Martin St-Louis says he doesn't know how long he'll be the Canadiens' coach, and he insists he isn't worried about it.
The comments come as Montreal prepares to host the Avalanche tonight with an 8-0-2 record over its last 10 games. A coach talking about his own shelf life while his team wins that often is not something you hear every week.
"I can't control everything, I don't know how long I'm gonna be the coach and I'm not worried about it," St-Louis said in the interview. "I'm gonna try to be my best version everyday, help steer this group to accomplish their goals collectively and individually."
He didn't stop there. "If at the end of the day, I'm not the guy, then I'm not the guy. I'm not worried about that. I'm confident that I'm doing everything I can to earn everybody's respect each and every day."
And he finished by asking the question himself: "Does that get us to keep moving forward? Does that keep me around longer? I don't know, but I'm not worrying about it. I'm okay with the effort I'm putting in and the attitude that I bring everyday."
A Habs fan community account put the quotes in front of its followers on October 25, led by St-Louis saying he doesn't know how long he'll hold the job.
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The wording is what stands out. A coach choosing to say "if I'm not the guy, then I'm not the guy" is accepting that the job can end, and doing it out loud.
Is Martin St-Louis's job actually in question in Montreal?
Nothing in his answer points to a specific threat. He names no timeline, no conversation with management and no pressure from above.
The standings don't point to one either. The Canadiens sit 12-3-4 with 28 points, second in the Atlantic Division, and they won 5-2 in Boston on Thursday. Only a handful of teams in the league would trade places with them.
That's why the quote reads more like a coach's philosophy than a warning sign. St-Louis is putting the daily work first and leaving the verdict to others, which is a sensible way to survive in a job where results can swing quickly.
Still, a coach on a 7-1-1 road record doesn't usually volunteer that his job might not last. Whether general manager Kent Hughes ever has to address it is another matter.
For now, St-Louis has a home game to coach. Colorado visits Montreal tonight, where the Canadiens are 5-2-3.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
How secure is Martin St-Louis's job with the Canadiens?
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