Martin St-Louis's Firing Was Seriously Considered Amid the Habs' Early-Season Struggles

We remember that some fans and analysts were calling for his departure at the start of the season after the Canadiens had a rough start, and it was clear that St-Louis' defensive system was all over the place.

Before December 3rd, the Canadiens were among the worst teams in the NHL in the overall standings, and several teams had made changes behind the bench.

This was the case for the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, and Chicago Blackhawks, with all three organizations deciding to fire their head coaches.

In fact, as reported by the website DansLesCoulisses, if the Canadiens had continued to perform poorly, the Canadiens' GM might have genuinely questioned the competence of his coach.

At least, that's what Alexandre Pratt stated during a recent episode of the Sortie de Zone podcast on 98.5 FM in Montreal.

The journalist from La Presse even went as far as saying that after the painful 9-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the beginning of December, there were serious discussions about Martin St-Louis' future in Montreal if the team had suffered another embarrassing loss in the days following.

Let's say that Kent Hughes' decision not to give in to popular pressure has paid off, as since that defeat against Sidney Crosby's team, the Canadiens have posted a record of 13-5-1, and the team is currently in the playoff picture, which few people had predicted at the start of the season.