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!

Your Canadiens for January 2, 2012

A busy off-day for the Habs in Brossard this morning. Here are your top stories:

- A day after signing his 6 year contract extension, Habs Josh Gorges had to play intermediary at practice this morning has tempers flared up. After Mike Cammalleri exchanged some unfriendly words with P.K. Subban, Subban and Tomas Plekanec swapped a few shoves, nearly coming to blows. Gorges got in the middle and broke things up, and as always when this sort of thing occurs, their teammates laughed it off after practice, explaining that everyone wants to win and this sort of thing occurs when a team is struggling. It's not the first time, however, that things have gotten heated between Subban and Cammalleri/Plekanec. It may simply be a case of Subban's #AlwaysOn personality/intensity and constant chirping being tolerable when the team is hot, but unbearable when things aren't going as well.

- Pierre Gauthier addressed the media today for his annual mid-season report. Some key highlights were the repetition that Andrei Markov won't be back before the All-Star break, that Gauthier hasn't given up on the season and will explore all options to improve performance on the ice, that he apologizes for offending some by naming a unilingual Anglophone as the interim Canadiens' head coach, and that Brian Gionta will return to the line-up before Scott Gomez. Some quotes from Mr. Gauthier:

On Josh Gorges: "We're happy he accepted our offer, and thanks to him. It was an extension of discussions we had this summer, but we wanted to wait to see how his knee would hold up. His case was different than Andrei Markov's, given that he was an RFA whereas Markov was a UFA, and Mr. Gorges needed multiple parts of his knee repaired vs. Markov's problem being a single ligament."

On other UFA/RFA: "Each case is different and evaluated over the course of the season. We have no rules about when we can speak to any of our own players. We have every intention of keeping Carey Price and P.K. Subban with the team for a long time."

On Andrei Markov's health: "He is doing well and his rehab is progressing. I wouldn't expect him to play before the All-Star break. His procedure in December was just an arthroscopic surgery to clean up debris from a previous surgery and remove some scar tissue."

On Randy Cunneyworth and the language issue: "I'm sorry for offending anyone by naming a unilingual interim head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. For the coach to be able to speak French is something that is important to us, but we felt we needed to make the best move and that we had the best candidate within the organization. As Geoff Molson said, language will be a strong consideration for us when we hire a permanent head coach at season's end (whether that means Mr. Cunneyworth taking French lessons or hiring a French-speaker). We handed Mr. Cunneyworth a very difficult schedule. We hoped for better results, but we are seeing changes in the way the team competes on-ice."

On the balance of the 2011-12 season: "Our objective is to start winning and to play better hockey. 11 of our next 15 games are at home, so we hope to use this stand to turn the direction of our season around. Our fans deserve better. Our team needs to find solutions to reward the great support and dedication of our fans. We always have to be trying to improve on every level, whether it's conditioning, prospect development, through trades, or anything else. Everyone has to look in the mirror: players, coaches, and administration. We're all motivated by daily competition and focus on what we can control."

On why the team is where it is: "You have to look at injuries in a certain way. Because of the players out of the line-up, we're playing well below the salary cap, in the bottom 10 teams in the league. But still, 6 of those 10 teams are in playoff positions, so we can't blame it only on injuries. There are other problems. Every game, we're missing key veterans, but we also have veterans playing who aren't performing well. There is a trickle down effect. Too much is being asked of young players. We can't put them in this situation where they're depended on to pick up the slack. It leads to individual breakdowns."

On solutions to the current situation: "3 main areas. One is that we need reinforcement now, which could be from injured players returning to the line-up. Two is that we need improvement in our play as a team. Everybody needs to be all-in. It's a team game and we have to find a certain cohesion to play effective hockey. And third is that, as coaches and managers, we need to do our share. We'll explore all avenues to improve."

On the big contracts and salary cap moving forward: "Cap constraints are things you manage in the off-season. Everything is planned. We'll have the resources available to keep good young players. Having good players signed for several years is a good thing."

That was the gist of it. Biggest concern to me? It focused mainly on what the team can do to fix things and win now, with no mentions of building for the future. We just need to hope that whatever band-aid deal the team looks at to improve the situation, it doesn't involve taking on lengthy contracts and won't require the trading of top prospects or draft picks.

- After taking a puck to the face against Team USA, Habs prospect Nathan Beaulieu was at practice with Team Canada today. The defenseman will wear a full face shield.

- A report indicates that the Montreal Canadiens lead the NHL in ticket revenues per game.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/article/1109400--for-nhl-the-cash-is-in-canada?bn=1

That, combined with the high percentages of salaries being paid by insurance this season, means the Molson family should be making a pretty penny, playoffs or not.

Markov Meets the Press in Brossard

As Habs fans anxiously await news out of Minnesota today surrounding tonight's NHL Entry Draft, Andrei Markov met with the Montreal media in Brossard today.

A good recap can be found here:

http://www.cjad.com/Blog/HabsNews/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10254547

Some GEM quotes from Markov...

Markov: "I was supposed to stay in Russia for two weeks, but I'm happy and comfortable (in Montreal) so I changed my ticket after 7 days."

Markov: "There's always a risk of injury; I play hockey, not chess."

Reporter: "Who's the first guy you're going to hit at your first practice?"

Markov: "Jacques Martin. I'm just kidding."

Reporter: "Will you be able to help mentor the young Alexei Yemelin?"

Markov: "I'm not the coach yet, I'm just a player. But if anybody asks me for help, I'm open to that."

Reporter: "Do you have a no trade clause?"

Markov: "Oh... I have no idea..."

Reporter: "Are you serious?"

Markov: "...Yeah..."

Reporter: "Will you be more cautious in the corners because of the last 2 injuries?"

Markov: "I will be more aggressive."

Reporter: "Were you not interested to test free agency to see what you could be worth on the open market?"

Markov: "It must be interesting but I'm happy here. Our crowd is the best crowd in the league, so every time I step on the ice I'm excited."