The CH delivered two atrocious performances after Martin St-Louis’ praise

October 30 evening (or October 31 morning in Quebec time): Martin St-Louis comes out publicly to say that his club has just played its best game since he’s been in charge – in nearly 100 games. That’s no mean feat… especially since the Habs had just lost their game!

Okay, so the Habs couldn’t beat the mighty Stanley Cup champions at home in Vegas, but they did lose in a shootout (3 – 2), after dominating 39 – 25 in shots on goal. No worse for wear!

Prior to that game in Nevada, the CH had won their previous two games, and 4 of their last 5. They were on a superb roll, even making us collectively forget about Kirby Dach’s serious injury and surgery.

Unfortunately, the chain came off after the Vegas game: a 3-2 loss in Arizona in a game completely dominated by the Coyotes, then another defeat, this time by a 6-3 score, against the Blues in St. Louis. The Tricolore may have played its two worst games of the season following its superb performance in Vegas.

As of this morning, the club has won less than 50% of its games in 2023-24, 5 out of 11.

What happened between the Vegas game and the other two on American soil?

Did Céline Dion and her son come to put a curse on the Montreal club? Did the video of the guys playing soccer in the parking lot – since removed – have anything to do with it?

Of course not!

But it’ll be interesting to see this week whether the Habs can get back on track… or whether they’ll start losing more and more games, which would have us using #SaisonFiniePourCelebrini or #AmenPourEiserman on social networks? If they lose three or four games between now and Sunday night – when they’ll be playing in front of their fans three times out of four – there’ll be plenty to wonder about.

For the time being, it’s safe to assume that the club has simply been struggling to pick up points on the road. Nothing more than that. In short, he may have dressed up as CF Montreal on Halloween night, forgetting to remove his costume afterwards…

But I’m going to dare to raise another question here this morning; let me know what you think on social networks.

Did Martin St-Louis, who constantly tries to dip into the positive and isn’t afraid to denounce journalists who are more neutral, objective and realistic, make a mistake by praising his players so much in public after the loss in Vegas?

I understand what they were trying to do (lessen the magnitude of the defeat and give his guys confidence)… except that since the NHL isn’t a development league, but rather a results league, was it really justified to applaud a defeat so much in front of the media and fans?

Did the players get the whole message, or did they tell themselves that losing wasn’t such a big deal after all?

Sometimes, human beings tend to rest on their laurels after very good comments. It’s a human reflex that most people have.

“We lost, but the coach told everyone we played our best game in a year and a half!”

Some coaches hesitate before throwing too many flowers at their players. They’re afraid it will have the opposite effect to the one initially desired. You want to instill confidence and motivate your troops, but some of them translate these words into “I can relax a bit; I don’t need to be in the carpet as much. My boss is happy.”

The older generation wasn’t known for throwing around a lot of compliments. In the locker room, in the factories, at school… it was more a case of constantly trying to keep everyone on their toes slash motivated, if I’m to believe their ways. Unfortunately, many of them went too far and mentally attacked the people below them in the hierarchy.

Except that then, as now, many people don’t respond well to too many frequent compliments. And that’s a fact.

This morning, I wondered whether the Habs players, who compete night after night against the best players in the world, are better or worse when over-complimented.

Nick Suzuki started producing after the coach (respectfully) criticized him in public.

Martin St-Louis and several other players recognized that a guy like John Tortorella had brought out the best in them on the ice.

Carbo was fired by Bob Gainey shortly after he heard Gainey claim in public that Tortorella was his best move as GM of the Habs.

I think the important thing is not to be afraid to tell the truth… to stick to the truth. A guy plays well: you tell him.

A guy plays badly: you tell him too.

There’s nothing worse than being told you’re bad when you’re good at something…

But just below that, there’s probably being told you’re good and efficient when you’re not.

Especially when you’re at the top of your profession.It doesn‘t help you progress. Talk to Juraj Slafkovsky! You can tell him that he’s extremely good and that he’s the best player on the planet, but that won’t make him a player diametrically opposed to the one we currently see on the ice. Being honest with him will (maybe)…

Yes, you need to feel the support, backing and confidence of yourbossto perform well in life… but your boss mustn’t exaggerate the weight of the flowers (or the pot), otherwise he won’t help you really progress.

We’ll see this week if the Canadiens can once again become the club that played so well a week ago in Vegas. Part of the answer will come tomorrow night at the Bell Centre against the Lightning.

Let’s hope all the good comments about Brendan Gallagher – from journalists, fans and, above all, his coach – don’t put him out of action…

Breaking news

– Something’s happening in the minors.

– New hire for Montreal CF.

– It’s all part of the game.