Stanley25: when Martin St-Louis’ leadership was called into question

For those of you who haven’t yet had a chance to listen to the latest episode of the Stanley25 podcast, I recommend you do so.

Max and JT took the microphone earlier this week to share their thoughts. Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, hard coaching, Alex Newhook and Mike Tyson are just some of the topics on the menu.

The tip with Lysanne Richard is also not to be missed.

But there’s one bit that caught my eye more than the others. We’re talking about the moment when Maxime Truman talked about Martin St-Louis’ leadership… back when he was a player.

We go back to when St-Louis wasn’t chosen by his Tampa Bay Lightning GM, Steve Yzerman, to represent Canada at the 2014 Olympics.

St-Louis had been ignored by his GM before finally being a replacement choice afterwards. And clearly, he didn’t take it, which explains why he asked to finish his career with the New York Rangers.

But what was it about the Lightning captain that kept him out? Was #26’s leadership at fault?

Max wonders about Martin St-Louis… Episode 16 of #Stanley25 is available everywhere! https://t.co/LqTlPdjc59 pic.twitter.com/sEcixtMeAe

– 9millions (@9millions_) November 19, 2024

According to what colleague Truman reports, one of his friends was called to work on a press conference where a member of Team Canada was present. And she was asked publicly why St-Louis had been ignored at the base even though he’d been invited to the camp.

Her answer?

She said because he had bad leadership. He came with a swollen head (…)

In life, you have to have positive leadership. In life, you must never take anything for granted. In life, you have to be open and listen to the instructions you’re given. – Maxime Truman, reporting the situation

As Max says, she didn’t destroy him, but she did say he arrived with the wrong attitude. That’s a new light on the situation that we hadn’t heard before.

What do you think?

The thing to keep in mind (and as Max wonders in the podcast) is, in the moment, how Martin St-Louis translates this as coach of the Canadiens.

Is he the right person to lead youngsters after learning from his mistakes as a player? Or, on the contrary, does it speak volumes about his way of thinking?

We know that a star player isn’t always easy to manage. But here, as a coach, his role is different – especially for a team in the midst of a rebuilding process.

If you ask me, I think the coach has learned from these experiences over time – especially in his new role. That said, he’ll always have a certain drive that he has to manage well: that’s how he made his name in hockey.

Sports fans I Listen to Stéphane Waite and @arpon Basu discuss @CanadiensMTL and NHL hockey with @LangloisMario.https://t.co/4Vkq4wmNiC

– 98,5 Sports (@985Sports) November 20, 2024

Overtime

– Read on.

Bad signings. Limited offseason training. No goalie in camp. The emergence of Dark Monty.

How a collision of circumstances knocked Jim Montgomery off the rails. https://t.co/U5eDzNqCan

– Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) November 20, 2024

– Speak of the devil.

My column on how when Martin St. Louis was first hired as coach of the Canadiens his job was to make hockey fun again for players, which meant focusing on offense. Now the focus has switched to defence and we’re starting to see some results #Habs #HabsIO: https://t.co/9ejBR1ioy7

– Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) November 20, 2024

– Hum…

Dach is obviously not happy with his practice pic.twitter.com/oKUvUcgg3s

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) November 20, 2024

– Good text.

When talking about Matthew Gaudreau, those who knew him often slip into the present tense. His death is still so recent that, for some, it doesn’t feel real that he’s gone. Perhaps it never will.

Why he meant so much to so many: https://t.co/vklydAkDFk

– Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) November 20, 2024