* They start off by talking about Mike Hoffman, and his improved play of late. Martin talks about how Hoffman’s main attribute is his offensive skill. He’s someone who has a shot that other teams need to respect and defend against. Martin thinks that one of issues with the Canadiens right now is that they have too many players who fill similar roles. Hoffman, Dadonov and Drouin all play similar games, and thus, don’t really work well together. When we played Hoffman with a responsible centreman like Dvorak and a grinder like Gallagher though, suddenly his production improves. * McKenna talks about how this team has been largely carried by Suzuki and Caufield this season, and asks what a coach can do to not rely too heavily on one line. Martin says that you do not break up that line. When you have a line that clicks, you don’t break them up just because other players are struggling. Martin thinks St. Louis just needs to keep working with the underperforming players until they find their game. Additionally, once Anderson comes back, Martin thinks the lineup will be a bit more balanced. * Martin compliments the 4th line of Slafkovsky, Armia and Evans, saying they have been very hard working and defensively responsible. * Starr talks about our goal tending, asking if it has been masking some of our flaws recently. Martin says that coaching and management must be very happy with the goal tending right now but compares our situation to that of the Canucks last year, where Demko covered for a lot of their issues in the second half of the season. Still, it is nice for the rookies on our defense to have someone behind them that can bail them out when they make a mistake. * McKenna asks if the team should be playing Montembeault more since he has been playing so well. Martin thinks the team should stick with what they have been doing. Playing Allen about 2/3rds of the time, and Monty 1/3rd of the time has been working so far, so why change? * McKenna talks about how the French media has been very positive about Montembeault because he is a home-grown talent. He asks if coaches have any difficulty dealing with this kind of media pressure. Martin says that you just have to tune that stuff out. He cites how his decision to play Halak over Price in the play-offs in 2010 was an unpopular decision, but it was the right one to make at the time and it paid off. As a coach, you need to do what is best for the team and disregard what the fans or media is saying. * McKenna asks if Martin ever listened to sports radio when he was coach. Martin says that he would occasionally listen so he could get the pulse of what the outside world was saying, but otherwise he’d listen to country music on the radio. McKenna asks what country music he listens to, which Martin responds to, saying he prefers 90’s and 2000’s country. * Starr asks about how Martin would have handled the number of penalties that Montreal received against Detroit. Martin says it can be difficult to keep your cool in a heated scenario, but you should still be respectful when dealing with the refs. If you make a big scene, refs are less likely to give you the benefit of the doubt going forward, but if you are respectful, they may be more willing to see things your way in the future.
Edit: The interview is with Jacques Martin, in case it wasn’t clear.
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**Summary**
* They start off by talking about Mike Hoffman, and his improved play of late. Martin talks about how Hoffman’s main attribute is his offensive skill. He’s someone who has a shot that other teams need to respect and defend against. Martin thinks that one of issues with the Canadiens right now is that they have too many players who fill similar roles. Hoffman, Dadonov and Drouin all play similar games, and thus, don’t really work well together. When we played Hoffman with a responsible centreman like Dvorak and a grinder like Gallagher though, suddenly his production improves.
* McKenna talks about how this team has been largely carried by Suzuki and Caufield this season, and asks what a coach can do to not rely too heavily on one line. Martin says that you do not break up that line. When you have a line that clicks, you don’t break them up just because other players are struggling. Martin thinks St. Louis just needs to keep working with the underperforming players until they find their game. Additionally, once Anderson comes back, Martin thinks the lineup will be a bit more balanced.
* Martin compliments the 4th line of Slafkovsky, Armia and Evans, saying they have been very hard working and defensively responsible.
* Starr talks about our goal tending, asking if it has been masking some of our flaws recently. Martin says that coaching and management must be very happy with the goal tending right now but compares our situation to that of the Canucks last year, where Demko covered for a lot of their issues in the second half of the season. Still, it is nice for the rookies on our defense to have someone behind them that can bail them out when they make a mistake.
* McKenna asks if the team should be playing Montembeault more since he has been playing so well. Martin thinks the team should stick with what they have been doing. Playing Allen about 2/3rds of the time, and Monty 1/3rd of the time has been working so far, so why change?
* McKenna talks about how the French media has been very positive about Montembeault because he is a home-grown talent. He asks if coaches have any difficulty dealing with this kind of media pressure. Martin says that you just have to tune that stuff out. He cites how his decision to play Halak over Price in the play-offs in 2010 was an unpopular decision, but it was the right one to make at the time and it paid off. As a coach, you need to do what is best for the team and disregard what the fans or media is saying.
* McKenna asks if Martin ever listened to sports radio when he was coach. Martin says that he would occasionally listen so he could get the pulse of what the outside world was saying, but otherwise he’d listen to country music on the radio. McKenna asks what country music he listens to, which Martin responds to, saying he prefers 90’s and 2000’s country.
* Starr asks about how Martin would have handled the number of penalties that Montreal received against Detroit. Martin says it can be difficult to keep your cool in a heated scenario, but you should still be respectful when dealing with the refs. If you make a big scene, refs are less likely to give you the benefit of the doubt going forward, but if you are respectful, they may be more willing to see things your way in the future.
Edit: The interview is with Jacques Martin, in case it wasn’t clear.
Great summary blaze, thanks as always OG