It was also the last game for Dominique Ducharme as head coach, with Anderson\u2019s words likely the final nail in the coffin.<\/p>\n
The next day, general manager Kent Hughes announced that Ducharme had been fired and that Martin St. Louis would take his place.<\/p>\n
![\"Canadiens](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0407-spt-col-cowan-x.jpg\")
Canadiens winger Josh Anderson holds off Columbus Blue Jackets\u2019 Dante Fabbro during first period in Montreal on March 26. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very happy to welcome Martin to the Canadiens organization,\u201d Hughes said at the time. \u201cNot only are we adding an excellent hockey man, but with Martin we are bringing in a proven winner and a man whose competitive qualities are recognized by all who have crossed his path.\u201d<\/p>\n
A proven winner as a Hall of Fame player, but St. Louis\u2019s only coaching experience was with his three sons in Connecticut\u2019s Mid-Fairfield Youth Hockey Association. St. Louis joked at his first news conference <\/a>that he was probably the most qualified guy for the job because the Canadiens were a group that needed to have some fun \u2014 like they did when they were kids playing as peewees.<\/p>\n St. Louis\u2019s first job was to make the game fun again for Anderson and the rest of the players. After that, he started teaching them how he wanted the team to play, saying it would be like a book and he was patiently going to go page by page and chapter by chapter.<\/p>\n The latest chapter of that book has the Canadiens making the playoffs for the second straight season by hitting the 100-point mark for the first time in nine years with a 45-22-10 record. They are 15 points ahead of their pace from last season when they qualified for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference in their final game with 91 points.<\/p>\n After the Canadiens\u2019 eight-game winning streak came to an end with a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils Sunday night at the Bell Centre, I reminded Anderson of his quote following Ducharme\u2019s last game as head coach and asked him what has impressed him most about St. Louis since he took over.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s just the passion that he has, not only when he played the game but for coaching,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cHe has something to say to us each and every day. A lot of the times, you want to go through a wall for this guy in his speeches. He\u2019s just very motivated and knows how to motivate his players and, obviously, he\u2019s very intelligent. Reads the room really well, so it\u2019s been a lot of fun to be coached by him.\u201d<\/p>\n The last four years have also been fun for St. Louis.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the most fun, I think, it\u2019s the journey itself,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cIt\u2019s not where I am today, it\u2019s the journey itself in anything. There\u2019s some ups and downs and that\u2019s part of the journey. You need the downs to really appreciate the ups \u2014 and that\u2019s just life. So, to me, it\u2019s the whole journey. <\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of these kids grow, grow together and the love they have for one another and the commitment they have to the group vs. the individual,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s been so fun for me to watch. The last two years, I feel we\u2019ve switched from learning how to play together to learning how to win. And I feel like the defensive part of the game is a big part of learning how to win, and I feel like I\u2019m proud of the group \u2014 talented players committing to that part of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n The Canadiens allowed only 14 goals during their eight-game win streak. <\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s a hard thing as a coach to convince your most talented players to play that (defensive) part of the game, and I feel like we have a group that\u2019s willing to do that, and that\u2019s why you can go on an eight-game winning streak at this time of the season,\u201d St. Louis said.<\/p>\n Good goaltending obviously helps, and the Canadiens have been getting that since the decision to fire goalie coach Eric Raymond on Jan. 28 and replace him with Marco Marciano. <\/a>The Canadiens have a 16-5-3 record since then, with Jakub Dobes posting an 11-3-1 record, a 2.39 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage, while Jacob Fowler is 4-2 since Marciano was hired, with a 2.36 GAA and .907 save percentage.<\/p>\n \u201cOur standards keep going up since I\u2019ve been here,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cEvery year, I feel like we raise the standards and our good is really good. So the challenge right now is, can we keep finding consistency in that? To me, if you have that consistency in that, I think our good is good enough to keep playing hockey in April and May. So, to me, that\u2019s a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n And another chapter in St. Louis\u2019s coaching book.<\/p>\n