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Who will it be part 2? The coaching question.


Commandant

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I agree with CC (LOL who doesn't?!?!). If Quenneville is being pushed out, which surprises the heck outta me, then he goes to the top of my list as well. I wasn't terribly familiar with his record until i took a gander at Wikipedia. Of his 14 years as HC, he's popped 40+ wins a season in 11 of the 12 seasons where he coached the team for the entire year (i.e. not taking over or getting fired during the year).

I don't know if stacked teams played a role in that, though. He had Gretzky on the Blues for a bit, a Sakic-led Colorado team, and the ridiculous Blackhawks who incidientally (and most importantly) couldn't win anything with Denis Savard despite being almost the same team. I'm thinking he's the guy that will bring out the most of players, much like we're seeing with Hitchcock in St. Louis right now. You look at the Blues and kind of scratch your head thinking, were they really this good?? Think about pairing the Habs, lethargic underachievers this year, with a catalytic coach like that. The turn-around next year would be HUGE.

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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.

My choice in Roy as head coach has very little to do with logical reasoning and has everything to do with my gut for brains.

:)

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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.

You could say this about 90% of the coaches in the NHL.  The hand wringing that goes on when a rookie misses a game as a healthy scratch, or when a line is broken up is slmost unbearable in montreal.  Nature of the beast, and no matter who you'll hire you'll get that.  People hated Carbo's line juggling, Julien's, Gainey's Therriens, etc...

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If Quenville is available, he would my top choice. Followed by Roy, Crawford and Hartley. All cup winners. Roy as a player obviously. I wouldn't do the old retread thing.

New GM and staff, new coaching staff is what i'm hoping for. Out with the old in with the new.

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No to Vigneault. This would be like going out with an ex that you got along with, but had no fireworks with. What makes you think he would come back? I like Roy. A new direction, clearly knows hockey, very passionate, and would combine well with Bergevin, personalities wise.

They've cleaned house. I think they're looking for a fresh face, we're all tired of the same faces taking the top jobs in this franchise. The return to respectability runs right through #33.

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No to Vigneault. This would be like going out with an ex that you got along with, but had no fireworks with. What makes you think he would come back? I like Roy. A new direction, clearly knows hockey, very passionate, and would combine well with Bergevin, personalities wise.

They've cleaned house. I think they're looking for a fresh face, we're all tired of the same faces taking the top jobs in this franchise. The return to respectability runs right through #33.

I completely respect this opinion and would in no way be apposed to it being in place. I would hate to be the gm right now picking between, Vinny, Quenville, Roy or others.

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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.

Roy will not come to the NHL to be an assistant. If he comes to the NHL, it'S to be a Head Coach!

My top 5 would be...

1- VIgneault (if he's Actually available, which I doubt he is)

2- Crawford

3- Hartley

4- Carbonneau

5- ???

AS much as I loved Roy as a player, i don't think he'd be the right fit as Head Coach in Montreal. What bugs me about Roy as the Head Coach is that he's only coached junior aged players. Coaching 17-18 and 19 year olds is one thing, but coaching MEN, and some prima donna's is a whole other thing...and as much as it saddens me to say so, I don't think Roy (with his well documented "temper") could handle it.

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I don't know how many coaches have had success out of the gate and have had long term success. I am sure the list is very short. Hockey as in any walk of life, you hone your skills as you go; whether you are a player or in management. It is amusing to see the word retread used in a deflamatory context. It is also amusing that people are accepting retreads as potential candidates as long as they haven't had a stint with the Canadiens. I am not saying who they should pick; but I would say a guy like Guy Carbonneau should have an upper hand in what not to do as coach in Montreal. I guess what I am saying is that it is illogical to disqualify somebody because their tenderfoof experience was in Montreal.

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Why is everyone so hot on Crawford? What has he really achieved? Vigneault a second chance in Montreal if he is available, maybe? Carbonneau, same question, although I do think he really was not given a real chance by Gainey. Hartley, he is somewhat intriguing and has had success. I think I want to compare him to a Laviolette in Philadelphia, but I do not know why. If we want a new face there are others out there, Roy behind the bench, now that could be volatile. Still waiting to be surprised. Good luck to the new GM, :pray:

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I'm not hot on Crawford, this is just a terrible pool of coaches to choose from. He's still a competent enough coach. I'd also consider him a stop gap.

Carbo was given a phenomenal chance by Gainey and he lost the room. You think Gainey wanted to fire him?

I know people hate Therrien but I love his rants. I'll take him for 10 games if it means 10 rants :)

Vigneault and Quennville are clearly the best candidates for the job but they are not exciting picks. I want an exciting pick. I want the King.

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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.

dont think Gallant speaks french, should it matter? no, will it yes, will it hamstring on ice product, likely to some degree, which is where Molson needs to grow a pair and prove team success is priority and not political agenda

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dont think Gallant speaks french, should it matter? no, will it yes, will it hamstring on ice product, likely to some degree, which is where Molson needs to grow a pair and prove team success is priority and not political agenda

I am pretty sure the coach picking is the gm not molson.

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Why is everyone so hot on Crawford? What has he really achieved?

In his first year as a professional coach he won the Jack Adams award for coach of the year. He has won the Stanley Cup and has coached in a passionate hockey city where he improved the team from not making the playoffs, to making the playoffs, to setting a franchise record in points at 104. Since then, he admittedly hasn't had much success but for what it's worth he did not get much of a chance either. In addition, most of his success came in a hockey hotbed and so it strikes me as quite likely that the pressure or whatever you want to call it in Montreal would not get to him whatsoever. He would actually probably strive in such a situation. With that being said, the same can be said for other coaches who are worth considering but not currently available.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's a shoe in for the job or even the best candidate, but he is relatively high on my list and I just don't agree with those who think he hasn't done anything in his career to merit consideration. Au contraire.

