Don Lever Has Been Let Go

[habs-24]

It seems like everyone is getting the blame except where it should be - Gainey.

Lever developed most of these very well - but I've seen many of them regress under Gainey/Carbonneau - Plekanec, Higgins, Komisarek - they came out of AHL strong enough to play regular shifts and were very strong LAST season - This past season all of them took a step back - you mention Sergei - well he spent little time here at all -22 games one season and 16 the next (and frankly had a lousy attitude when he was here) - he could have done with more time under Lever. A. Kostitsyn was weak when he came to the AHL and Lever and the Dogs finally brought him around to be able to be a strong NHLer - since then he has also regressed.

It is interesting how many of the non-Lever AHL players were inconsistent or weak - Kovalev, Koivu, Latendresse (who bypassed the NHL altogether!)

O'Byrne was probably promoted too quickly and Weber is extremely young - he managed fine when he did come up but to expect him to be NHL ready this season was insane -(when he does come up he will be more than ready thanks to Lever/Wilson - they have had him working on his defensive game - he will be stellar!).

Look at Lapierre, who has spent many games under Lever/Wilson and was sent down numerous times for reworking - probably one of our most consistent, spirited two way players. Look at D'ags. Chipchura certainly was more consistent than our "stars" and should have been granted a bigger role.

Don't blame Lever/Wilson my friend - blame the Habs and the vets they are the ones that are screwing up the excellent players being sent to them.

Not to mention solid players they never gave a chance - JP Cote - an excellent stay at home defenceman, Ferland, maybe even Locke.

Just wait to you see the players they worked with this season - we had a ridiculously young team and we were strong almost all year - noone expected anything from the BUlldogs this year and we had a strong winning season and you will soon see how well they developed the players!!!

Gainey should fix things at the top first - clear up the off-ice problems, call down the vets who aren't performing, utilize and train his two young goalies more efficiently.

He should have also had the class to make a statement beyond "we are moving in a different direction" and made it clear to Lever and Wilson that they would not be rehired - in person!!

Bob is feeling major pressure and thats evident ever since he fired Guy

It seems like everyone is getting the blame except where it should be - Gainey.

Lever developed most of these very well - but I've seen many of them regress under Gainey/Carbonneau - Plekanec, Higgins, Komisarek - they came out of AHL strong enough to play regular shifts and were very strong LAST season - This past season all of them took a step back - you mention Sergei - well he spent little time here at all -22 games one season and 16 the next (and frankly had a lousy attitude when he was here) - he could have done with more time under Lever. A. Kostitsyn was weak when he came to the AHL and Lever and the Dogs finally brought him around to be able to be a strong NHLer - since then he has also regressed.

It is interesting how many of the non-Lever AHL players were inconsistent or weak - Kovalev, Koivu, Latendresse (who bypassed the NHL altogether!)

O'Byrne was probably promoted too quickly and Weber is extremely young - he managed fine when he did come up but to expect him to be NHL ready this season was insane -(when he does come up he will be more than ready thanks to Lever/Wilson - they have had him working on his defensive game - he will be stellar!).

Look at Lapierre, who has spent many games under Lever/Wilson and was sent down numerous times for reworking - probably one of our most consistent, spirited two way players. Look at D'ags. Chipchura certainly was more consistent than our "stars" and should have been granted a bigger role.

Don't blame Lever/Wilson my friend - blame the Habs and the vets they are the ones that are screwing up the excellent players being sent to them.

Not to mention solid players they never gave a chance - JP Cote - an excellent stay at home defenceman, Ferland, maybe even Locke.

Just wait to you see the players they worked with this season - we had a ridiculously young team and we were strong almost all year - noone expected anything from the BUlldogs this year and we had a strong winning season and you will soon see how well they developed the players!!!

Gainey should fix things at the top first - clear up the off-ice problems, call down the vets who aren't performing, utilize and train his two young goalies more efficiently.

He should have also had the class to make a statement beyond "we are moving in a different direction" and made it clear to Lever and Wilson that they would not be rehired - in person!!

Bob is feeling major pressure and thats evident ever since he fired Guy

[madsprite18]

Article from the Hamilton Spectator sums up the situation nicely!!!

There's just no pleasing some people

Lever performed admirably feeding Montreal talent

June 23, 2009

SCOTT RADLEY

THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR

(Jun 23, 2009)

There are exactly two criteria that determine whether an American Hockey League coach is doing a good job or not. Winning is one. Developing players is the other.

By those standards, Don Lever was an outstanding employee for the Montreal Canadiens. The kind of guy you'd want to hold onto if you had him in your organization.

