Take Town: Big changes around the league

One thing you simply gotta admit: Pretty sweet gig for Martin St. Louis.

There is absolutely no pressure on St. Louis to do absolutely anything with the Montreal Canadiens except maybe get the guys to try a little harder, and once you start selling off players, everyone else is usually a little more motivated.

At the very least, everyone is given a bigger opportunity on special teams simply because more valuable players have been shipped out. There tend to be call-ups, or young players trying to earn their spots, or guys you’ve taken back in trades that have that little bit of extra fire to prove their old team wrong.

This isn’t to say St. Louis won’t be a good coach or anything, because he knows what it takes to succeed in this league with the odds stacked against you and he’s said a lot of smart and intriguing outside-the-box things since he took the job. Plus he gets to hang out with the general manager and team president — who appear to be friends of his — collect some nice paychecks, all that kind of stuff. 

He will obviously be competitive and want to succeed, but for a coach who has, well, never really coached before, it’s tough to picture a better situation to ease into.

Let’s go: