BadBrains Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Team 990 is reporting that Don Lever, coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs, will finish the season alongside Gainey behind the bench for the Montreal Canadiens. Gainey has been in Hamilton for the past few days evaluating Lever and he is slated to be the next coach of the Habs. edit: Title should read "reported" not reposted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utreder Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 What kind of style does Lever coach? Offensive or defensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourtrax Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 What kind of style does Lever coach? Offensive or defensive. Whatever style he coaches, it has to be better than the 'system' (and I use the word very loosely) we've had to endure over the past three years. Hopefully Lever will be able to build a system around the strengths of our players, instead of forcing them to fit into a system for which they weren't suited, as Carbonneau did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnjscott Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Lever won a championship, didn't he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbraT Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 thats pretty good....he's done pretty good in Hamilton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concreteveins Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 This is the best move possible because he knows most of the players coming through the system/ranks and next year looks like it is going to be a youth movement. A player who knows the coach, a coach who knows the players. Sounds like a win-win to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
js2 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Lever won a championship, didn't he? Yeah he was head coach when Hamilton won the Calder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messina Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Well its about time, I ve been telling my family and friends this for months to bring up don lever, way to go gainey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourtrax Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 For a team built on youth, Lever is a good candidate to help them develop and flourish. I still don't like hiring a guy who's never coached at all at the NHL level, but he can't help but be an improvement on Carbonneau. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChitownHabby Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Does he speak french? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourtrax Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 I hope you're joking, right ? We have to stop thinking this way. I'm french, and I don't give a damn about the language the players and coach speak. Subtitles and translators exist. Dude, you are completely misunderstanding me. I don't give a damn whether a coach speaks French or not. To my mind, it has nothing to do with what he's being paid for. However, it would be a very interesting move on Gainey's part to hire a Habs coach who couldn't speak French. When was the last time that happened? Bob Berry in the early '80s? It would be a major policy shift in the organization, is what I'm saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChitownHabby Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 If not, he's got no shot at making it through a season in this town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habs-24 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Bob didnt come out and announce him as the next head coach next year which is very interesting, maybe he is in line for an assistants job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
js2 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 For a team built on youth, Lever is a good candidate to help them develop and flourish. I still don't like hiring a guy who's never coached at all at the NHL level, but he can't help but be an improvement on Carbonneau. He's actually coached for 20 years now, mostly with Buffalo as an associate/assistant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourtrax Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 He's actually coached for 20 years now, mostly with Buffalo as an associate/assistant. Wait, what? Really? :lol: Good stuff, I didn't know that! Has he ever been a head coach at the NHL level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habs-24 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Wait, what? Really? :lol: Good stuff, I didn't know that! Has he ever been a head coach at the NHL level? no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
js2 Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Wait, what? Really? :lol: Good stuff, I didn't know that! Has he ever been a head coach at the NHL level? According to HockeyDB, he's only been a headcoach in the AHL with Rochester('90-91, '91-92) and Hamilton('05-06 til now). http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=3128 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourtrax Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 According to HockeyDB, he's only been a headcoach in the AHL with Rochester('90-91, '91-92) and Hamilton('05-06 til now). http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=3128 Well, I still feel much better about him with all that assistant-level NHL experience. Gainey's being pretty cagey about the whole replacement thing, so Lever may not wind up being the guy after all, but if Bob does hire Lever, I won't be unhappy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny_rudeboy Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 He's actually coached for 20 years now, mostly with Buffalo as an associate/assistant. You are quite right js2. According to HockeyDB, he's only been a headcoach in the AHL with Rochester('90-91, '91-92) and Hamilton('05-06 til now). http://hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=3128 As a head coach but as js2 has pointed out he has 20 years (counting this season) coaching experience in total; 10 of those as an assistant coach and 4 as an associate coach in the NHL . He is very qualified. Season Team Lge Type GP W L T OTL Pct Result 1987-88 Buffalo Sabres NHL Assistant Coach 1988-89 Buffalo Sabres NHL Assistant Coach 1990-91 Rochester Americans AHL Head Coach 80 45 26 9 0 0.619 Lost in Finals 1991-92 Rochester Americans AHL Head Coach 80 37 31 12 0 0.537 Lost in round 3 1992-93 Buffalo Sabres NHL Assistant Coach 1993-94 Buffalo Sabres NHL Assistant Coach 1994-95 Buffalo Sabres NHL Assistant Coach 1995-96 Buffalo Sabres NHL Associate Coach 1996-97 Buffalo Sabres NHL Assistant Coach 1997-98 Buffalo Sabres NHL Associate Coach 1998-99 Buffalo Sabres NHL Associate Coach 1999-00 Buffalo Sabres NHL Associate Coach 2000-01 Buffalo Sabres NHL Assistant Coach 2001-02 Buffalo Sabres NHL Assistant Coach 2002-03 St. Louis Blues NHL Assistant Coach 2003-04 St. Louis Blues NHL Assistant Coach 2004-05 NHL Strike 2005-06 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL Head Coach 80 35 41 0 4 0.463 Out of Playoffs 2006-07 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL Head Coach 80 43 28 0 9 0.594 Won Championship 2007-08 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL Head Coach 80 36 34 0 10 0.512 2008-09 Hamilton Bulldogs AHL Head Coach 65 39 24 2 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risteenhuis Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Probably finish the season with BG as the head coach and then when BG clears out most of the 12 UFA on the roster Don Lever would be the best option to coach a large group of players that played for him in Hamilton including a Calder Cup win. I don't care if Don Lever speaks english, french, or another language. He must speak hockey since he has been a coach for a long time. It is possible to learn french. Lots of Montreal hockey players have chosen to learn English so they can communicate better. Some of the best players to ever wear the CH did not speak french when they started in Montreal. They spoke hockey. It also might only be a temporary coach as Don Lever has stated at least once that he wants to remain in the Buffalo area because of family. Hamilton is not a long drive to Buffalo. I guess Montreal is not a long plane ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peenz Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 For a team built on youth, Lever is a good candidate to help them develop and flourish. I still don't like hiring a guy who's never coached at all at the NHL level, but he can't help but be an improvement on Carbonneau. Absolutely right, He knows some of these guys and the styles they can play, he has the experience with the players in the calder cup and this could help us get to the playoffs!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsFan042069_mtl Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Probably finish the season with BG as the head coach and then when BG clears out most of the 12 UFA on the roster Don Lever would be the best option to coach a large group of players that played for him in Hamilton including a Calder Cup win. I don't care if Don Lever speaks english, french, or another language. He must speak hockey since he has been a coach for a long time. It is possible to learn french. Lots of Montreal hockey players have chosen to learn English so they can communicate better. Some of the best players to ever wear the CH did not speak french when they started in Montreal. They spoke hockey. I don't care if he he speaks or reads French too.....this way if he doesn't understand the language he won't notice all the rubbish that is spewed on a daily basis from some of these fools in the media Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-Hab-Fan Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 This is the guy I was hoping Gainey would pick. Lever has done a great job of getting the kids ready in the AHL. Can't wait to see how BG and Lever mold this crew in the next few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habby67 Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 Whoever is coaching I would assume he would want his own assistants but in this case since its inside the organization that may not be the case. Regardless who the coach is the defensive strategy needs some major retooling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HabsFan042069_mtl Posted March 10, 2009 Report Share Posted March 10, 2009 http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http...sa%3DN%26um%3D1 Whoever is interested just a quick synopsis of Mr..Lever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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