Ok. So say JM is fired and we have to hire a new head coach - but we can only bring back one we recently had, out of Claude Julien, Guy Carbonneau, Michel Therrien and Alain Vigneault. Assume they are all available at the same salary. Who would you pick?
One can win apparently but whines like a *****, one doesn't know a 1st liner from a grinder, one is a headcase and the other is okay but couldn't get his stacked team motivated to win SCF Game 7. None.
Its just like divorce. Once a few years pass, you start to forget the reasons why you ended up getting a divorce. But if you get back together with your ex, you quickly remember. Never ends well.
Its just like divorce. Once a few years pass, you start to forget the reasons why you ended up getting a divorce. But if you get back together with your ex, you quickly remember. Never ends well.
Out of those four, it would be Vigneault for the simple reason that he has shown that he can adjust his game plan to the direction the team wants to take. He was strictly a defensive coach until Mike Gillis met with him asking him if he could put together a more offensive system provided the players he needed. He's responded beautifully.
From that list, Alain Vigneault followed by Therrien. See what the problem here is, though? Here are four coaches that started off with Montreal, three of whom went on to do well once they learned the ropes with the Habs. We groom coaches for OTHER teams.
From that list, Alain Vigneault followed by Therrien. See what the problem here is, though? Here are four coaches that started off with Montreal, three of whom went on to do well once they learned the ropes with the Habs. We groom coaches for OTHER teams.
Probably wouldn't call Carbo or Therrien as being groomed for other teams. It's probably just the result of hiring inexperienced coaches who get overwhelmed with a heavy job like coaching the Canadiens before getting adjusted.
Montreal is probably a market better suited for experienced coaches who can handle the heat.
Of this group Vigneault by a fair margin. Julien I had a lot of respect for when he left Montreal, but after watching the way his teams behave after the whistle and especially late in the game when they're losing, I frankly think the guy should be drummed out of the league. I suppose I should give him credit for realizing the NHL won't punish him or his team no matter how flagrantly they ignore certain rules (no goons in the final minutes, i.e.) Honestly Julien makes the league look like a bunch of amateurs and/or a bunch of Jacobs cronies. Either way, Julien's like Bettman to me- irredeemable.
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