The Canadian | Expectations have risen… so has accountability

Over his last three full seasons, the Canadian lost twice as many games (163) as he won (83). This is therefore not the first time that he finds himself at the heart of a series of defeats.

In fact, the streak of three consecutive defeats – and seven in nine games – that he is currently going through is relatively anecdotal compared to the lowest moments of recent years. Easy example: on five occasions, in the last campaign alone, the team went at least four games without winning.

However, we notice a change in the way in which the members of the organization approach their current shortage. As a confirmation, if it was necessary, that expectations have changed regarding the club’s performance and its results.

Suddenly, in the locker room, we no longer hear, or very little, talk about development and learning. These notions have not been eliminated, far from it; no one, after all, announced that the reconstruction was suddenly over. The discourse, however, has evolved.

“We are a team in transition,” suggested head coach Martin St-Louis. We are no longer at the same stage as one or two years ago. When you go from one stage to another, a transition takes place in different ways: individually, among the players, in terms of expectations and among the staff, too. »

More concretely, “we go from developing to learning to winning,” summarized the pilot.

We will quickly move on to the contradictory side of learning to win by losing as brutally as recently. Instead, let’s focus on manifesting that learning.

In that regard, the most spoken word in the locker room after Monday morning’s practice was responsibility. The time, we understand, is for accountability.

“The guys talk to each other more on the bench,” said Nick Suzuki. We are a team where everyone is responsible. We are all in this together. »

The discussion on this subject is constant between the players and the coaching staff, during and between games, said Kaiden Guhle.

There is no question here of blaming others. But we seem to have raised a level of honesty and frankness internally.

“It’s nothing personal, but the guys have to be responsible,” continued the defender. If you want to win and fight alongside your brothers, you have to be honest with them. This is what all winning teams do, in all sports. »

70 more matches

Guhle does not point fingers at his teammates, on the contrary. The atmosphere remains excellent within the group, he assures, even if victories are rare.

Monday’s training was intense, but had nothing to do with the heavy and long punishing session that St-Louis imposed on its troops last Friday.

“It’s a long season, we can’t languish,” Guhle said again. You have to learn to turn the page. We can keep [les défaites] in mind, but we don’t come here to complain. We are ready to work, and we can do it while having fun. »

Without obviously being happy about it, Juraj Slafkovsky wonders if his club’s difficult streak does not come, in a way, at a good time.

“There are 70 games left,” he recalled. Maybe it’s good that it’s happening now. These few defeats can wake us up. »

He too had received the memo about responsibility. “Every guy in this locker room has to be better,” he said. If we all play at our best, we will have the victories we want. But right now, we’re not there. »

True to form, the Slovak was very critical of his own work. His production of 8 points in 9 games is certainly more than adequate, but like the club’s other offensive attackers, his points mask a stellar defensive record.

“I want to be better than last year,” he said. I’m working on that. But [jusqu’ici] It didn’t turn out the way I wanted. »

Nick Suzuki, for his part, believes that as captain he must lead by example. Maybe even more than usual.

“Our entire leadership group needs to help turn the ship in the right direction,” he said. There are guys here who have a lot of experience; It’s up to us to lead the way. »

And added: “To play better. » Which would be, let’s admit, already a lot.

Revamped trios

Martin St-Louis had concocted four brand new trios on Monday. Kirby Dach thus returned to his place on the right of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, while Jake Evans received a promotion by finding himself in the center of Alex Newhook and Juraj Slafkovsky. On the third unit, Christian Dvorak was flanked by Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher, while Oliver Kapanen completed the formation with Emil Heineman and Joel Armia. On defense, Justin Barron was primarily paired with Arber Xhekaj, leading to speculation that Jayden Struble could skip his turn against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Marc Bureau as reinforcement

After having had a fair amount of success in the faceoff circles last season (51.5% efficiency, at 10^e rank in the NHL), the Habs have shown a serious decline in this regard so far this fall (47.6%, as of 25^e rank). To help its center players, management called on former CH Marc Bureau. A specialist in this facet of the game during his career on the ice in the 1990s, the Quebecer led specific exercises on Monday at the Brossard training center. “It’s a resource that we want to give to our young players to help them improve,” said Martin St-Louis. I think we are an organization that is proactive when it comes to focusing on specific expertise. »