What grade would you give Canadiens coach Michel Therrien for his work so far this season?

[Forever_Habs10]

Well he's not as hot-headed emotionally as the old Michel Therrien was in the past,no? lol

[roy_133]

C. The system is better than what we saw under Cunneyworth, which isn't a high bar but we're doing a good job controlling the pace of most of the games we play. Our D is a bit inconsistent and we definitely have blown a couple leads. ATM I'm willing to blame a large part of that on personal, we just don't have a shutdown D so I'm not upset about most of what I see. With that said ice time and line management has been questionable at best IMO. He's passing but a lot of room for improvement.

[THEBIGGESTHABSFAN123]

B. I'd give him an A if the D was fixed.

[weepingminotaur]

I gave Therrien a C. Has done some things right, and is better than Cunneyworth (rates a D or worse), but still lots of room for improvement, particularly in managing D corp minutes and putting together D pairings.

[hatethosebruins]

I gave Therrien a C. Has done some things right, and is better than Cunneyworth (rates a D or worse), but still lots of room for improvement, particularly in managing D corp minutes and putting together D pairings.

This.

[Guest habs1952]

I gave him a B although I think it should be B-. I'm not happy with the lines he's created but I can't deny the fact the Habs have 19 points out of a possible 28. That may be because of the coaching staff as a whole but still, the team's record is pretty good.

[East_Coast_Juggalo_13]

I gave him an A simply because he's been able to make something out of the whole lot of nothing he's been given. anyone who can make Bourque look like a sniper has earned an A in my books...Bourque couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat last year.

[roy_133]

I gave him an A simply because he's been able to make something out of the whole lot of nothing he's been given. anyone who can make Bourque look like a sniper has earned an A in my books...Bourque couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat last year.

Just out of curiosity, why are you crediting Therrien for that? If Bourque's sudden scoring is credited to Therrien, is it fair to say that Pacioretty and Cole's lack of scoring is also because of him? I mean, they scored a ton last year without him and now they aren't. Seems like the same logic.

The line of what a coach deserves praise/blame for and what he doesn't is blurred and tough to find but I don't think the roster is as bad as people think and the biggest key is we've been healthy, had a fairly light schedule and played a ton at home.

So far I'm giving MT a passing grade so I'm not arguing as much as inquiring.

[East_Coast_Juggalo_13]

Just out of curiosity, why are you crediting Therrien for that? If Bourque's sudden scoring is credited to Therrien, is it fair to say that Pacioretty and Cole's lack of scoring is also because of him? I mean, they scored a ton last year without him and now they aren't. Seems like the same logic.

The line of what a coach deserves praise/blame for and what he doesn't is blurred and tough to find but I don't think the roster is as bad as people think and the biggest key is we've been healthy, had a fairly light schedule and played a ton at home.

So far I'm giving MT a passing grade so I'm not arguing as much as inquiring.

I guess I would give him credit for that simply because he's getting the most out of a player that at the start of the season looked like a 3.3 mil albatross around the team's neck...And while I do not doubt that Bourque definitely deserves praise for finding his game again, it's MT's steady linemates and system that he is currently flourishing under.

Equally so, Cole, Patches and DD have a share in the reponsibility for their lack of game this season as does Therrien. The bottom line right now though is, we are 1st in the Northeast and 2nd in the Eastern conference as of today. We are currently where no one ever thought we'd be this season. That's why I give him an A.

[BigTed3]

Therrien gets a C from me. Some notable items:

- the PP looks better, but much of that can be attributed to Markov's return. The PK looks a bit worse than last year, but has overall been solid.

- he's given a bit more stability to his line combinations, but his ice time distribution has been fair-to-poor.

- he's generally dealt with a full deck of cards (up until now), so he's had the depth to bench guys and move them around as he needs. He hasn't face the same adversity RC and JM had last season.

- credit to him for turning the team's attitude around. I think there's more positivity and resilience in the room this year.

- the team's record is better this season, but the schedule to date has been favorable. I still need to see what he can do with longer stretches of road games.

- this team still has issues with being undisciplined. He hasn't fixed that.

So overall, a C with a reasonable chance to move up if he can maintain the same results through the tougher parts of the schedule.

[dwdemonwolf]

We're 9-4-1... the results are the important thing here.

Definately a B for Therrien. There's room for improvement, sure, but the upgrade over Cunneyworth is so big it can not even be measured. Now I just want to see the D minutes managed a bit better. Subban needs a bigger workload.

[Guest]

I'd like to reserve judgement for a few more weeks. I've seen things i'm OK with, and others that leave me scratching my head. I'm still stinging from how flat we came out that last Leaf game.

He's had the benefit of a healthy roster, unlike last years coaches, and he's still in that honeymoon period with the players and media. Time will tell.

[MIASUN]

The schedule has helped with all the home games and the return of Markov makes the PP better but the traces of old Michel were evident in the way he handled White in the media and his ice-time division for the defense corps is not a strong suit, so is his insistence on including Colby Armstrong.

All in all, 9-4-1 leads to a positive grade that is more than just passing. Also, his use of the Gallys needs to be complimented as does getting Eller some special teams time.

