What happens behind closed doors before the head coach speaks after a game? Former Canadiens pilot Michel Therrien, who recently commented on a hot outing by Martin St-Louis, shared his own experience. While the club’s communications team prepares the coach for the questions that will be asked after a loss, there is often no time to relax after a difficult performance.

“They were so good. They knew about 80% of the questions that would come up. It helped me a lot, even if emotions took over at times,” he recalled on TVA Sports’ airwaves ahead of the CH-Tampa Bay Lightning meeting.

See Michel Therrien’s comments in the video above.

“Like Martin (in Ottawa), you have about 10 minutes to decompress. It’s not always obvious.”

Therrien says he has completed training focused on communicating with the media. He understood that the coach’s answer was always more important than a journalist’s question, since he was “addressing the fans”.

However, he admits that he wasn’t always the best student.

“I can tell you one thing, I didn’t always follow the advice that was given to me!”

Now that he’s in the media camp, Therrien understands that St. Louis’ comments went viral after Wednesday’s loss to Ottawa.

“On the media side, we all love a little controversy. Of course it comes with experience. Martin, I find him very, very good at press conferences. He brings good points and he expresses himself very well, he points out.

“Emotions also come into play. We are all human. Sometimes you get angry after a game. Whether against a referee or against your team. It’s not always obvious. I think that Martin St-Louis is excellent at dealing with the media.”