BUFFALO | Going through a series of setbacks is not pleasant. Especially when it pushes you all the way to the bottom of the NHL. Martin St-Louis’ troop therefore set itself the mission of leaving KeyBank Arena with victory. At all costs.
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“The boys had had enough,” said the Canadian’s coach, after this hard-fought victory.
To achieve their goals, they had to work hard and dig deep into their resources. It’s not easy to see the opponent take the lead after having held the lead on three occasions. A mentally fragile team like the Canadian could very well have given in to discouragement.
This was not the case.
“I know that, for some time, we have been a fragile group. Tonight, the boys were not going to remain fragile,” said the Canadian head coach.
When doubt sets in
It’s not just the players who have had more fragile mental toughness recently. St-Louis itself, despite its 1,134 games of NHL experience, began to feel doubts emerging.
“When I was a player, there were times when I said to myself that I would never score another goal in the league. As a young coach, recently, I found myself asking: ‘Am I going to win another game in this league?’” he admitted.
“Sometimes it’s not necessarily the way you play that knocks you down emotionally, it’s the result.”
Because St-Louis is not giving up. Despite the team’s recent setbacks, he continues to insist that they are making progress.
“I know not everyone thinks like me. I know the results weren’t there. But I have seen evolution in the way we want to play as a team.”
The message is still getting through
This message of progress seems to have gotten through to his players.
“It’s a victory that feels good. It’s been a while since we won, even though we played the right way. The only thing missing was the results,” said Cole Caufield, once back in the Canadian locker room.
While shouts of joy and rallying chants could be heard in the adjacent room, Kirby Dach echoed the same sentiment.
“We really wanted to get out of this bad situation and win a match! launched number 77, who collected his first two points in seven games. Hopefully this will be the start of a great streak. There is nothing perfect. There are things to improve, but if we can continue to play the way we did tonight…”
