Stu Cowen: Canadiens coach Martin gets attention from St. Louis players

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If Martin St. Louis wasn't coaching the Canadiens, he'd be a great motivational speaker.

After the rebuilding Canadiens were officially eliminated from playoff contention last Thursday night with a 7-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre, St. Louis kept a positive attitude in his post-game press conference. He noted that sometimes you go to a funeral and sometimes you go to a party of your life. He said that while missing out on the playoffs was disappointing and mentally it was a downer, his team had plenty of positives to celebrate this season.

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“We're going to finish with a bang,” added St. Louis.

This press conference reminded me of one of the great Red Fisher's favorite lines from yesterday's Hall of Fame career when he covered the Canadiens when the team was struggling: “Show me the players.”

Since becoming head coach, St. Louis has shown an ability to get the most out of his players. While the Canadiens lack deep talent, they don't give up and their level of competition has been impressive all season.

St.Louis described the NHL as a “huge mountain” and said his young players are still learning to climb that mountain and the lessons learned this season won't be lost moving forward.

Contrast St. Louis's words with those of Philadelphia head coach John Tortorella after the Flyers — who also entered this offseason in rebuilding mode — lost 4-3 to the New York Islanders on April 1.

“We're figuring it all out,” Tortorella told reporters in Philadelphia. “There are some people who don't know how to play. Or they don't have it to play in those situations. So I'm glad we played because we have to figure out what we're going to be like as a team here.

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“It was an embarrassing second period for the Philadelphia Flyers uniform, the way we played,” Tortorella added. “Shame. How we came back in the third period is high praise. Some guys.”

Tortorella also said some of his players “don't have the balls to play in games like this.”

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The Flyers surprised people this season by becoming a playoff contender, but the players seem to have given up on Tortorella in his second season behind the bench.

After being told by their coach that they “didn't know how to play,” the Flyers lost the next three games 19-7 and responded with a 9-3 loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday at the Bell Centre. At night, 20-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky scored his first NHL hat trick. It was a meaningless game for the Canadiens, but a crucial one for the Flyers, who saw their winless streak reach eight games (0-6-2) and their playoff chances drop to 4 percent. Their playoff chances were 88 percent on March 24 before the winless streak began.

Tortorella and St. Louis are great friends and share a mutual respect after winning the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Lightning in 2004, when Tortorella was the coach and St.Louis was the star player. But their coaching styles are very different, and St. Louis is a better fit for today's NHL, while Tortorella is outdated.

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More important to today's coach than the Xs and Os is motivating players and getting them to buy into the systems — or concepts St. Louis likes — they're selling.

“I think as coaches you're always in the business of convincing your team,” St.Louis said. “The only thing I'm worried about convincing them is how we play. Why we play a certain way. And if they're not sure about something, they know they can talk about it. Because at the end of the day, it's not about being right. If we're going to argue, it's not about being right. It's about getting it right. Get it right. Because you have so many ways to play.

“So for me, if I don't have them sold on something, I have to do better,” St. Louis added. “I have to teach him better, I have to find better clips. But I enjoy that part of the game, convincing my players to play a certain way. It's not like the way we're playing right now is going to be the way we're going to play in Game 54 next year. I do not know? The game is always talking to us. I like to think I learned how to inspire a group. Every once in a while you have to give them some confidence. But I think the most important job as a coach is to convince your team why you play a certain way. Because if you're sure they'll buy.”

Canadians bought what St. Louis was selling.

Now it's up to GM Kent Hughes to find good players for him.

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