Chicago owned the final 10 minutes of the hockey game, scoring three unanswered goals.
The well-rested Canadiens – desperately in need of points and, presumably, anxious to finally win one for their good-guy new coach – had THREE shots in the third period.
How good will they be in the third period of Thursday night’s game in Winnipeg?
The Canadiens are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Jets, who have two games in hand.
I know it’s alarmist to draw this conclusion after 35 games, but this season is going down the dumper … fast.
“Good teams make fortune go their way,” Randy Cunneyworth said after the game.
Conversely, bad teams never seem to catch a break. And it is becoming painfully obvious, as the calendar year winds down, that the 2011 Canadiens are not a very good hockey team.
Wanna get really depressed? Go to capgeek.com and check out the highest-paid Chicago Blackhawks vs. the highest-paid Canadiens.
And Chicago, which leads the Western Conference and will be a Stanley Cup contender, has cap space to add a piece or two at the trade deadline.
Claude Giroux returned from injury Wednesday night. He scored a goal and added three assists.
Think that’s going to happen with Brian Gionta? Or Scott Gomez?
It’s a cliché you hear often on the RDS telecasts: Your best have to be at their best.
Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and Duncan Keith played excellent games.
Mike Cammalleri didn’t. The non-scoring sniper was minus-3, as was his linemate Tomas Plekanec and the team’s steadiest defenceman, Josh Gorges
Gorges’ D partner, P.K. Subban was minus-2. As was the case in Boston Tuesday night, P.K. made a soft backhanded pass that led directly to a goal-against. To compound his miserable evening, P.K. uncorked wild, ill-advised slap shots that sabotaged power-plays while the Canadiens were still in the game … which they were for 50 minutes … a tribute to Cunneyworth’s planning and motivational skill.
But what can this coach do with the roster that got Jacques Martin fired??
The guys on L’Antichambre say Cunneyworth has to cut Subban’s ice time, which was 23:28.
Fair enough.
So who joins Gorges in the first pairing? Raphael Diaz? Maybe Alexei Emelin draws in, returning to the left side while Gorges plays on the right.
P.K. is getting a lot of well-deserved stick, but defence is not the problem on this team.
The Canadiens got one goal in Chicago, two in Boston.
They are 12th in the NHL in goals against, averaging 2.63 per game.
In goals for, the Canadiens are 24th: 2.49 per game.
The David Desharnais line carries the team. Not only are the Canadiens incapable of getting six forwards going simultaneously, they rarely put together two dominant shifts in a row.
There was a sequence in the game when Toews, Kane and Andrew Brunette cycled the puck through an entire shift, using their skill and tenacity to maintain possession until they could get the shot they wanted.
How often do you see the Canadiens exhibit that kind of dominance?
Never … or hardly ever … or maybe a couple times last season.
Bertrand Raymond has written a devastating piece for the RDS web site. The veteran journalist, who has covered the Canadiens since the glorious 1970s, thinks the team has been spinning its wheels since Ron Corey fired Serge Savard, replacing him as general manager with the hapless Réjean Houle, who had no managerial experience and had been a Molson beer rep for 10 years.
Pierre Gautheir is an experienced NHL executive. But would you buy a gros Mol’ from him?
Thanks to Gauthier’s predecessor, Bob Gainey, the team is in a nightmare salary cap situation, locked into long-term contracts with Gomez, Gionta and Cammalleri. Gauthier has compounded the problem by signing Andrei Markov for three seasons and taking on Tomas Kaberle’s contract.
To be fair to the GM, the Erik Cole deal looks good … and let’s hope we’re saying that three years from now.
But Gauthier is doomed, and he’s run out of people to fire in order to save his job.
As we assess the chances of the Canadiens harvesting 60 points from their remaining 47 games in order to possibly sneak into the playoffs, we can draw solace from one certainty:
If there’s going to be a lottery draft pick in June, Pierre Gauthier won’t be calling out the kid’s name.
And because Michel Therrien was joking about it on L’Antichambre, here’s one that never gets old:
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Say what you want but the buck stops with Gainey. I like him and always respected him as a player. But that does not mean he is beyond reproach.
This Management team has failed to properly set out a plan and manage assets. Some deals were good but most were bad. For instance they should have unloaded Kovalev right after the first playoff run in which they acquired him. And they should have unloaded Koivu and Souray too- for assets when the market value was as high as it was ever going to get . What is more though time and time again they have failed to draft and identify talent that others have uncovered .
