When does Therrien get fired?

[habs rule]

Well I certainly never knew him, maybe it was his father that was the asshat.

[kickass528]

Who cares about Eric Lindros don't need to go back there when do the Habs fire Therrien he has to go the player are not playing for him plus he was and is a shit coach who plays the 4th line 3 times with 10 min left to go down 1 goal to Buffalo. Jeff Molson when you hire your new coach make sure you pick the best coach out there and not the best French coach

[DON]

But what about the French press!!!! They must be able to converse in French with coach, if they cant do that you know what will happen.

[REV-G]

OK, so I haven't read back over all the pages on this thread, so I don't know if this has been discussed yet. At this point it seems almost certain we're looking at a coaching change, so who are the top of the list candidates. Here are my picks and I've listed my top picks understanding that some of them are not available right now.

1. Claude Julien - obviously only if Boston decides to make a change.

2. Larry Robinson - has he retired??

3. I'm not familiar with the top QMJHL coaches-but a young up and coming top coach would be my next choice.

4. Alain Vigneault - I'm sure many of you would have him at the top of the list-but for me he's kind of more of MT. I may be wrong??

5. Guy Boucher - When he was our coach in the AHL I really liked him but has he had any success in the NHL??

6. Marc Crawford - Is he still an NHL caliber coach. No one else has seemed to have any interest in him with all the coaching changes.

Assistant coaches: could we lure Jacques Lemaire if Robinson was interested or are his coaching day done?

Coaches I wouldn't want:

1. Sylvain Lefebvre

What are your thoughts??

[PMAC]

OK, so I haven't read back over all the pages on this thread, so I don't know if this has been discussed yet. At this point it seems almost certain we're looking at a coaching change, so who are the top of the list candidates. Here are my picks and I've listed my top picks understanding that some of them are not available right now.

1. Claude Julien - obviously only if Boston decides to make a change. I dislike him intensely, but he is effective.

2. Larry Robinson - has he retired?? Yes, he has publically stated he is no longer interested in a head coaching or assistant job,but would be willing to consult

3. I'm not familiar with the top QMJHL coaches-but a young up and coming top coach would be my next choice. I agree

4. Alain Vigneault - I'm sure many of you would have him at the top of the list-but for me he's kind of more of MT. I may be wrong?? Vigneault would be at the top of my list

5. Guy Boucher - When he was our coach in the AHL I really liked him but has he had any success in the NHL?? I am ambivalent

6. Marc Crawford - Is he still an NHL caliber coach. No one else has seemed to have any interest in him with all the coaching changes.He would be at the bottom of my list

Assistant coaches: could we lure Jacques Lemaire if Robinson was interested or are his coaching day done?

Coaches I wouldn't want:

1. Sylvain Lefebvre I don't know why he is still in the organization

What are your thoughts??

[habs rule]

But what about the French press!!!! They must be able to converse in French with coach, if they cant do that you know what will happen.

The french press all speak forking english. It is complete bullshite. As my friend ( I use that term loosely) Guy Carbonneau said, "the fans don't care if you speak Chinese if you win the cup". Let's get with the 21st century and kick this peckerhead out and get the best coach we can. He ain't it.

[PMAC]

If the Canadiens are going to continue their unique practice of hiring only French-English bilingual coaches, they need to establish a feeder system and have several in the organizational pipeline for when necessity strikes. Hell, Molson has enough money to put promising French speaking coaches on retainer to secure right of first refusal.

[habs rule]

If the Canadiens are going to continue their unique practice of hiring only French-English bilingual coaches, they need to establish a feeder system and have several in the organizational pipeline for when necessity strikes. Hell, Molson has enough money to put promising French speaking coaches on retainer to secure right of first refusal.

It is a dumb practice. They are catering to the forking media, who will attack them at the drop of a hat. Don't try to placate a group who's primary purpose is find things wrong with your organization. Fight the Bustards. Hire the best coach and tell THEM to learn english.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

It is a dumb practice. They are catering to the forking media, who will attack them at the drop of a hat. Don't try to placate a group who's primary purpose is find things wrong with your organization. Fight the Bustards. Hire the best coach and tell THEM to learn english.

Yeah, telling Quebec francophones to 'learn English' is a really great PR move

No. What we should be doing in my opinion is hiring the best coach and, if that coach is unilingual, having them learn basic French in the off-season. I have yet to understand what it is assumed to be unthinkable that a coach might learn enough of a language to communicate in a basic way with the leering jackals of the French press. For more complex questions, a franco assistant coach can chip in.

But there is no point in lamenting the 'bilingualism' requirement. It's an unalterable fact of life now.

[habs rule]

Yeah, telling Quebec francophones to 'learn English' is a really great PR move

No. What we should be doing in my opinion is hiring the best coach and, if that coach is unilingual, having them learn basic French in the off-season. I have yet to understand what it is assumed to be unthinkable that a coach might learn enough of a language to communicate in a basic way with the leering jackals of the French press. For more complex questions, a franco assistant coach can chip in.

