“There are times when I’ve second-guessed myself but it’s all part of the learning process,” he says on the anniversary of his first game behind the bench of an NHL team.
Martin St. Louis said one thing he has learned about coaching in the NHL is that “it goes real fast.”
“I think I’m the same guy,” said St. Louis, who declined to grade his performance. “I’ll let you be the judge of that, but I can promise you I try to improve myself every day.”
“There are times when I’ve second-guessed myself, but it’s all part of the learning process.”
The decision to hire St. Louis was a major surprise because his only experience as a head coach was when he coached his sons on minor hockey teams in Connecticut.
“(The NHL is) a league where you have to be ready for anything,” St. Louis said. “You can schedule practice and then there are two or three players who are unavailable so I try not to plan too far ahead.”
His players have seen growth over the past year.
“I think he’s more confident in the way of he gets the pulse of the game,” said forward Josh Anderson. “You can feel it as a player on the bench. I think the group has made giant strides and we will continue to learn a lot from him.”
“He continues to improve as a coach because he loves to learn,” added captain Nick Suzuki. “It also helps us learn.”
“One thing I didn’t know was all the things you have to deal with that have nothing to do with coaching players,” St. Louis said. “You have to deal with a lot of things, make decisions that will affect people, like medical staff and therapists. There can be no surprises in the schedule. Everything must be prepared so that everyone is most effective.”
Thursday’s practice was the first after a bye week, which saw players seek rest and relaxation in places as disparate as the Bahamas and the Saguenay neighbourhood of Arvida, where Rafaël Harvey-Pinard went to visit his parents.
Harvey-Pinard returned to some good news Thursday. The winger, who started the new year in Laval, was inserted on the top line with Suzuki and Anderson. He scored twice while playing with them against Ottawa in the final game before the break.
“We played pretty well in the half game we played and I’m excited to get this chance,” said Harvey-Pinard, who has five goals and an assist in seven games since he was recalled.
With three weeks to go until the trade deadline, there is still no clarity about the future of Sean Monahan and defenceman Joel, Edmundson, who have some value if they’re healthy. They skated with a member of the training staff before practice, won’t play this weekend and will be re-evaluated next week.
Jonathan Drouin, who hasn’t played since Jan. 15, shed his non-contact jersey for practice, but when St. Louis was asked whether he would play this weekend, he replied: “I don’t know.”
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