Claude Julien and staff 2016-17

[habs_93]

Claude Julien

Head Coach

 

 

 

Kirk Muller

Associate Coach

 

 

 

Dan Lacroix

Assistant Coach

 

 

 

 

Clement Jodoin
Assistant Coach

 

 

 

Jean-Jacques Daigneault
Assistant Coach

 

 

Stéphane Waite
Goaltending Coach

 

 

Mario Leblanc
Video Coach

 

 

Pierre Allard
Strength & Conditioning Coach

 

 

Archive 2015-16

[Habs=stanleycup]

Excerpt from article by Ryan Szporer:

-Say what you want about Therrien. Brian Wilde of CTV does a pretty good job of doing just that. The fact of the matter is Therrien gets it done between October and April. Granted, that’s in spite of the unjustifiably favorable deployment of David Desharnais in the past, the development of Alex Galchenyuk arguably stalling as a result and the overreliance on Price when history indicates such a strategy should blow up in this team’s face during the playoffs.

Regular season, though? It’s all worked up to now.

So, can we expect more of the same shenanigans next season? Probably, considering general manager Marc Bergevin has gone out and made his team more physical with the acquisitions of Weber and Andrew Shaw, two players who should immediately fall into his head coach’s favor. Indeed, whatever snake oil Therrien has been selling, Bergevin has seemingly mortgaged his future as a GM in this league and bought in completely.

http://thehockeywriters.com/montreal-canadiens-atlantic-division-darkhorses/

[FirstStar]

Thanks for the article H=SC.

First off, I am not a fan of MT, never have been, but I find a lot of criticism towards him is exaggerated at times. He makes errors, just like every coach.

Some criticism imo is unjustified. How do we know that Chuck didn't simply go according to his natural development?

Frosberg has developed pretty much at the same rate, Nail Y has under performed. Neither of these players missed their last full year of jr with an injury. And situations were different in all 3 cases, so since the situations were all different, won't their development be as well?

Pens didn't under perform under MT, they went to the cup finals. The following season, in which he was fired, the team simply stopped playing for him. They were sick of his old school mentality of throwing stars under the bus. Today's millionaire stars are babies imo. In MT's defense, he's been much better this time around. Sure, he threw PK under the bus one game, but that's one instance in a 4 year span. he even came to Marky's defense when Marky was struggling.

Sure, you can bring up Sekac and Tinordi, but neither have performed after leaving Montreal. let's be honest, MT wasn't the only coach who Tinordi played under in MTL, he didn't succeed under JM, RC and now MT, so to single out MT is unfair. Sekac only spent 1/2 season under MT, he spent the other 1/2 under bruce boudreau, a coach known to lean towards offense, Sekac spent time with Perry and Gtzlaf following the trade, with little to no success. If MT was the issue, BB should've been able to tap into his offensive talent.

And the complaints i hear, such as line juggling, are things that other coaches do constantly, Sutter in LA is possibly worse than MT, bruce boudreau constantly shuffles his lines-Especially last season when things got off to a slow start. Not like MT is doing things that no other coach does.

i don't care who we had behind the bench last season, Scotty Bowman or Toronto's multi-million dollar coach, no coach could've had success missing their all-star tender, not to forget he had a college level rookie taking over for our injured star tender. if that wasn't bad enough, we missed big parts of our top 4 during long stretches of the season. Even when they weren't officially on the IR, so were clearly playing injured, such as J Petry. He probably played injured due to the fact there were other injuries, including to our all star tender. BBoudreau's job was on the line last season, his team was not performing and they had basically their full roster. They finally got it together and shot up the standings. But the Canadiens continued to face injury problems, and to significant players.

When everyone was healthy to start the season, we had success and great success. Our issues started after our trip out west when Carey stepped on a puck. Things spiraled out on control and we went into free fall. 1 or 2 injuries you can deal with, when injuries end up happening every game, it sends a panic through the organization.

before the injuries, we weren't playing a dump and chase, we were actually carrying the puck into the o-zone. When injuries piled up, the dreaded dump and chase came back.

Do i think MT is the right coach for Mtl?

No, but I think in the short term, following the PG and JM/RC he was a decent plug to add some structure or an old school approach. let's be honest, JM wasn't your typical emotional coach, like Laviolette or Quinneville. Things were pretty lax, especially when RC took over. All the players knew he was in interim coach, with no or little NHL experience, he was also crucified in the media and didn't get any help from his GM (PG).

But i think that time has passed. And it has nothing to do with what happened last season. last season was a collapse for the ages, but the team by the end of the season had more call ups than any other NHL team and call ups to fill significant roles in our roster.

It was destined to fail, no matter who we had behind the bench.

I'm still partial to Larry Robinson, but after his skin cancer, I think he's happy playing a smaller role in San Jose, their gain our loss.

