Fresh off a 4-0 loss to longtime rivals the Boston Bruins last night, questions swirl about whether Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien is the right man for the job. And with the Canadiens entering their bye week, the focus will be entirely on management to address the current state of the Canadiens.
After starting the season 13-1-1, the Canadians have slowly let their Atlantic Division lead slip away. That slow decline hastened in February, where the Canadiens have not yet won a game in regulation. They are 1-5-1, with that sole win coming in overtime against the 29th overall Arizona Coyotes. They still sit atop the Atlantic, but the Ottawa Senators—currently 3rd in the Atlantic—actually have a better win percentage due to playing less games.
GM Marc Bergevin made bold moves this summer to realign his team for a playoff run. He traded away P.K. Subban for Shea Weber, and acquired Andrew Shaw and Alexander Radulov. With that level of investment, Bergevin will not be happy with a first-round exit. And if the playoffs started today, the Canadiens would face the New York Rangers (due to the crossover rule), a team with three more points than the Canadiens in the standings.
Further complicating things for coach Therrien is that the three most recent NHL teams to fire their coach are experiencing a drastic improvement. The New York Islanders are 8-2-2 after firing Jack Capuano. The St. Louis Blues are 5-1 after Ken Hitchcock was let go. Closest to home, though, is that the Boston Bruins are 3-0 since firing Claude Julien. Montreal management may feel the need to cut bait with enough time to install a new head coach that can lead the Canadiens to the promised land. Sometimes hastily firing your coach is a short-sighted move, but then again, the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup after firing Therrien right around this time that season.
I would hope Therrien is on the hot seat. This is 2 years in a row the Habs have collapsed once December 1st hit. And unlike last year, Therrien can’t use the excuse that Price is hurt.
Sure Price hasn’t been himself but a lot of that can be traced to the utter garbage that is the Habs defensive zone coverage. Even when they were rattling off wins in October, the defensive zone play of the team left a lot to be desired. Blown assignments, puck chasing and a complete inability to clear the front of the net have been why the Habs have struggled. And like I said, they’ve been doing this since pre-season so it’s not as if the players just decided to do these things. It’s the game plan that’s been developed by the coach and it’s a terrible plan.
Not only should Therrien be fired but JJ Daigneault should be let go too. JJ’s been in charge of the defence and the PK all year and both have been weak at best. The only coach on staff doing anything positive is Kirk Muller and it took a bit but the players finally bought in to his PP set up but now can’t draw penalties to save their lives which so happens can be traced to and blamed on Therrien’s chip and chase style of play.
Well said
Every team that wins finds ways to cram their offense down the goalie’s esophagus. Dumping the puck and chasing it around isn’t going to win a lot of games.
Your reporting of the St Louis Blues is not accurate. The Blues are 5-1 under new head coach Mike Yeo. They won on his coaching debut against Toronto, lost to Pittsburgh and since that game have won four(4) consecutive games…all on the road…against Philadelphia, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal.
Correct, thanks!
The time may be nigh for a change. There are some interesting coaches without a job right now, including Gerard Gallant, who was an assistant with Montreal. Then of course, there’s the great wildcard in Patrick Roy, whose only hope at another NHL coaching gig may be with the Habs (and his stock is arguably up now that the Avs have been so horrendous without him, which if nothing else shows he wasn’t the problem with that team, like many blamed him for).