But there is no point in lamenting the 'bilingualism' requirement. It's an unalterable fact of life now.

The leering jackals that you speak of already know how to speak English. This crap reminds me of a friend of mine who if he gets a ticket (he is bilingual) will always demand a translator for English to French. He speaks perfect English and French but it is his right to have a translator under the law. A lot of the tickets get dropped because they don't want to pay (350) or find a translator. I firmly believe in bilingualism in our day to day lives and that the government has a duty to ensure that French speaking peoples rights are protected. But we are talking about a hockey coach, I really could give a fiddlers fork what language he speaks as long as we win the cup. Politics and PC have no business in a privately owned hockey team. But that is just my opinion.

[Lovett's Magnatones]

I think the French coaches are a scapegoat. If you look at the list of hired coaches in the last few years the French ones aren't any worse.

[kickass528]

1 st Larry Robinson I lived beside him for a few years I once asked him if he would coach the Habs his answer was fast NO never I asked why he said to much pressure 2nd French people are not bad people, not all French coach are bad coach but lets stop the practice of hiring the best French coach the media and the French separatists if they can't understand him they should learn his language. We could have gotten mike Babcock he would love to coach the Habs but he does not know French to bad for us. I don't care If I don't under stand him or hell her as long as they bring the cup back home. Jeff Molson put your foot down and make some changes Marc Bergevin does not want to

[Commandant]

Robinson quit being head coach in jersey because the stress of dealing with the media was too much for him. Doubt he'd want to be head man in Montreal.

If he can't handle Devils media day to day, how is he going to handle Montreal.

As for the french thing... its nice to argue about and all, but the reality is our next coach will speak french. Whether I agree or disagree (and in truth I think we should hire the best candidate regardless of language), I've come to accept that my opinion doesn't matter. Geoff (not Jeff) Molson owns the team, and he's previously issued statements that the tradition of French coaches matters. So i just accept it, its not worth debating at this point... not one coach removed from the cunneyworth debacle.

[habs rule]

If the best coach speaks Russian I am all for it. I don't give a fiddlers fork what forking language he speaks. This team has what ? 2 francophone's on it? So who gives a fork? Lets get the best coach, if he happens to speak French BEAUTIFUL! The Language the players speak is of no consequence but the Coach must speak French? That makes no forking sense at all. All of my hero's spoke French The Rocket, Toe Blake, Bob Gainey, so forking what? They still would be my hero's no matter what. Fork the language issue.

[DON]

Yes, media/politicians would bury Molson if he hired English coach.

Windbag Marinaro was whining about need for more French players today, which is just as insecure and narrow minded a take on team.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

The Habs of the 70s actually made an effort to learn French and to speak it in public. I know that Patches and PK have supposedly taken French lessons, but it seems fair to say that the admirable example of those great players like Dryden, Robinson, and Gainey has been neglected by subsequent generations. And that is a shame.

Like I say, I just don't understand why it is so unthinkable that an Anglo coach could be asked to attempt this. It's not as though the media ask coaches complicated questions requiring sophisticated French to answer. 'Oui, j'ai decidé de jouée Scrivens au lieu de Condon, parce-se-que ce bande de cons n'est pas capable de gagner une seule maudite match, alors, pourqoui pas?'

[hab29RETIRED]

There was a difference. The media wasn't as rabid that they had to learn French. You still had lafleur, Savard, lemaire, the road runner, lapointe and other high end French players. Let's face it, these days, I doubt if there are as many dominating French players in the league as the Habs had on one team. It was a choice. Now the media act like junior high kids.

The Habs of the 70s actually made an effort to learn French and to speak it in public. I know that Patches and PK have supposedly taken French lessons, but it seems fair to say that the admirable example of those great players like Dryden, Robinson, and Gainey has been neglected by subsequent generations. And that is a shame.

Like I say, I just don't understand why it is so unthinkable that an Anglo coach could be asked to attempt this. It's not as though the media ask coaches complicated questions requiring sophisticated French to answer. 'Oui, j'ai decidé de jouée Scrivens au lieu de Condon, parce-se-que ce bande de cons n'est pas capable de gagner une seule maudite match, alors, pourqoui pas?'

[Lovett's Magnatones]

The Habs of the 70s actually made an effort to learn French and to speak it in public. I know that Patches and PK have supposedly taken French lessons, but it seems fair to say that the admirable example of those great players like Dryden, Robinson, and Gainey has been neglected by subsequent generations. And that is a shame.

Like I say, I just don't understand why it is so unthinkable that an Anglo coach could be asked to attempt this. It's not as though the media ask coaches complicated questions requiring sophisticated French to answer. 'Oui, j'ai decidé de jouée Scrivens au lieu de Condon, parce-se-que ce bande de cons n'est pas capable de gagner une seule maudite match, alors, pourqoui pas?'

