Suzuki: St. Louis 'captured the room right away'

BROSSARD - The Canadiens skated at the Bell Sports Complex on Friday.
The Habs didn't run through any line drills in Martin St. Louis' first practice since taking over as interim head coach, with the former star forward taking his new team through a variety of drills practicing 2-on-0's, 3-on-0's, and 3-on-1's, to name a few.

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At the end of the skate, St. Louis got his players to play a sort of 3-on-3 game using the short ice in the neutral zone where the players on the sidelines were also still involved in the action.
Nick Suzuki, for one, had a lot of fun with the game and saw how it could be beneficial to him in real-game situations.
"It keeps everyone engaged, whether you're on the 3-on-3 or not," he explained. "You can use anybody on the ice and you have to be ready to make a play at any moment, because the puck can just end up on your stick.
"If we can just make those plays in small areas, it'll make the game on the big ice easier. I like doing those drills a lot," he added. "I feel like it helps, making small plays out of the corner, using your teammates, just being aware of where everyone is on the ice. If we do more of that stuff, it'll help our game a lot."

Using the short ice to help with decision-making and awareness was exactly what the coach was going for.
"You're able to wire and develop their brains to think a little bit quicker. When you put them back on the long ice, they'll feel they have more time," explained St. Louis, who recorded 1,033 points in 1,134 career NHL games. "With more time, you usually make better decisions and execute a little bit better. I like to create drills where it's very game-like, where you can try and replicate the game a little bit so they can make some reads during practices and not just in games."

It was clear there was a renewed sense of enthusiasm among the Habs due to St. Louis' presence, enthusiasm which carried over from their spirited effort against the Washington Capitals the night before.
"Right away when we were first introduced to him, we had a great team meeting. I think he brings a ton of energy right away when he enters the room. He captured the room right away. All of a sudden, during the game I thought we were more dialed in," recalled Suzuki, who recorded one assist and six shots in 23:24 of ice time on Thursday. "Guys were making more plays and just being more prepared. We had a good game yesterday; we could've easily won that game. I think we're in a good spot moving forward."
Brendan Gallagher, who at 5-foot-9 is listed as an inch taller than St. Louis' official height of 5-foot-8, spoke of the admiration for the Hall of Fame forward who is now behind his bench in Montreal.
"Like seemingly every small player in the League right now, he was my favorite player growing up. I watched him play a lot. What really drew me to him was his competitive nature," shared Gallagher of St. Louis, who was never drafted into the NHL. "You watch him night in and night out, he was obviously very talented, he was obviously very smart, but he just seemed to compete harder than anyone else on the ice. As a young player, I think it was really important for me to be able to watch him."

There were no absences from practice on Friday. Goaltender Michael McNiven was on the ice for a good while on his own before the rest of the group.
The Canadiens play a pair of afternoon games over the weekend, with the Columbus Blue Jackets visiting the Bell Centre on Saturday and the Buffalo Sabres in town on Sunday. Both of those contests begin at 12:30 p.m. ET.