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Who should coach the Habs next season?


Habs coach!  

48 members have voted

  1. 1. Who should coach the habs next season? / Who's the most likely to coach the Habs next season?

    • Jacques Lemaire
      3
    • Bob Hartley
      9
    • Patrick Roy
      3
    • Bob Gainey
      0
    • Denis Savard
      0
    • Guy Carbonneau
      4
    • Pat Laviolette
      2
    • Marc Crawford
      2
    • Pierre Maguire
      6
    • Don Lever
      5
    • Larry Robinson
      10
    • Rick Bowness
      0
    • André Savard
      0
    • Ted Nolan
      1
    • Craig MacTavish
      2
    • Doug Jarvis
      0
    • Pat Quinn
      1
    • Michel Therrien
      0
    • Other (name him)
      0


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As per RDS, looks like Robinson would accept the job if asked...

I would LOOOOOVE for robinson to be the coach!

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Robinson? I love the guy.

But didn't he cave in under the pressure in New Jersey? Let me reiterate that last: New Jersey?

Plus, it would only work if he added -ne to the end of his name.

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I know what your trying to say but using Lats is a bad example for two major reasons.

Lats is a native of Montreal/Quebec and knows that you don't shit where you eat sort of speak.

#2 Gui also had a baby last year with his fiance. It doesn't sound like much, but look what it did to Mikey Ribs... he grew up and matured really quickly. That's saying something considering he was a poster child for spoiled punks ;)

Hmm, you bring up two good points, but again like Wamsley you seem to imply that they couldnt have been applied to the kids on the team.

"Dont shit where you eat" thing: being local can have the exact opposite effect like it did with Theo & Ribs. It's not really automatic that being local makes a player more careful. In Lats' case, the reason why being a local kid is beneficial comes alot from his family background and having them around to keep him in line. Clean, serious, positive family from the suburbs; as opposed to Theodore and Ribeiro's less than ideal inner-city background. But having to stay where you play does have an influence, especially in the summer when you are "back amongst the mortals" and have to answer for your season.

Now if Lats benefited from having his family close to keep him focused and grounded, it also could it have been to tell the other kids from outside that they'd be staying at X or Y's home? Have some mature folks to keep an eye on the kids, how hard is that?

As for the fiance/kids thing, I'm sure Lats felt the influence of older Francos on the team like Bouillon, Dandeneault or Begin who also had wives and kids around. Lats basically only had Laps to hang out with that was his age, and the other francos on the team are all 30-something guys married with kids for a while. On the other end, you've got the Kostys who come in and only have the loner Kovy or the extremely shy and private Markov to look up to, so they turn to Hammer who's family isnt around, etc. Or you have Price & Gorges & Chipchura who come in and the oldest anglos on the team are Higgins and Komo at 25, 26 or Kosto. Anyway, you get the picture. Again, easily fixed if you have older, more settled-down vets on the team that have the implicit mandate to look after those guys off the ice.

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All I want is a coach who will implement a system, I agree 100% with Saskhab about identity.

They need to forge an identity and it is one of the things I was 100% sure that we were seeing when

Gainey hired Carbo, Jarvis and Muller. For 3+ years I have been frustrated at the lack of identity and

their weak defensive zone coverage.

I know everybody loves to see high scoring hockey, but I grew up in an era where the Habs shut you

down EVERY year. I remember they were so good from 84-93 that I used to judge the quality of their

wins and be pissed when they gave up more than 2 goals, and that was an era when teams were averaging

4 a game.

But that era also provided 9 straight first round wins, 2 Stanley Cup wins, 1 Stanley Cup loss and a

2 Conference Finals appearances. All on the back of a defense first commitment.

And it wasn't this passive sit back style. It was aggressive and if they had a lead and you made a mistake

they buried the game. The Devils stole their identity from the Habs and I want it back.

Lemaire or Robinson can provide that. As for Hartley, I can never be sure about a coach when his roster

is littered with All-Stars. He also had success in Atlanta with a core of Hossa, Kovalchuk and Savard.

As for boring hockey? I would rather watch boring hockey into June than exciting hockey for 2 weeks in April.

With Price/Halak and McDonagh, Weber, Subban, Emelin and possibly Fischer arriving soon, they could forge

the identity and run with it for the next 10+ years.

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Hmm, you bring up two good points, but again like Wamsley you seem to imply that they couldnt have been applied to the kids on the team.

"Dont shit where you eat" thing: being local can have the exact opposite effect like it did with Theo & Ribs. It's not really automatic that being local makes a player more careful. In Lats' case, the reason why being a local kid is beneficial comes alot from his family background and having them around to keep him in line. Clean, serious, positive family from the suburbs; as opposed to Theodore and Ribeiro's less than ideal inner-city background. But having to stay where you play does have an influence, especially in the summer when you are "back amongst the mortals" and have to answer for your season.

Now if Lats benefited from having his family close to keep him focused and grounded, it also could it have been to tell the other kids from outside that they'd be staying at X or Y's home? Have some mature folks to keep an eye on the kids, how hard is that?