Since taking over the Hamilton Bulldogs four seasons ago, he brought this city its first-ever professional hockey championship by creating a game plan uniquely suited to the huge defencemen and technically-superior goalie entrusted to him that season. It's worth noting that along the way he knocked out teams coached by John Anderson and Bruce Boudreau, who both got their shots in the NHL since then.

Last year, with a roster widely considered to be short on offensively gifted players and unexpected to score much, he altered his strategy and ended up with one of the league's higher-octane outfits and its second-highest point total ever.

Most importantly, he taught young men how to play the game. So well in fact, that 21 guys who had no real NHL background before being placed under his wing are now regulars in the big leagues. Skill players like Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski. Grinders like Maxim Lapierre and Max Pacioretty. Tough guys like Raitis Ivanans and Zack Stortini. Defencemen like Ron Hainsey and Ryan O'Byrne. Goalies like Carey Price, Dan Ellis, Jaro Halak and Yann Danis. And projects he turned into young gems like Matt D'Agostini and Greg Stewart.

"We took a lot of pride in creating a real solid foundation for these kids," Lever says.

So how do the Canadiens thank him for his work? With a promotion? With a raise? With a new contract?

Nah. With a phone call from Bob Gainey telling him he's no longer got a job.

"It wasn't an easy decision but we felt it was the right one for our prospects and organization going forward," says Montreal assistant general manager Julien BriseBois, who denies reports he's already tapped Quebec junior coach Guy Boucher for the now-vacant spot behind the Dogs' bench.

You can debate the propriety of the way it was done, keeping in mind that most guys wouldn't even break up with a girlfriend over the phone. But harder to fathom is that it was done at all.

When you do everything they ask and you still get shown the door, makes you wonder what more the Canadiens expected Lever to do. Walk on water? Feed the poor? Heal a leper? Speak French?

Ah yes, French. Lever doesn't parlez much francais. But having already made sure the new coach of the big club met the language criteria demanded publicly by team president Pierre Boivin several months ago -- even if that meant overlooking several viable alternatives and settling for a retread like Jacques Martin, who's long struggled with a bad case of premature elimination -- you'd hope language didn't play a role in the decision here, too.

Thing is, Lever says he doesn't know. Nobody's told him why he's been released.

"They just said they were going in a different direction," he says. "It was a short phone call."

BriseBois says this is one of those times that change is needed just for the sake of change. So even though Lever was good enough to win a title, develop plenty of players and be called up to the Habs to work as an assistant coach during the stretch drive last year, he still gets dumped. The same fate suffered by his assistant coach Ron Wilson, who took over for Lever behind the Dogs' bench late last year and kept the club rolling. Worse, they get it through hockey's version of the George Costanza It's-Not-You-It's-Me non-explanation explanation.

For an organization that boasts of its greatness at every opportunity but that's won five fewer playoff series than the Toronto Maple Leafs over the past 16 years and exactly the same number of Cups, you'd think proven winners who produce results would be people you'd want to hold on to.

This isn't Lever's fault. Nor Wilson's. They did what was asked of them. Then can walk out of here with their heads held high.

[habs-24]

Article from the Hamilton Spectator sums up the situation nicely!!!

There's just no pleasing some people

Lever performed admirably feeding Montreal talent

June 23, 2009

SCOTT RADLEY

THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR

(Jun 23, 2009)

There are exactly two criteria that determine whether an American Hockey League coach is doing a good job or not. Winning is one. Developing players is the other.

By those standards, Don Lever was an outstanding employee for the Montreal Canadiens. The kind of guy you'd want to hold onto if you had him in your organization.

Since taking over the Hamilton Bulldogs four seasons ago, he brought this city its first-ever professional hockey championship by creating a game plan uniquely suited to the huge defencemen and technically-superior goalie entrusted to him that season. It's worth noting that along the way he knocked out teams coached by John Anderson and Bruce Boudreau, who both got their shots in the NHL since then.

Last year, with a roster widely considered to be short on offensively gifted players and unexpected to score much, he altered his strategy and ended up with one of the league's higher-octane outfits and its second-highest point total ever.

Most importantly, he taught young men how to play the game. So well in fact, that 21 guys who had no real NHL background before being placed under his wing are now regulars in the big leagues. Skill players like Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski. Grinders like Maxim Lapierre and Max Pacioretty. Tough guys like Raitis Ivanans and Zack Stortini. Defencemen like Ron Hainsey and Ryan O'Byrne. Goalies like Carey Price, Dan Ellis, Jaro Halak and Yann Danis. And projects he turned into young gems like Matt D'Agostini and Greg Stewart.

