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Move your feet: Martin St-Louis challenges Juraj Slafkovský in front of the media

 Félix Forget
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Move your feet: Martin St-Louis challenges Juraj Slafkovský in front of the media
Credit: Juraj Slafkovský is one of the Canadiens’ most important forwards. Having just signed a huge eight-year contract, he is seen as part of the solution, and his development is crucial to the club’s future. He was a first choice overall, after all. That said, this season, it’s not necessarily easy for him on the ice. […]

Juraj Slafkovský is one of the Canadiens’ most important forwards. Having just signed a huge eight-year contract, he is seen as part of the solution, and his development is crucial to the club’s future.

He was a first choice overall, after all.

That said, this season, it’s not necessarily easy for him on the ice. He’s not playing bad hockey, but we feel he’s capable of giving more.

So it’s up to him to find solutions, but it’s also up to his coach to help him get through this. And at today’s press briefing, Martin St-Louis decided to challenge his young forward a little:

He needs to move his feet, and he needs to be more direct in the way he does it. […] It starts with him, he has to anticipate the game better and move his feet. – Martin St-Louis

The question is at around 38:30 of the following video, for those who want to hear it.

It’s interesting to hear this insofar as yesterday, the young Slovak admitted in his blog that he’s not always the easiest player to lead and that he’s often challenged by his coach. Both do so in a spirit of dialogue and collaboration, but St-Louis isn’t afraid to push his young forward.

It’s a good way of getting the best out of him, after all.

The coach notes that he’s confident that as Slaf moves his feet more, good things will start to happen more regularly. It’s not necessarily a huge change, but it would make him a much more active player… and that’s a good way to get opportunities in a game.

The question now is whether Slafkovský is up to his coach’s challenge. We know he’s capable of being a dominant player in a game, and if he’s really only one or two small adjustments away from being so, I hope his coach’s words this morning will lead to results on the ice.

As St-Louis said, now it’s up to him to prove it.


Overtime

– Coach looks forward to seeing Patrik Laine in a real practice jersey.

– For sure.

– Whew.

– What a save!

– Ballot of the day.

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