Unlike most people in Canada, the Canadiens didn’t get the day off Monday for Thanksgiving.
But head coach Martin St. Louis certainly wasn’t going to complain about having to work on the holiday with a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday night at the Bell Centre.
St. Louis has a lot to be thankful for.
“My family. My health,” the 49-year-old head coach, husband and father of three sons said after Monday’s morning skate. “It starts there. Nothing matters if you don’t have that. And I feel very blessed. I just had my oldest and youngest (sons) here this weekend with my wife and it reminds me what’s the most important thing in your life. So without that, nothing matters.”
St. Louis missed four games in March after his youngest son, 16-year-old Mason, suffered an injury while playing in a hockey game for the U-15 Mid-Fairfield Rangers in Connecticut. A week later, Mason suffered complications from the injury and was hospitalized. St. Louis left the Canadiens at that time and only rejoined the team after Mason’s condition had stabilized and he was back at the family home in Connecticut.
St. Louis and his wife, Heather Caragol, have two other sons: Ryan, 21, is a sophomore forward with the Brown University hockey team and 19-year-old Lucas is a freshman defenceman at Harvard University.
“To me, my two biggest passions are family and hockey,” St. Louis said. “And when I get to share this opportunity I have of coaching here in Montreal — I get to share that with my family, like we did on Saturday, big win (4-1 over the Ottawa Senators) and stuff — there’s nothing like it. So I’m thankful for my family, my health, but also this job that I have that I’m passionate about.”
St. Louis is trying to build a second family in the Canadiens’ locker room and believes that is the key to the team’s success.
“I feel like I’ve talked about it in training camp,” St. Louis said. “The difference between a house and a home. I’m very thankful that we’re able to build something here where it really feels like a home and it’s the culture that we talk about. Like I said, you can have the best players and the best system, but if you don’t have that culture that it feels like at home — like it’s a family — you’ll find pockets of success, but it’s going to be hard to be a championship-calibre team year after year. So I’m thankful that we have this culture and it’s not me. It’s not my team. It’s the group’s team. It’s the guys’ team and they’re the ones driving that, and we’re just trying to steer them.”
Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj said he’s most thankful for his family — “we’re super tight and I love every single one of them” — and also for his teammates.
“We’re a super tight group and we have a lot of fun together,” Xhekaj said. “Hopefully we can pull some wins together this year and we’re super excited to see where our ceiling’s at.”
Lane Hutson is one of the newest members of the Canadiens family and Monday was the first Canadian Thanksgiving for the Michigan native. It’s also the first time the 20-year-old rookie defenceman gets to play against Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby.
“It’s going to be pretty special,” said Hutson, who had four assists in the first three games this season. “He’s been such a good player for so long. I look forward to competing against him and seeing what he does and learning from him, too.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Hutson added about becoming a full-time NHL player. “Guys say it flies by pretty fast. I’m just kind of part of it now, so I’m just going day by day.”
Hutson said U.S. Thanksgiving has always been a big deal in his household.
“We’d always go to my grandma’s house — the whole side of my mom’s family and then my whole family,” he said. “It’s special just being able to get us all back together and talk about what everyone’s doing. So it’s fun and it’s one of my favourites.”
Hutson won’t be able to spend time with his family this year. American Thanksgiving is on Thursday, Nov. 28, and the Canadiens have a scheduled day off in New York after playing the Blue Jackets in Columbus the previous night before facing the Rangers in an afternoon game on Saturday, Nov. 30.
What’s Hutson most thankful about on this Canadian Thanksgiving?
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to be here and I’m thankful for my family and my teammates,” he said. “But just being able to be here and have this opportunity, it’s special and something I definitely won’t take for granted.”
Canadiens fans are very thankful they now have Hutson.