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Should Dominique Ducharme be our head coach next year?


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I'm still undecided if DD should be  back next year. My guess is that the Playoffs will determine that!  I have to say that I don't like how DD is relying solely on the top 4 d-men. He has to get Kulak and Romanov playing 12-13 minutes per game to give the top 4 a break!

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23 minutes ago, Habsfan said:

I'm still undecided if DD should be  back next year. My guess is that the Playoffs will determine that!  I have to say that I don't like how DD is relying solely on the top 4 d-men. He has to get Kulak and Romanov playing 12-13 minutes per game to give the top 4 a break!

 

Game 7 will be 4 dmen.

 

If we advance then yes we need to find a way to get more minutes to other D.

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On DD, I’ve gone from “sure, he is a promising young coach,” to “no, because the team has not improved in any way at all under his leadership,” and now to “absolutely not” because of his negligent use of the D in Game 6. Granted, he has done a good job of keeping Danault on Matthews but that is negated by his obsessive overuse of defencemen who are obviously overwhelmed. I really believe that that was a game won despite the coach. He should be canned, but thanks to the magnificence of Carey Price, he won’t be, of course.

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37 minutes ago, Commandant said:

Game 7 will be 4 dmen.

 

If we advance then yes we need to find a way to get more minutes to other D.

I think that may be his intent ... but if games are close, especially if Jets win a couple, I expect it will be back to four D.

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on Ducharme:

1. he changed the structure of the team, installing a "support all over the ice" mentality". You saw that in game 6 when the D were joining the attack and forwards were correctly falling back to fill-in. That is A Dom-thing to do ;)

 

2. How he went with Price even if if Allen was the easier choice given how well he was playing and how he was not rusted. That is A Dom-thing again

 

3. Saying on the post-game yesterday how he worked with Kotkaniemi when he was not on the starting laine up, and how "[KK] needed that extra week of practice" shows the same dedication to teaching and his understanding of his players; the same way he helped Drouin improve sine he joined the coaching staff. Teaching is a DOm-thing

 

4. Not being afraid to make changes to the line-up and sticking with them, for the most part with good results: how he uses Caufield on OT adn how he trusts him in th eplayoffs (not sheltering him), how he stuck with Staal when he was healthy enough to play and how that has tonned down the contribution of Toronto's Spezza line (old/slow lines nulling each other)

 

5. How he has not been afraid to give the young players: Evans, Suzuki, Kotkaniemi, Romanov (in the regular season) promminent roles when they were ready. I agree that he has not played Romanov in the playoffs, but based on his good read on his team, I am ok with that.

 

Overall, he tends to do many Dom-things that have them competing on a game 7 against the best team in the North division with the potential of going to the next round. He is way better than Perron was when he won a cup, and much more progressive than Martin, Julien, Muller and Therrien

 

Not bad, not bad at all.

 

 

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Just now, GHT120 said:

I think that may be his intent ... but if games are close, especially if Jets win a couple, I expect it will be back to four D.

 

I expect it (unless one of the other d plays really well) to be 4D in elimination games.

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DD is the penguin. The systems are almost identical. It's crazy. Clear the zone, dump it in. Retreat. Clear the zone, dump it in, retreat. The system has its merits, but boy is it frustrating if you can't retrieve your dump in. 

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3 hours ago, DON said:

Quiet here today.:tumbleweed:

No need to continue to beat a dead horse, at least until off season ... regardless of which side of the discussion one finds oneself?

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3 hours ago, GHT120 said:

No need to continue to beat a dead horse, at least until off season ... regardless of which side of the discussion one finds oneself?

I know i dont know enough about coaching to add anything of interest and got no big feeling one way or other, so just poking that horse to check.

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15-16-7 compared to Julien's 9-5-4 at the time of his firing. I'll give you that Dom had to deal with a log of injuries down the stretch, but they have never played as well under Ducharme for a significant stretch of time than they did under Julien. So if Julien wasn't good enough, how is Ducharme good enough?

