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Julien and Muller fired


Prime Minister Koivu

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HOLY SH*T. This is a MAJOR shocker - most organizations would wait longer. (Although I guess you can argue that timing has to be pro-rated in a shortened season).

 

I have a lot of respect for both men and am sort of sorry to see them go. (I will always love Muller for 1993). On the other hand, I also have a ton of respect for the no-BS attitude that canned them because the team has been under-performing. Succeed or you are gone. That’s the right attitude.

 

It will be fascinating to see how the team responds and what changes Ducharme makes. I’m betting a reshuffling of the D-corps to reward mobility is job one.

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5 minutes ago, TurdBurglar said:

I know people are pointing out the PP, but the real problem all season even during the winning streak is the PK.  Second most penalized team and an atrocious PK.  Nearly every game giving up multiple PP goals.  That was a major issue last season and never did get fixed.  
 

it was different when they were scoring to compensate for the bad PK, but once the scoring dried up it became deflating.  I pointed out earlier the Y shape they were using was ineffective, designed to cut off cross ice passes, and they weren’t cutting off passes causing them to chase the puck all over their zone.  When passes did get cut off up high, it lead to the flurry of PK goals for.  On top of that, they didn’t ever seem to block shots either.  The PK was the real killer.


There is certainly truth in this post. 
 

We look awful on the Pk 

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1 minute ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

It will be fascinating to see how the team responds and what changes Ducharme makes.

I expect to see them win a few games in a row (which is what usually happens when a team makes a coaching change). What I'm currious to see is how they will respond in 5 or 6 games from now!

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Just now, Habsfan said:

I expect to see them win a few games in a row (which is what usually happens when a team makes a coaching change). What I'm currious to see is how they will respond in 5 or 6 games from now!

 

Another interesting sub-plot: will Price suddenly stop sucking, like he did when Therrien got canned? How much of this firing has to do with Price’s having turned against them?

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33 minutes ago, Habsfan said:

I have to say i'm a little worried about this move by Bergevin. Seems like a panic move to me. I get that the PP has sucked for the past 5 years and that has been Muller's responsibility. I can understand letting Muller go, but I just don't think firing Julien was the move to do at this time.

In the end, Julien makes all the final coaching decisions. Muller was responsible for special teams but under Julien's direction. If Julien had been unhappy with Muller's PP direction, he would have fired Muller.

 

A few days ago I posted some stats comparing the first ten games with our current slump. I'll quote a bit here:

 

On 2/22/2021 at 4:49 PM, tomh009 said:

OK, so let's look at the difference before/after (first 10 games vs last seven games):

 

Scoring for (per game): 4.4 vs 1.9 -- woah, Nelly, is that a cliff or what?

Scoring against (per game): 2.7 vs 2.9 -- almost the same, given the small sample size

 

Shooting for (per game): 34 vs 33 -- the shots are down, but only barely

Shooting against (per game): 29 vs 29 -- no more shots being given up

 

Shooting percentage for: 12.8% vs 5.6% -- 12.8% was surely unsustainable. But surely 5.6% isn't normal, either?

Shooting percentage against: 9.3% vs 10.0% -- This explains the somewhat increased goals against

 

PP percentage: 23.7% vs 7.1% -- This is another drastic drop. What explains this?

 

(...)

1. The shooting percentage is down by more than half. 12.8% surely wasn't sustainable, no team can keep scoring at that pace, not in today's NHL. But 5.6% is also super low, and outside the normal range -- and outside the normal percentage for our forwards. Are we experiencing some bad shooting luck (to make up for the good shooting luck in the first 10 games). in addition to our other problems?

 

And, really, it's the PP and the shooting percentage. Can Julien address those?

 

Coincidentally, in this morning's article in The Athletic, Arpon Basu pointed out that since the beginning of February, five of the top seven shooters on the Habs have been defencemen. And even forwards are shooting from the point. Consistently. This certainly helps explain why the shooting percentage is way down, those are low-percentage shots. A quote from Arpon:

 

Quote

This is clearly a strategic decision, one being hammered into the players by the coaching staff. How do we know?

 

The Canadiens came out for the third period with desperation, and on their first shift of the period, Gallagher took two shots from the blue line and Chiarot took another. It was as if the directive to do so had been drilled into them in the dressing room.

 

It was something that repeated itself the entire game. And it has been that way for several games. Gain the zone, curl up at the boards, look to the point, send the puck there, head to the net.

 

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

 

This was Julien's solution. And it clearly was not working.

 

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1 minute ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Another interesting sub-plot: will Price suddenly stop sucking, like he did when Therrien got canned? How much of this firing has to do with Price’s having turned against them?

Ohhh! Good point!! 

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28 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

I disagree about implying MB is putting his own interest ahead of doing what's best for the team to win a cup.

