The Bell Centre is no longer hostile to others; it is now hostile to the Canadiens.

One day or another, the CH organization will have to seriously address the issue. Because this is not normal…

Especially when your worst blowouts of the season are suffered in front of your fans (who pay several hundred dollars to come watch your show).

9 to 2 against the Penguins…

6 to 2 against the Golden Knights…

8 to 2 against the Kraken…

7 to 2 against the Rangers…

Something is wrong.

All the more so that the victories you’re managing to get are almost always against teams that will not make the playoffs…

It’s up to Martin St-Louis to reactNo, I do not have THE solution for Canadiens to start winning the majority of their home games. If I had it, I would sell it to the CH (or I would be hired to analyze their game internally).

Except I have a line of thought…

Many head coaches have burned themselves over the years by being too hard on their players.

But others have also burned themselves by being too soft… by being too close to them.

The regular players who do not deliver the goods have not been left out in recent years with the Canadiens.

The players expected to produce offensively, but who do not, are never punished. On the contrary: they are placed – Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach – on the first or second line with the team’s best forwards. And they continue to be given power play minutes…

Only Juraj Slafkovsky has been A LITTLE reprimanded for his disastrous performances (for a first overall pick who will earn $10 million next season).

In front of the media after the blowouts, the coach finds it funny, cracks jokes, looks devastated and repeats the same words about the referees, talks about bad luck and unlucky bounces…

But he never gets angry. He never throws stones at his players. He protects them.

And that might be the problem.

Martin St-Louis still seems to think like a player, not like a head coach. He still seems to think he is one of them.

You should not become a head coach hoping to extend the fun you had as a player. When you become a coach, you are no longer a player. You are no longer one of them.

And that, Martin St-Louis seems to have forgotten.

“Martin, it’s time for you to start coaching like a coach, not with a player mentality. You are no longer a player… and your players need a coach, not a guy who still thinks like a player. It’s time to stop protecting them, defending them, feeling sorry for them or whatever. The players must feel they are accountable for their play.” – me

Martin St-Louis once said that John Tortorella was not always fun on a day-to-day basis, but that he made him a better player… that Torts’ demands pushed him to become the player he is now.

Can you name me a single player that Martin St-Louis DRIVES to be better right now…

Come on, I’m waiting…

The time has come for Martin to coach, and not just to lead a group of hockey players. We’re not at the local arena for a Pee-Wee practice at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday.

In Brief

– JT and I welcomed Catherine F. (O.D.) and her sister Alexandra this week for a special episode of the podcast Stanley25. We talked about hockey, the Canadiens, and Montreal. If you’re interested, here’s the link:

– The Canadiens play a man-to-man system… Laine has Rakell as his man to mark… Rakell ends up all alone in the slot…