This falls on the GM and it is now time to clean house! Keep PK, Price, Gorges, Emelin, Eller. But everyone else should be sold off for assets. It also begs the question and probably goes without saying. Would Cammi, Gio, and Gomez ( if he was had some say in where he could be traded) come to Montreal as a first choice given the politcal climate, weather, and constant scrutiny if they were not overpaid? Likely not and it also is no wonder given this latest language soap opera – why Franco players dont want to go to Montreal!!!!!
Best post game interview ever lol
THIS IS WHAT OUR HABS ARE RIGHT NOW IN THAT VIDEO.. PATHETIC
It makes me feel better to watch that clip and pretend he is talking about the Habs. Try it.
Hockey is a game about taking gambles and making mistakes.
Whichever teams’ gambles pay off and whichever teams’ mistakes are less costly usually wins.
Gainey gambled on Gomez… Gauthier gambled on Markov…
Martin gambled on veterans…
Players gamble on backpasses, hits, positioning, etc…
The game is played between the ears and the Montreal Canadiens need to get their heads into it pretty damn quick or the fallout of being a failing Habs team is not the same as sucking in Toronto, Columbus or on Long Island.
Just play the game, boys, it’s easy, even 5 year olds can play this game, you pass the puck, you shoot the puck, you skate and you make saves… so freakin’ easy.
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Jack Edwards sucks chowdah chunks
The shame of this, fans in MTL will continue to support the team and Mr Molson knows it.. Its a guaranteed investment! Look at what the fans in Toronto have endured for 50 years……….!
MY POINT! The only way to force a company to make a better product is to stop buying the product! As a consumer that’s our only retribution…………! It’s a tough thing to do but i’ll tell you this…….! They won’t move away no matter what they say!
As for the organization! It depends on whats important to Mr Molson and his true colors are in the spotlight! Mr Molson didn’t buy a “business” he bought a “tradition” like I buy season for the Habs and I live in Boston. I buy them because they’ve been in the family for years and I’m continuing the tradition. I will also say that the tickets are getting harder and harder to give away. My sister who still lives in MTL holds/controls the tickets and NOTE doesn’t get calls for them anymore ,or rarely, and now she has to make calls to give them away, especially for weekday games. If that’s not a sign of fans loosing interest i don’t know what is.
FINALLY, if i don’t see the winds of change, my investment will not be worth the effort and I’ll be satisfied with a tattoo of the HABS logo on my calf that I got as a foolish teen….. AND i won’t be a typical Leaf fan and support “disrespect” for 5 decades…..? No disrespect to MTL or Hab fans here but maybe just maybe its time to buy season tickets for the TD Bank North in Boston……….and break the tradition! Even my 83 year old mother “Also living in MTL” won’t even talk about it when we chat on the phone. Even she asks why I spend the money! Ya there was a time after a Habs win or loss the phone would ring and mom and I would chat for 10 minutes about the game! Now she calls me and talks about American/Canadian Idol or Dancing with the Stars and I have no clue what she’s talking about!
Not that I’m jumpin’ ship cuz that’s emotionally impossible but myself and my son have Sabres jerseys and make the two hour drive to Buffalo a couple of times a year, cheap tickets, cheap parking, cheapest beer and we just root on for the home team at an NHL hockey game.
Buffalo even acknowledges us Canadians by having ‘O Canada’ played at every game no matter who the Sabres’ opponent.
Now, of course, when the Habs are in town, we’re decked out in red, white and blue…
It is what it is, folks.
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Jack Edwards sucks chowdah chunks
Toronto and Montreal are hockey towns, and that’s not gonna change anytime soon. If your sister has 2 tix to the Blues game for Jan.10 pm me.
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“For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the Gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.” Exodus 12:12
“We don’t see things as they are, but as we are.” – Anais Nin
As sad as it looks, that Therrien video rings fairly true, it seems, when you look at this Habs squad. He might as well be talking about the Habs of 2011/2012.
I felt, and still do, that J.Martin had to go. And I was not surpriseed with Cunneyworth being named “interim head coach”. I did not, however, expect this move to be the magic wand that would turn the team’s season around. This team is destined to finish out of the playoffs this year. Hard to imagine them pushing their way in at this point. This team is developing a culture of losing, and they are doing it collectively, both players and management. We all have varying opinions on what players are not performing to standards. That’s the scary part, isn’t it? Too many candidates for the train out of town.
