Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis was probably talking to himself when he got home after Thursday night’s 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens blew a 2-0 lead they held midway through the second period and were beaten for the second straight game at the Bell Centre after losing their home opener 6-4 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
The loss to the Predators dropped the Canadiens’ record to 1-2-1 to start the season ahead of Saturday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., SNE, TVA Sports). The Canadiens were 3-1-0 after four games last season.
Being head coach of the Canadiens isn’t an easy job.
St. Louis received a huge ovation Tuesday night when his name was announced during the pre-game ceremony. After the game, he said he was flattered by the reception.
After practice the next day, I asked St. Louis if he can describe what it’s like being head coach of the Canadiens.
“Well, it’s busy,” he said. “I feel like especially when the season starts there’s so many moving parts. You have the individual, you have the collective game, you have the opponents. So you’re constantly finding answers and it’s looking for answers. So I find myself deep in thoughts quite a bit and sometimes I talk to myself and my wife asks me: ‘Who are you talking to?’
“I got that from my dad,” St. Louis added. “I love what I do. So I would say life as a head coach of the Canadiens is amazing.”
It’s not so amazing when your team blows a 2-0 lead on home ice.
St. Louis said Thursday’s game was the Canadiens’ best at five-on-five this season, but they need to improve their special teams after going 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Predators went 2-for-5 with the man-advantage.
After Thursday’s game, the Canadiens ranked 27th in the NHL on the power play with a 7.7 per cent success rate (one-for-13) and 24th in penalty-killing with a 70.6 per cent success rate, allowing five goals on 17 opposition power plays.
I asked St. Louis in his post-game news conference Thursday what his biggest concern is now — apart from special teams.
“I feel like a game like tonight my biggest concern is the morale for the boys,” he said. “Stay in a good place emotionally. We played a good game. Life’s not fair. Keep going. Tomorrow, the sun will shine, hopefully, and we’ll go back to work. It’s life. You just get up and go.”
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis speaks to reporters following training camp practice at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard on Sept. 24, 2026. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
After Thursday’s game, I asked Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki if he can imagine what it’s like being coach of the team.
“He’s got a lot of stuff on his shoulders, obviously,” Suzuki said. “Controlling the team, trying to get guys going, motivated. Picking up guys when they’re down, congratulating guys when they’re doing well. Talking to you guys every day. It’s a tough position to be in. I think he’s done an amazing job at it. He’s getting better every year. So we’re happy that he’s our coach.”
Leaning on dad
When the Canadiens hired St. Louis almost five years ago, he said his father was one of the people he would lean on.
Normand St. Louis grew up on a family wood mill in Mont-Laurier, the 10th of 14 children. The family would listen to Canadiens games on the radio because they didn’t have a TV.
“They went to the TV store and the TV store would put the third period on through the window,” St. Louis said during his first news conference after being hired by the Canadiens. “Nobody’s inside … everybody’s outside watching, freezing, and my dad’s on top of his brother’s shoulders. … Being a fan of the Canadiens for so long and now to really be part of it — and trust me, he feels he’s part of it, too.
“Like I did as a player, I’m going to lean on my dad,” St. Louis added. “I think it’s important to have somebody to vent to, talk to, just so you’re ready for the next day because you can’t carry negative stuff to the next day. I do believe in this league the most important day is the next one and I know my dad’s going to help me with that.”
Normand puts a smile on my face every time I see him at the Bell Centre. He always seems to be happy and smiling with a Canadiens ball cap on his head.
“Never had a bad day,” St. Louis said about his dad with a big smile of his own Wednesday when I mentioned how happy Normand always seems.
“As simple as nights like last night after we don’t get a win,” St. Louis added. “Obviously, emotionally, a little disappointed. And Norm’s in there (in the team lounge at the Bell Centre) with his Canadiens sweater, Canadiens hat and talking with everybody and a big smile on his face. That alone is sometimes all you need.
“My dad’s not going to tell me what to do, but he reminds me that we’re OK,” St. Louis added.
Gone but never forgotten
St. Louis’s mother, France, died suddenly from a heart attack 12 years ago at age 63.
“She’s smiling now, I’ll tell you that,” St. Louis said during his first news conference after being hired by the Canadiens. “She always told me: ‘Show them, Marty,’ and I know she’s saying that: Yeah, you’re showing them again.”
Despite never being selected at the NHL Draft, St. Louis went on to become a Hall of Fame player. And, despite his only coaching experience before being hired by the Canadiens was with his three sons in Connecticut’s Mid-Fairfield Youth Hockey Association, St. Louis has done an impressive job during the team’s rebuilding process.
Happy 70th BDAY and Fathers Day to the man that I respect the most in this world. You don’t pick your parents – I won big with mine! Thank you for showing me the way. J’taime Pa pic.twitter.com/bswUZDYo0u
— Martin St.Louis (@mstlouis_26) June 20, 2021
Mike Gilligan, who coached St. Louis for four years at the University of Vermont, has fond memories of seeing St. Louis’s parents in the hospitality room at the school’s Gutterson Fieldhouse arena.
