Canadiens Confirm Michel Therrien is New Coach

As reported during the night, the Montreal Canadiens confirmed that Michel Therrien is the club's new Head Coach.  Official announcement: http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=633838

There will be a press conference at 2:30 PM today.  We'll be Tweeting live quotes, and then have the highlights up here.

I've spent considerable time discussing the negatives of a possible Therrien hiring, so here are some positives.  He's a good tactician who adapts his strategies in-game, playing whoever has been impressing on a given night by going with gut feelings.  In stark contrast to Jacques Martin, he is quite emotional, and displays his feelings behind the bench.  So while it is a first Marc Bergevin move that leaves me feeling uneasy, let's give it a chance.  And hope for top notch candidates as his Assistant Coaches.  Early discussion has Guy Carbonneau and Martin Lapointe has leading candidates to assist Therrien behind the bench, but I hope at least one person hired will come in with a longer history and established specialties.

UPDATES:

Some takes on Therrien's hiring:

Former Montreal Canadien Terry Ryan:
"Nice [expletive] pick Habs. Who's going to be the Assistant Coach, Darth Vader?  He was ignorant then, and how do you know he has evolved now?  He would chain smoke on the team bus.  I hated playing for him more than any other coach.  I would fly home to my family at year's end crying; they had me go see a psychologiest.  But he knows hockey very well.  I hope for the sake of the Montreal Canadiens - and the New York Yankees are baseball's Montreal Canadiens - that he has learnt something."

Canadiens captain Brian Gionta:
"Therrien has an excellent reputation in the league.  I've played against his teams on numerous occasions and they're always tough to play against.  He's proven in the past, notably with Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate, that he is good at developing young players, and that looks good for our group."

Former Habs GM Andre Savard, who was one of Therrien's Assistant Coaches with the Penguins:
"Michel deserved to be back, to have another chance.  His background is as impressive or more than many coaches around the league.  I didn't hire Michel in Montreal; I was named by the President after his hiring, and I haven't spoken with him in a little while.  But if he were to call me about a possible position, I'd be happy to listen."

Pascal Dupuis, who played for Therrien with the Penguins:
"He gets the most out of his players.  Everyone describes him as a tough guy, but if you give him your best, he's ok."

KEY POINTS FROM PRESS CONFERENCE:

General Manager Marc Bergevin says he interviewed "a lot of candidates" for the coaching position, later specifying "less than 10."  He chose Therrien - a decision that he ultimately made himself - because he has leadership, has enjoyed success at all levels, and sees himself communicating/working well with him.

Therrien himself repeated a few phrases frequently, citing that what he would most importantly look to change is the work ethic of the team.  He said it's important for fans to be able to applaud a team that is outworking its opposition every game; a team that is disciplined on and off the ice.  As a coach, he said it's important for him to be adaptable and flexible, saying he's learnt from his experiences in Montreal, Pittsburgh, and the AHL, and feels far more prepared to take this job today than when he first accepted it some 12 years ago.  Acknowledging that he didn't like the results last season, he sees potential on this team, and has as a short-term goal getting back into the playoffs.

Therrien says its important the leadership core on this team leads by example. His first call will be to captain Brian Gionta, who he understands had a frustrating season with injuries.  He likes the first line in place, the responsibility of a Tomas Plekanec, having a great young goaltender in Carey Price, and that the team will have a healthy Andrei Markov (the only player still around from Therrien's last tenure) out of the gate.  He looks forward to an exciting challenge of coaching a young P.K. Subban who he sees as full of potential (calling him a thoroughbred, the kind of guys you win with), and with good guidance, a future leader.  Lastly, in an interview after the press conference, he also named Lars Eller as a player headed in the right direction, a good sign since some were worried about his critical comments towards Eller as an analyst.

With regards to his Assistants, Therrien said he admired the work done by the guys in place (Randy Cunneyworth, Randy Ladouceur, and Pierre Groulx), but that it was only his first day and he hadn't gotten to that point yet.  He discussed a "profile" with Bergevin, and it's something they would work on in the coming days and weeks.  No names.

Perhaps most importantly was a quote by Therrien where he said that not all players need to be treated the same.  "Some need taps on the back all the time, some just once.  Some need to be taken a harder stance with."  This was another area of major concern with how he would handle his players, so at the very least, he's saying the right things for now.

Like him or not Habs fans, he's Bergevin's choice. Let's give him a chance - at least half a season before we really criticize - and hope for the best!