I'm thrilled to have Muller back and having him here, imho, means the writing is on the wall for Mike.

[Habberwacky]

Thanks for the article H=SC.

First off, I am not a fan of MT, never have been, but I find a lot of criticism towards him is exaggerated at times. He makes errors, just like every coach.

Some criticism imo is unjustified. How do we know that Chuck didn't simply go according to his natural development?

Frosberg has developed pretty much at the same rate, Nail Y has under performed. Neither of these players missed their last full year of jr with an injury. And situations were different in all 3 cases, so since the situations were all different, won't their development be as well?

Pens didn't under perform under MT, they went to the cup finals. The following season, in which he was fired, the team simply stopped playing for him. They were sick of his old school mentality of throwing stars under the bus. Today's millionaire stars are babies imo. In MT's defense, he's been much better this time around. Sure, he threw PK under the bus one game, but that's one instance in a 4 year span. he even came to Marky's defense when Marky was struggling.

Sure, you can bring up Sekac and Tinordi, but neither have performed after leaving Montreal. let's be honest, MT wasn't the only coach who Tinordi played under in MTL, he didn't succeed under JM, RC and now MT, so to single out MT is unfair. Sekac only spent 1/2 season under MT, he spent the other 1/2 under bruce boudreau, a coach known to lean towards offense, Sekac spent time with Perry and Gtzlaf following the trade, with little to no success. If MT was the issue, BB should've been able to tap into his offensive talent.

And the complaints i hear, such as line juggling, are things that other coaches do constantly, Sutter in LA is possibly worse than MT, bruce boudreau constantly shuffles his lines-Especially last season when things got off to a slow start. Not like MT is doing things that no other coach does.

i don't care who we had behind the bench last season, Scotty Bowman or Toronto's multi-million dollar coach, no coach could've had success missing their all-star tender, not to forget he had a college level rookie taking over for our injured star tender. if that wasn't bad enough, we missed big parts of our top 4 during long stretches of the season. Even when they weren't officially on the IR, so were clearly playing injured, such as J Petry. He probably played injured due to the fact there were other injuries, including to our all star tender. BBoudreau's job was on the line last season, his team was not performing and they had basically their full roster. They finally got it together and shot up the standings. But the Canadiens continued to face injury problems, and to significant players.

When everyone was healthy to start the season, we had success and great success. Our issues started after our trip out west when Carey stepped on a puck. Things spiraled out on control and we went into free fall. 1 or 2 injuries you can deal with, when injuries end up happening every game, it sends a panic through the organization.

before the injuries, we weren't playing a dump and chase, we were actually carrying the puck into the o-zone. When injuries piled up, the dreaded dump and chase came back.

Do i think MT is the right coach for Mtl?

No, but I think in the short term, following the PG and JM/RC he was a decent plug to add some structure or an old school approach. let's be honest, JM wasn't your typical emotional coach, like Laviolette or Quinneville. Things were pretty lax, especially when RC took over. All the players knew he was in interim coach, with no or little NHL experience, he was also crucified in the media and didn't get any help from his GM (PG).

But i think that time has passed. And it has nothing to do with what happened last season. last season was a collapse for the ages, but the team by the end of the season had more call ups than any other NHL team and call ups to fill significant roles in our roster.

It was destined to fail, no matter who we had behind the bench.

I'm still partial to Larry Robinson, but after his skin cancer, I think he's happy playing a smaller role in San Jose, their gain our loss.

I'm thrilled to have Muller back and having him here, imho, means the writing is on the wall for Mike.

Very refreshing post. I have often stated this. I think as fans it is easy to blame a coach and giv ehim far more credit or criticsm than he deserves. As for comparing results across different teams in the past it takes away from what is important, today. You could add Diaz and a few other players to that list of players supposedly ruined by MT. We are paying young men (through our purchases) huge amounts of money to comply with the team concept and perform and when they don't we look for a scapegoat. I think your point about Therrien only really throwing PK under the bus this time around is interesting and may be indicative of the frustration they were going through with PK's attitude at tiimes. Again these are grown ups and both are resposnsible to the team.

The dump and chase argument to me has been ridiculous at times. Certain teams play styles that force you into this at times and if MT feels we are over matched offensively it is a good adaptation to force other teams to work to back in your zone especially with Carey. But there are definitely team who play that style more than us. We may be able to change that this ear as we continue to see stronger play from our top six, but are bottom six has the wheels to still make this an effective tactic.

As for Muller I think we may see some interesting developments and I have a couple of views on that. 1) If it is true (and I have no reason to doubt it) that Therrien requested this he may be thinking of retiring soon and returning to the media. In that case this would be a perfect way to transition in a new coach over the next year or two. 2) If this was a suggestion from MB it is very consistent with the moves MB has made after a disastrous season. He has put the coach on notice and moved players to get the level of experience and intensity that he feels was lacking last year. It is only fair that if he is moving players he lets his coach know he is next.