“After the games, we’d always get to meet Marty’s family and his extended family,” Gilligan told me in an interview shortly after the Canadiens hired St. Louis. “(France) was just a beautiful lady. She and her husband, Normand, learned English and their English improved just as Marty’s did as the years went on. It was nice to watch them start to walk around the facility with confidence and become friends with other parents of other players and fans. It was a great four years for all of us.”
French Connection Line
The Canadiens now have a French Connection Line with Phillip Danault at centre between Zachary Bolduc and Alexandre Texier.
“It almost feels like back in junior, to be honest,” said Danault, who played four seasons with the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres. “It’s special to have some Frenchies all together and mix it in with the whole team. We make jokes about it, too. It’s awesome.
“But Tex is not from Quebec,” Danault added with a smile about Texier, who is from France.
Canadiens’ Phillip Danault takes a slapshot against the Nashville Predators in Montreal on Oct. 8, 2026. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
For the opening faceoff Thursday night against the Predators, the Canadiens had five players who speak French — and four Quebecers — on the ice with the French Connection Line, and Mike Matheson and Alexandre Carrier on defence. If Samuel Montembeault hadn’t been injured the previous day in practice and had started in goal, all six Canadiens on the ice to start the game against the Predators would have spoken French.
That’s a big change from May 10, 2021, when the Canadiens didn’t have a single francophone player in the lineup for what was believed to be the first time in franchise history in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Centre. Danault, during his first stint with the Canadiens, was sidelined for that game with a concussion and Jonathan Drouin was absent for personal reasons.
When the Canadiens won their last Stanley Cup in 1993, they had several francophones on the roster, including Patrick Roy, Guy Carbonneau, Vincent Damphousse, Éric Desjardins, Denis Savard, Patrice Brisebois, J.J. Daigneault, Benoît Brunet, Stephan Lebeau, Gilbert Dionne, Donald Dufresne, Mario Roberge and André Racicot. The coach was Jacques Demers.
Montembeault is expected to miss 10-14 days with his lower-body injury.
Another hot start
For the second straight season, Bolduc is off to a hot start with three goals in the first four games. Last year, Bolduc also had three goals in the first four games, but finished the season with only 12 goals.
The Canadiens obviously like what they see in the 23-year-old Bolduc — who had 3-4-7 totals in 19 playoff games last season — signing him this summer to a four-year, US$16.8-million contract that kicked in this season with an annual salary-cap hit of US$4.2 million.
“I think that, like any young player, it’s about continuing to convince us how many minutes you should be playing,” St. Louis said about Bolduc, who is averaging 13:08 of ice time this season after averaging 13:38 last season. “And, sometimes, I know it can happen that you come out of a game and think: ‘Damn, I should’ve played more.’ But it’s about continuing to convince the coaches that you deserve more. I think, so far, he’s done that. So we’re trying to figure out the ice-time situation with everyone and everything.”
Bolduc is also playing on the second power-play unit and one of his goals came on the power play.
“It’s about continuing to earn his place,” St. Louis said. “And we don’t really know what his ceiling is. It’s about continuing to develop as a complete player and being able to bring more than just scoring goals. We know he can score goals and he’s going to score goals, but it’s about continuing to push and convince us that he deserves more ice time.”
Fond memories of Nashville
Canadiens GM Kent Hughes made a great move when he acquired Carrier from the Predators on Dec. 18, 2024, in exchange for defenceman Justin Barron.
The Canadiens had a 12-16-3 record at the time of the trade and then went 28-15-8 with Carrier in the lineup, making the playoffs for the first time in four years. The Predators put Barron on waivers last month and he was claimed by the St. Louis Blues.
Carrier has fond memories of Nashville, where he started his NHL career after being selected by the Predators in the fourth round (115th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft.
Canadiens defencemen Mike Matheson, right, and Alexandre Carrier compete with Nashville Predators Ryan O’Reilly in Montreal on Oct. 8, 2026. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
I asked Carrier before Thursday’s game if playing against Nashville was still something special for him.
“Yeah, a little bit because I still have friends over there,” he said. “But it’s different management and stuff, so you kind of lose a bit of that FU mentality, if I can say that. But it’s still exciting. I was there for four years, got drafted there in 2015, lots of friends, like I said, but I always want to beat them.”
What did he enjoy most about Nashville?
“The weather was cool,” he said. “People are super warm over there … the southern hospitality. We really enjoyed the city, the people and also they gave me my first shot. I’ll be grateful forever for that.”
Baby boom
Carrier is one of several Canadiens who are new fathers after his wife, Alicia Lessard, gave birth to a girl named Olivia this summer. Other new fathers include Suzuki, Noah Dobson, Montembeault, Jake Evans (twin boys), and Josh Anderson. Mike Matheson’s wife gave birth to their third child this summer.
The Canadiens’ pre-game warmups at the Bell Centre are extra-special now with the wives standing behind the glass in the first row with the babies and the fathers stopping to greet them.
Carrier’s wife, who is a pediatrician and co-owns a clinic in Côte St-Luc, and their daughter were both there for the home opener.
