St. Louis juggles being hockey dad, Canadiens coach
"I love watching them,' Hall-of-Famer says of 3 sons, including Lucas, who's eligible for 2023 draft
Fans noticed him and asked for autographs. Colleagues noticed him and stopped to say hello. After all, he is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and coach of the Montreal Canadiens.
But he's also a hockey dad and a mentor.
St. Louis came to see his son Lucas play in the 2023 USA Hockey BioSteel All-American Game on Monday along with six other players he once coached with the Mid Fairfield Rangers program in Connecticut.
He has three sons. Ryan, a 19-year-old forward, and Lucas, a 17-year-old defenseman, play together for Dubuque of the United States Hockey League. Mason, a 14-year-old forward, plays for Mid Fairfield 14U AAA.
"I love watching them," St. Louis said. "I think I love watching them more than I love playing, and I love playing.
"It's just fun to see them out there grinding it out and trying to solve the problems on the ice. I love how they have a bad shift or something bad happens, how they respond. I love the ups and downs and how they grind through it.
"Obviously, I love when they get rewarded, whether it's a good defensive play, good offensive play, they score a goal, the team wins. It's fun."
It's rare that St. Louis gets to see his sons play in person these days due to the demands of his job, so he jumped at this opportunity.
After a 2-1 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, he spent the night at home in Greenwich, Connecticut.
With the Canadiens off Monday, he flew to Detroit in the morning, went to the game at USA Hockey Arena in the late afternoon and was scheduled to fly to Montreal at night.
Montreal won again Tuesday, 4-1 against the Winnipeg Jets at Bell Centre.
"He's really busy," Lucas said. "It's always awesome to see him in the stands."
St. Louis said he knew late in his NHL career he wanted to coach. After he retired in 2015, he had opportunities to go into professional coaching right away. But he coached his sons in the Mid Fairfield program for seven years instead.
"I hadn't been with them much," St. Louis said. "My kids were 12, 10, 7 when I retired. Not that you don't have an impact if you're playing, but you have less of an impact, because you're not there every day. So, I felt I had a window left to try to have an impact and be an everyday dad, and I took advantage of it.
"I made sure that I checked that box with my boys, because they're the most important thing for me."
St. Louis took over the Canadiens on Feb. 10. But in the summer, he was back on the ice with his sons and went to Nashville with Mason's team. He plans to go to Miami with Mason's team when the Canadiens are off Feb. 1-10, with the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game at FLA LIVE Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Feb. 4 (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS).
He doesn't see many of his sons' games live anymore. But he watches them all, at least on replay. He talks to his sons about what he sees and sends them video clips.
Where is the line between dad and coach?
"It's a fine line," he said. "You know, I navigated that for seven years before I started coaching the Canadiens, but even now, I still navigate that.
"Obviously, I'm not on the bench. I don't manage their ice time or anything. But I feel like I can help them with some thoughts, what they should be thinking on the ice in certain situations.
"And the best thing about the game is, you'll never play a perfect game, and you can't try to be perfect out there. You've just got to feel the game, learn from your mistakes, and I encourage that.
"There's opportunity out there to express yourself, and you've got to find that window. So, I try to help out."
Lucas said he appreciates it.
"He's always going to support us, but he'll send us a lot of video because he wants us to be the best we can be," he said.
St. Louis stays in touch with his other former Mid Fairfield players too.
It's incredible that of the 45 players in the All-American Game, seven played for St. Louis: Lucas; forwards Tanner Adams, Salvatore Guzzo and Ryan Fine; and defensemen Drew Fortescue, Michael Hagens and Aram Minnetian.
"I love my players," St. Louis said. "That won't change. I want good things for them. I still talk to a lot of them. They'll reach out sometimes and ask for advice, and I love that."
How much of their old man do St. Louis' sons have in them?
"They all have a little bit of it, differently," St. Louis said. "But the old man is a finished product. They're not there yet, so I don't know yet what the finished product's going to look like. But I really like to see them going through that grind to try to figure themselves out."
St. Louis was not selected in the NHL Draft, but he won the Stanley Cup and the Hart Trophy as NHL most valuable player with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2003-04. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the League scoring champion twice, with the Lightning in 2003-04 and 2012-13. He finished with 1,033 points (391 goals, 642 assists) in 1,134 games for the Calgary Flames, Lightning and Rangers.
Ryan was not selected in the NHL Draft. When NHL Central Scouting released its midterm rankings Friday, Lucas was No. 166 among North American skaters. Asked about the possibility of being drafted, he said, "It's a dream." He plans to play for Dubuque next season and is committed to go to Harvard in 2024-25.
"I always tell my kids, 'People end up where they're supposed to end up, so don't worry about a status, a number, whatever. If that's something you really want, just keep grinding,'" St. Louis said. "Now, Lucas, it's his draft year this year. We'll see what happens. But whether you're drafted or not, usually people end up where they're supposed to be."
St. Louis will be there for his sons, one way or another.