I believe this season is a write-off. I have a hard time imagining things turning around to the point of being playoff contenders, even with a full and healthy roster. It just seems to me that it is too late. The culture of losing has sunk in. What is the fix? Well, no doubt at season’s end, if not before, Pierre Gauthier will be replaced by God knows who, and another rebuild will begin. Fans will be promised that a return to real contention is just over the horizon. But I wonder to myself just who has those magic hands to reshape this team. The language issue seriously reduces the pool of candidates for both GM and head coach. The obvious names that always come to the forefront do not excite me. Fans want a proven coach and a hockey genius for a GM. Trouble is, it’s a very short list, given the restrictions the language issue handcuffs this team with. Also, I think, the younger players on the team want to be associated with winning. When contract time comes around, if the culture of losing is still there, I don’t expect players, who have a choice, to stick around. It’s a good thing that there is a Canadiens Hall of Fame at the Bell Centre to remind us of past glories. It seems that it will be a long time before we see that kind of success and passion on the ice again anytime soon.
Either Gainey is a dumb-ass or he is the most shrew of intellectual masterminds.
Maybe he knew that if he put together a smurf committee on ice the inevitability would be a few tanked seasons. Maybe he saw that the only way to build a team was via the tank.
How else could you explain this team?
No size, no grit, limited talent, mediocre coaching, pedestrian management, no stars, no offence, crap defence.
This team is saddled, no hamstrung, with the Gomez, Cammy, Gionta, Markov, Kaberle, Plekanec and Cole contracts.
Every GM in the league knows the Habs are naive and ripe for the picking, like a victim of the desert heat the vultures are circling.
Neither Plekanec nor Cole, nor either of their contracts have hamstrung the Habs.
The Habs have a more than average number of problem contracts, but those are not the guys to worry about.
The Gomez trade was of course insane, the Gionta signing questionable, Cammy’s recent lack of production is a surprise, the Kaberle deal is problematic past the end of this season but it makes you think they have resolved to buy out or demote Gomez.
I am surprised at the Cammy lack of production, but think he is hiding and injury. From the perspective of today that contract looks troubling but it is not the “are you nuts?” Gomex deal or even the “I dunno bout the wisdom of that” of the Gionta deal. I really think that Gainey had a $30M check and a list of players to give it to. Cammy was probably fourth or fifth on that list. We saw number 1 on that list last night in Hossa.
“Et le but!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcDJOySjXlE
GO HABS GO!!!
I’m taking two great positives from what is looking like a lost season.
1) The youth are getting their chance, something that needed to happen if this team was ever going to step forward in a consistent way.
2) The implosion we’ve seen thus far should hopefully quell some of the criticisms of Saku Koivu’s leadership and Guy Carbonneau’s coaching.
Look, both guys had their flaws. But I was absolutely flabbergasted at how quickly Habs fans threw both guys under the bus. Carbo was perceived as one of the best up-and-coming coaches for about 5 years before he was hired. All he did as coach was put together one heck of a record while the coach before he was undone by a team that inexplicably went south.
Koivu was an established leader everywhere he went. Team captain of the Finnish national team, elected one of two athlete represenatives to the International Olympic Committee (along with Canadian cross-country skier Beckie Scott), team captain of the Montreal Canadiens and you never heard anything bad about the guy. But somehow, when a talented team blew up, Koivu’s 15 year-long reputation was thrown away in favour of a perception formed in one year.
Compare to today. We have veteran leaders like Gionta, Gomez and Gill on the team. Plekanec is a respected presence in the locker room. Entering the season, many fans were optimistic that they could contend with the Bruins and Sabres for the division crown. I thought that was a pipe-dream, but I could acknowledge that the offence would be better.
But it hasn’t worked. Injuries and slumps (just like 2008-09) derailed the team, and an assistant coach and coach have already paid the price.
The 2008-09 team was 21-9-6 on January 1. They then nosedived for the rest of the season, putting up monthly records of 7-6-0 in January, 6-7-1 in February, 5-5-3 in March and 2-3-1 in April. So in the second half, they played at a 20-21-5 pace and earned the disdain of Habs fans for eternity.
This year? 4-5-2 in October, 6-6-2 in November and 3-4-3 thus far in December. Looks awfully similar to the embarassment Habs, no?