As for the fiance/kids thing, I'm sure Lats felt the influence of older Francos on the team like Bouillon, Dandeneault or Begin who also had wives and kids around. Lats basically only had Laps to hang out with that was his age, and the other francos on the team are all 30-something guys married with kids for a while. On the other end, you've got the Kostys who come in and only have the loner Kovy or the extremely shy and private Markov to look up to, so they turn to Hammer who's family isnt around, etc. Or you have Price & Gorges & Chipchura who come in and the oldest anglos on the team are Higgins and Komo at 25, 26 or Kosto. Anyway, you get the picture. Again, easily fixed if you have older, more settled-down vets on the team that have the implicit mandate to look after those guys off the ice.

I am surprised that Gainey did not insulate all these kids. With Carbo, Muller, Jarvis and Gainey all EX players in this city

they should know how things can get out of hand. Gainey played with Lafleur, Carbo with Corson and Chelios so I don't understand

why they didn't understand how things could be overwhelming if he left them to their own vices.

I go to Montreal every year and at 35 I can see how easy it could be to lose control, at 21? Look out.

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Wow, Larry Robinson! I can't believe that he would survive the insane pressure, but just the thought of him back there is wonderful. (Then again, so was the thought of Carbo - but Robinson has much better coaching credentials). Maybe he's grown into the idea of a higher-pressure coaching challenge.

A big plus for Big Bird, apart from the aura, is that if I remember right he had a great rep for being good with young players. That, along with commitment to a system, is the key.

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I like the Hartley idea. Bilingual, successful, moved up the ranks, junior, minors. One thing worries me. He's never considered for other jobs. He doesn't even appear to get interviews. In a league that constantly recycles coaches, I'd be curious as to why he's not one of them.

Edited by Habsy
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I like the Hartley idea. Bilingual, successful, moved up the ranks, junior, minors. One thing worries me. He's never considered for other jobs. He doesn't even appear to get interviews. In a league that constantly recycles coaches, I'd be curious as to why he's not one of them.

Interesting question, but you should read the profile of Marc Savard in today's Globe and Mail. Hartley took a whiny, defensively irresponsible Savard under his wing, mentoring him and teaching him how to be the star Hartley knew he could be - including having him over to his house for rounds of bubble hockey :lol: Savard credits Hartley for moulding him into the bona-fide team player he's become.

The contrast with Carbo, about whom there are no such stories, is instructive. And coupled with Roy's claim that Hartley has the best understanding of hockey of anyone he's met, leaves me feeling pretty good about Hartley.

Between him and Robinson, we have at least two excellent candidates for this job. :clap:

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Agree that Habs are in desperate need of identity. I was raised on the late-70's Habs, the most impressive offensive powerhouse but built entirely on the uncompromising defense. Every line had one or two wingers who was fantastic defensively, plus a d-corps the likes of which never to be seen again. Goaltending, coaching, no-nonsense...wiping out the Flyers, coming back against the scum, annihilation of the Rags...even Eddie Palchak had it going on!

And in the Savard-GM-era, when everything seemed to 'slow down', we forged again a tough d identity with gifted playmakers who were allowed to play creatively because of the team's responsibility in their own end. They were better than people thought, entertaining too, and were primed for a lot of success.

Now the team changes lines every game or between periods, has little or no visible game plan to speak of most nights, just waiting and trying to react to something they see in the opposition. And there is no defensive cohesion, d-men with very different styles playing off each others' weaknesses instead of combining strengths. Who was it, John Wooden maybe, who said, "We don't take what the opposition gives us; we take what we want to take." So many nights the players are drifting around aimlessly, waiting for something to happen.

Who knows, maybe Hartley or Larry would give us that identity. Or maybe they could work together. Let Patrick get his NHL HC experience somewhere else, then come to us when the timing is right.

Edit: I mean Serge Savard, not Andre!

Edited by tokyohabs
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I would LOOOOOVE for robinson to be the coach!

I'd love to see him as a coach as well, but he has already quit twice after not being able to handle the pressure. I do think he would be a fantastic choice as an assistant, as he is supposed to be great with kids and the canadiens really need somebody to help coach their Dmen.

I think he would have been a perfect choice for Carbo two years ago, but I think Carbo has the type of ego, that he probably wanted an inexperienced guy like Muller under him.

Right now, I think Peter Laviolette is the best head coach option out there (btw, its not Pat). Don't give a damn that he can't speak french.

The habs have had how many french coaches after Demers that didn't have any head coaching experience and were hired mainly bcoz of language and what good has it done????

Tremblay, Vigneult, Therrian, Jullian, Carboneau. This is getting a bit old. Hiring guys to train as head coaches. Setting them up for failure in a market like Montreal, so they can learn and eventually succeed elsehwhere. When they hired Carbo, they hired Andy Murray as a conslutant - why the hell woudn't you just hire him as coach???? Oh, yeah, bcoz he's not french.

