Montreal Canadiens Uncategorized

Juraj Slafkovsky: Martin St-Louis needs to send him a message
Mathis Therrien
Juraj Slafkovsky: Martin St-Louis needs to send him a message
Credit: Capture d'écran Twitter

The Montreal Canadiens had been putting off a lackluster loss that had been on the schedule for quite some time, and it finally happened yesterday against the Colorado Avalanche.

The atmosphere at the Bell Centre was rather subdued for once, and neither the Habs players nor the referees were able to help get the crowd going.

So there was a lack of emotion on the ice, but not on the bench.

In fact, it was on the bench that we saw the most emotion from the Habs yesterday during the game, as we caught a glimpse of Juraj Slafkovsky—clearly upset—talking with Martin St-Louis.

It's unclear whether the two men were disagreeing or if Slafkovsky was simply venting his frustration to St-Louis, but the fact remains that it was a moment that caught everyone's attention.

We often see players talking with the head coach, but not necessarily in this way, and with the intensity Slafkovský displayed in this conversation.

We really hope Slafkovský wasn't defying his coach's advice and requests, because he's in no position to argue given his very difficult start to the season.

The tall Slovak is clearly frustrated this season, and he's shown it on several occasions—whether by sulking over not starting the season on the first line or through his body language on the ice.

Slaf is constantly discouraged and frustrated, and it shows in his production: he has just two goals this season in 20 games, and 13 points total.

It's a vicious cycle that Slafkovsky needs to break out of very quickly; otherwise, he'll need Martin St-Louis to shake him up and send him a message.

It's not normal that, with so much ice time and so many opportunities—including playing on the first line, the first power-play unit, and in 6-on-5 situations—Slafkovsky isn't able to produce and play better.

St-Louis needs to cut Slaf off somewhere in his game to shake him up and show him that he clearly doesn't have the right attitude to get his act together.

The Slovakian has no confidence right now, as evidenced by his wild passes, when he should be shooting—like on Nick Suzuki's goal yesterday.

It's clearly not working out for Slafkovsky, so he needs some kind of wake-up call to get back on track and for us to see the 30-goal, 70-point player from last season again.

In Brief

– Very cool.

– Check this out.

– Note.