Martin St-Louis uses advanced statistics to manage his workouts

Advanced statistics have not always been an important area in Montreal.

Fortunately, with the arrival of Jeff Gorton and Christopher Boucher, in particular, this aspect of the game has become increasingly important, so much so that the team is well placed among the others in the Bettman circuit.

While advanced stats are not universally appreciated, they are frequently used by journalists to demonstrate a player’s strengths. But these stats are also used by teams. Such is the case with the Habs, who use them during training sessions.

As noted in an article by Arpon Basu on The Athletic, Martin St-Louis takes these numbers to heart to determine whether or not he’s tiring his guys out too much.

The Canadiens weekly notebook is out! On Mike Matheson’s elusiveness, Lane Hutson’s improved defensive game and two items on Martin St. Louis’ practices in the final notebook of 2023. Happy holidays! https://t.co/X1xmsgNVsT

– Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) December 26, 2023

The coach doesn’t have to rely solely on his subjective vision, but can also rely on facts.

Sitting on the team bench at most of the club’s training sessions, Adam Douglas, Director of Performance and Sports Science, has access to statistics that monitor the guys’ physical output. This output is necessary to determine whether players have a high or low level of fatigue.

During morning training or the day before a match, this output is very useful because, obviously, you don’t want athletes to be too burnt out for their next match.

Note that MSL also uses these statistics to build its practices. It is therefore fully aware of the energy intensity required by a certain exercise. This technology would have been useful to my coaches when I was younger…

So, they can be used to modify practices on the spot, but also to plan them. It’s a far cry from the days when advanced statistics were frowned upon, especially by more experienced coaches. After all, it’s a relatively new technology and it’s understandable that it can be frightening.

But St-Louis is not an old-school coach, and advanced statistics are part of his daily life. He puts them to good use, and in the end, that’s what’s important. Technology is there to help, not to hinder.

It’s good news that the Habs have finally arrived in 2023 (soon 2024) at this level.