hankhab

I predict that if Yakupov and Galchenyuk are gone, habs go with Grigorenko. I still think he's at least 3rd best forward in draft, the kid had mono this year..anyone know what that does to you? Just beats you out, its impressive that he was able to play through that at all. He's got tons of skill and great size, he's the real deal.

I still like Gilmour as the good cop assistant, as long as we have an experienced special teams coach as well. Don't know what Desjardins has been doing all these years. I know Benoit Brunet tries to look intelligent with his fancy eye glasses on RDS, but does he seem like a candidate?

Montreal drafted Price while Theodore was still playing really well, so its possible they could draft a dman, but I doubt it as well, because there will still be at least 2 or 3 highly rated offensive forwards available at #3, not matter how the draft goes. As for Bergevin trading some of our top prospects, I don't think so, not if he really wants to build this team correctly. In todays NHL, those young prospects are gold. And also, I wouldn't count on Markov being gone after 2013-14, unless he has to retire due to injury, I'd say he'd like to stay longer than that.

I'm a big fan of both these guys, but truth be told, PK often tries to do too much, and Eller is sometimes really good, but not consistant at all. Both typical flaws for young players, and something the new coach will want to address. Therrien was asked about his RDS comments during the press conf., and he said he didn't think he said anything which the players would hold against him, and said he was honest with his comments.

What a shocker, the new coach wants to hire assistants of his own.

I highly doubt we'll see him back.

Just had a thought for the good cop assistant.... how bout Doug Gilmour? I know, he was a hated leaf, but during his short stint in Montreal, he worked hard, and had the respect of all the players, and of his head coach, who just happened to be Michel Therrien. Any thoughts?

I disagree. I think management is at fault, much to quick to juts fire a coach when things go bad. I think players need to know that this is the coach, and you play for him, if you don't like it, too bad. Buffalo, Nashville, Detroit, they seem to have that attitude, its all about having a confident management team.

Agreed, but then again, I'm just going by what I read, as opposed to Timmons, who has actually scouted these guys (or at least his staff has)

My issue, as stated, was the effort level against these teams. I feel this team wasn't prepared to give the required effort to win these games. Please elaborate in the new tread I just started.

Now that the GM and coach issues are taken care of, the new question of the day is, who will the assistants be? Personally, although I have nothing against the guy, I think Cunneyworth has to go, there is no purpose to keeping him on the staff, I just don't know how he or the players would respond to that. My personal preference would be to bring back Carbonneau. I think he has an excellent knowledge of the game, especially special teams play, and he and Therrien worked together before, so it could be a good fit. One of the complaints players had with Carbo was that they never felt they knew how they stood with him, but Therrien will make sure everyone knows how they stand with him, I'm sure. Not sure who i'd pick as a second assistant, (Other than Robinson, who I don't believe is really that interested).

I noticed a few interesting comments from Therrien yesterday, in which he questioned the teams motivation and conditioning. He pointed out that you cannot have that many games lost to injury as a team, and said he would have to look into that. He also stated the need to have more leadership and discipline from each player. I agree that on many nights, this team shit the bed, so to speak, and just didn't seem to have the expected effort level, especially against lackluster teams (ie, Toronto) which they should have beaten. I'm sure it was obvious to everyone that this team needs a coach who will light a fire under a few guys, so I think Therrien might be a good choice in that regards. (Just had a text from a buddy who cheers for the leafs, and even he felt the habs were undermotivated last year, especially against his team) As for him not being liked by players, I suggest that some people read Larry Robinsons book, and get an idea of what players thought about Scotty Bowman, because to a man, they couldn't stand the guy. Personally, I'm not looking for a coach who will make the players all warm and comfy, we need a motivator, who will do whatever is needed to get results. As for the conditioning issue, I'm not sure how pro hockey players in this day and age are not showing up in the best possible condition, but hey, what do I know. Maybe he is on to something there too.

I'm a big fan of leaving the new management and coaching team in place for 3 to 4 years at least. I'm really thinking that a quick turnaround is quite likely this coming season, but a slump the following season should not be the end of the coaching or management team.

Everyone on here, myself included, seem to have neglected to consider Forsberg as a possible habs pick, but you never know, if he's still there, Timmons might like him a lot too. If Columbus decides to draft a defenseman, might make that third pick a bit harder to choose.

Isn't Gallant french too? I can't believe people are willing to throw Therrien under the bus already. The sad fact is in Montreal we've had some quality coaches over the years, it just seems like when the team gets in a rut, management always panics and fires them. I think we should all be hoping that Bergevin and company have the patience to remain calm and give this guy a few years. I think players will respond better to a coach when they know he's not going to be fired at the drop of a hat, too. By the way, there are now 4 french head coaches in the NHL. Did the other 3 teams hire them just because they are french too?

As I recall, the year he was fired in Pitt, his best offensive defenseman (Sergei Gonchar) was hurt all year, and came back to play the last 20 games or so, after Therrien was fired. Excuses, maybe, but if Markov were with the habs all year, I believe they would have been a lot better too. Thats just how it goes sometimes. Like I said, when he was here last time, he got a lot out of a crappy team. Lets hope he gets something better to work with this year, and I hope we finally get a bit of stability in the coaching department.

I don't know if I'm thrilled with this decision, but hopefully he learned a thing or two since that habs meltdown vs Carolina in his last stint. If the coach had held it together that game, perhaps the team would have, too. I did state in an earlier post that I felt this version of the habs is much better than the team that Therrien had here last time, so I guess you never know. I think Crawford would be a better choice, but perhaps Therrien really impressed Bergevin and co. I do like the fact that there will be some more emotion behind the bench, hopefully that will be contagious and the players show some more on the ice, as I felt they were lacking in that department (well, not PK and Cole, but the rest of the team). Hopefully the team will now focus on getting the RFA's signed, and I must say I'm really looking forward to the draft in a few weeks.

TSN says its Therrien, oh well, who will RDS crap on now?

Can't imagine it, unless he wants to play real cheap, as habs will be tight for cap space after signing Price, Subban and Emelin, unless Bergevin can magically get rid of Gomez and Kaberle (if he can, he's off to some start as GM!)

Grigorenko couldn't take part in the combine, still recovering from mono apparently Too bad, i still hope we draft him.

Still no word, maybe they are waiting till the playoffs are over for an announcement? Or maybe they can't decide.

If I was Gm, there is no way in hell I'd trade a sure fire stud of a defender for a pick, not even the number one pick, sorry. I think sometimes we forget how impressive this kid has been for the habs already. Would not even think of trading Pk unless the trade involved someone named Malkin coming back the other way, we have been burned trading stud defencemen before (ie, Chelios), hopefully we don't go down that road again.

Have you tried applying this same logic to the stock market? Perhaps you are on to something here?

And do you notice how the TSN experts are being so positive about the hire? Winning record, former Stanley Cup winner, etc, wonder how the news would have read if he were hired by Habs?

I said at worst, he becomes that type. Also a chance he develops into a second line power forward who can terrorize other teams d-men. I'm sure thats why he was ranked where he was by a lot of scouts, he has that potential.