A few weeks ago, I wrote that Martin St-Louis would certainly receive votes for the title of coach of the year in the NHL. However, I did not expect him to find himself among the three finalists for the Jack-Adams trophy. That being said, he deserves it.
St-Louis is not wrong to say that his selection as a finalist for the team’s coach is a team recognition. But you should not minimize your contribution in this rise. He won his stripes.
Difficult to say now that he is not an NHL coach.
I don’t know if he’s really likely to win. One might think that his opponents Spencer Carbery, Washington capital, and Scott Arniel, Winnipeg jets, are favorites, but whatever.
The presence of the Canadian coach among the three finalists means that his skills are recognized through the National League.
Constant progression
The tricolor has progressed in terms of points in the classification from one season to another under the direction of St-Louis.
After a harvest of only 55 points in 2021-2022-season when St-Louis had succeeded his friend Dominique Ducharme with 37 games to play (sheet of 14-19-4)-, the Canadian jumped 13 points for a total of 68 points in 2022-2023.
-Last year, the Montreal team only obtained eight more points for a 76 -point harvest. However, it underwent 27 defeats by a goal, in this case 16 in equality broken and 11 in regular time.
But a better culture seemed to have settled. Enough for the team leaders to express the wish before the season that has just ended that the club is race for series as long as possible.
66 points in 52 games
The first 30 meetings did not suggest anything good. As of December 15, the Canadian occupied on 16e and last rank in the association of the East and the 30e position in the general classification with a sheet of 11-16-3.
From there, everything has evolved for the best.
The Montreal troop compiled a file of 29-15-8 to its following 52 games for a 66-point harvest, only five less than the Winnipeg jets which dominated the League classification for the period from December 16 to April 17.
Admittedly, there is still a lot of work to do.
We all know that songs are missing from this team. But hope has finally returned.