"We took a lot of pride in creating a real solid foundation for these kids," Lever says.

So how do the Canadiens thank him for his work? With a promotion? With a raise? With a new contract?

Nah. With a phone call from Bob Gainey telling him he's no longer got a job.

"It wasn't an easy decision but we felt it was the right one for our prospects and organization going forward," says Montreal assistant general manager Julien BriseBois, who denies reports he's already tapped Quebec junior coach Guy Boucher for the now-vacant spot behind the Dogs' bench.

You can debate the propriety of the way it was done, keeping in mind that most guys wouldn't even break up with a girlfriend over the phone. But harder to fathom is that it was done at all.

When you do everything they ask and you still get shown the door, makes you wonder what more the Canadiens expected Lever to do. Walk on water? Feed the poor? Heal a leper? Speak French?

Ah yes, French. Lever doesn't parlez much francais. But having already made sure the new coach of the big club met the language criteria demanded publicly by team president Pierre Boivin several months ago -- even if that meant overlooking several viable alternatives and settling for a retread like Jacques Martin, who's long struggled with a bad case of premature elimination -- you'd hope language didn't play a role in the decision here, too.

Thing is, Lever says he doesn't know. Nobody's told him why he's been released.

"They just said they were going in a different direction," he says. "It was a short phone call."

BriseBois says this is one of those times that change is needed just for the sake of change. So even though Lever was good enough to win a title, develop plenty of players and be called up to the Habs to work as an assistant coach during the stretch drive last year, he still gets dumped. The same fate suffered by his assistant coach Ron Wilson, who took over for Lever behind the Dogs' bench late last year and kept the club rolling. Worse, they get it through hockey's version of the George Costanza It's-Not-You-It's-Me non-explanation explanation.

For an organization that boasts of its greatness at every opportunity but that's won five fewer playoff series than the Toronto Maple Leafs over the past 16 years and exactly the same number of Cups, you'd think proven winners who produce results would be people you'd want to hold on to.

This isn't Lever's fault. Nor Wilson's. They did what was asked of them. Then can walk out of here with their heads held high.

all truth spoken right there, 2 years removed from a calder cup and our farm team performing as well as it ever has giving our kids long playoff runs down there. Lever was a fine coach but like the article says he doesnt meet the language criteria therefore the Habs dont want him.

sad really

[fourtrax]

That article is garbage. Plekanec never even played for Lever. By the time Lever became coach of the Bulldogs, Plekanec and Higgins were already in Montreal. Referring to guys like D'Agostini and Stewart as 'young gems' is funny for all the wrong reasons, as is pointing to the development of Ryan O'Byrne as something to be proud of or mentioning Raitis Ivanans at all. And how long did it take Danis and Hainsey to become NHLers, anyway? Seems to me they had to cut their teeth elsewhere before breaking into the bigs. And asserting that kids like Pacioretty are NHL regulars is just plain wrong-headed.

This is just biased garbage written by a bitter Hamilton partisan who doesn't understand the role of a farm team at all. I couldn't care less about the Calder Cup Lever won. I care about the development of our prospects, and making sure they're on the same page in Hamilton as they are in Montreal. Clearly, that wasn't the case, and Gainey is taking steps to establish continuity between the two teams going forward. It shouldn't reflect on Lever poorly. Organizations change directions all the time.

[habs-24]

That article is garbage. Plekanec never even played for Lever. By the time Lever became coach of the Bulldogs, Plekanec and Higgins were already in Montreal. Referring to guys like D'Agostini and Stewart as 'young gems' is funny for all the wrong reasons, as is pointing to the development of Ryan O'Byrne as something to be proud of or mentioning Raitis Ivanans at all. And how long did it take Danis and Hainsey to become NHLers, anyway? Seems to me they had to cut their teeth elsewhere before breaking into the bigs. And asserting that kids like Pacioretty are NHL regulars is just plain wrong-headed.

This is just biased garbage written by a bitter Hamilton partisan who doesn't understand the role of a farm team at all. I couldn't care less about the Calder Cup Lever won. I care about the development of our prospects, and making sure they're on the same page in Hamilton as they are in Montreal. Clearly, that wasn't the case, and Gainey is taking steps to establish continuity between the two teams going forward. It shouldn't reflect on Lever poorly. Organizations change directions all the time.

ya they won a championship in Hamilton thats obviously not the page we are on lol

but i do agree with some of what you say there weep

[madsprite18]

Wrong, he played two games and those two games undid all the damage done by Jarvis the previous year!

(ok Radley screwed up on that one!) The article doesn't mention Hainsey at all so that is irrelevant!

