Who will it be part 2? The coaching question.

[Commandant]

My favorite: Alain Vigneault.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Canucks+Vigneault+more+more+likely+return/6559780/story.html

Looks like the Canucks are set to fire him.

We should hire him... best man available.

Not just the best french speaking coach available, Vigneault is the best coach available PERIOD.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

My choices would be as follows:

1. Vigneault

2. Roy

3. Crawford

4. Therrien

5. Hartley

[bbp]

My choices would be as follows:

1. Vigneault

2. Roy

3. Crawford

4. Therrien

5. Hartley

I agree only swap therrien and Harley

[Peter Puck]

My choices would be as follows:

1. Vigneault

2. Roy

3. Crawford

4. Therrien

5. Hartley

I agree only swap therrien and Harley

I agree with this list.

[illWill]

My choices would be as follows:

1. Vigneault

2. Roy

3. Crawford

4. Therrien

5. Hartley

I agree only swap therrien and Harley

I agree with this list.

Well then it's settled, we all agree on this list. That was easy.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

I'm tempted to say that my list looks something like this

1. Vigneault

2. Vigneault

3. Vigneualt

4. Vigneault

5. Vigneault

but it really goes like this:

1. Vigneault

2. Crawford

3. Roy

4. Hartley

5. Anybody but Therrien

Doug MacLean was on Vancouver sports radio saying that Joel Quennville might either be pushed out of Chicago or want to leave. He cited him as a possibility in Montreal. Take that for whatever it's worth.

[sakiqc]

Would make for some intense rivalry if Roy is snubbed by the Habs and then becomes GM & coach of the next Nordiques generation. THat would be epic

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Would make for some intense rivalry if Roy is snubbed by the Habs and then becomes GM & coach of the next Nordiques generation. THat would be epic

It's really not a snub if a much better candidate like Vigneault is available.

What I would love to see if Alain getting the job and offering Roy to be his assistant.

[DON]

Gallant

Charron

McTavish

Quinn

[Commandant]

I like Gallant but does he speak French? As much as many of us don't like it, it seems to be a prime factor in this hire.

[nhfarber]

1. Vigneault

2. Quennville

3. Boucher

4. Roy

Absolutely no interest in hiring retreads like Hartley, Crawford or Therrien, PASS

[Blonde Demon]

I can't remember where I read or heard it, but apparently Denis Savard will get consideration..Take it with a grain of salt, though..

[thib46]

Vigneault, I would believe the fact he has had very good teams and yet could not get them to win the big prize may be held against him. I know in some sports it is not good enough that you get close you have to win. Not saying he should not be considered but just wondering if the people making the choice would look at the results in Vancouver and hold that against him, maybe, maybe not. I for one like new faces and with that i mind, Hartley, Crawford, Therrien would not be my first choices. The child in me says I would like to see the passion of Roy behind the bench, I am just glad I am not the one who is making the decision. I just want Montreal to be a winner again.

[Commandant]

He was 1 win away with a goalie who completely fell apart on him.

Also (not saying he's as good obviously) but Scotty Bowman was a 3 time Cup final loser when the Habs hired him.

[Machine of Loving Grace]

Thinking more about it, I really want Patrick Roy to be the head coach. I don't care about inexperience. I don't expect this team to win the Cup next season. But Roy and Bergevin just sounds like the kind of Canadiens front office I want to see, especially with the right management and coaching surrounding them.

[REV-G]

Vigneault, I would believe the fact he has had very good teams and yet could not get them to win the big prize may be held against him. I know in some sports it is not good enough that you get close you have to win. Not saying he should not be considered but just wondering if the people making the choice would look at the results in Vancouver and hold that against him, maybe, maybe not. I for one like new faces and with that i mind, Hartley, Crawford, Therrien would not be my first choices. The child in me says I would like to see the passion of Roy behind the bench, I am just glad I am not the one who is making the decision. I just want Montreal to be a winner again.

This may be the classic case of whether a glass is half full or hal empty. You can see Vigneault as last year doing a terrific job of coaching a really good team and getting them ahead of the 28 other teams and then not being able to win the championship series, so the glass is half full. But if you see him getting that far and then not being able to win it all, then your glass may be half empty.

Personally looking at his over all record over the years and having the highest winning percentage of any other Vancouver coach, and with their first place finishes and going to the cup finals last year, I see Vigneault's glass as half full. I'd take him over any other available coach.

[REV-G]

Thinking more about it, I really want Patrick Roy to be the head coach. I don't care about inexperience. I don't expect this team to win the Cup next season. But Roy and Bergevin just sounds like the kind of Canadiens front office I want to see, especially with the right management and coaching surrounding them.

