Confirmed with Link: Habs name Martin St. Louis interim head coach

[Price is Wright]

I think he's got them motivated. Won't last forever but I think MSL will be good for the rebuild.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I think he's got them motivated. Won't last forever but I think MSL will be good for the rebuild.

I'm personally taking the success with a grain of salt. The area MSL provides value is motivation and development with young skilled players. How that looks in terms of team competitiveness moving forward is yet to be determined.

So far, so good but this move was clearly to make the players play with more confidence and youth development.

 

[Takeru]

One thing I wonder about is how far his approach will take us. Looks promising enough so far, but will it last?

Letting the players follow their instinct/creativity yields far better results than a predictable and rigid offensive system, for now at least.
Curious how well teams will end up adjusting to that, there are far more options when a player makes the decision on the spot than if you know he will 99% dump the puck and you only have to cover for that. But nothing lasts forever, how will we readjust when other teams have caught on to us.

Also, wondering what will happen once the initial burst of motivation from the honeymoon fades and we hit the proverbial wall.
How long until we get there and how well MSL will be able to re-ignite the fire.

These will be the key elements for me in extending MSL or not. Is it a one and done flash in the pan? Or will he be able to keep the players producing and motivated?

Really curious and hopeful about that.

 

[Captain Mountain]

I think he's got them motivated. Won't last forever but I think MSL will be good for the rebuild.

Coaching changes generally inspire a short term bump (an exception was actually when Ducharme replaced Julien last year). That said, its interesting to see which players have really elevated their play under MSL. Caufield, Anderson and Petry are the obvious ones, but Armia has also looked much better under MSL, even if he hasn't been putting up points. Its it looks increasingly likely that Ducharme was a major issue with this team.

 

[Habsawce]

I'm personally taking the success with a grain of salt. The area MSL provides value is motivation and development with young skilled players. How that looks in terms of team competitiveness moving forward is yet to be determined.

So far, so good but this move was clearly to make the players play with more confidence and youth development.

Letting guys be creative and play the game they love with flow will attract players to Montreal. Plus, who wouldn't go through a wall for Marty?

 

[WickedPegJets]

I think he's got them motivated. Won't last forever but I think MSL will be good for the rebuild.

Remember Pat Quinn’s Flyers’ undefeated streak of 35 games? Can Marty St. Louis get near to that streak!!

 

[WeThreeKings]

Makes you wonder what could have become of guys like Galchenyuk or Kotkaniemi with a coach like Marty.

Gotta say I was skeptical of hiring an ex-NHLer with such playing pedigree and no coaching experience but man it's paying dividends early. He's a really, really bright coach with the right way of thinking especially for this stage of the rebuild.

Maybe as we go forward we could get an experienced tactician as an associate coach to add to what he's doing.

 

[Vachon23]

Makes you wonder what could have become of guys like Galchenyuk or Kotkaniemi with a coach like Marty.

Gotta say I was skeptical of hiring an ex-NHLer with such playing pedigree and no coaching experience but man it's paying dividends early. He's a really, really bright coach with the right way of thinking especially for this stage of the rebuild.

Maybe as we go forward we could get an experienced tactician as an associate coach to add to what he's doing.

Yep that’s exactly what I think, get an experience guy with him at the place of Letowski
I’m even curious to see what Drouin will do (even if I’m not expecting that much either)

 

[LaP]

It shows you haven't watched. He's injured and might be missing another few weeks.

Is it me or the team is paying better when Drouin is out of the lineup?

 

[Frankenheimer]

Marty is clearly very intelligent. That is why his approach is working. It’s a flexible approach that he seems capable of adapting. Ducharme’s flaw was inability to adapt. Because he could only think in terms of system.

 

[WickedPegJets]

Letting guys be creative and play the game they love with flow will attract players to Montreal. Plus, who wouldn't go through a wall for Marty?

That was what hockey pundits said when Dom and Luke had this team play so well in the playoffs.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Is it me or the team is paying better when Drouin is out of the lineup?

If you want my opinion, I think Drouin could actually benefit from the way MSL likes the team and his offensive players to express themselves offensively.

Which would be great if he thrives under MSL and his value rises for a trade (most likely off-season or next season).

 

[WickedPegJets]

Is it me or the team is paying better when Drouin is out of the lineup?

I would imagine Drouin would love playing for Marty and his +/- would be a plus every game.