A Tale of Two Coaches

As much as I've tried not to believe the rumours, it is at this point hard to believe that Montreal isn't down to at most two candidates in their head coaching search in Michel Therrien and Marc Crawford.  Many fans have been hoping there would be some third off-the-radar candidate who would come in and steal the job away, but all three major hockey networks - TSN, RDS, and SportsNet - have been reporting the same facts for a few days now.  And the problem is that even if these weren't the only two names in the pot, with Bob Hartley in Calgary and Patrick Roy's demands allegedly being far too great, given the team's self-imposed "must speak French" rule, there aren't many other qualified candidates out there.  I've said before and maintain that I have faith in Marc Bergevin right now and will be happy to give a chance to whoever he deems the best man to execute his vision for the Montreal Canadiens, but on the day he opts for one of Therrien or Crawford, I will not be a happy sheep applauding his selection.  Here's a look at the two candidates to give you an idea of why:

Michel Therrien

Many Habs fans are quick to spit out, "been there, done that," when Therrien's name comes up.  I find that a bit of a naive approach to his candidacy; just because a guy held the job a decade ago, doesn't mean he wouldn't have learned from mistakes or be a better fit today.  The qualifications of candidates should be based on what Bergevin thinks they can do today.

At age 48, Therrien still has plenty of years in the sport left ahead of him, which is a positive for a team seeking stability.  In his playing career, he never made it beyond the AHL, though he did spend a couple of seasons in the Habs' system with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs and Sherbrooke Canadiens.  His full-time head coaching career began in 1993-94 with the QMJHL's Laval Titan, and he led the Granby Predateurs to a league championship after taking over the club in 1995-96.  Returning to the Canadiens' organization, he spent four seasons as the Head Coach of the team's AHL affiliate (two in Fredericton and two in Quebec) before replacing Alain Vigneault as Coach of the Habs some 20 games into the 2000-01 campaign.  That team would fail to qualify for the post-season, but he would lead Montreal back to the playoffs the following year, and upset the top seed Boston Bruins in the first round in six games (which included a fine to Therrien for making a throat-slitting gesture at Kyle McLaren after he nearly took Richard Zednik's head off with a dirty below, though Hab fans will forgive him for that one).  

What likely sealed his fate were clear coaching errors in the second round.  Montreal looked poised to complete a second straight upset, up 2-1 in the series against the Carolina Hurricanes and leading game 4 by a 3-0 score in the third period.  Perhaps Therrien momentarily forgot where he was, but he was a bit too vocal with referee Kerry Fraser in arguing a cross-checking call and earned himself an additional 2 minute bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.  The 'Canes took advantage to get back in the game, and found themselves down just 1 goal entering the final minute of regulation.  Current Hab Erik Cole scored to tie things up, and Therrien committed another gaff in OT with a face-off in the Montreal end.  Known as an Xs and Os coach who goes with gut feelings on who is hot on a given night, the coach sent out Bill Lindsay - a winger playing out of position in the middle - to take a defensive end faceoff in the extra frame.  Lindsay had the best FO win percentage in the game, but it was still far from a strength of his, not to mention that the team featured face-off whiz Yanic Perreault and shutdown center Joe Juneau, along with responsible veterans Doug Gilmour and Saku Koivu.  Lindsay lost the draw cleanly, and the puck came back to the point where Nic Wallin fired one home.  The Canadiens showed no life following that crushing defeat, losing in two straight blowouts.

Therrien was fired halfway through the following year with his team playing at an under .500 clip, but would rebound the following season with the AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins.  He led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to the Calder Cup Final in his first season with the team, and in his third year with the team got it off to a 21-1-3 start, leading to his replacing Ed Olcyzk as bench boss with the big club.  He would take Pittsburgh to the Stanley Cup Final in 2007-08, but after losing to the Detroit Red Wings, would be canned 57 games into the following season with his team just above the .500 mark despite a stacked roster.  The team's disappointing start is largely blamed on Therrien since Dan Bylsma took over the club and led them to a Stanley Cup win that very same season.  

Therrien also gained a reputation throughout his career as being a coach that his own players hate, given his tactic of trying to get under their skin to motivate them to deliver their best.  A prime example was on display in this now infamous press conference:

I fully understand that people can learn from their mistakes, and coaches can evolve over time.  However, Therrien hasn't been in coaching since that 2008-09 season, instead currently serving as a scout for the Minnesota Wild, so we have no way to know what kind of attitudes or demeanour he would bring to the job.  Still, he's a candidate in part largely due to a good off-ice relationship with Bergevin, who has shown a strong propensity for hiring those he knows well  or are within his inner circle thus far.  It is important that Bergevin hires someone who is on the same page as him, and a guy he feels he can work with on a daily basis, as a team's GM and Head Coach need to be able to agree on how the players brought in should be used.  From the front office to the coaching staff, a team will only play to its highest potential if all have a unified vision.

