The Canadian received a visit from the Buffalo Sabers yesterday at the Bell Center.
The Sabres, who had lost their last 10 games, saw their owner the day before, Terry Pegulaflying to Montreal to meet his team’s players with the aim of whipping them. We could therefore expect a frenzied duel in which the visitors would come out very strong.
That’s not ultimately what happened at all as the Canadian took a 1-0 lead in the first seconds of the game, then quickly put the match out of reach of the opposing team from the first period, en route to an easy 6-1 victory.
In the win, the star striker Patrik Laine scored a hat trick, his first in his new uniform, scoring all his goals on the power play.
Moreover, the Canadian benefited from another power play at the end of the match and it would have been easy for St. Louis to take Laine on the ice as well as his best teammates to allow him to score a fourth goal in front a delirious crowd. However, that is not what he did.
Not wanting to humiliate his opponents while the match was out of reach, the Canadiens head coach instead had the presence of mind to send the second wave of his power play into the fray, so as not to offend anyone. .
Lots of class from Martin St-Louis who sends his support players on this power play at the end of the match. I know a lot of coaches who wouldn’t act like that.
– Anthony Marcotte
We see here that as a former player, St. Louis understands this unwritten rule in the league that not all head coaches necessarily always follow.
These are the kind of rules that, when not followed and the opponent feels humiliated, stay with them for a long time and often can come back to haunt the offending team in the near future.
See the post at the bottom.