“First time,” Carrier said with a big smile. “Olivia watched half of the first period and then she went down, put her to bed (in the Bell Centre family lounge) and she slept through the whole game. And then we came back home and she slept through the whole night. It was great. Apparently, she was looking everywhere. It was cool.
“They got home 10 minutes before I did,” Carrier added about his wife and daughter. “So it was a good first experience.”
The ‘Wow!’ factor
Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson makes me go “Wow!” at least four or five times every game with the moves he can make.
His favourite player growing up was forward Patrick Kane, who is back for a second stint this season with the Chicago Blackhawks, who selected him with the No. 1 overall pick at the 2007 NHL Draft.
I asked Hutson this week how Kane influenced his style of play as a defenceman.
“I don’t know if I want to take his defence, really,” Hutson said with a chuckle about the offensive-minded Kane. “He does so much great offensively. Maybe the way I think of it …. I try to think what those offensive players are thinking. Maybe I have a better idea of what they’re looking for and I try to mirror it and read plays off of it … guys like him who can make you look pretty dumb.”
I asked Dobson what impresses him most about Hutson.
“I feel like to be his size and to be that dynamic and an impact player you have to have your unique way of doing it — and he does that,” Dobson said. “I think for him he’s so fast-twitch, he’s able to alleviate pressure. Guys probably feel like they have him boxed off a lot of times and he finds his way to get through just with his quickness and his hockey sense.
“He’s a tough guy … when it comes to one-on-one he’s second to none in the league, I’m sure,” Dobson added. “If you went one-on-one vs. a lot of guys in the league, keepaway, he’d have the puck most of the time. A special player for us and we’re happy to have him on our side.”
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I asked Suzuki the same question about Hutson.
“His style is different,” the Canadiens captain said. “You see his compete (level) first and foremost. It really jumps off the page and I think the way he can see the ice and see passing lanes and get open for himself is pretty special.”
Last season, Hutson was listed at 5-foot-9 and 162 pounds. This season, he’s listed at 5-foot-10 and 163 pounds, having grown an inch.
Canadiens’ Lane Hutson reacts to the play against the Carolina Hurricanes in Montreal on Oct. 6, 2026. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
When I asked Hutson what that extra inch means to him, he said: “Not much. I’ve said it before, but when we get on the ice I feel like you’re playing the same game, everyone’s the same size in my head. Some guys just got to do it a little differently. On the smaller side, I have to do it differently, but the game doesn’t change for me or anyone else. You just have to approach it differently.”
Check the score
There was a funny video that went viral on social media last weekend of goalie Jacob Fowler pointing to the scoreboard late in the third period of a chippy Laval AHL game against the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday with the Rocket leading 5-1.
Fowler appeared to be rubbing it in to the Crunch players in a game Laval would end up winning 6-1. Fowler was called up by the Canadiens on Wednesday after Montembeault was injured and was in goal Thursday night against the Predators, stopping 15 of the 18 shots he faced with Nashville scoring two empty-net goals.
The Canadiens’ Florian Xhekaj, who played with Fowler last season in Laval, said the players were kidding the goalie about the video after he got called up.
“We were like: ‘What were you doing?’” Xhekaj said with a laugh. “He was like: ‘They didn’t have the score up, so I was just trying to make sure.’ He was saying it was just because he wanted the score up and he didn’t want them to miss a goal. But I don’t know … you can say whatever you want about it.
“He’s a great guy,” Xhekaj added about Fowler. “He’s so fun to be around. He’s always cracking jokes. His game kind of speaks for himself. He’s great in the net. He’s always making big-time saves. I think he’s a guy that everyone’s comfortable with in net. He’s just a funny guy. He’s a clown, in a good way. He’s awesome to be around. The boys love him.”
Fowler will make his second straight start in goal for the Canadiens on Saturday night against the Red Wings.
End is near for Gallagher
Sadly, it’s looking like this will be Brendan Gallagher’s last season in the NHL.
The 34-year-old, who gave everything he had during 14 seasons with the Canadiens before being traded to Vancouver this summer, was a healthy scratch for the Canucks’ 7-2 loss to the Hurricanes on Thursday night in Carolina.
The loss dropped Vancouver’s record to 2-3-0. Gallagher is in the final season of his six-year, US$39-million contract with a US$6.5 million salary-cap hit. The Canadiens retained 50 per cent of Gallagher’s contract in the trade to Vancouver in exchange for future considerations.
“Gallagher being a scratch isn’t a huge surprise: he’s been playing on the fourth line and has struggled to make an impact in limited minutes,” wrote Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province. “He was never the fleetest of foot and now that he’s in his mid- 30s, he’s struggling more and more to keep up.”
In his first four games with the Canucks, Gallagher had no points and four shots on goal while averaging 9:56 of ice time. Last season with the Canadiens, Gallagher had 7-16-23 totals in 77 games while averaging 12:21 of ice time.
Gallagher was upset after the Canadiens made him a healthy scratch for 16 of their 19 playoff games last season, which led to him being traded to Vancouver.
He is another example of how Father Time is undefeated.