyone is saying, it may be just what the Dr ordered.

And who knows, is it possible Marty has the magic formula to get Drouin to use his God given talents? And can he help a small player like Cole?

[habsorbed]

I've always been one to believe that while some great players have been pretty good GMs (Sakic, Yzerman) it is rare they make good coaches (Gretzky, Geoffrion). So I had a look at the list of previous Hart Trophy winners like Marty and what did I find? Hector 'Toe' Blake! Amen.

[habsorbed]

As I said, I'm very happy with giving Marty a try. But for all the criticism MB got (well deserved) for hiring his cronies, there sure seems to be a lot of history between Marty and Gorts and Hughes. Aside from Gorts having Marty in NY, and Hughes being Lacavalier's agent, Marty recently coached Gorts' kid in pee wee (I suspect gave the kids loads of TOI) and Marry's son is currently on the same team as both of Hughes' sons in NCAA.

That's a whole lot of connections. One can only hope it is the stars aligning when one thinks that up to 2 months ago none of the three would have thought for a moment they would be holding their current positions with the most storied franchise in the history of hockey.

Perhaps the universe is unfolding as planned with the guiding hand of the hockey Gods.

[habsorbed]

Just asking for a friend but does anyone know when the last time Marty suited up for a game

[The Habitual Fan]

I think for this year anyway Marty's job is to get a positive attitude among the players and mentor the young guys. He can probably have a heart to heart with Petry and get him going.
For anyone in the Toronto area it reminds me when the Argo's hired Pinball Clemmons as head coach. He didn't have coaching experience but he was the most positive and upbeat guy in the world ad he knew football. It rubbed off on the team and they became much better on the field.
I am hoping Marty will be doing the same thing. Let Suzuki, Petry and everyone else make their mistakes without thinking its the end of the world, build up their confidence and give them guidance.

[folatre]

I agree. This is how I choose to read the decision. At this point I see no reason to read St. Louis as interim coach as a sneaky gambit by management to install him as the permanent Head Coach. There will be a full search after the season.

[Polarice]

I think there is a hidden agenda here...I believe they didn't want to bring in a new coach to deal with this mess. Even if Marty does well, I don't see him being the coach at the beginning of next season. I believe that he was brought in to smooth things out with the players, get through the season and then we'll see him move up stairs in some management roll. Perhaps working with his pal Vinnie.

Then at the end of the season Montreal will hire their real coach, whoever that may be.

[Boston_Habs]

Feb 10, 2022 9:38:01 GMT -5 Polarice said:

I think there is a hidden agenda here...I believe they didn't want to bring in a new coach to deal with this mess. Even if Marty does well, I don't see him being the coach at the beginning of next season. I believe that he was brought in to smooth things out with the players, get through the season and then we'll see him move up stairs in some management roll. Perhaps working with his pal Vinnie.

Then at the end of the season Montreal will hire their real coach, whoever that may be.

That could be true. The interim tag was done to give everyone flexibility, but I wouldn't be surprised if Kent Hughes REALLY thinks Marty St. Louis is a great fit for where this team is in the rebuild and Marty is REALLY excited about the possibility that this could be a permanent thing. I'm 100% positive they touched on that in their conversations. This is a huge leap for Marty but by all accounts he has a solid hockey mind, he's a great competitor and has a good feel for people. If things go well (meaning more fun, more pace, less structure, less thinking) and he brings a better attitude to the team then I can totally see this sticking.

The big question is if this is really what Marty wants to do. It's not like he has been grinding his way up the coaching ranks. It's a huge lifestyle change. He may decide he's not cut out for the grind and wants a less demanding role. We'll see if anything comes out of the press conference, but I kinda feel like Hughes/Gorton have had an eye on Marty and think he could be the right guy. So much of coaching is about leadership, setting the right tone, being a good communicator, being tough but fair, and having good instincts. A couple of good assistants can help with the Xs and Os.

[Willie Dog]

Feb 10, 2022 10:06:23 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

Feb 10, 2022 9:38:01 GMT -5 Polarice said:

I think there is a hidden agenda here...I believe they didn't want to bring in a new coach to deal with this mess. Even if Marty does well, I don't see him being the coach at the beginning of next season. I believe that he was brought in to smooth things out with the players, get through the season and then we'll see him move up stairs in some management roll. Perhaps working with his pal Vinnie.

Then at the end of the season Montreal will hire their real coach, whoever that may be.

That could be true. The interim tag was done to give everyone flexibility, but I wouldn't be surprised if Kent Hughes REALLY thinks Marty St. Louis is a great fit for where this team is in the rebuild and Marty is REALLY excited about the possibility that this could be a permanent thing. I'm 100% positive they touched on that in their conversations. This is a huge leap for Marty but by all accounts he has a solid hockey mind, he's a great competitor and has a good feel for people. If things go well (meaning more fun, more pace, less structure, less thinking) and he brings a better attitude to the team then I can totally see this sticking.

