Canadiens: St-Louis Shares His Coaching Philosophy

If you watched the Montreal Canadiens’ game against the Minnesota Wild on Prime on Monday night, you probably saw the excellent interview Christine Simpson did with Habs coach Martin St-Louis. The most interesting moment of that interview came when Simpson asked the bench boss how the coach-player relationship had evolved since he was an NHL player. He explained:

You know, I came into the NHL, and it was “You do it this way”, and I think with this generation, you have to be demanding, but not demeaning. When I came into the league, they were very demanding and demeaning; at the time, you would get it. And I know I annoyed some of my coaches by going to their office to say, “Why? Can we talk about this? Can I explain something to you?” I feel like I stretched some of my coaches a little bit, and I know I might have been annoying, but I was very curious. […] I encourage that from my players. For me, now I feel that this generation, you have to convince them. And if they’re not convinced, let’s talk about it because I have no problem with you convincing me the other way.

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Hearing a former player describe coaches as demeaning at one stage is unsurprising, especially when he played under a coach like John Tortorella, who was known for being tough. The secret to St-Louis’ successful relationship with his players is that there’s tremendous respect going both ways. They respect him because everything they’re going through, he’s been through, and he respects them by treating them as he would have liked to be treated when he was in their shoes.

When you watch a practice, you can often see him get into animated discussions with his players, not because he’s yelling at them or getting annoyed, but because he’s trying to convince them that what he’s trying to teach them is the best way to go about something. Being passionate and believing in what you’re selling is the best way to be convincing.