I have to give him a B.

[Noob616]

I'll go with a C. I've liked his willingness to change the forward lines, and I've liked that the Gallys are getting good ice time. Biggest issue to me is some really questionable ice time decisions. Allocation of minutes on D is getting a bit silly.

[powerplay2009]

I gave him a B(would have done a B-). I get all the criticisms above, but he can allocate minutes as weird as he wants if we keep at a 9-4-1 clip. That will never happen with the way he's spreading D minutes especially, but I can't blame him for putting Subban on less than other players as long as we're winning and nobody is wearing down.

[BigTed3]

I gave him a B(would have done a B-). I get all the criticisms above, but he can allocate minutes as weird as he wants if we keep at a 9-4-1 clip. That will never happen with the way he's spreading D minutes especially, but I can't blame him for putting Subban on less than other players as long as we're winning and nobody is wearing down.

I think the thing with the record though is that it reflects what we've done with a multitude of home games against a lot of opponents currently sitting outside the playoff picture. Yes, you have to win those games, something we didn't do last year, and for that Therrien gets credit. But on the other hand, how he manages the team will impact how we do going forward. If he plans on playing Markov 24-25 minutes a night, Bouillon 20 minutes, and Prust 15-16, we're going to 1) wear down our veterans and 2) take away ice time from guys who can have a bigger impact, which will eventually catch up to us. It's cliche, but the season is an endurance race not a sprint (even though this year it's closer to a sprint) and part of the coach's job is to make sure he manages the team for long-term success and not just short-term gains. Over-playing Markov and Bouillon is going to hurt long-term. Not having Gionta and Cole and DD and Pacman scoring is going to hurt long-term. So to me, that factors into Therrien's grade, and it's why I think he gets a C for now. As I said, there is a reasonable chance he improves on that grade if he upholds the current pace against better teams and on the road, but for now, he still has a lot to prove.

[Forever_Habs10]

Lets throw this in here,shall we.

Should Coach Therrien keep the Gallagher, Galchenyuck Pacioretty line together?

[roy_133]

I have no issues with mixing up line combos as long as the players are getting appropriate ice time and opportunity relative to what they can do. The Pacio DD Gally line looked good. It's early, mix it up and find what works. I still want Eller to find a way into the top 9 over Prust, that's more of an issue for me right now.

[BeanCountingHab]

I'll give him a B.

The good:

- Solid forecheck/system that uses our speed

- Overall good lines and management of our forwards

- Has handled the rookies well

- Great PP

- Seems to instilled a good attitude so far

The bad:

- Still taking too many penalties. This was issue before he got there that I'm hoping he can improve on

- Management of D icetime. Like everyone else, I'm waiting for Subban to get the bigger workload he can handle and foro Markov to be scaled back a bit. Bouillon's is starting to look a little more under control lately.

He seems to want to distribute the skill evenly through the D pairings and roll them 5on5 but I don't think we have the personnel for that to be appropriate.

At the end of the day, I'm happy with the way the start the team has had so far. I get results based thinking is dangerous, especially over a small sample, but scoreboard asside, I like the way the team is playing so far.

He's been good enough to earn some rope for me to reserve further judgement after a larger sample.

[31Careyprice]

I would give him a B some of the positive's are that Coach Therrien installed a better system for our players, they play with more heart/grit and he plays our youngsters but the defense has still been subpar, faceoffs have been pretty terrible and too many penalties.

[maddienmike]

Ive come she said to eat humble pie

As she choked on the crust, with a tear in her eye

The tear was certainly not with pain

But seeing her HABS on top again

I hated it when they announced the coach

But MT has behaved beyond reproach

The team is laughing on the bench

So different from last year,with the stench

Of failure,that they took as the norm

I'm glad Mr Molsen created the storm

That shook up the office,inside out

That really was quite a route

But the team seem at last to be at ease

Really trying to please and appease

For the previous season when they were last

Who cares now that's in the past

So I will give the coach a B

For an A we will have to wait and see

GO HABS GO :lol:

But I still think he looks creepy

[kinot-1]

I gave him a B, but only because there was no B+. ATT, we are 1/3 into the season, and the team has 5 new bodies, new coaching staff, and a new system. He has moulded the team into something better than it's parts. He has them working as a team for a change and IMO, prepares the team with each opposition in mind, instead of playing the other teams the same way.

He does need to address the FO% and the PP tho.

[habsonbrain]

I totally give MT an "A" so far

The team is in first place and playing great

Looks like good chemistry in the room and everyone seems to have bought into the team concept

I don't understand all the questioning about his lines or people complaining that PK is not getting enough ice time

Other than the 2 Toronto games, they have been a lot of fun to watch.

Now when is the last time we were able to say that

[jennifer_rocket]

I'm glad we didn't hire Hartley or Crawford.

[tony5775]

After watching all those games last year, its been so nice to enjoy all these wins. Giving him anything less then an A wouldn't make any sense. Most thought we would be under .500 at this point and we are first in the east. Great to wear the hat with a little swagger again.