 

I htink his whole reset plan shows he has had the cojones to make the moves needed

 

I agree. This is not a job security move. Bergevin, too, wants to win. And he came to the conclusion that it was not going to happen with Julien.

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2 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

In the end, Julien makes all the final coaching decisions. Muller was responsible for special teams but under Julien's direction. If Julien had been unhappy with Muller's PP direction, he would have fired Muller.

 

A few days ago I posted some stats comparing the first ten games with our current slump. I'll quote a bit here:

 

 

Coincidentally, in this morning's article in The Athletic, Arpon Basu pointed out that since the beginning of February, five of the top seven shooters on the Habs have been defencemen. And even forwards are shooting from the point. Consistently. This certainly helps explain why the shooting percentage is way down, those are low-percentage shots. A quote from Arpon:

 

 

This was Julien's solution. And it clearly was not working.

 


Like I’ve been saying CJ changed the style of hockey we played. 
 

This was his grand plan? Get all pucks to the point for a D slapper?

 

We really wonder where the scoring went?

 

 

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2 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

Another interesting sub-plot: will Price suddenly stop sucking, like he did when Therrien got canned? How much of this firing has to do with Price’s having turned against them?

 

I agree ... wonder if DD have to re-jig the goalie plans and give Carey more starts to win him over

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5 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Another interesting sub-plot: will Price suddenly stop sucking, like he did when Therrien got canned? How much of this firing has to do with Price’s having turned against them?


Hhhhmmmm I wonder if the genuine threat of Allen taking his playing time would be a motivator 

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52 minutes ago, revvvrob said:

that said - I think this firing is a mistake. Unless the locker room was a mess and CJ had lost the team, I don’t think this is the answer. 

 

had the Gally’s goal rightly counted, is CJ fired this morning? I don’t think so. 
 

The team is poised to rebound - but I’m not thinking the credit should go to the new coaching staff. 

 

It's not that Julien had lost the locker room. It's that his game plan was not working, at least not with this team, and the current league. And I will assume (with high confidence) that Julien and Bergevin did not see eye to eye on this, and Bergevin no longer had confidence in Julien being able to get the team back on track.

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Just now, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Hhhhmmmm I wonder if the genuine threat of Allen taking his playing time would be a motivator 

 

OR ... has Allen getting so many games been a burr under Carey's saddle that has distracted his play

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16 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

I respect Julien a great deal and he is a good coach. 
I think the game has changed and CJ and his style have not. 
I expect a far more aggressive game

Hopefully ... that is what worked so well to start the season ... I don't necessarily expect that level of success but it is the style that suits this roster

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2 minutes ago, zumpano21 said:

Anyone have the breakdown for the new coaching staff?

Bergevin and Ducharme to speak to the media after they arrive in Winnipeg

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1 hour ago, DON said:

At least this should be a real change, Julien -Therrien seemed too similar.

Cant believe Muller has stuck this long, just because he is a nice guy i suppose.

Let’s just hope we don’t recycle someone else!

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27 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

 

I agree ... wonder if DD have to re-jig the goalie plans and give Carey more starts to win him over

Or vice versa, play the guy who is simply gives them best chance to win, till shows otherwise.

 

I wasnt for Therrien to Julien move, seemed same sort of coach but had won a cup, but am thumbs up on this change

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15 minutes ago, DON said:

Or vice versa, play the guy who is simply gives them best chance to win, till shows otherwise.

Conceptually I would agree ... unless Carey needs more games to get his game back (i.e., fewer games messed up his mojo/ego) ... then a slight shift may be warranted

 

EDIT: Allen is on pace for 32 games if this was an 82 game season ... don't think Carey has played as few as 50 games in a non-injury season since Halak ... he might not be happy

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35 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Another interesting sub-plot: will Price suddenly stop sucking, like he did when Therrien got canned? How much of this firing has to do with Price’s having turned against them?

 

I am hoping for the return of Jesus Price too....sick and tired of watching the unfocused sieve rodeo clown Price we have been getting for the better part of this season.  Let me pre-empt any potential respondents thinking about defending Price right now: among goaltenders with 5 or more starts, he's ranked 37th in Save % and 35th in GAA.  He has been a straight-up bum while collecting 13% of our cap...should be wearing a mask when he goes to collect his paycheck not because of Covid, but because its robbery at his current level of performance.  Time for accountability for everyone in Montreal, past accomplishments/reputation/nationality/ be damned.

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I think Julien needs a big bruising team that has so much offensive talent they score anyway... this team is too small and is built for speed... he was better suited to the old bruins.

 

hopefully we can get a coach with a bit more balance... I think if we try to be too open we are going to look like the oilers.. defensive crap that loses games.. 

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31 minutes ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Let’s just hope we don’t recycle someone else!

 

You mean like Michelle Therrien or Allain Vigneault??  I guess they weren't available. Julien is a good coach but sometimes a change is required and Julien had been there a while, they can always bring him back in 4 or 5 years. 

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