BROSSARD, Que.— It was pure leadership from Martin St. Louis.
When the Montreal Canadiens coach was asked on Saturday morning about how Zachary Bolduc could make himself a little more noticeable despite getting less ice time of late, he began talking about Bolduc needing to focus on process rather than results before shifting the onus off Bolduc and onto himself.
“I can do a better job of managing ice-time,†St. Louis said.
This was St. Louis acknowledging his role in Bolducâ€s recent dip in production, and it was behaviour congruent with his comportment in general since becoming coach of the Canadiens.
Yes, St. Louis is the designated leader of this team. But that doesnâ€t make him a good one.
St. Louis†experience has made him a good one. His relatability has made him a good one. And a big part of whatâ€s made St. Louis a great leader has been his insistence on being as accountable to the people heâ€s leading as he is to the people who are leading him.
What the coach did on Saturday was another example of that.
And it would be one thing for St. Louis to just say he can do a better job of managing ice-time—especially pertaining to Bolduc, who played under 10 minutes in New Jersey Thursday and roughly five minutes less than he was averaging through a start that saw him produce three goals and four points in the first three games—but itâ€s another thing entirely to back up that talk by starting Bolducâ€s line for all three periods of Saturdayâ€s game.
St. Louis joked on Monday that the timing of that was convenient, given his comments earlier on Saturday.
“It actually looked really good, right?†he asked before saying that the Utah Mammoth starting Jack McBainâ€s line with Michael Carcone and Lawson Crouse allowed him to start Bolducâ€s line with Kirby Dach and Brendan Gallagher while saving Nick Suzukiâ€s line with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky for a matchup with Nick Schmaltz, Logan Cooley and Klayton Keller.
But St. Louis couldâ€ve chosen Alex Newhookâ€s line with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov to start against McBainâ€s line. He couldâ€ve opted for Jake Evans, with Joe Veleno and Josh Anderson. And in addition to saving his top pair of Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson for the Schmaltz-Cooley-Keller matchup, he couldâ€ve easily started Jayden Struble and Lane Hutson instead of tapping Alex Carrier and Arber Xhekaj.
But this was not only a way to get short-shifted Xhekaj and Bolduc on the ice more often; it was a way to make both players feel important at a time they might be feeling less so. And St. Louis made it clear thatâ€s exactly how he wanted both players to feel about it when he said on Monday: “It was more who they started on the other side, but it gave me the opportunity to do that, and I took advantage of it.â€
That framing—of being thankful for the opportunity to boost up his players in need of a boost—tells you exactly what kind of leader St. Louis is.
He is a nurturer, and not just because he thinks thatâ€s what this generation of players needs, but also because thatâ€s who he is at his core.
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St. Louis is the type of guy who will stand in front of the media and often deflect praise for his role in a playerâ€s success while also taking ownership of his role in a playerâ€s struggle. And if you think heâ€s putting on a show when he does that, walking into the dressing room to call himself and his coaching staff out to his players proves he isnâ€t.
“If somethingâ€s not working, heâ€ll come in the room and say, ‘Thatâ€s on us, boys.†Like, ‘We shouldâ€ve switched this up, or that up,â€â€ said Xhekaj Monday. “Heâ€s great in that aspect.â€
We doubt every one of St. Louis†coaches throughout his Hall-of-Fame playing career comported themselves the same way.
But whether they did or didnâ€t wouldnâ€t necessarily have dictated how St. Louis chose to conduct himself.
He has shown he is his own person, and he has proven that person possesses natural leadership qualities.
Accountability to the people heâ€s leading is one of them.
“Because I feel if Iâ€m asking my players to self-assess with some truth, Iâ€ve got to be able to do the same thing,†St. Louis said. “So, I have to own it. If I expect my players to own it, I better own it myself.â€
That is the central tenet of leadership.
Leaders donâ€t ask the people theyâ€re leading to do what theyâ€re unwilling to do themselves.
And leaders lead with empathy, which is what St. Louis was doing when he was asked about what Bolduc could do better and responded with what both he and Bolduc could do better.
“I respect Marty for that,†said Bolduc, who also said he was aware of what St. Louis had said before he dressed for Saturdayâ€s game. “Thereâ€s no grey zone with him. Heâ€s pretty clear and heâ€s not scared to tell what he thinks and what his thoughts are.
“And on my side, I think I can play better and bring more to the team.â€
It was an important admission for a player who has just one goal and one assist through his last 12 games, but it was an easier one for him to make after his coach had already given one of the primary reasons for his drop in production.
Speaking with Canadiens players in general, they all seem to easily come to assessing themselves honestly. Even the youngest ones, like rookie Ivan Demidov, who said after his most productive game in the league—a three-pointer against the Vancouver Canucks—that he didnâ€t play his best.
Itâ€s not a coincidence. Thatâ€s the culture the 50-year-old St. Louis set, and he practises what he preaches.
Few knew what to expect when St. Louis graduated from the bench of his sonâ€s bantam team to the Canadiens†bench. He said on Monday heâ€s learned a lot in the four years since, and that the reps and experience he gained sharpened his abilities to manage games and help his team exploit the vulnerabilities of its opponents.
But St. Louis also said on Monday, “Weâ€re all vulnerable, weâ€re not perfect, weâ€re chasing perfection knowing weâ€ll never get there,†and it was important that he said it, including himself in that statement.
Good coaches donâ€t put themselves above the team, and good coaches have the humility to publicly admit they can be better.
St. Louis did that on Saturday when he talked about managing the ice time of his players better.
He outlined the challenges of having a deeper Canadiens team than heâ€s ever coached, of getting caught in the matchup game, and of special teams interfering with best-laid plans. But he concluded it was still an aspect of coaching he needed to improve on, and that was pure leadership from him.
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