With the absence of legitimate NHL stars, the Habs have a small margin of error. And even the presences of bona fide stars can’t save a team that is not well constructed. If you don’t have a strong defence corps in the NHL, you are going to struggle. Look no further than the Anaheim Ducks, who feature no fewer than 4 forwards (Selanne, Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan) who are probably better than anything the Motnreal Canadiens have, a young stud defenceman (Fowler) and some good role players (Visnovsky, Koivu, Beauchemin). Despite that bounty of riches up front and a guy widely regarded as one of the best coaches in the business in Randy Carlyle, the Ducks are fighting Columbus for the title of worst team in the NHL. And the Washington Capitals, one of the most talented teams in the NHL no matter how you look at them, are also puzzling in their ineptitude since a hot start to the season.
So the uptake…should this team be blown up, the same way the 2008-09 Montreal Canadiens were blown up by Bob Gainey? No…this type of thing does happen. The Flyers, the Ducks, the Blackhawks, the Bruins…all these teams have inexplicably face-planted for a year at some point in the last decade before returning to their customary places in the top half of the standings.
I do think Montreal should make some moves. The Hal Gill era is clearly over. Gomez was never a good move, but it is abundantly clear that if he resurrects his career it will not be in Montreal. Cammalleri is too streaky of a player to rely on.
But there remains a significant number of positives. Price has become a great goalie, Subban is going through the growing pains seen frequently by young defencemen (look no further than Tyler Myers in Buffalo) but has improved his defensive play greatly while Pacioretty, Desharnais, Diaz and Eller have all developed nicely.
The Habs are not winning the Stanley Cup this season, but I didn’t think that was a particularly reasonable expectation from the get-go. Moves should be made, but I shudder at the thought of throwing the baby out with the bath-water the way I felt Gainey did to that 08-09 team.
I do not want to throw Koivu too far under the bus, but while he was captain the team was divided into cliques. The Habs traded away better players and better centers while he was here. The coup de grace in Koivu’s time here was the ever mindboggling Leclair and Desjardins for Dr. Recchi trade.
Are you suggesting that Koivu was responsible for that foolish trade?
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“Talent is a gift from God, but you only succeed with hard work. Yvan was proof of that.” – Jean Beliveau.
Read again. I wrote “in Koivu’s time.” Does everybody skip over every other word?
No, I read it. Your post was ambiguous at best, and needed clarification. Thus I asked. You, however, did not answer.
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“Talent is a gift from God, but you only succeed with hard work. Yvan was proof of that.” – Jean Beliveau.
And people from everyone of those cliques to a man have never said anything negative about Koivu….let’s face it Koivu should never have been let go…..instead they should have systematically dismantled the cliques by removing people from each one…. I am only aware of the Higgy/Komi,Chips,etc crew…unless you go back a few years.
Saku is my favourite Hab and not only for his play…to fault him is ridiculous….unless you are now throwing Gomez and Gio under the bus…who Marty Brodeau came out and said would lead us nowhere…nobody ever spoke out about Koivu like that…..nobody. Even players who left town with a bad taste in their mouth from the organization……none have ever bad mouthed Koivu….he may be the most respected Hab in hockey circles since Beliveau but I guess he doesn’t speak the right language (even though he speaks several)and didn’t play in a 6 team era on a team full of Hall of Famers.
I still hope that they bring back Saku to retire a Hab…
For the record I do not fault Gio for our current woes..and even Gomez I blame management for the horrid trade…not really Gomez himself….he has lost his game but his biggest burden is still that contract…that we will finally be rid of this offseason.
It’s 1 team, not 3. The captain should have insisted on the team being 1 team, not 3. Dysfunction among the players that was only corrected when that most horrible coach, JM, showed up.
I think that that is certainly a fair criticism, although it is also true that every team has cliques. As soon as you get past 5-10 people, cliques are a natural occurrence.
In Koivu’s case, the clique issue came up to bite him in the latter part of his career with the Three Amigos (Theodore, Ribeiro and Dagenais) or with the distraction around the perceived desire of Kovalev to be the captain.
I’m not sure how much Koivu had do do with Leclair/Desjardins for Recchi (although Koivu and Recchi would become best friends on the team after that trade), but you could certainly argue Koivu was to blame for Turgeon getting traded such a short time after being acquired. The perception was the Koivu was too good to be a 3rd line center and one of Damphousse or Turgeon had to go. I’m always a little surprise they didn’t try to keep all three and convert one of them to wing (Damphousse played primarily left wing earlier in his career, I believe).
Mike Ribeiro got himself dealt out of town due to immaturity, a recurring theme on the Habs under Koivu’s captaincy. That is a criticism that would also stick to Koivu for me as we had a lot of “brats” come through the Habs for some reason. But I’m not sure what more Koivu could do. I remember Ryder saying in one of his interviews that Koivu would probably be the worst room-mate on the road because he was usually in bed early and was pretty focussed on hockey. Terrible example, eh?