It also doesn't mention numerous Dallas Stars he coached like Dan Ellis. Anti Miettenen, Trevor Daley or Steve Ott who have all had success.

You also fail to mention Lapierre.

Players learn to be winners or losers - a successfull farm team creates winners - the two Calder Cup finalist teams both produced a large percentage of NHL players - the 02-03 under Julien the 06-07 under Lever - it is too bad BG and Carbo screwed up the excellent players developed in Hamilton - if you notice most (that were used properly) played very strongly for their first Montreal season but gradually got worse. You will see Lever's effects for the next two years in the excellent prospects developed this season.

We lost Julien foolishly now we are doing the same thing again.

[madsprite18]

I care about the development of our prospects, and making sure they're on the same page in Hamilton as they are in Montreal.

What page is that??? "Losing", "Inconsistency", "Gutlessness"???????? :lol: :lol:

I think we've got it backwards they are winning in the minors - the losing starts in the Bigs - I think Montreal should have followed Hamilton's model instead of vice versa - it did take a Bulldog coach (Julien) to start us back on track!

[fourtrax]

The article doesn't mention Hainsey at all so that is irrelevant!

Go back and read the article you posted again.

It also doesn't mention numerous Dallas Stars he coached like Dan Ellis. Anti Miettenen, Trevor Daley or Steve Ott who have all had success.

It does mention Dan Ellis.

Players learn to be winners or losers - a successfull farm team creates winners - the two Calder Cup finalist teams both produced a large percentage of NHL players - the 02-03 under Julien the 06-07 under Lever - it is too bad BG and Carbo screwed up the excellent players developed in Hamilton - if you notice most (that were used properly) played very strongly for their first Montreal season but gradually got worse. You will see Lever's effects for the next two years in the excellent prospects developed this season.

There is no positive correlation between being part of a Calder Cup team and knowing how to win at the NHL level. You can believe that if you want; I don't and see no evidence for why I should. Again, I am not saying Lever was a bad coach. I think he did a good job in his time in Hamilton. But as we've seen many times, good coaches often get fired if there's a change in management / ownership / head coaching. The fact that Gainey fired two of his close friends, Carbonneau and Jarvis, before releasing Lever, tells me that he is not blaming Lever for the Habs' woes or trying to make him a scapegoat. All he's doing is trying to establish coaching continuity between Hamilton and Montreal so that players who come from the AHL to the NHL are already familiar with the system being used.

[roy_133]

Sometimes it's not even about whether or not you're a serviceable coach, I know as a Braves fan that the Braves are adamant about having minor league managers who share the same philosophies as Bobby Cox (long time Braves manager) so that when a guy comes up from the minors to the bigs he already knows what's expected, what kind of game is played and how to execute it.

Maybe with the coaching change in Montreal Bob wanted to resynchronize Hamilton and the big club.

[madsprite18]

Go back and read the article you posted again.

I missed that - but Lever actually WAS the coach who turned Hainsey around - Hainsey started the season with him and actually became the kind of player we had been waiting for since 2002! When he was called up to Montreal he was claimed off waivers by Columbus.

Hainsey had been a thorn in our side for years and looked like he was going nowhere - by the time he turned around it was too late, if Lever (rather than Jarvis) had got hold of him sooner he might be helping us!

[Rocket-1]

That article is garbage. Plekanec never even played for Lever. By the time Lever became coach of the Bulldogs, Plekanec and Higgins were already in Montreal. Referring to guys like D'Agostini and Stewart as 'young gems' is funny for all the wrong reasons, as is pointing to the development of Ryan O'Byrne as something to be proud of or mentioning Raitis Ivanans at all. And how long did it take Danis and Hainsey to become NHLers, anyway? Seems to me they had to cut their teeth elsewhere before breaking into the bigs. And asserting that kids like Pacioretty are NHL regulars is just plain wrong-headed.

This is just biased garbage written by a bitter Hamilton partisan who doesn't understand the role of a farm team at all. I couldn't care less about the Calder Cup Lever won. I care about the development of our prospects, and making sure they're on the same page in Hamilton as they are in Montreal. Clearly, that wasn't the case, and Gainey is taking steps to establish continuity between the two teams going forward. It shouldn't reflect on Lever poorly. Organizations change directions all the time.

Very true indeed, and what's really sad is..... the development of most of the young prospects that Lever touched, well they never really progressed under his reign.

I guess that resumes why he's been let go.

[madsprite18]

Very true indeed, and what's really sad is..... the development of most of the young prospects that Lever touched, well they never really progressed under his reign.

