Martin St. Louis has laid a solid foundation in Montreal, and now the hard part starts | Canada News Media
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Martin St. Louis has laid a solid foundation in Montreal, and now the hard part starts

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MONTREAL — To fully understand the complicated puzzle Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis will face heading into his third full season behind the bench, a brief synopsis of the day of his team’s final game of the 2023-24 season is necessary.

Before the game, defenceman David Savard was speaking to reporters about winning the Jacques Beauchamp Trophy, awarded to the team’s unsung hero of the season. Savard is entering the final year of his contract and will turn 34 roughly two weeks into the next season. There is an urgency for Savard that is not the same for many of his teammates.

“I believe next year we have the group to make the playoffs,” he said. “That’s my goal in September: to get here, stay in Montreal and get to the playoffs. I want to experience that once in my life, to be in the playoffs in Montreal. It would be pretty special to wear that uniform in the playoffs. I saw it as a fan, and I think the city goes pretty crazy, so it would be fun to see it from the right side of things.”

The Canadiens scored a go-ahead goal against the Detroit Red Wings in Tuesday’s third period. It was set up by Lane Hutson, who was playing his second career game, and tipped in by Juraj Slafkovský, who was playing his 121st game. It was Slafkovský’s 20th goal of the season, earning him a $250,000 bonus. Slafkovský and Hutson were drafted in 2022, the Nos. 1 and 62 picks; it was the first NHL Draft engineered by the current administration led by Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes.

Logan Mailloux — the No. 31 pick in the 2021 draft, the last one of the previous administration led by Marc Bergevin — got an assist in his NHL debut. The other goals were scored by Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield, two players selected back-to-back in the middle of the first round of the 2019 draft, and Brendan Gallagher, who will turn 32 in May and has three years left on his $6.5 million contract. Hutson and Slafkovský were 6 years old when Gallagher was drafted in 2010.

All of them are at different stages of their careers, and all of them have different needs. But they will all be expected to push together to reach the goal Savard stated so emphatically before the game, the same goal captain Nick Suzuki stated with equal conviction in Ottawa on Friday. The Canadiens are definitely at a crossroads, and though much of the burden for executing that transition to having playoff aspirations falls on Gorton and Hughes, St. Louis will be the one tasked with executing it.

And in that sense, St. Louis might also be at a crossroads in his young coaching career.

Up until now, the Canadiens have had no expectations — either internally or externally — to do what Savard and Suzuki clearly stated they expect the team to do next season. At the preseason Canadiens golf tournament, Gorton wouldn’t even say the word playoffs, preferring to call them the “p-word” and stating that was not the expectation for the season. It is hard to imagine him having the same reluctance at next season’s golf tournament in September.

St. Louis was an intense competitor as a player, and he remains so as a coach, but he is more measured in that intensity because he has more information and more people to consider than just himself. Wins and losses are no longer black and white. Nuance and context go into every win or loss, and all of that is painted with the brush of the Canadiens being in the middle of a rebuild.

Well, the Canadiens will now be hoping to be coming out of a rebuild, expected to make the same kind of steps made by the Red Wings, who were eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday night despite beating the Canadiens for the second night in a row, this time 5-4 in a shootout. The Canadiens have been out of contention, essentially, for months.

How will St. Louis change as the expectations change? He doesn’t know, but he also doesn’t seem to think he needs to change all that much.

“It’s a balance,” St. Louis said. “I don’t want to lose myself with results, because you lose your sanity. You want to go back and watch the film, maybe look at a little bit of data, but have some truth of where you are. Sometimes I’m going to be positive, and sometimes I’m not going to be as positive. Do I like to win? Absolutely. But I feel like the last couple of years I’ve been OK, I guess, to lose because we rarely got outplayed. Rarely got outplayed. So it’s hard to not be positive when you don’t get outplayed. So, for me next year? I don’t know. If we’re getting outplayed, I’m probably not going to be positive much.”

It is not fair to say St. Louis has always been positive with losses because he hasn’t. When the Canadiens lost 5-2 on the road to the Boston Bruins on Nov. 18, St. Louis was disappointed in his team’s performance, and he acted in kind. He basically spent the next week working on the Canadiens’ forecheck and nothing else because that was what he identified as being the reason they were so badly outplayed in Boston.

“For me, that game, it was obvious that we didn’t touch the puck in Boston because we did not forecheck well,” St. Louis said. “And we really spent a lot of time focussing on that, and it became a big part of why we were able to play with top teams and why we were able to find more consistency in our game. That’s where it started.”

Gallagher called the Canadiens’ forechecking the team’s identity, of being tough to play against and continually sending pucks deep and forcing opposing defencemen to do something they are not all that enthusiastic about doing. But the Canadiens also needed to be willing to do something they were not enthusiastic about doing because every hockey player would prefer carrying the puck into the offensive zone and making plays offensively.

“When you’re talking about creating an identity as a group, it’s not going to be easy; it’s going to take a bit of time,” Gallagher said. “Rightfully so, he was frustrated with us because we probably weren’t picking it up as quickly as he would have liked. But we stuck with it, and eventually you get results, players understand this is the way it’s going to be to have success.”

On the other hand, St. Louis loves to say everything starts with the truth. And the Canadiens’ truth is changing. Talented young players will be taking spots on the team, the talented young players already on the team have taken steps and will take further steps, the older players on the team have an urgency to win, and management seemingly feels a similar urgency to at least put the team in a position to win.

The Canadiens, for the second year in a row, finished close to the bottom of the NHL standings and left the ice after their final game to cheers from the fans at the Bell Centre despite losing their final game. It is hard to imagine those fans reacting the same way if the same scenario presents itself for a third year in a row or if the players or management will be quite as understanding, either.

St. Louis has to manage all that and appears up to a challenge he has yet to face as an NHL coach: meeting expectations, internal and external, to guide a winning product, a playoff product.

“I would be very surprised if we didn’t improve, whether that’s internally or externally,” St. Louis said. “Our young players will be a bit older. That’s always the goal, and it will be up to Kent (Hughes) to juggle that.

“I’ll see my lineup and I’ll go with that, and I won’t make excuses.”

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Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

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November 8, 2024

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LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

___

AP cricket:

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Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

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November 8, 2024

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

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November 8, 2024

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Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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