Although the Montreal Canadiens are in the bottom of the National Hockey League for the second straight year, general manager Kent Hughes likes what he’s seeing on many levels.
“I’m proud of the team, I’m proud of the coaches and the players, they don’t give up,” he said on Tuesday after leaving the NHL general managers’ meeting in Florida.
“At the beginning of the year, someone asked me what a successful season would be like and I said that if we saw individual development of our players, but also of our team [ce serait un succès] and I think we see it.
“It’s not just young people who become better players, there are veterans who continue to advance in their game. And I think our coaches have learned a lot, they have experience as players, but are young as coaches, so it’s fun to see that everyone is moving forward together.”
Hughes then commented more specifically on the evolution of Martin St-Louis over the past few months.
“He is able to manage individuals as well as the team, he first analyzed. I said at the start that it takes some emotional intelligence to be a good coach in the National League these days and you see that from Martin and all the assistants.
“I had spoken about Martin with Vincent Lecavalier [avant son embauche] and he told me: “When you pick up a player, you pick him up for his potential. If you ask me who has the potential to be one of the best coaches, it’s Martin.”
See Kent Hughes’ full press briefing in the video above.