I guess that resumes why he's been let go.

We'll see, only time will tell - I wasn't wrong about Julien and I'm not wrong about Lever either.

The problems are with the big club, not the little club - the Habs under Gainey and Carbonneau have mismanaged most of the former Bulldogs - most are playing far worse than they did when they first arrived in Montreal from Hamilton -

Anyway most of the biggest problems are with inconsistent vets like Kovalev and outside fill-ins like Metroplit, Laraque - not to mention losing players like Perezhogin, Ryder and Grabovski - all of whom are excelling away from our current Habs admin. The prospects who got fast tracked like Latendresse, S Kostitsyn and Price - certainly aren't showing any benefits from bypassing (for the most part) Hamilton.

And just wait till you see what is on the way up from Lever's and Wilson's BUlldogs.

Time will tell.

[Cyclones-Rock]

I'm a bit surprised about the dismissal of Lever and Wilson. Their collective success at the AHL is apparent; whether their developmental work with prospects was sufficient is beyond my realm as I don't follow the Canadiens much.

An obvious candidate for the now vacant Bulldogs head coaching position is Chuck Weber, the coach of Hamilton/Monteal's ECHL affiliate Cincinnati Cyclones.

Weber has won a league Championship (Kelly Cup in 2007-08), won two divisional titles and advanced to the Conference Finals (final 4) in both of the last two seasons.

In his three seasons in Cincinnati, Weber has always placed development of prospects ahead of winning. In his first season, he played former Canadien prospect Jimmy Bonneau in the line up for all seven games of the Divisional line up despite the fact that players who could have contributed substantially more were healthy scratches. I still contend that the Cyclones lost this series as a direct result of this personnel decision. Weber has continued this for the past two seasons. Hamilton/Montreal prospects have always had priority in terms of dressing and ice time even though the Cyclone's performance has suffered (sometimes substantially) as a result.

Weber has done a very commendable job in developing prospects in his three years. I'll list some of them:

1) Greg Stewart. Stewart was a 9th round Canadien pick who quite frankly was awful in his first half season in Cincinnati. Weber and his assistant (Dean Stork) spent a lot of time working with him. Stewart has obviously tapped his potential by making the Canadiens. Though not much of an NHLer, he did make it and has stayed on the roster and a fair portion of his development occured under Weber.

2) David Desharnais. Desharnais was undrafted and signed to an ECHL contract by Weber although Hamilton signed him to an AHL deal almost immediately thereafter. The undersized Desharnais led the ECHL inscoring, won the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in his rookie season. Last season he was tied for second among all Hamilton scorers as an AHL rookie and would have led 10 AHL teams in scoring. I don't know if Desharnais is a bonified NHL prospect, but Weber developed him sufficiently to make a very decent impression in his rookie AHL season.

3) Cedric Desjardins. The undrafted Desjadins had a stellar two year career in Cincinnati. He improved dramatically from year one to year two. In year two he won the Kelly Cup MVP and had a sub 2.00 gaa in the regular season. Last season, his first full AHL season, his statistics (gaa and save %) mirrored those of long-time NHL vet Marc Denis. Whether Desjardins is NHL caliber, I don't know, but I do know that an undrafted goalie has a very good chance of being an AHL #1 netminder and Weber has undoubtedly played a significant role in this.

Other former Cyclones who have made successful jumps to the AHL are Jean-Michel Dauost (Wilkes-Barre), and Olivier Latendresse, Matt Aubin (Hamilton), Matt MacDonald and Kyle Rank(Portland). There may be one or two I'm missing.

Note that the majority of prospects who have experienced positive development under Weber are French-Canadien. Weber parle petit francois (me too, LOL), but this doesn't appear to have hindered his ability to develop french-speaking prospects, a few of whom whose English isn't very fluent-to say the least.

Weber is a very bright guy, a polished speaker, humorous, and the requisite workaholic. He is genuinely a nice guy as well. He is willing to play hardball when necessary. He's not a yeller and screamer, but he is very firm and can put his foot down. He has limited hockey playing pedigree (see Hitchcock, Babcock), but this hasn't stopped him to this point. That hasn't stopped him for earning the respect of his players.

I don't know anything about Boucher. Perhaps he would be an ideal choice for many reasons. But, if the Canadiens by-pass Weber strictly based upon language fluency (and trust me that this guy is bright enough to learn to speak fluently in short order), they WILL be sorry.

Weber has an NHL future written all over him. He's a prospect in and of himself. He will get his shot in the AHL and the Canadiens will have dismissed a candidate of superior quality possibly based on a criterion (fluency in French) which could be satisfied with ease.