The big question is if this is really what Marty wants to do. It's not like he has been grinding his way up the coaching ranks. It's a huge lifestyle change. He may decide he's not cut out for the grind and wants a less demanding role. We'll see if anything comes out of the press conference, but I kinda feel like Hughes/Gorton have had an eye on Marty and think he could be the right guy. So much of coaching is about leadership, setting the right tone, being a good communicator, being tough but fair, and having good instincts. A couple of good assistants can help with the Xs and Os.

Maybe Marty gets groomed for an executive position

[NWTHabsFan]

I heard Hughes talk about the importance of leadership and mentoring young guys like Suzuki and Caufield. Maybe this move is as simple as inserting someone in the interim who can not only do that in the absence of it from other sources, but also light a fire and get the compete level up from a bunch of the others. Yeah, Dom had a system, but the players were not executing it nor putting in the effort at times. While I don’t see how an inexperienced coach like Marty can be inserting whiz bang systems at once, he sure can increase the level of personal accountability that perhaps a very quiet coach like Dom was not able to. The season is lost in the standings, but don’t lose it in terms of development of those that remain or are being profiled for a trade.

[IamCanadiens]

Feb 10, 2022 0:11:49 GMT -5 habsorbed said:

And can he help a small player like Cole?

Interesting perspective. I think he has a lot of qualities (e.g. accountability, positivity etc...) that will help develop any young guy. Regarding him being small, I think they're very dissimilar. Marty was an absolute freak from a strength perspective. Yeah, he was short but a musclebound mini Hercules who could fight his way through the clutch and grab era. Regardless, hopefully Marty can help develop him.

[PTH]

Feb 10, 2022 10:45:02 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Feb 10, 2022 10:06:23 GMT -5 Boston_Habs said:

That could be true. The interim tag was done to give everyone flexibility, but I wouldn't be surprised if Kent Hughes REALLY thinks Marty St. Louis is a great fit for where this team is in the rebuild and Marty is REALLY excited about the possibility that this could be a permanent thing. I'm 100% positive they touched on that in their conversations. This is a huge leap for Marty but by all accounts he has a solid hockey mind, he's a great competitor and has a good feel for people. If things go well (meaning more fun, more pace, less structure, less thinking) and he brings a better attitude to the team then I can totally see this sticking.

The big question is if this is really what Marty wants to do. It's not like he has been grinding his way up the coaching ranks. It's a huge lifestyle change. He may decide he's not cut out for the grind and wants a less demanding role. We'll see if anything comes out of the press conference, but I kinda feel like Hughes/Gorton have had an eye on Marty and think he could be the right guy. So much of coaching is about leadership, setting the right tone, being a good communicator, being tough but fair, and having good instincts. A couple of good assistants can help with the Xs and Os.

Maybe Marty gets groomed for an executive position

I've wondered about that, too. Get him 30 games behind the bench so he can get a feel for the players we already have, in a way only a former player can, and move on to management to work under Hughes and be the potential replacement in 5-10 years.

Given the local market, I think it's essential to always have a potential replacement pipeline consistently giving us options for all key management positions.

[Boston_Habs]

Kent Hughes certainly talking like a guy who sees Marty as a long term solution...

[The Habitual Fan]

I thought I heard during the press conference Gorton accidently referred to St. Louis as interim assistant manager when he meant to say interim coach. Maybe it was just me.

[Willie Dog]

Just watched pieces of the press conference in TSN, it will be interesting seeing St.Louis implement the concept model over a systems model... be interesting to see players use their instincts because under Dom, it looked like the system being used did not fit the players... I wonder what will happen when the shackles come off... will they lose 8 to 4 as opposed to 8 to 1?

[Andrew]

I'll be most interested to see how Petry responds. It's in his and the team's best interest for him to regain his form if he's hoping to be traded.

I think that the absence of leadership from Weber, Price and Perry has weighed heavily on the team this year. St. Louis is a presence that will command the same level of respect from the players as a leader.

[Douper]

I'm thinking he coaches the 2nd half to figure out who we keep, who we can win with and who is expendable. Come summer he gets "promoted" to assistant GM and we hire a coach to lead us through the rebuild.

[Willie Dog]

We knew there was something dysfunctional about Ducharme's system but Petry tells it like it is... also he does not want to leave... interesting how Marty has them thinking... so simple, it just works... Petry is happy to come to the rink again...

montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/nhl/hockey-inside-out/stu-cowan-canadiens-jeff-petry-like-a-new-man-after-coaching-change

[seventeen]

I keep coming back to examples with my over 45 soccer team. It was all pretty casual of course, but we'd have to set up a line-up so everyone knew roughly where they were on the pitch. 4-4-2, or 3-2-3-2, etc. After it was all settled, I'd say, well I'd prefer to play 11-0 when we have the ball and 0-11 when we don't. No one ever took me seriously. Too many thought that they were offensive guys or defensive guys and never the twain shall meet. I didn't mean that physically if we had the ball, the goalie should be attacking, but that the mindset should be that way. I'm older than Marty, so I can claim that I beat him to it. No doubt someone else thought of it before me too.

It makes a ton of difference if the mindset is that way. It's easier in hockey than soccer because the surface is so much smaller. It's harder physically to cover 80 yards in a sprint than 50 in a hard skate. It's not hard to switch thinking immediately, though. Markov was so good at that.