It's really uncomfortable speaking another language. I took five or six years of Spanish, grew up next to Lawrence, Massachusetts a bilingual city, my grandmother was from Spain, and I never achieved any real sort of mastery. Speaking another language, for me at least, is like paddling a boat into rapids: the first few strokes/sentences are fine, but after three or four sentences, I'm lost. These days, I consider asking for a bathroom key in Miami a positive Spanish speaking experience.

True fluency would be very difficult unless the coach was 100% immersed. I remember reading in Dryden's book he was very intimidated to go on a French only talk show, and he's one of the smartest dudes around.

[kickass528]

I am bilingual I don't care if the hole team was Chines, and the coach was Spanish I would not expect to learn English or French and for those people who do GO FORK YOURSELF I want the cup to come back home. I want the players and coach's to work on the game and not language. Therrien has to go his system is no longer working

[Machine of Loving Grace]

The Habs of the 70s actually made an effort to learn French and to speak it in public. I know that Patches and PK have supposedly taken French lessons, but it seems fair to say that the admirable example of those great players like Dryden, Robinson, and Gainey has been neglected by subsequent generations. And that is a shame.

Like I say, I just don't understand why it is so unthinkable that an Anglo coach could be asked to attempt this. It's not as though the media ask coaches complicated questions requiring sophisticated French to answer. 'Oui, j'ai decidé de jouée Scrivens au lieu de Condon, parce-se-que ce bande de cons n'est pas capable de gagner une seule maudite match, alors, pourqoui pas?'

It always bothered me that Kirk Muller, a guy who won a Cup in Montreal and returned to coach here, neglected to learn French.

[Commandant]

You guys can think what you want about the policy... and I even agree.

But its irrelevant, its Geoff's policy and Geoff's the boss.

[johnnyhasbeen]

Maybe the French media should hire a bilingual reporter to cover the Canadiens? Then that reporter would have no problem dealing with the coach and translating it for the Francophones who can't speak English,. Why should the team have to have a coach that can speak French? Montreal is a bilingual city in a bilingual nation. Time for the francos to get over it. Hire the best available. Let the press find a reporter that can do their job.

Just seems to me good bilingual reporters are way easier to come by than bilingual coaches.

[BlueKross]

Someday, Montreal will become a Cosmopolitan city. Jeff Molson needs to field the best team (coaches included) that he can put together and not worry about beer sales or being politically correct. I agree with Commandant, that that probably will not happen for a while, regardless of how badly it handcuffs this team. Something has to give here shortly, but outside Jeff actually growing a pair, I would give Carbonneau another shot. Not too many coaches are successful with their first kick of the can.

[KoRP]

Someday, Montreal will become a Cosmopolitan city. Jeff Molson needs to field the best team (coaches included) that he can put together and not worry about beer sales or being politically correct. I agree with Commandant, that that probably will not happen for a while, regardless of how badly it handcuffs this team. Something has to give here shortly, but outside Jeff actually growing a pair, I would give Carbonneau another shot. Not too many coaches are successful with their first kick of the can.

Totally agree with all of this post.

Carbo deserves another shot, and that team played well in front of him.

Gainey said his reason was he didn't like what he saw in practices as the reason for firing his friend, but I am sure there were other motives(politics,owner, etc) because the team was good under Carbo.

I'd be all for Carbo taking the reigns if Therrien goes, but I really don't think Bowman could fix this mess without Price.

[dlbalr]

Totally agree with all of this post.

Carbo deserves another shot, and that team played well in front of him.

Gainey said his reason was he didn't like what he saw in practices as the reason for firing his friend, but I am sure there were other motives(politics,owner, etc) because the team was good under Carbo.

I'd be all for Carbo taking the reigns if Therrien goes, but I really don't think Bowman could fix this mess without Price.

The problem with Carbonneau is that he has coached very little since being fired. And where he did coach, he wasn't very good. He coached a part season in junior and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Then he coached Canada's U-18 entry and led them all the way to the relegation round. Since then, he has shown no interest in coaching anywhere or really learning anything and I'm pretty sure no other NHL team has even interviewed him. The guys that enjoy coaching will take jobs wherever they can to hone their craft/improve. Ones that can't be bothered to do that and are merely willing to sit for more than five years don't warrant consideration in my book, at least for an NHL head coaching position. It's not as if he has a great track record to fall back on either.

One of the other well-known concerns with Carbonneau was his lack of effort in terms of game preparation. When he was fired, it came out that the players were sometimes getting to the rink ahead of him on game days and that it was the assistant coaches that did most of the prep work and game planning. That's one of those things he'd have learned had he bothered to actually go coach somewhere instead of just relaxing and working for RDS.