When he played Martin St-Louis, he aroused passions. His passion, his determination and his will to make a difference were palpable.

His teammates had no choice but to follow his example.

Since arriving as the Canadiens’ head coach, St-Louis has used one of the words that players seek in their hearts and souls.

I witnessed this on Saturday morning when I spoke to him along with my colleagues Patrick Lalime, Renaud Lavoie and Louis Jean.

At some point in the discussion, I interrupted St-Louis and said, “Martin, what you’re telling us is coming for me. If you need a player tonight let me know. I go meal the bands for you,” I said with fire in my eyes.

St-Louis laughed heartily.

And I added, “What you say, Martin, it feels good. It is a discourse and a message that are new.”

What he said mainly related to the way he works with his young players. St-Louis and his coaching staff have made it their mission not to “about trainersor if you like, don’t try to constantly tell players what to do.

In my opinion there is nothing worse than a coach who is always yelling at his players and constantly pointing out mistakes.

St-Louis’ approach is to correct mistakes that become strong trends, ie mistakes that repeat themselves. In this case he will intervene. If the bug is unique or isolated, they have time to judge for themselves what’s good or not.

St-Louis also reminded us that Connor McDavid and Chris Kreider are extremely fast skaters, but they could adjust their exceptional top speeds.

According to him, in their early days, McDavid and Kreider were always at full speed, much like a pitcher throwing at 100 mph all the time. Eventually, the thugs adapt.

According to St. Louis, McDavid and Kreider are now changing their speed tiers, which confuses other players, like the same pitcher who still throws just as fast but every now and then adds a speed change or curve ball to his arsenal.

Guess what ? McDavid is even better and Kreider has just scored 50 goals.

In short, Martin St-Louis is inspirational and gives us a refreshing message. It feels good.

The players want to play for him. I would and so will you.