That Ryder remark sums it all up doesn’t it?
The Habs were a country club for an awful long time. JM insisted the players acquire a better physical condition. He was right. It seems odd to say, but the Habs were lazy athletes.
But was that Koivu’s fault or even Carbo’s fault? What leverage does a coach or captain have in today’s NHL where players have guaranteed contracts?
If there was a perception of laziness on the team, it is because of the players who were brought in. A captain can’t do much more than set a great example and possibly chirp at a player.
I recall an anecdote about Scottie Pippen trying to mentor some of the younger players on the Chicago Bulls in his last season. The reporters covering the team were stunned to witness the younger guys pulling out that season’s stats and salary information and use it to ask Pippen why they should listen to anything he had to say.
If younger players don’t want to listen to an older teammate, especially one who was as accomplished as Scottie Pippen, what can the older player do?
The Leclair trade as bad as it was, it was before Koivu’s time.
About 6 months or so.
However trading Ribeiro for a 6th rounder and Niniima(spelling?)
was a shot in thier own foot.
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Well said Chris…
Re: Saku – I still am ashamed at how he was treated by many fans and media after giving everything to this club. I have personally lived through some glory days of the team, but I still respect Saku along with the best of them. I would actually like to see his number retired.
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“Talent is a gift from God, but you only succeed with hard work. Yvan was proof of that.” – Jean Beliveau.
That team reminds me of the Caps…..they tried to bring in role players to harness Semin and Backstrom,Green,etc…they need to rid themselves of Semin and/or Green who are both prima donnas….we needed to rid ourselves of Kovy as likeable as he was at times…..you can’t have a guy that important be not accountable …when your most talented player has an on/off switch to determine when he cares and nobody knows how to operate that switch you have trouble in a team sport. The sad thing is fans somehow appreciated him more than Koivu who I don’t ever recall taking a single shift off regardless of the time of season, score of the game or play fo the rest of the team….he led by example but Kovy IMO was his downfall. Kovy may go down as the most underachieving talent in NHL history….he was incredible…absolutely incredible and skilled like very few others but he never saw the Who’s celebrate Christmas without presents and his heart never grew…if it had he would have been talked about in the same breaths as the greats….
It´s mainly a matter of confidence. The team doesn´t have any. Last year before Wiz came they were also in a slump and right around 500. Wiz gave them just a big enough push to get a couple of goals on the PP and they got their confidence back. They stayed with the system.
The problem now is i don´t think there is a strict system in place so on top of the lack of confidence the guys seem a bit lost out there. Look at how many goals they have been giving up: 5, 4, and 3 in the last three games. I realize JM´s brand of hockey is not fun to watch, but with strict defensive responsibilities in place I really do feel the team would have got out of the slump. The team is more talented than last years version at this time.
The Cunneyworth (nothing against him, seems like a good hockey guy) move was a heck of a gamble, and it seems to be backfiring so far. It takes time for a coach to put his system in place, and the Habs just don´t have time. By the time the team becomes focused again they will be too many games under 500 to claw back.
I do also think the potential effect of the language issue was underestimated.
In short they should have kept Martin until the end of the season. Unless the players had really lost faith in Martin, but I find that hard to believe given that they have experienced success with him especially in the playoffs where they really seem to believe in themselves.
The only guy who says that he lost the room is Melnick and it seems totally unsubstantiated. I think the veterans were still with him.
Here’s my cure what ails ya.
Tank™ for the next three years. Price and Subban get offer sheets. The Habs don’t match them and take the pics instead.
They then become a power house starting in 2015.
Sadly what they’ll do is try their best to put together a play-off team for next season.
EDIT: Oh yeah. Draft whatever you can from the Q.
They may become a Pittsburgh or Chicago with this strategy, I will give you that. But they might also become a Columbus or Islanders as well, who have had years of top draft picks without results on the ice. What if they tank for four years and they are still bad? Even if you finish last, you still only have about a 50% chance at the top pick, and the risk of finding a star increases as you move down the list. I would rather package Subban and Price for a proven star like Shea Weber or Rick Nash than gamble on picks that might not turn out as good as Price and Subban.
I like the way Ottawa handled it last year. They identified their core players and kept them, they identified their kids who were ready for the big leagues, and unloaded everyone else for picks. I think Ottawa could be good as early as next year.