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In spite of the late-season struggles, I do think the new power play formation is much better.

 

What I’m less happy about is the constant use of the blender.

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36 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

In spite of the late-season struggles, I do think the new power play formation is much better.

 

What I’m less happy about is the constant use of the blender.

 

No power play should ever have all five players with the same handedness. And then when the second unit comes out, it is pure stupidity to put the lefty on the left side and eighty in the right side, as I have seen happen numerous times in recent weeks. Even if that is Burrows' decision, DD needs to overrule him.

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What I like is not so much the specific player assignments but the concept. The two units are not trying to be identical. And they are not entirely relying on the Weber or Petry slapshot, so it's harder for the opponents to play against them.

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27 minutes ago, Chris said:

They just stand there and pass the puck, 

 

its like watching the movie  hoosiers, 5 passes before you shoot, 5 passes before you shoot. 

 

I don’t know that I have ever seen a more static PP than the one we saw on display last game. They literally just stood there - no movement at all from either the D (who are immobile anyhow) or the FWs. It really is bizarre to see; even bantam players are more likely to move their feet.

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I will give Ducharme considerable credit as a “bench boss” - i.e., a guy who skillfully controls the matchups. He clearly did a good job in this series that respect.

 

I remain troubled by several of his decisions in this series, despite the win. Going to 4 D in OT in Game 6 led to complete domination by TO; only Price’s outrageous brilliance saved us. He left two players off the roster (KK and CC) who, once inserted, became difference-makers according to Keefe; at face value that means that his decision made it harder for the Habs to win during the first three games. 

 

It doesn’t matter anyway - winning the Toronto series guarantees him a nice fat extension. 

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Well, some questionable moves were certainly done, and the Habs were down 3 games to 1, but they did mount a come back and won the series.  It can't really be argued that feat could be done with a coach that sucks.     

 

Also, how do we know who was responsible for some of those choices?  i.e. was it really Dom, or did MB make those choices?  Either way, some of those choices were likely forced on Dom due to the players MB decided to get vs Dom thinking it was a good idea.  

  

On 5/27/2021 at 11:42 AM, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

I rather like the idea of bringing in a European coach. They might have different assumptions and ideas - the Habs need some fresh thinking for sure, and it would be good to see us actually being innovative. It would also open up some new options going forward, as opposed to fixating on "bilingual" as a synonym for francophone, which does narrow the talent pool. If they Habs are condemned to hire bilingual coaches, and anglo North American hockey people refuse to learn French, then perhaps the Canadiens should think much harder about Europe as a potential source of coaching and managerial talent.

 

I like that idea too.  If we are talking about Euro coaches that speak French then would it make any sense to potentially look at the Coach of HC Kunlun Red Star?  i.e. Koach Kovalev.   He likely isnt ready for the NHL yet, but I'd love to see that one day.  

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Winning three playoff rounds, outsmarting Paul Maurice, getting the most out of his team 

 

I think he starts next season; not sure he finished it but he has earned to start next season

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8 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Winning three playoff rounds, outsmarting Paul Maurice, getting the most out of his team 

 

I think he starts next season; not sure he finished it but he has earned to start next season


Ducharme will 100% be our coach for the next number of years. 

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55 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:


Ducharme will 100% be our coach for the next number of years. 

Not sure, the expectations will be sooooo high he may not survive them at the first loosing streak

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I was nervous about team identity. How can a team that has only one defenseman who can reliably spring an offensive rush, be so dependant on scoring off the rush? Some practice seems to have corrected that and they now support each other all the way up the ice and defend as a 5 man unit. They have been cycling way more too, which I feel a team with this defense needs to do. I was annoyed with bottom pairing usage. He paired one bottom guy with one top 4 d at 5 on 5, to balance defense minutes better. He created the Staal line and Suzuki line, who are playing huge in this playoff.  I love being proven wrong.  100% chance DD gets  contract next year.

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