 

[Runner77]

Makes you wonder what could have become of guys like Galchenyuk or Kotkaniemi with a coach like Marty.

Gotta say I was skeptical of hiring an ex-NHLer with such playing pedigree and no coaching experience but man it's paying dividends early. He's a really, really bright coach with the right way of thinking especially for this stage of the rebuild.

Maybe as we go forward we could get an experienced tactician as an associate coach to add to what he's doing.

Welcome back, bud! Missed reading you. This place is not the same without your contributions.

 

[Habsawce]

That was what hockey pundits said when Dom and Luke had this team play so well in the playoffs.

That was letting the players be creative?

 

[DAChampion]

Was Ducharme actually a dumb dinosaur like a lot of posts imply him to be?

He was so highly touted when the Habs hired him. Many, including most knowledgeable posters here, we're thrilled.

My theory is that he lost the room, he didn't command respect, and then him trying to regain that respect compounded the locker room issues.

 

[WickedPegJets]

That was letting the players be creative?

Dom and Luke had them play as a cohesive unit, each player knew his role and backed the player who made a mistake.

 

[Natey]

Even if he doesn't stay, he's motivated Caufield out of the bust category that a bunch of people on this forum were annoyingly labelling him with.

Although I don't really blame those posters with the history of our organization treating young players like crap.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Was Ducharme actually a dumb dinosaur like a lot of posts imply him to be?

He was so highly touted when the Habs hired him. Many, including most knowledgeable posters here, we're thrilled.

My theory is that he lost the room, he didn't command respect, and then him trying to regain that respect compounded the locker room issues.

My theory is that the vast majority of us are talking out of our ass when it comes to whether a coach will be good or not and we can only judge coaches based on their track record.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Was Ducharme actually a dumb dinosaur like a lot of posts imply him to be?

He was so highly touted when the Habs hired him. Many, including most knowledgeable posters here, we're thrilled.

My theory is that he lost the room, he didn't command respect, and then him trying to regain that respect compounded the locker room issues.

I think Ducharme really just suffered from thinking he was very intelligent and that his system was the optimal way to play but could not actually adapt or make changes to his personnel.

I don't think he was a great communicator either with the players and certainly seemed to have habits at the pro level he didn't have at the junior level. It's hard to know until they coach at that level.

 

[Tyson]

I don't even consider Drouin as part of this team anymore.
That chapter can't end soon enough.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Is it me or the team is paying better when Drouin is out of the lineup?

Give Drouin a break here. Has he played a game with MSL as our coach yet? At least wait to see how that looks before we do that to Drouin.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Was Ducharme actually a dumb dinosaur like a lot of posts imply him to be?

He was so highly touted when the Habs hired him. Many, including most knowledgeable posters here, we're thrilled.

My theory is that he lost the room, he didn't command respect, and then him trying to regain that respect compounded the locker room issues.

Snow ball effect could have certainly been at play with Ducharme but when I hear him speak to the media explaining things, I had a hard time respecting him as a fan so I can only wonder what the players thought.

Lets face it, guys like Price, Weber, Perry, and others coached that team last year.

Ducharme had a flawed roster this year with the turnover but his flaws as a coach were raised to the surface as well. Wish him the best with his future but his time with the Habs is over now

 

[ReginaHabs]

The two major jobs of a coach are to a) develop and implement a system that suits the team and its strengths and b) motivate the players to perform their best within that system.

Ducharme was probably weak in both a and b, but the playoff run was possible because Weber and his teammates were aware that it was his last chance at a cup, so they were as motivated as they could possibly be, including Price. When this season started that motivation (and the real motivator) was gone, so they crashed back down to earth. Pair that with some bad injury luck and the results are disastrous.

Marty so far has shown he is skilled at motivating a team. The players are clearly motivated again, and while there’s obviously the possibility that it’ll taper off as the season continues and dips in performance occur, I’m confident that he can find ways to motivate the players to perform their best. What I’m not sure about is how quickly he can learn the strategy side of the job. He is clearly intelligent and has experienced assistants to lean on, but it’s still going to take some time. The best part about this situation is that he probably has the time he needs, if he wants it.

 

[Archijerej]

Still way to early to tell if he's going to be a good coach. It takes more than some bright ideas and an adrenaline effect from a coaching change. Once the honeymoon is over the lack of experience might rear it's ugly head and cause all sorts of trouble.

One thing is certain, though, he is very interesting to listen to.