Even though Martin St-Louis is now the National Hockey League head coach with the Montreal Canadiens, he hasn't changed the philosophy he adopted a few years ago when he coached his sons in minor hockey with the Intermediate Fairfield Rangers .

At least that's the opinion of Sean Haggerty, coach of the Rangers' pee-wee team attending the international pee-wee hockey tournament in Quebec. The latter's brother, Ryan, topped the pee-wee and bantam ranks with St-Louis, as their two sons played together.

For his part, Sean, whose sons are younger, often had the opportunity to share the ice with St-Louis but also work with him off the ice.

The same coach

Apparently everyone was a little surprised when CH announced the hiring of St-Louis as the team's head coach in 2022 while he led his son Mason with the minors program. 13 years Rangers.

“In our eyes it was a disappointment to go with the Canadian!” Sean Haggerty jokes.

Upon his arrival in Montreal, St-Louis was a breath of fresh air by passionately explaining his “concepts” of the game and his perspective on hockey. As Haggerty listened to him, he wasn't surprised.

“He’s the same coach he was in minor hockey. Martin's greatest strength has always been making the players on the ice think and read the play rather than sending the puck deep into the crease and chasing it. He's obviously adapted some of his methods due to the age difference of the players, but the concepts he applies in Montreal are the same ones he taught here.

Photo credit: QMI photo agency, JOEL LEMAY

By the way, no insult to the little Canadians: St-Louis still has a strong connection to the Mid Fairfield Rangers and regularly keeps up to date with the state of affairs.

“He is always looking for our games. He's a guy who not only loves hockey, but also loves watching young people develop. He knows several of them on our team.”

At the moment, the Rangers have not asked St-Louis for an encouraging video to motivate the players, but “we will work on it as the tournament progresses,” assures the head coach.

Best team in the country

One thing is certain: the young Rangers have a chance of progressing in this tournament. With a record of 56 wins, four losses and five draws, the Rangers are No. 1 in the United States according to the website MYHockey Rankings and have won their first two games in the Class AAA competition so far.

They defeated the lowly 12th-ranked Buffalo Sabers on Thursday morning^Are in the country with a score of 3:1.

“It is certain that participating in a tournament of this importance with the status of the No. 1 team in the United States brings with it a certain amount of pressure. On the other hand, our young people are used to playing big tournaments and dealing with pressure. I think they’re getting more and more comfortable.”

Photo credit: Photo provided by the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament

This program has been very successful in recent years. The Rangers won AAA in 2017 and then lost in the finals in 2020.

Players like Trevor Zegras and Spencer Knight have worn the colors of this Connecticut team. Zegras' father Gary is vice chairman of the Rangers.

“The success of this program is due to the fact that we had many top coaches volunteering their time, including Martin [St-Louis]who was a very important part of this organization,” concludes Haggerty.

The Mid Fairfield Rangers play their third game of the tournament on Friday at 2:15 p.m. against the Little Canadiens at the Videotron Center.