Marc Crawford

51-year old Marc Crawford is hoping his stint as a television analyst will last only one season by getting back into the realm of coaching.  While his playing career was only moderately more successful than Therrien's - he played 176 NHL games, all with the Vancouver Canucks - Crawford brings with him 15 years experience as an NHL head coach.  His transition from playing to coaching began in the OHL where he led the Cornwall Royals for two seasons with little success, but enough to earn him a chance as Coach of the AHL's St. John Maple Leafs.  He brought the team to the Calder Cup Final in his first season there, and after second round exits the following two seasons, was named Head Coach of the Quebec Nordiques for the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign.

Crawford stayed with the organization when they moved to Colorado, winning the Stanley Cup in 1996, and taking the team led by Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and others back to the Conference Finals a year later.  When his star-studded Avs were knocked out in round 1 in 1998, he was relieved of his duties, re-emerging with the Vancouver Canucks midway through the following season.  

Crawford coached the Canucks for 7 seasons but never made it past the second round of the playoffs, missing them altogether three times.  The 2003-04 season - his second to last - is the one that most will criticize him for.  In an incident that few should need to be reminded of, in a February 16, 2004 game, Colorado's Steve Moore concussed Vancouver captain Markus Naslund with a hit that was missed by officials, and deemed unsuspendable by the league.  Rather than calm and re-focus his club, Crawford stoked some fires, criticizing officials and suggesting the league should offer protection for its superstars.  While the next Avs-Nucks matchup was relatively uneventful, a subsequent game got ugly.  With Vancouver trailing by a big score, Todd Bertuzzi looked to make a statement by battling Moore, who wanted no part of the larger man, already having answered the bell to a bout with tough guy Matt Cooke in the first period.  When Moore ignored the invitation to drop the gloves, Bertuzzi grabbed Moore from behind, pulled him by the jersey, and punched him to the back of the head, falling on top of him which drove his face into the ice.  

When words like "pre-meditated" get thrown around, you have to look at the Coach as not having proper control of his players, particularly given the act occurred at a time when the game's outcome was out of reach.  Some accounts of that game had Crawford chuckling while watching Bertuzzi's actions, though this is nothing but rumour (others saw Bertuzzi acted in stark contrast to Crawford's instructions).  The other problem is that this issue has not been laid to rest, with an ongoing lawsuit on Moore's part (his career was ended by the "attack") having Crawford as one of the defendants, and Bertuzzi himself even indicating that Crawford should share in the blame due to his inciting the team to, "make Moore pay the price."  This off-ice sideshow could serve as a distraction for a team, particularly in a media-frenzied city like Montreal.

But it isn't just about "the incident."  Crawford missed the playoffs the following season, and would also miss them in his next two years with Los Angeles.  Crawford drew fire from many by encouraging his General Manager with the Kings to acquire his starting netminder from Vancouver in Dan Cloutier, a goaltender that many held in rather low regard.  Dismal .415 and .433 winning percentages cost him his job with the Kings, and after a year off, he was named Coach of the Dallas Stars, where he also failed to reach the playoffs in consecutive years.  Crawford was fired in 2011 and joined the TSN panel having missed the post-season for each of his final five seasons.

Crawford is known as a tactician, being one of the pioneers of the 1-3-1 trap system.  He has a relationship with Bergevin, having served as his Coach for the final 9 games of Bergevin's career (in Vancouver) in 2003-04.  To his credit, he has watched more Montreal Canadiens and other Canadian team games this past season than most who would be considered candidates for the job, having to analyze them and breakdown many aspects for the television audience.  But is he a good fit in Montreal?  As Crawford himself said in a recent interview, "The most important thing in any job is that the general manager and coach are on the same page." If Bergevin thinks Crow is that guy for him, then he will get the job.

Of the two, I'm not a particular fan of either.  My only hope is that whichever is named brings along some experienced Assistants who may compensate for some of his areas of weakness (e.g. a Larry Robinson or Andy Murray).

Bob Hartley Announced as Flames Head Coach

The coaching candidate pool in Montreal took a blow today as the Calgary Flames announced that Bob Hartley will be the team's next Head Coach.

Hartley was considered a frontrunner for the Montreal job, though we may never know if GM Marc Bergevin opted for another candidate, or if it was Hartley who turned down the Canadiens interest to join the Flames.  Many fake Twitter insiders took an educated guess that Hartley would be Bergevin's man, announcing it as fact over the internet during the past week, which should be a lesson to many in trusting certain sources.  It seems Hockey Insider 101 has become make a pre-emptive announcement then hope it comes true so you can claim yourself an insider.  If it doesn't, just say your sources were wrong or some parameter changed.  Appears to be a great recipe for gaining followers, but not one this site or Twitter account will ever endorse.

