Martin St-Louis explained that he sat down with Juraj Slafkovsky before the start of the season to explain business to him.
What business, exactly? We weren’t there when it happened, of course, but what we have to understand is that the Canadian coach let his attacker know that he intends to let him express himself with all the freedom of a young Goya in front of his paintings.
“We’ve been together for a year, and last season, I directed him but not much, because I didn’t want to stifle him,” St-Louis explained Thursday noon in Brossard. I wanted to create a relationship with him so that he had confidence in me, so that he knew that I was there to help him… We sat down, we talked about a couple of businesses. I’m careful not to give him too much and choke him. »
The wise old people will say it: you should not leave in fear after the first game of a season, firstly because there are 81 others left, including Saturday night at the Bell Center, when the Chicago Blackhawks will be visiting .
But we can still be scared just a little bit, because if Slafkovsky displays this form every night, his sweater could perhaps become as popular as Travis Kelce’s. Maybe.
In the meantime, Martin St-Louis believes that we must take things slowly with this young man of only 19 years old.
“One chapter at a time,” he imagined. But I’m happy to see him around the puck, to see that he’s in the right place at the right times. We see progress with him, and that is comforting for him and for us.
“The season is young, but what we’ve seen from him over the last three weeks or a month is encouraging. He played a great game [Wednesday in Toronto] and he needs to look for some consistency… He’s a guy who’s hungry, who wants to improve. He thinks a lot about the team, he has great qualities. »
The main person also remembers a few conversations with his coach, and we understand that the two men like to chat on a regular basis.
“I had a few discussions with him,” Slafkovsky admitted. We talk about things, I’m not going to say more, it’s between us! Yes, he lets me go, but I also have to make sure I fit in with the team. »
“I would say that compared to last season, I feel better overall. I feel better skating, I feel better on the ice, I feel stronger too. »
Furthermore, it’s not just the coach who has undertaken to have a few frank discussions with him; his teammates too, no doubt aware that they have with them a young man who is still adapting to a new life, in a new league and a new city.
“Coming back from Toronto, I told him on the plane that I’m proud of him,” Arber Xhekaj said. He needs to know it. We are only at the start of the season, but we can already see that he has made progress. »
There’s often talk of progression these days around the Canadian, because generally speaking, it’s better to move forward than back, and if there’s a player who looks like he’s moving forward, it’s is undoubtedly Kirby Dach, and Martin St-Louis agrees. “It’s a progression that he has had and continues to have,” explained the Montreal pilot about the young center player. If we go back to a year ago, we see that he is a player who has become more visible on the ice, who imposes himself a lot during matches. »
Martin St-Louis doesn’t blame Arber Xhekaj at all, who jumped in Ryan Reaves’ face during Wednesday night’s game in Toronto. “I understand why he did that,” explained the coach Thursday afternoon in Brossard. It was sad to lose him for 17 minutes… I’ve never had to do this work, so it’s hard to tell him when to do it. I’m sure he was thinking about this match for a long time, and he didn’t cause what happened; it came to him. I don’t blame him. »