Canadiens’ coach’s IQ, of course, didn’t change a whit between Saturday morning and Sunday night. The perception did.
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis was a bit of a dim bulb when he woke up Saturday morning, a guy who would lose a debate with a turnip.
By midnight Saturday, his IQ was up there with the legendary African grey parrot. And by Sunday night, he was borderline genius, as in move over Beethoven and look out, Scotty Bowman.
Face it, nothing cures bitching like winning.
After four consecutive losses and with the ever-unfaithful fan base turning on St. Louis like starving hyenas on a bone, the Habs won big against St. Louis Saturday night.
Just like that, St. Louis was a smart dude again, his young team in a six-team logjam in the Atlantic Division, tied at 4-4-1 with Buffalo, Toronto, Detroit and the Bruins and a point up on 4-4-0 Ottawa, which holds a game in hand.
The Canadiens are the youngest team in the league and they have managed to right the ship, at least temporarily, without defencemen Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron and forwards Juraj Slafkovsky and Patrik Laine. They’re in the midst of a rebuild and there are going to be stretches when it doesn’t go well.
St. Louis’s IQ, of course, didn’t change a whit between Saturday morning and Sunday night. The perception did. Maybe it’s time fans and some media folk grew up, realized that the upbeat, soft-spoken St. Louis is exactly what this young team needs and, well – shut it.
Making it up as you go along: The sequence went like this: Flyers’ Sean Couturier, cruising across the ice in the general direction of Kirby Dach’s head, was partially thwarted when Dach saw Couturier coming in time to whirl away with the hit, saving himself potentially serious damage.
Arber Xhekaj (AKA the Sheriff) trailed Couturier behind the net, where the Flyers captain dropped his gloves first and Xhekaj did the same. Before they could throw a punch, however, Philadelphia defenceman Nick Seeler came barreling in and hit Xhekaj low from behind, taking him down — as clear an instance of third man in as you’re going to see.
Referees Ghislain Hebert and Carter Sandlak huddled and talked it over, then delivered their ruling: Two minutes to Xhekaj for unsportsmanlike conduct. Nothing for Couturier (who should have received the same unsportsmanlike conduct penalty) and nothing for Seeler.
Hebert and Sandlak, apparently, are unfamiliar with NHL Rule 46.16: “A game misconduct penalty, at the discretion of the Referee, shall be imposed on any player who is the first to intervene (third man in) in an altercation already in progress.”
It’s there in black and white. The sequence is utterly baffling. Was Xhekaj penalized for being Xhekaj? Did two referees somehow manage not to spot Seeler barreling in for a dangerous hit from behind?
Who knows? It’s the NHL, and it’s never going to change.
Where does the club go from here? CF Montréal was dead in the water until coach Laurent Courtois somehow propelled his players into a winning streak and a brief turn in the playoffs. But according to the latest figures, CF Montréal was last in the league with a $12-million payroll. While money alone guarantees nothing (Toronto FC missed the playoffs despite the second-highest payroll in MLS), a payroll at the bottom guarantees you won’t win a title.
In seven years as mayor, Plante’s administration was as free from corruption as it is possible to be in Montreal. She had a vision that went well beyond scattering ugly office and condo buildings at random all over the city and inviting ever more traffic.
Above all, Plante had the eminent good sense to extricate Montreal from a host city role during the 2026 World Cup. FIFA’s business model is painfully simple: FIFA gets the money and the glory, the host cities get the headaches and the debt.
Plante has been the best mayor since I arrived in this city in 1971. We will always be in her debt for saving us from FIFA.
Heroes: Valérie Plante, Tyrice Beverette, Laurent Courtois, Kirby Dach, Nick Suzuki, Jake Evans, Cole Caufield, Alex Newhook, Samuel Montembeault, William Dandjinou, Jayden Daniels, Fernando Valenzuela, Jeff Gorton, Kent Hughes &&&& last but not least, Martin St. Louis.
Zeros: Ghislain Hebert, Carter Sandlak, Randy Ambrosie, John Tavares, Harrison Butker, Mel Gibson, Jeff Bezos, Aaron Rodgers, John Herdman, Bud Selig Jr., Claude Brochu, David Samson &&&& last but not least, Jeffrey Loria. Now and forever.