Martin St-Louis compares Juraj Slafkovsky to a GPS, and here are the details
The early career of Juraj Slafkovsky may not be what's expected of a first overall NHL pick, but it must be acknowledged that he is doing good things on the ice.
Even though the points aren't coming as expected at the moment, the Slovak player is responsible defensively and brings a very interesting physical dimension to the game.
During today's press conference, St-Louis was asked about Slaf's development. According to him, it's very challenging for a 19-year-old not to feel the pressure, especially with social media, but the organization is doing its best to assist him in dealing with it.
The coach then made a comparison with a GPS, which is quite apt:
"I would say yes. It's not easy for a 19-year-old to avoid hearing that and to not be exposed to that with all the media there is in Montreal. Sometimes it's not fair.
But for me, with Slaf - you guys use Waze? When you're going somewhere, you use Waze? You put in your address, and let's say you're going to a nice place and you put your address in it, it tells you how much time it'll take, how many miles, and then you get into trafic. What happens with your arrival time? Does it drop or goes up? Do you turn around or keep going? You keep going.
If you miss an exit, do you get frustrated and turn go home? Or do you get rerouted and still end up at the destination? It's a serious question.
I live my life the same way, and that's what we're doing with Slaf. Slaf is headed to a nice destination. We don't know exactly how long it'll take to arrive, and sometimes there's trafic and he can't get angry about it and can't get discouraged about it. Sometimes you miss the exit, but you find your way back.
We don't have all the answers of when he'll be exactly where he's heading, but I know he's going to a good place. So it's hard for a young guy to be in trafic sometimes and miss the exit, but everyone hits trafic and misses exits. It's not easy for a 19-year-old, but we're trying to help him with that."
- Martin St-Louis
But for me, with Slaf - you guys use Waze? When you're going somewhere, you use Waze? You put in your address, and let's say you're going to a nice place and you put your address in it, it tells you how much time it'll take, how many miles, and then you get into trafic. What happens with your arrival time? Does it drop or goes up? Do you turn around or keep going? You keep going.
If you miss an exit, do you get frustrated and turn go home? Or do you get rerouted and still end up at the destination? It's a serious question.
I live my life the same way, and that's what we're doing with Slaf. Slaf is headed to a nice destination. We don't know exactly how long it'll take to arrive, and sometimes there's trafic and he can't get angry about it and can't get discouraged about it. Sometimes you miss the exit, but you find your way back.
We don't have all the answers of when he'll be exactly where he's heading, but I know he's going to a good place. So it's hard for a young guy to be in trafic sometimes and miss the exit, but everyone hits trafic and misses exits. It's not easy for a 19-year-old, but we're trying to help him with that."
- Martin St-Louis
While this might not have been the comparison one expected, it's a powerful metaphor by the coach, and what's most important in all of this is that the organization believes in him, and so do we.
| POLL | ||
According to you, is Slafkovsky headed to a nice place? | ||
| Yes | 92 | 74.2 % |
| No | 32 | 25.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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