I’d rather see them become like Boston or Philadelphia. A nice happy medium between the tankers and Detroit. Let’s face it. Detroit is an anomaly. Hakan Anderson is either a genius or the luckiest man alive.
Agree with you about Ottawa. They did last year what Gainey should have done three years ago. And it’s working. They’re fun to watch this year, and they’ll be good before long. Whereas the Habs need time to get out of the mess they’re in (who knows how many of the big contracts can be dumped?), then rebuild pretty well from scratch. Even with good management, something that is far from a certainty, we’re looking at several years.
With the fluidity of signings nowadays, it takes a mere 2 yrs to build a contender, 3yrs a winner. Luck is often req’d on drafting.
——————————————————————-
“For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the Gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD.” Exodus 12:12
“We don’t see things as they are, but as we are.” – Anais Nin
Change often means instability. It doesn’t always mean improvement, even though, in this case, change was meant to create stability (read: wins/cohesion amongst players) that hasn’t come yet. All the chatter about politics/language is being ignored by Cunneyworth and the team. It is up to management and ownership to deal with the media and by extension, the fans. This change has an impact on the players, especially those who may have been thinking, “well, JM is gone, things should get better.” It may take more than that. Cunneyworth is doing an admirable job so far, all things considered.
I hope the players have the courage to look each other in the eye and see this for what it is: a real tough time, that will pass. A passage which will be aided by banding together and doing the best they can with what they currently have. It may not always be pretty, but in the end, strong teamwork is elevated exponentially by a win, or by a key player returning and being embraced in a culture of mutual loyalty and respect, a key player is elevated by rejoining a group that has been doing everything possible to “hold the line” during this period of hardship. To think that as an injured player, once returned to action, that my team would put unrealistic pressures on me to right the wayward ship is laughable. The role the healthy players can assume right now is one of “look what you are missing” and “look what we are doing despite your absence”… A role that leads by example. A role that inspires others in it’s single mindedness, regardless of results. That’s what professionals do. That’s what winners do. That’s what TEAMS do.
Go Habs Go!!
I was not in support of firing Jacques Martin. I thought he was poor with rookies (since day one), but he kept a team with almost a complete rookie defence in the thick of things – and managed to keep the team on the rails. It was obvious to everyone that the team was mediocre, and that it’s position in the standings was a reflection of its skill level. It would have made sense to see out the season and reassess in the summer.
Now the team’s going off the rails in a bad way, and we are out of options. I doubt very much that our high priced talent will be tradeable at the deadline. If you’re a cup contender, why do you want -say- Brian Gionta, even for a 2nd rounder?
It looks more and more like firing Martin was an emotional reaction by Gauthier, with little forethought. And it’s blown up in their faces worse than anyone predicted.
Mike’s analysis of the Montreal mess is the best short assessment I have read. Spot on! Unfortunately, you are right in all categories.
We keep this Patrick talk going, but here is a guy who has never coached in the NHL, as was the case with Julien, Therrien, Vigneault, Carbs, and of course our friend Mario. We have to forget the rookies, and set up an established team, GM and coach, and stick with them. People will just go crazy if they hire Roy, thinking we are on our way to 3,4 cups in a row. You think it’s a zoo now, with Patrick, it would be insane.
This team needs to be rebuilt – is everyone (especially the RDS types) ready for another 5 year plan? because that is what has to happen. Unilingual or bilingual coach, don’t matter, it’s going to be a long road.
I’m good with an experienced coach, but who, assuming he has to speak French?
Bob Hartley? Do we bring Therrien back? The pickings are pretty slim for experienced French-speaking coaches.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Carbo, whose firing was another mistake.
We agree on that one.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
That Therrien video is reason enough why the man will never coach another NHL team ever again.
I remember when lots of posters where so happy we got Gio Gommer (well not happy) and Cammy ….. oh the effort they play with and how hard they try ….. yeah RIGHT bs. I would have and STILL would have taken Kovy back in a heart beat. AT LEAST HE PLAYED WITH A LITTLE FLAIR ….. sure effort wasnt there every night but when he did try he dominated. Cammy hasnt tried all season.
so what was with the mods pulling ALL of my comments last night? i understand 2 yes TWO were maybe a little over board but what the hell? Seriously? I didn’t realize HIO didn’t believe in freedom of speach i didn’t realize this was run by some kind of communist rule.
now onto something a little more to the point. Even if the Habs go into Winnipeg and win 20-0 I would not care. Why? Simply because it would prove NOTHING TO ME. This season has, is, and will be for the rest of the season pure utter crap. There is little to enjoy about this team. Cammy disgusts me the most out of everyone. Gommez we at lease know he is horrible but the sad thing is when he plays he is at least putting an effort in. Cammy on the other hand? If you do not want to play for this team please ask for a trade get the hell off of my beloved habs. I HATE YOU !
