Ducharme's way of speaking would have hurt him as head coach of the Canadiens

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Jeff Drouin
April 24, 2022 (12:20)

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Despite the Habs' seven-game losing streak, the team has a lot more bite since Martin St-Louis took over from Dominique Ducharme behind the bench.

The interim head coach is more dynamic than his predecessor and as Max Truman of Danslescoulisses.com reports, there is another major aspect that differentiates St-Louis from the former Habs coach.

Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault was on 91.9 Sports and reflected on his first season in Montreal, which was full of ups and downs.

When hosts Louis-Philippe Guy and Gilbert Delorme asked him what the difference was between Martin St-Louis and Dominique Ducharme, the goalie was quite clear in his comments.

"Martin is perfectly bilingual, so in the room, he expresses himself really well. Then, it's Martin St-Louis, so when he speaks, the guys listen to him. He is very respected. The way he wants us to play, he pushes us a lot. The practices, too, it's really all the time high pace. That helps in the games, too. Like I did, the guys want to play for him. He's a guy that was so respected during his hockey career, and then he's still respected since he's our coach. It's just fun to play with him on the ice."

Can we conclude from Montembeault's comments that Ducharme had difficulty expressing himself in English and that the players did not respect him?

Not necessarily, but you have to admit that Ducharme didn't have the same aplomb as St. Louis during press briefings, and it's quite possible that the message of a former NHL player turned coach could get through to his players better.

In fact, Guy himself wondered if Ducharme's lack of English language skills made it difficult for the players to understand his system.

"Could it be that Ducharme wasn't good enough in English to properly explain his complex game system? "

It's possible, and according to many, this is the case. But beyond the language barrier, the former Habs coach had lost his locker room for quite some time before he was fired.