Martin St-Louis: “It wasn’t an evening where I was going to be patient.”

Once again, the Montreal Canadiens have disappointed their fans with another loss.

Should I remind you that this is the eighth loss in nine games for the Tricolore?

Nothing to help the team stay in the famous mix…

As I write these lines, following the results of the two games this afternoon, only the poor Buffalo Sabres have fewer points than the Habs in the East.

We’re starting to lose a bit of patience in Montreal, and rightly so.

This was also the case for coach Martin St-Louis, who made a rather shocking statement in the post-game press conference after the defeat of his team.

“It was not an evening where I was going to be patient.”

– MSL on his line changes and goaltender.

— Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) February 9, 2025

The coach has every reason to become impatient, as his team simply isn’t showing up, apart from 2-3 players who are playing well (like Brendan Gallagher, who scored two goals today).

The coach needed to put on his boots and stir the pot, as things were starting to stick to the bottom of the cauldron.

And we saw it quite early in the game when he didn’t wait before demoting Juraj Slafkovsky to the third line in favor of Jake Evans.

A fully deserved demotion for Slaf.

Jake Evans has taken Juraj Slafkovsky’s spot on #Habs No. 1 line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) February 9, 2025

Slafkovsky is now with Dvorak and Gallagher… A move – far from being a promotion – fully deserved #CH

— Francois Gagnon (@GagnonFrancois) February 9, 2025

Jakub Dobes also faced repercussions, as he was pulled from the game after allowing three goals on just eight shots.

Despite MSL seemingly losing patience, that’s part of the game. This is only the third year of the official rebuild: patience is required.

However, the coach doesn’t intend to say anything to his players for them to remain positive, as they know what they are capable of doing.

#Habs Martin St-Louis on if he will say anything to his players to remain positive about their playoff aspirations: “I don’t think I need to convince them; they know what they’re capable of. I’m not going to beg and convince ‘hey, we’re OK – keep going’ no!”

— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) February 9, 2025

“I don’t think I need to convince them, they know what they’re capable of. I’m not going to beg and convince saying ‘Hey, we’re OK – let’s keep going’, no!” – Martin St-Louis

On this, the coach is absolutely right. Even though the group of players is quite young, they are not children either. They must pick themselves up, or they’ll face consequences like Slafkovsky.

In my opinion, the break for the Four Nations Tournament will do everyone good.

Slafkovsky actually already has plans:

Juraj Slafkovsky on his plans for the break:

“I’m going to the south. I will play a lot of volleyball and I will come back scoring 20 goals after the break.”

— Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) February 9, 2025

Let’s hope the words will follow the actions, as the saying goes.

In Brief
– Adam Engstrom believes that it is his defensive play that will take him to the NHL, even though he is showing very nice things offensively in his rookie season in the AHL.

“[Defense] is the most important thing in my progression.”

“[Defense] is the most important thing in my progression.”#GoRocket

— Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) February 9, 2025

– Bad news for the Americans ahead of the Four Nations Tournament.

Very bad news for the United States…https://t.co/6lQj0d0g63

— TVA Sports (@TVASports) February 9, 2025

– That’s how we know Ovechkin.

Every 3-assist game from Ovechkin this decade:

— today vs Utah
— November 24th, 2021 vs Montreal

Bro hates passing. pic.twitter.com/vwb7BMRnKd

— Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) February 9, 2025

– Everything is going well for the Canucks since the J.T. Miller trade.

Vancouver since trading J.T. Miller:

— 3-0-1 record
— 59.83 xGF% (4th in NHL)
— shutout Colorado 3-0
— beat Toronto 2-1
— Hronek is point/game
— Hughes has been injured the entire time

Maybe J.T. Miller was the right guy to trade? pic.twitter.com/XzVDMkZqFX

— Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) February 9, 2025

– Interesting.

A hint that Crosby will be there??? https://t.co/L2MpmGvTwn

— La Poche Bleue (@lapochebleue) February 9, 2025

– Already!

Time flies. https://t.co/RtCXy6TJIX

— Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) February 9, 2025