The Boss

    

    On a gorgeous fall evening in October, the usual crowd gathered in the Legion hall in tiny Gander, Newfoundland. A few down-on-their luck guys were playing video slots. A pair of couples sat drinking local beer at a wobbly table under bright, fluorescent lights. A trio of people chatted with the bored-looking bartender, while one guy played pool against himself. Otherwise, the place was quiet and empty.

    Heads turned when the door opened and strangers...a whole gang of them...strolled in. They were mostly young men; tall, fit, loud and energetic. Obviously, they were some sort of team.

    It turned out the visitors were the Montreal Canadiens training and equipment staff, in town with the team for a Kraft Hockeyville exhibition game against the Ottawa Senators. On the night before the game, they were out for some fun and to be screeched in.

    A screech-in is a silly game for tourists in Newfoundland, in which you become an honorary citizen by reciting a local phrase, drinking a shot of dark rum Screech and kissing a codfish, hosted by a local emcee.

    It wasn't a big deal to the regulars at the Legion. Screech-ins happen there fairly often over the summer, so nobody really paid much attention. Or, they didn't until another group arrived shortly behind the first. This time, their eyes followed one of the newcomers, knowing they'd seen him somewhere before.

    Marty St.Louis, casual in dark jeans, navy sweater and white-collared shirt, blended in with the rest of the crowd. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing there; only that the training guys said they were going and he decided to tag along. The rest of the coaching staff came with him.

    That was unusual. A couple of the trainers said most of the time on the road the coaches keep to themselves. Mixing in with the trainers and equipment guys normally doesn't happen, and it signaled to them the start of a different kind of team reality.

    The screech-in proceeded with the jokes, the recitation of the Newfoundland phrases, the rum and the codfish. Although a bit bemused, St.Louis played along in the spirit of the thing. He willingly drank the rot-gut rum and kissed the frozen fish, with a big smile. As more than one attendee explained, "That's just Marty."

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    A few years ago, Forbes magazine published an article called 7 Things That Make Great Bosses Unforgettable. The first item on the list: great bosses are passionate.

    Vincent Lecavalier played in Tampa for twelve years with St.Louis, and counts him as a friend and mentor.

    "That's probably one of his biggest things," he says. "If you talk about Marty St.Louis, that's what it is. Passion. Determination. That's something he brought as a player and obviously as a coach now. He loves what he does. He's hockey. That's his life. I loved hockey. I loved a lot of things about hockey. But to be a coach, to do that game in and game out, it takes a special kind of person."

    Mike Gilligan agrees. St.Louis joined his University of Vermont squad in 1993, and immediately impressed the coach.

    "I have to give him the highest ranks in passion," he says. "When he was a younger player in college, he was almost too passionate and losses hurt him so. He expected a lot from himself. He enjoyed the game so much, he didn't want to play poorly or have his teammates play poorly. He didn't like it if he thought they weren't respecting the sport and respecting every minute they had to enjoy that sport. He was the heart and soul of my teams for four years. Passion is one of his great traits."

    Number two on the Forbes list of excellent boss traits is "standing in front of the bus." In other words, the opposite of throwing players under the bus when things aren't going well. Gilligan says St.Louis ticks that box as well.

    "When he was hired up there last year, I said to myself, one thing he won't do is embarrass his players," he remembers. "He'll back them up, and he'll do one on ones with them if he has anything serious to say. He won't make a spectacle or coach through the media. He'll be right up front with these guys. He's not gonna blame anybody else except himself if things go wrong. He takes the hits. He'll own everything."

    Third on the Forbes list: "They play chess, not checkers." That is to say, they recognize not all pieces of their teams are interchangeable. They each have a specific set of traits that can be applied in a situation, and there are situations when a particular team member cannot be used.

    "Marty has been in every situation," says Lecavalier. "He's been a fourth liner, he's been an American Leaguer, he's been everything. He relates to everybody because he's been through it all. He can relate to a fourth liner. He can related to that guy who's gonna be up and down all year. He can relate to the top player. The only thing he can't relate to is probably the goalie."

    "That's what makes him understand that everybody does need a role on a team and how important everybody is on a team.  Even if you're playing eight or nine minutes, he'll get the best eight or nine minutes for that guy. I think he really understands that."

    Next, a great boss is who he is all the time, with no pretense, false promises or hidden agendas.

    "He's as serious in life as he is in hockey," Gilligan explains. "He expects a lot from the people around him, but he expects more from himself. He doesn't change. He hasn't changed one bit since I've met him. He doesn't forget anybody. With all his successes, his best friends are some of the guys he grew up with along the way. Not big shot type players, but just regular friends. He's as nice to them as he is to everyone else."

    Number five on the Forbes list is "a great boss is a port in a storm." When everything is going to crap, he's the one who calms everyone down and remains cool under pressure.

    "I think he's pretty calm," Lecavalier says. "I think he was like that as a player. That's probably very hard to do as a coach because you're basically looked at as either a winner or a loser. A lot of coaches can't take the losing."

    "I think Marty's done a really good job in believing in the process of getting better. Sometimes you don't always get the results, but you know that's gonna come.  So I think as a coach, it's good to be patient if your team is trending in the right direction and he's doing that."

    According to the list, an excellent boss is also human, not afraid of emotion or embarrassed to show his own. He's also warm and relates to his people as people before workers

    "He's very easy to talk to," Lecavalier shares. "He was a guy who wasn't afraid to go and talk to coaches, and that's what he's bringing. His door's always open. Not every coach does that. They say their door is open, but it's not really."

    "But he's a good communicator. He understands everybody has different needs and responds to different ways of coaching. I can just remember with me and John Tortorella, it was hard for me to go into his office. And Marty would say why won't you go in his office? You'll feel so much better after. You'll both feel better. He was always about communication, and he does that with his players."

     And finally, according to Forbes, a great boss is humble.

    "He doesn't brag on himself at all," Gilligan confirms. "As much as he's done, he doesn't talk about himself. He just goes on with his life and tries to help people around him. He just loves the sport and respects it so much. It's given him a career and it's been his lifelong dream."

    If St.Louis has all the qualities of a great boss, neither Gilligan nor Lecavalier is surprised.

    "I got in the league before him, but I was five years younger," says Lecavalier. "He really helped me on my mental game. He made sure I got better. He was a natural leader that brought the best out of me. He was almost like a player-coach type guy with not just the caring, but how to play the game. Little things on the ice that make you better. He was a big brother type of guy. A friend and a guy you could talk to."

    "He sees the game like he's in the third balcony. He's always had great hockey sense. Even when he played with me, he'd suggest things to do," Gilligan says.

    "I remember on his first penalty kill with us, he came off the ice and I said 'Hey Marty, when you get that puck, you get rid of it and throw it down the other end.' He looked at me and said 'I kind of see it as an offensive opportunity. There's fewer people out there to go around.' He was almost like a coach from day one for us."

    "He was a great hire. Some of the younger kids have rallied around him. They're really starting to grow as players right now. He's a good match for them. Some of them remember him as a player. It wasn't that long ago that he was doing the stuff they're trying to do right now."

    "He's got a great set of values. As good as he is as a hockey person, he's a hall of famer in life. He's quite a guy."

    

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    Back in Gander, after the Canadiens crew were screeched in and shared a few laughs and beers, they headed out to get ready for the next day's game.

    At the door, they stopped and looked around. "Where's Marty?" they asked.

    Looking back, there he was.

    Quietly helping the bartender clear away the empties before he hit the road.