Though I hate adding in names of coaches who have yet to be fired, here is my list:

1) Quenneville (I would be shocked if he actually was let go)

2) Vigneault

3) Crawford

4) Roy

I really don't like adding Quenneville and Vigneault on my list though because they are completely hypothetical. Remember a time when Boucher was on many of our lists even though he was still coaching in Tampa? Despite my list as of now, my choice would definitely be between Crawford and Roy. The more that time passes though, the less I believe that Crawford will actually be chosen.

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I would be shocked if either Vigneault or Quennville were fired. Vigneault has won multiple President's trophies and reached a Cup final. Many coaches, even great coaches like Barry Trotz haven't gotten that far. My top 5 would be

1. Roy (with Cunny and Larry Robinson as assistants can't lose)

2. Carbonneau (I really liked the way the Habs played under him, you can't blame him for losing the room when he had so many immature personalities in his room. Look what fire wagon hockey is doing for the LA Kings)

3. Vigneault (Not the most exciting coach, you know what you're getting, the team will certainly be in the playoffs with him at the helm.)

4. Crawford (Good choice, nothing exciting here either.)

5. Cunneyworth (Why not? He wont get hired anywhere else. Give him a shot)

I didn't include Quennville, I doubt he would be fired, but he would be number two on my list.

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Quennville and Vigneault are the clear 1 and 2, its just a question of how you order them in my mind.

No guarantee that both are available, but I'm kinda hoping one of them is.

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The guys on Hotstove seem to think that Quennville will be available, and that Vigneault won't be.

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Since we're talking about who is potentially going to be the next coach of the Montreal Canadiens let me say that my feeling, based on what our new GM said about him being only a piece of the puzzle and that he would surround himself with strong hockey people and then make his decisions, is that we may be two months away from knowing who our next coach is going to be.

In putting together all that Bergevin said in his first news conference, I think he will first assembly his inner team, we're hearing names like Rick Dudley and Martin Lapointe, and with them, not alone, go over all aspects of the team. I think they will discuss and decide what kind of team they currently have, what and who they want to add to it, and subtract from it, to make up the kind of players and team they want. The worst kind of situation is what's happened in Toronto where Burke has assembled one kind of team and then brought in a new coach whose style and philosophy is very different from that of many players currently on the team. Now it seems Burke has to again make some major changes to his players to fit the coach. So I don't think Marc Bergevin will make any decisions regarding a head coach until he assembles his own "team" of assistants and department heads and then together they will decide what kind of coach they want and who is available.

So my guess is that we may be a month, maybe even 2 or 3 months, away from knowing who our next head coach is going to be.

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Pascal Vincent.

I admit I had no idea who he was haha, but after a little googl'in I'd love to get him as an assistant gm. Has the pedigree to be great.

Not for coach though. He would be like Roy only... not Roy and with less Q success.

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This morning a Gazette sports writter suggested that Jacques Lemaire be lured back as our coach because he is one of a few elite coaches still around in hockey today. Interesting name that I haven't heard anyone suggest yet. But there are some obvious questions:

1. Is Jacques Lemaire too old school? He certainly wasn't for the New Jersey Devils last year.

2. Would he even consider coaching Montreal? While the media heat in Montreal would be greater than anything he had in NJ, there still would have been a lot of attention to the team while

he was coaching there. So maybe at this point in his life this wouldn't be as big a deal as it once was.

3. Would it ever work to have Lemaire as the head coach for say, two years, and have Patrick Roy and Larry Robinson as his assisants with the understanding that Roy

would be the first one considered for the head coach position at the end of the two years? This could work, if Patrick was willing to be an assistant. But would it put us

in a very difficult spot at the end of two years if Patrick proved to not be the right fit for the job?

What do you think??

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^ I think that would be a perfect set up. I think we would see a increidbly successful team on the ice if this was the case... wouldn't happen though. I doubt that Roy would take the A or the Lemaire would want to coach in Montreal. He made his last return and is done now. I'd be incredibly surprised if this were to happen

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First post. Why not start out on a limb where I'm comfy.

Pascal Vincent.

Welcome aboard. Vincent is a name on my top-10 list in the one we're trying to assemble for the coaching poll on the site, he's someone I think will get a call.

So my guess is that we may be a month, maybe even 2 or 3 months, away from knowing who our next head coach is going to be.

I'd hope that they have a coach in place by the draft. Not only will decisions have to be made on buyouts that would benefit from the input of the coach but they most definitely need one by free agency (who wants to sign with a team where no one knows the style of play they'd be using)?

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Well, the Canucks wisely extended GM Mike Gillis's contract, so this almost certainly means that Vigneault is off the market. The main page includes a link to a TSN report that Quennville isn't going anywhere either - another wise move by that organization. This takes the two top candidates out of the equation. I'd expect the speculation now to centre on Crawford, Hartley, Denis Savard, and of course our old pal Patrick Roy. Carbo has, I suppose, an outside chance, but given dubious results the first time around, this'd surprise me.

The non-move of the Phoenix Coyotes takes Quebec City off the table for an NHL team, at least in the short term. This may remove one source of pressure to sign Roy. So, some interesting developments of late.

Anybody know if Bergevin has a prior relationship with any significant bilingual coaching candidates out there, other than Crawford? And are there any strong, bilingual AHL coaches that haven't been mentioned?

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