Photo of Martin St Louis

Photo credit: Screenshot

A striking scene unfolded during the Montreal Canadiens’ practice in Brossard.

For one of the rare times this season, head coach Martin St-Louis literally lost his patience and temporarily stopped practice, on two separate occasions, to send a serious message to his players.

Personally, I like seeing that!

Practice had just gotten underway when Martin St-Louis had to stop play (twice) because he wasn’t satisfied with his players’ effort.

The coach didn’t look very patient this morning, and that’s understandable given the recent results.

– Marc-Olivier Cook

A striking scene involving head coach Martin St-Louis, live from Brossard

Martin St-Louis did in fact put practice on pause, twice, and the message was clear. It had just gotten started when the coach shut everything down.

We saw a group that wasn’t showing the expected level of effort, and St-Louis didn’t let it drag on.

He restarted the drill, then abruptly stopped it again a few minutes later.

Let’s call it like it is: this morning, he wasn’t in the mood to joke around.

When it happens that quickly in a session, it sends a signal to everyone, not just the targeted player.

The Montreal Canadiens are in a stretch where every detail matters, and the atmosphere in Brossard reflects that.

A practice is often a mirror of what you want to fix, period. In this case, it was a drill where puck protection simply wasn’t there.

St-Louis took several long minutes to speak directly, eye to eye, with his guys.

A Montreal Canadien that wants to move forward doesn’t have the luxury of floating, even in practice-especially after the meltdown against the Boston Bruins last Saturday.

Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics

POLL

3 HOURS AGO   |   253 ANSWERS

Martin St-Louis abruptly stops practice midway after losing patience with his players’ effort

Do you like seeing this kind of emotion from Martin St-Louis?