I guess it is better losing with a french coach then it used to be winning with english coaches like Dick Irvin, Toe Blake or Scotty Bowman.

Edited by hab29RETIRED
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I'd love to see him as a coach as well, but he has already quit twice after not being able to handle the pressure.

As much as I'd like to see Robinson as the coach, if he couldn't handle the pressure in N-J and L-A, there's no way he'll be able to last longer than 2 weeks in Montreal.

The Habs need an experienced coach who won't tolerate all the bull-shit that Carbo had to deal with last year. True, Carbo probably wasn't the best communicator, but the players are just as(if not more) responsible for this lousy season!

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Pierre MacGuire was interviewed today for the GM job of the Wild. It means he's at least interested in leaving TSN for a job in the NHL. With the pretty decent list of candidates we already have, I don't know if I'd offer him the job as our head coach, but I think he's a pretty decent option.

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Well, don't know which of the two coaching threads to put this in, but on TSN last night Dreger was saying that Marc Crawford has been interviewed for the Edmonton coaching job. He and GM Steve Tambellini have strong connections from their days in Vancouver when Tambellini was an assistant GM, so there's real potential there. But Tambellini also has other candidates who he knows from Vancouver and Team Canada management (he and Lowe worked together on the 2002 Olympic, 2004 World Cup, and 2006 Olympic teams) who he is interviewing, namely Pat Quinn and Tom Renney (who both have strong Vancouver ties as well). Crawford is no slam dunk for the Oil gig, but he is a strong candidate.

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Well, don't know which of the two coaching threads to put this in, but on TSN last night Dreger was saying that Marc Crawford has been interviewed for the Edmonton coaching job. He and GM Steve Tambellini have strong connections from their days in Vancouver when Tambellini was an assistant GM, so there's real potential there. But Tambellini also has other candidates who he knows from Vancouver and Team Canada management (he and Lowe worked together on the 2002 Olympic, 2004 World Cup, and 2006 Olympic teams) who he is interviewing, namely Pat Quinn and Tom Renney (who both have strong Vancouver ties as well). Crawford is no slam dunk for the Oil gig, but he is a strong candidate.

I wouldn't cry with Crawford but his track record is not exactly stellar after Colorado. He failed to control Bertuzzi, repeatedly bombed in the playoffs with Vancouver, struggled in LA AND partially sabotaged the Kings with his ridiculous love affair for that piece of crap Dan Cloutier - plus he's never shown any compelling ability to instil a tight defensive game. Hartley and Robinson have far better resumés in my opinion.

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I wouldn't cry with Crawford but his track record is not exactly stellar after Colorado. He failed to control Bertuzzi, repeatedly bombed in the playoffs with Vancouver, struggled in LA AND partially sabotaged the Kings with his ridiculous love affair for that piece of crap Dan Cloutier - plus he's never shown any compelling ability to instil a tight defensive game. Hartley and Robinson have far better resumés in my opinion.

Agreed. Crawford, to me, is not the ideal candidate.

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All right then, I think that pretty much leaves Hartley as the number 1 candidate. I also like Robinson, but like I've been saying over the past couple of days, if Big Bird couldn't handle the pressure in "non-markets" like N-J and L-A, he wouldn't last 2 weeks in Montreal.

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All right then, I think that pretty much leaves Hartley as the number 1 candidate. I also like Robinson, but like I've been saying over the past couple of days, if Big Bird couldn't handle the pressure in "non-markets" like N-J and L-A, he wouldn't last 2 weeks in Montreal.

There was more to it then that at the time... don't believe everything you read ;)

He will be fine in Montreal, he wouldn't have said so if he was unsure.

Edited by Habitforming
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There was more to it then that at the time... don't believe everything you read ;)

He will be fine in Montreal, he wouldn't have said so if he was unsure.

I still don'T buy it! Larry is too much of a good guy, the Montreal media would eat him up alive!

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All right then, I think that pretty much leaves Hartley as the number 1 candidate. I also like Robinson, but like I've been saying over the past couple of days, if Big Bird couldn't handle the pressure in "non-markets" like N-J and L-A, he wouldn't last 2 weeks in Montreal.

I'm not sure I believe that his brains would go to mush the moment he showed up in Montreal but I'm thinking the ideal scenario could be Hartley as Head Coach and Robinson as an assistant coach that specializes in D. We get our D coach, we add TWO solid guys to our staff, and there's less pressure on Robinson.

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I'm not sure I believe that his brains would go to mush the moment he showed up in Montreal but I'm thinking the ideal scenario could be Hartley as Head Coach and Robinson as an assistant coach that specializes in D. We get our D coach, we add TWO solid guys to our staff, and there's less pressure on Robinson.

AND PLEASE bring back Francois Allaire !!

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I'm not sure I believe that his brains would go to mush the moment he showed up in Montreal but I'm thinking the ideal scenario could be Hartley as Head Coach and Robinson as an assistant coach that specializes in D. We get our D coach, we add TWO solid guys to our staff, and there's less pressure on Robinson.

Agreed! :clap:

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