With Hartley out of the equation (and reportedly Patrick Roy out of consideration as well), that leaves Guy Carbonneau, Michel Therrien, and Marc Crawford as the most widely-discussed Montreal coaching candidates.  Other bilingual names mentioned include Martin Raymond and Benoit Groulx, though many hope an unheralded candidate ends up winning out, unimpressed by these names.

Bob McKenzie appears to believe it's down to Therrien and Crawford for the job:

UPDATES: A few tidbits from Hartley's press conference in Calgary this afternoon.

- Yes, he had met with the Canadiens, and had several phone conversations with them.
- When Alex Tanguay was with the Habs, and the team was looking for a coach, Tanguay phoned Hartley (the two had been together in Colorado) to say that he'd appreciate if Bob came to Montreal, as he was the type of coach he needed.
- Hartley had a meeting scheduled with the Canadiens for "later this week," but phoned Marc Bergevin this morning to inform him he'd opted to take a deal with Calgary.  Bergevin was quoted as wishing Hartley good luck, indicating that while they had spoken, he wasn't ready to name a coach just yet.

So from this, we can gather that Hartley was one of Bergevin's final candidates.  It remains to be seen what he'll do now that Hartley is out of the running.

Habs Name Mellanby Director of Player Personnel

In yet another poorly-kept secret, the Montreal Canadiens officially announced today the appointment of Scott Mellanby ad Director of Player Personnel.  See the official announcement here:  http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=632943

Mellanby, 45, is a veteran of 1,431 NHL games, split between the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues, and Atlanta Thrashers.  A Montreal native, he was a teammate of Marc Bergevin's for two seasons while in St. Louis.  Also of note is that for his final two seasons during which he captained the Thrashers, he was coached by Hab head coaching candidate Bob Hartley.  After retiring following the 2006-07 season, Mellanby first joined the Vancouver Canucks as a scout and special advisor to General Manager Mike Gillis.  He moved to St. Louis as an Assistant Coach for the last two years, prior to stepping down days ago, claiming that hockey operations were more of a passion than coaching for him.

This is the latest in a series of moves as Bergevin - as he puts it - surrounds himself with good hockey people, of which you can never have enough.  His group now includes two Assistant General Managers - Rick Dudley and Larry Carriere - a Director of Amateur Scouting and Player Development in Trevor Timmins, and Mellanby.  We don't know the exact division of labour yet, with speculation that Timmins may focus on scouting, leaving development tasks to Dudley and Mellanby.  In any case, it's hard not to be excited about the team Bergevin is building, with lots of experience and well-respected throughout the hockey world.

Canadiens Officially Announce Hiring of Dudley

The Montreal Canadiens let another of the hockey world's worst-kept secrets out of the bag today as the club officially announced that Rick Dudley would become an Assistant General Manager with the club.  You can read a bio of Dudley - a very well respected hockey man and a phenomenal talent evaluator - in the official announcement here: http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=632679&navid=DL|MTL|home

Bergevin also remained true to his word regarding Larry Carriere, announcing that his contract had been extended and that he would stay on under his old title of Assistant GM.  So yes, that means both men carry the same title, though it is still unclear how the tasks may be divided between the two.  Having Carriere on board - a guy who spent part of last season on the bench with the current players as an Assistant Coach - will certainly help introduce Bergevin to the roster he is taking over.  It isn't unthinkable that Carriere's main responsibility, once things settle down, is one of GM of the Hamilton Bulldogs.  As for Dudley, per his release from the Toronto Maple Leafs, he is unable to work this year's Entry Draft for the Habs.  But you wouuld have to imagine the amateur side will remain Trevor Timmins's show anyway, while Dudley focuses on Pro Scouting and Player Personnel.  If we take the press release at face value, it is also interesting to note that Bergevin says he is thrilled to have both Dudley and Carriere with him for several seasons, meaning they are likely multi-year deals in both cases.  This seems like a natural decision for an organization that has preached wanting stability.

After hiring a new scout in Bobby Kinsella yesterday (who, by the way, you can follow on Twitter here: @DFS_BobbyK), Bergevin continues to round out his "cabinet" if you will.  I take this as a positive for Habs fans, as the team has the resources to bring in the right hockey guys to build a large and strong front office, but has opted not to for many years.  As ex-Hab Jaroslav Spacek said, "It was only Pierre's (Gauthier) way."  All of these new perspectives bring a breath of fresh air to the organization, and fans should be excited to see where it goes.  The team still has room and need for a capologist (role currently filled by Patrick Boivin), additional scouts (at least one for Quebec, but hopefully also at least one more in Europe), and of course a new coaching staff, so the announcements are far from over.  This is the one area where I fully embrace adopting a Toronto Maple Leafs model of bringing in as many talented and knowledgeable hockey people with specific roles as the team can.