Wow…that’s passion.
I’m on the fence with Cammy. He has always seemed to love playing here. He is getting his opportunities. The puck is just not going in for him right now. For long stretches since he has been here, he has been our best player. I love how everyone talks about Halak during that magic run, but what if Cammy hadn’t been there? Halak’s great 1st round would have been for not, and there would have been no 2nd or 3rd rounds.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
I agree with other posters that our current problems originate from Gainey’s shoddy rebuilding job in the summer of 2009. Since Halak stood on his head in the playoffs, this team has been under the illusion that it is better than it really is.
We’re stuck with 5 bad contracts that NOBODY WILL TAKE (Gomez, Markov, Kaberle, Camalleri, and Gionta) until 2014. As presently consituted, the Canadiens can neither contend nor rebuild until then.
If they can’t be good, they can at least be interesting. Fire Gauthier, and get Patrick Roy involved somehow
We shouldn’t be talking about mid-season coaching CHANGES, we should be talking about mid-season coaching UPGRADES. Carlyle and Boudreau were B+ coaches, Maurice, B-, Payne — who knows, probably a C, Murray, B-/C+, I’ll let you fill in your own grade for Martin…
Replacing Carlyle with Boudreau is a wash as the Ducks’ record indicates. Muller and Hunter — prospects at the NHL level and their teams reflect that. Sutter hasn’t coached yet, but I’d grade him a B- and expect to see a very modest improvement. Then we get to Hitch, a proven winner and definite upgrade over Payne, and, Voila, a meaningful improvement in the team’s record. They might not win the Cup. Hitch may wear out his welcome in a couple of years, but they UPGRADED their coaching position.
This isn’t a knock on Cunneyworth, but…
Is a career minor league coach with a good record better than a long tenured NHL coach who had good numbers with a loaded Sens squad and sucky numbers everywhere else?
I say no. So, why bother to make THIS “change”? Was it simply to initiate a language firestorm around a team? Was it Molson showing the fans that more (and hopefully more meaningful changes are coming soon, this means you Gauthier)?
On a side note, I respect people who improve a bad situation. I have as much or more respect for people who recognize a no-win situation and leave. I’d love to see Cunneyworth have the b@lls to bolt (no pun intended) the impossible environment that Molson and Gauthier have created for his first NHL job.
I am not sure firing your coach on Saturday morning and appointing an assistant anglo-only as interim coach for life, or 30 days, whichever comes sooner, smacks of a thought-out response or a “plan”. Unless that plan has a subset of St Patrick riding to the rescue with a formed posse shortly after this road trip while the GM magically places three FC NHL level players into the lineup.
“Will Cunneyworth be the Habs full-time coach? Apparently not, according to Guy Lafleur. The Habs legend appeared on “Le Match” tonight, and stated that Geoff Molson confided to him that there is a short list of four coaching candidates. Names were not dropped, but Cunneyworth was not one of them.” (Kevin van Steendelaar, EotP)
This could be total bs, but it just shows you what happens when you have the wrong man (Lafleur), in the wrong place, wearing the wrong hat.
I shudder to think what Patrick Roy would do if given the same opportunity.
I’m not a huge fan of you jabbing at Petrick Roy. Another person you are not fond of and insult in your roundabout way as often as you can. The man has had some personal issues, but he has been nothing but a winner when it comes to hockey. Hopefully, Geoff Molson is not as near-sighted as you.
And yes, i know he sent his son to fight, and I know he told Ronald Corey he had played his last game for the Canadiens. These 2 things do not mean he can’t be a good NHL coach.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
Please. Patrick Roy is, without doubt, one of the biggest egomaniacs that the NHL has seen in the past three decades. Steve’s comment was in no means a jab at Roy, but an identification of the reality of Patrick Roy. Anybody who thinks that Roy would be able to toe the company line, particularly when things are going poorly, did not pay much attention to Roy’s behaviour in those few times in his career when things DID go badly.
Sorry Chris. You’re basing your comments on a very small sample size….and things that happened long in the past. I find it sad that people cannot get over Roy’s mistakes. I still think the Habs could have and should have kept Roy. He said what he said in anger and would have stayed. I’m not the first to say so so don’t blast me for that statement. It’s true. His ego got in the way for sure, but had we tried and succeeded to keep him, we probably would have another Cup or 2 on the list.
