Chapdelaine hopes his changes include a second straight win for Als over Esks
MONTREAL — Even a mundane matter like which end of a meeting room the chairs face is meaningful to new Montreal Alouettes coach Jacques Chapdelaine.
He had the Olympic Stadium room where he holds weekly meetings with the media rearranged, mostly so that players can pass through it without interrupting their teammates. But it was more than that.
“When you take over a situation, you’d like to give it as much of a new or different feel as you can,” Chapdelaine said Sunday. “I thought ‘I’m not going to repaint or refloor the place.’ There wasn’t time to do this. But there are little things you can send messages with, that we can work better.”
So far, although the sample size is small, the changes Chapdelaine has made have worked since he was promoted to head coach two weeks ago, when general manager Jim Popp was stripped of the title by the team owners. The practises are more structured and the players appear to be more disciplined.