I have a feeling that since this is his first position as GM Bergevin is not going to go with a coach who has no NHL experience unless all those people he is going to bring in to surround him really push and encourage him to go with Patrick and personally I don't see that happening. But who knows. We don't know a lot about him yet and from a few pieces I've read I think Serge Savard feels Patrick is ready to make the jump.

[REV-G]

My choices would be: Alain Vigneault [if available]

Claude Julien [if available]

Bob Hartley

Joel Quenville [if available-does he speak french?? If he doesn't-scratch him]

[Commandant]

Quenneville speaks french.

[Habsy]

To me, Marc Crawford is a prime example of recycling. I want nothing to do with him. On the other hand, hiring another rookie doesn't seem logical either. But wow, Patrick Roy would be fantastic entertainment. And for some reason, I respect the fact that he's riding a bus, in QC winters, actually coaching. As opposed to being an "analyst", like all those other geniuses.

[huzer]

No to Crawford, Hartley, Therrien...in other words, the same names that always pop up for Habs vacancies. I've heard their names so often it feels like they've already coached the team (well, one of them has).

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

If Quenville is available and speaks French, then he rockets right to the top of any list IMHO. The idea of choosing, say, Roy over him is just nuts, with all due respect to the Roy boosters. The guy has won a Cup as coach, has a busload of experience and is universally regarded as among the coaching elite. It's a quintessential no-brainer.

Vigneault: he's the consensus second-favourite option after Quenville, and absolutely my next choice. That being said, people need to keep their expectations realistic. With Vigneault, you are guaranteed an authoritative, seasoned, and proven coach. But his tenure in LotusLand has not been without controversies which will undoubtedly surface in Montreal as well.

For instance, he has a fine track record of developing young players (Kesler, Edler, Bieksa, Burrows, Schneider, Hodgson), BUT he is regularly accused of the opposite because he gives youth inadequate ice time in the opinion of many, and he certainly leans on veterans in the crunch. Given that this fanbase mercilessly attacked JM for doing exactly the same thing, with comparable - i.e., good - results, I have no doubt Coach V would soon be lambasted on a regular basis for 'misusing' young talent.

Similarly, he breaks up lines when they are not succeeding. Worse, in what was his only obvious blunder in vancouver, he actually hurt the team by breaking up successful lines heading into the 2012 playoffs and has been hearing about it ever since. This practice of line-tweaking has landed him in plenty of hot soup with radio call-in shows and will do the same in Montreal.

Finally, despite coaching the Canuckleheads over a span in which they're one of the offensive powerhouses of the NHL, fans routinely complain about his 'stifling system' that supposedly impedes team success. So, again, if we hear this in Vancouver of all places, we will certainly hear the same whining relentlessly in Montreal.

In other words: if you're one of those who thinks the only way to develop young players is to play them 25 minutes per night, that lines must be held together with Crazy-Glue so players can develop 'familiarity,' and that non-stop offence with minimal attention to systems and defence is the way to go, then you will HATE Vigneault.

The rhetoric around Jacques Martin suggests that about 90% of fans thinks this way. They will consequently come to hate Vigneault. All he will do is put the team in a position to succeed, not any of this other stuff. So if you're one of those who prefers this 'other stuff' to seeing the team actually play proper hockey, don't push for Vigneault.

[Habsy]

Mr. Cucumber. In my opinion, our top contributor....your two choices are the best, no doubt. But every once in a while you go off on fans, media, and web sites like this. It's great reading. But you know damn well, the next is going to be criticized no matter what!

[bbp]

Great post CC, but a few things that never endeared JM to habs fans is his apparent lack of personality. People like Vinny. He is is a charismatic guy who can work the media a lot better then JM. The media is what blew most of JM's "flaws" up and if V is better with them they won't attack him the same way.

Though I would like to hear what people say about Quenville, I know you know the opinions of Vancouver fans well as a resident of the city and all, but do you have any idea what people have critiqued QV on in Chicago?

I'm only slightly hesitant on Vinny because he didn't win it all with that stacked team, can't put that blame on the coach though really.

[sakiqc]

Quenneville has coached the most games among active coaches. I'd rather go with a new dynamic coach and new ideas, fresh start like with Roy. We just had Jacques Martin who was also the most (or one of them, don't remember) senior coach in the league. Vigneault I'd have no problem seeing back. Never understood why we got rid of him in the first place. But in the end, was probably the best thing for him... and for us now. Still, both Q and V are still employed by their teams. Can't talk about them yet.