I watched the show carefully. JiC Tuesday. It was very interesting to hear different speakers' perspectives on the Canadian's progress this season. We even witnessed a heated debate between moderator Jean-Charles Lajoie and columnist Tony Marinaro.
It got me thinking and inspired the topic of this column. Has the CH really improved? It is quite difficult to talk about improvements during a renovation process. It's very difficult for me to judge whether the team has made progress. There are still some question marks and too many uncertainties.
However, I would have liked the team to develop further in this phase of the season and play more meaningful games. Unfortunately, this is not the case again this year.
One thing is certain, however: Juraj Slafkovsky's performance promises great things for the future. The young Slovakian represents the most positive element in two months. He has made up a lot of ground and complements Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield very well. This latest outburst from Slafkovsky saves the season and gives fans and the organization a glimmer of hope.
- Listen to the sports section with Jean-François Baril via QUB :
It's a shame that Kirby Dach got injured in the second game after a strong training camp. Since he hasn't played since then, he hasn't been able to make any progress. A question mark remains. How will he look forward to the next camp after the serious operation? I have already seen players in this situation who have taken a little backwards steps. We won't find out until fall.
Meanwhile, Martin St-Louis is trying to get Dach involved by inviting him to team meetings, as is often the case with young players. It's part of their development. It's completely normal to take care of them as a priority. The danger in working with young people is that you don't know exactly what their upper limit is. Not all young people improve over time.
This happened to me during my coaching career. I remember Alex Galchenyuk sitting down with Clément Jodoin the day after the games to discuss scoring opportunities even though his season was over.
I did the same thing in Pittsburgh with Sidney Crosby when he was still early in his career. I wanted him to be used shorthanded because his ice time decreased when we got two or three penalties in a row. Because Crosby is a huge perfectionist, he told me he didn't feel ready to handle the task. So he attended meetings for a year before he felt he was ready to take on this new challenge.
Win to advance
As a coach, my philosophy has always been to get the best out of each of my players. To achieve this, you have to know them well individually. No one is the same; Some people need to be flattered, while others need to be flattered. Therefore, it is necessary to take a different approach for each of them.
This is not an easy challenge at all.
Current Canadiens defensive coach Stephane Robidas is doing a good job of getting the best out of veterans Mike Matheson and David Savard. However, I don't see much improvement in the others, with the exception of Kaiden Guhle, who in my opinion is the only safe choice among the young guys. He is a real hockey player!
To move forward in the rebuilding process, the next step is to implement a winning culture to ensure players have the mentality that any defeat is unacceptable. This absolutely needs to be conveyed. To move the team forward, Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes must give the coaches ammunition by putting together the best possible formation.
Since the start of the season, coaches have found themselves in an awkward position with the three-goalie system. In October I wasn't convinced it was the right thing to do. And that is always the case in February.
When I was faced with a similar situation at the beginning of my career, I expressed my rejection to my then managing director André Savard. To my great delight, he listened to me and submitted an exemption to Mathieu Garon. Since he was not called upon, he was able to continue his training in the American League.
I hope that the ménage à trois in St-Louis ends as soon as possible and we see Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau at work more often.