Martin St-Louis is about to be caught by the Montreal media's heavy-handedness

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Jeff Drouin
April 8, 2022 (11:44)

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Since taking over as interim head coach of the Habs, Martin St-Louis has been able to re-energize the team and bring back several players from his team, including a certain Cole Caufield

It's safe to say that the honeymoon between St. Louis and the fans is still going strong and will continue until the end of the season.

However, as my colleague Alexandre Desrosiers of RumorsandTransaction.com reports, that honeymoon won't last forever.

At least that's what former NHL coach Guy Boucher said.

While appearing on 98.5 with host Mario Langlois, Boucher said that just managing the media is practically a full-time job, especially at the NHL level.

"Just managing the media, for a coach in the National League, it's huge in your job. It's a huge part."

As we know, St. Louis, who had no experience running a professional field hockey team before landing with the Habs, will eventually have to face the music and especially learn how to navigate the media jungle that is Montreal.

"You're dealing with the media all the time and you also have your meetings with your media guys. They bring you up to speed on what's going on, to pay attention to such and such a case, what's going on in the world, the questions you might be asked, the pitfalls, what's been done or said in the League..."

"Because you, you're not reading all that. You don't have time. You just have time to eat, go to the bathroom and run your club."

The former Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators coach's comments are spot on in this regard. It must be said that St. Louis had somehow nothing to lose by coming with the Habs and that under these circumstances, he could make some experiences behind the bench.

But it will be interesting to see how the Habs' new coach will handle all of this with a new season starting and it's a safe bet that with the success he's had so far, there will be a lot more pressure and fan expectations for the team will be high.

Of course, if Martin St-Louis is back behind the bench for the start of the next season.

But according to Guy Boucher, that will be one of the next steps: how will he act when the media hype catches up with him?

Based on his experience, and the time it normally takes, Martin St-Louis could eventually be caught up in the Montreal media's clutter. On the other hand, let's admit that for the moment, he manages it perfectly!

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In your opinion, doesn't the CH's success since the arrival of Martin St-Louis behind the bench set the bar too high for next season?
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