Bergevin and Dudley will address the media by means of conference call at 1:30 PM, and we'll have updates for you via our Twitter feed here: @DailyCanadiens.

Habs Hires Update

Whenever prompted, Montreal Canadiens General Manager Marc Bergevin continues to utter that he has no specific deadline or timetable for making any hire.  He wants to go through a thorough process, he'll say, and examine all possible candidates.  That's all fine and good, but it has left Hab fans everywhere itching for news on a daily basis.  Who will be hired as coach?  When will his new front office staff be announced?  What about his scouts?

Well, the coaching situation appears to be at a standstill.  Darren Dreger on TSN Sporscentre last night indicated that there is no clear frontrunner for the position at this time, though he did mention the widely speculated names of Marc Crawford, Bob Hartley, and Michel Therrien.  One hold-up could be that Gerard Gallant, a popular candidate and my personal choice, is still currently coaching the Saint John Sea Dogs in the Memorial Cup, meaning any interviews with him would likely still be a few days away.  The caveat with Gallant is that he doesn't really speak French, though he can understand a fair bit after coaching several seasons in the QMJHL.

There is some movement on other fronts, however.  Thanks to Twitter follower @HabsLinks, an article HERE has confirmed today that the Canadiens have hired Bobby Kinsella (pictured at left) as a new scout for the mid-western United States.  He will be based in Chicago, covering primarily the USHL, but also the NCAA, and top-tiered high school and midget programs.  Prior to this move, the Habs had Ryan Jankowski scouting both western Canada and the western U.S.A., while also having Pat Westrum focused on amateur scouting in the west of the U.S.  No indication as of yet how the hiring of Kinsella will impact the geographic coverage, but adding additional scouts was one of Bergevin's missions from day 1, and will likely only help Montreal at the draft table moving forward.  I suspect the move will be good for Canadian scouting as well, with one likely option being that Jankowski now devote all of his energies just to the WHL, though Elmer Benning currently has that focus as well.

Kinsella most recently served as both Assistant Coach and Director of Scouting for the Dubuque Fighting Saints.  There are some interesting ties here, as the team's General Manager and Head Coach is former Hab Jim Montgomery, and the club just selected top 2012 prospect Mark Jankowski - nephew of the aforemention Hab scout Ryan - in the USHL entry draft.  (Might Kinsella push for the team to take Mark at pick 33?)  Moreover, Kinsella spent five years as an Assistant Coach and Scout with the Sioux City Musketeers, one of which was during Max Pacioretty's season there in 2006-07 just prior to his selection by the Canadiens.  In between these two stints, Kinsella also spent two seasons as Head Coach and GM of the Boston Junior Rangers, a Midget AAA-U18 club, so all in all, he seems to be a good hockey person well experienced at working with and watching younger talent, while still young himself with room to grow in the organization at age 37.

A bit of news announced yesterday was that Scott Mellanby was stepping down from his role as Assistant Coach with the St. Louis Blues to pursue other opportunities, stating that his hear was in hockey operations rather than coaching.  TSN's Bob McKenzie was quick to Tweet that it wouldn't be a surprise if Mellanby - a Montreal native who speaks at least a bit of French - surfaces as one of Marc Bergevin's Assistants in Montreal.  After completing his playing career of over 1,400 games in 2006-07, Mellanby worked for three seasons as a Scout and Special Consultant to the GM with the Vancouver Canucks, before moving on to spend the last two seasons behind the bench in St. Louis.  Given his relative inexperience, it would be interesting to see what kind of role Montreal might offer him and what this means for Rick Dudley joining the organization - a process that appears mysteriously stalled, though the team might simply be opting to wait until after the draft to avoid any accusations of tampering (though Dreger Tweeted this morning that it is likely to happen prior to draft day).  One likely scenario is that if both are to join the organization, Mellanby might gain experience by being tabbed GM of the Hamilton Bulldogs, while Dudley would cover Pro Scouting.

These are the names being thrown around as of today, but the talk is only likely to intensify as we move towards the draft and July 1st, or particularly as Bergevin has had more days on the job.  Whatever the case, with more and more negative perceptions of the old Gauthier / Gainey / Martin regime coming out all the time, all of these new names are a breath of fresh air.