I don’t know if he’d do well as coach of the Habs (and neither do you, despite what you might say), but I do know he was a winner his whole playing career and has carried that over in his coaching career.
Enough with the personal attacks. I’m guessing there are many coaches out there that are bigger egomaniacs and have jaded personal lives as well.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
HR1 – You’re right when you state that I tend to overdo it with my negative comments about Roy. I’m guilty as charged. I feel the need to do so to help counterbalance the pie-in-the-sky mentality (not pointing at you) of some who feel that Roy will magically change his spots and become our saviour.
You know the drill by now. The team is crap and managment stinks. Bring back the last link to the glory days, (even if he did quit on the team, has no pro experience and is an emotionally unstable personality) and all will be grand as we skip down the yellow brick road to Cup #25.
I jsut can’t buy it and I’m not willing to take the chance that the team might just squander another seven years of lost opportunity.
Small sample size?
1) Patrick Roy refused to play for the Olympic team unless he was annointed the #1 goaltender. There would be no back-up role for St. Patrick.
2) The infamous Detroit blow-out.
3) The incident where he had to be restrained from going after a league scorer because he felt he was unfairly tagged with a loss. (I wish I could find an online report of that incident…THAT was the one that did Patrick Roy in for me, not the Detroit game where I felt his reaction was reasonable all things considered).
Those are off the top of my head. Throw in his absurd critiques of opposing coaches and players throughout his coaching career (see Dustin Slade of the Vancouver Giants in the 2006 Memorial Cup for an example), the discipline issues with his players and sons in the Q and a whole host of off-ice controversies that have sadly dogged the man throughout his career and you’ve got a terrible mix for the voracious need of fans to know everything about the Habs.
Patrick Roy was a winner his whole career. But part of that came from recognizing that his time as a winner in Montreal was coming to an end as that team was on the way down. And suddenly he gets a trade to the most stacked team in the NHL at the time.
Roy was a great player, no question. I will never argue this. But he gets FAR too much credit for his “winning” in Colorado. That that team only won 2 Stanley Cups continues to amaze me. Surround David Aebischer with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Milan Hejduk, Alex Tanguay, Chris Drury, Rob Blake, Ray Bourque and Adam Foote in their primes and you’d be hard-pressed NOT to win a Stanley Cup.
As for coaching success in the QMJHL versus the NHL, it is a world of difference. Dick Todd, Craig Hartsburg, Don Hay, Tom Renney, Brent Sutter….all were guys who were fantastically successful in junior hockey and not so much in the NHL. Thus far, we can add Dale Hunter to that list.
I happen to believe that Roy is one of the few junior coaches who actually WILL make a great NHL coach. His attention to detail was phenomenal.
But the Montreal Canadiens and its attached media craziness and Patrick Roy as coach is something akin to handing your baby a stick of dynamite and a lighter. It simply will not end well.
It would be far, FAR better for all involved for Roy to learn the NHL coaching ropes outside of Montreal. Because there is no margin for error in Montreal, a place where rookie coaches are blasted unfairly, and Patrick Roy is not one to let criticism, unfair or not, go unanswered.
I’m not trying paint Roy as a demon. He has done a LOT of tremendous things for charity, especially for Ronald McDonald house. I just don’t think Roy’s association with the Habs right now would be good for the team or for Patrick Roy the human being. The timing is all bad.
If he learns how to moderate his comments a little bit, then I will re-evaluate that position.
Roy would make a horrible coach or GM. Hotheads always are. Let the new Quebec franchise make overtures to him. Besides, Roy quit on the Habs, not the other way around.
Well, that’s your opinion. His record says differently. Granted, it’s just the Q, but you have to start somewhere.
Roy was the best goalie the Habs, and the league ever had. I don’t feel he quit on them. He loved the team and the city. He just made a mistake. Get over it.
Go Habs Go!!
“Fans are great, but the quickest way to start losing is to listen to them.” – Sam Pollock
I always will love Lafleur, he basically is the reason I love the Habs. But if Molson confided to him that information, why can’t he keep it quiet.
Guy Lafleur is a gossip therefore Roy would be a bad coach?
I believe it’s called an analogy. Bad things can happen when people are put in the wrong place, at the wrong time under the wrong circumstance. Let’s just call it the “loose cannon” effect.