With allowing 33 goals in their last 5 games, and Habs forward Josh Anderson in his post game press conference saying “what an embarassment it was”, you could just tell the writing was on the wall for now former Habs head coach Domnique Ducharme. Also, Jeff Petry weeks ago saying there was no structure and players don’t know what to do on the ice.
It just seemed Ducharme, while knowing there is no chance at making the playoffs, wanted to keep trying to put the best lineup out there to win games. Now, to an extent, there’s no problem with that, but when you have players coming out and saying things like embarrassment and no structure, the head coach has to realize that something has to change. Clearly, Ducharme decided to stick to his principles and kept trying the same system each game, and every one the same result: a blowout loss. Why did he not try and see what he had with his young players, and play them 20 minutes a night to better develop them and focus on next season? We’ll never know, but he was doing what he thought was right.
With Ducharme gone, Habs right away bring Martin St.Louis to coach on an interim basis. St.Louis, a hall of famer, has been coaching in Connecticut as an assistant, but now jumps up 20 stories to take the mantle behind the bench. What can we expect from him? St.Louis as a player, was gifted offensively, the puck just seemed to find him wherever he was on the ice. A clutch player, who showed up every night to play, but always raised his game come playoff time. Whatever it is, he clearly aligns with what General Manager Kent Hughes sees as a “modern day” coach.
At this point, what do they have to lose? Seems Hughes and Gorton are looking ahead to next season already. Will St.Louis be apart of that? Only time will tell, but one things for sure, the habs have hit rock bottom. Time to see if St.Louis can help them see a light at the end of tunnel.
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