It came off as a joke, and it probably was.
But there was some truth behind it, as it turns out.
When Martin St. Louis was asked during his introductory news conference Thursday what he would say to people doubting his ability to coach in the NHL with no professional coaching experience, having served as a coach only at the pee-wee level with the Mid Fairfield Youth Hockey Association, the one-liner was quick, almost as if it was prepared in advance knowing full well this question was coming.
“If (there’s) anything this team needs right now, it’s to have fun,” St. Louis said. “I know when they were pee-wees, they had a lot of fun, so I’m probably the most qualified guy right now.”
He had a little grin on his face as he said it. Those in the room laughed.
But then St. Louis ran his first practice Friday following a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals in his coaching debut, a game where the Canadiens looked more competitive than they had in a long time despite the seemingly lopsided score. And the more you watched, the more you realized maybe that wasn’t a joke after all.
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