Finally, people can say what they want about MB, but he has taken notice and made moves that many would not dare to do in a difficult time and I respect that. My expectation as a fan is we have a chance to win every year and we get an honest effort from our players. (not about the coach) I thought we had a chance with the team we iced at the start of the year and had us as the best team in the east. Ironically despite all the moves I think we are up there again or better with Washington (Pittsburgh still has to convince me they are that good) I look forward to this year as I believe there is a chance for quite a few players (prospects) to make their NHL debut. Thanks for the great post.

[ramcharger440]

I am more or less in line with the last two posts.

[FirstStar]

Very refreshing post. I have often stated this. I think as fans it is easy to blame a coach and giv ehim far more credit or criticsm than he deserves. As for comparing results across different teams in the past it takes away from what is important, today. You could add Diaz and a few other players to that list of players supposedly ruined by MT. We are paying young men (through our purchases) huge amounts of money to comply with the team concept and perform and when they don't we look for a scapegoat. I think your point about Therrien only really throwing PK under the bus this time around is interesting and may be indicative of the frustration they were going through with PK's attitude at tiimes. Again these are grown ups and both are resposnsible to the team.

The dump and chase argument to me has been ridiculous at times. Certain teams play styles that force you into this at times and if MT feels we are over matched offensively it is a good adaptation to force other teams to work to back in your zone especially with Carey. But there are definitely team who play that style more than us. We may be able to change that this ear as we continue to see stronger play from our top six, but are bottom six has the wheels to still make this an effective tactic.

As for Muller I think we may see some interesting developments and I have a couple of views on that. 1) If it is true (and I have no reason to doubt it) that Therrien requested this he may be thinking of retiring soon and returning to the media. In that case this would be a perfect way to transition in a new coach over the next year or two. 2) If this was a suggestion from MB it is very consistent with the moves MB has made after a disastrous season. He has put the coach on notice and moved players to get the level of experience and intensity that he feels was lacking last year. It is only fair that if he is moving players he lets his coach know he is next.

Finally, people can say what they want about MB, but he has taken notice and made moves that many would not dare to do in a difficult time and I respect that. My expectation as a fan is we have a chance to win every year and we get an honest effort from our players. (not about the coach) I thought we had a chance with the team we iced at the start of the year and had us as the best team in the east. Ironically despite all the moves I think we are up there again or better with Washington (Pittsburgh still has to convince me they are that good) I look forward to this year as I believe there is a chance for quite a few players (prospects) to make their NHL debut. Thanks for the great post.

Yes, thank you.

And you brought up some good points as well.

We often as fans blame our own team (players coaches, GM's) rather than the situation.

Agreed, some teams will force you into a dump and chase style. Sometimes it's not your team or the system, sometimes you just have to give credit to the other team. SJ looked lethal last spring until they met the pens in the cup finals. I really expected a better series, would've been close to a sweep had Jones not stood on his head. For all intense and purposes, Pens gave the sharks some of their own medicine. And really, they were the team to beat in the west.

As for MT throwing PK under the bus... It wasn't right and I think, with all the frustration surrounding injuries and not winning, Mike slipped and regretted it instantly. Not because it was PK, but because that's what essentially ended his term as coach in Pittsburgh.

Possible MT would rather be back criticizing other coaches on L'antichambres. Being coach of the Habs, in good or bad times is probably more stressful than being mayor of Montreal. Regardless of how Muller got the job, he's a great at communicating with players. JM was not the best communicator and by all accounts, neither is MT. It's ok for a coach not to be the best comminucator, many successful coaches aren't. But they usually have someone like Muller, on their staff to be the go between, to bridge the gap between coach and player.

As for PK and some of the issues with teammates and Habs brass, there definitely was an issue there. Whether it was all PK's fault or not, we'll never know, at least not until PK or MB write an autobiography. Regardless, there was tension there, clearly something went on between Pk and Pleks/PK and Patch. They could've been nothing issues or they could've spoke to something more.

My take on this... Pk has a big personality, some people like it, some people it rubs the wrong way. I have a sneaking suspicion that Max, having a laid back mentality, wasn't always happy with some of PK's antics(we saw some of the looks from Patch on the ice and during 24CH). That's fine, on a 23 man roster, there are going to be some that like you more than others. Unfortunately, people with big personalities have to know when to pick their moments. Maybe while the wheels were falling off, Subban used his personality to break tension in the room, but it wasn't taken that way by some teammates. i suspect not having carey in the room, who was/is good friends with PK, could've been the one person PK would've respected, had carey said,"listen PK, tension can be cut with a knife, might be a good time to ton it back some...". I think the organization might've tried as well and said,"Pk, when we're winning we appreciate your joie de vivres... But some guys are feeling a lot of pressure, and your antics to relieve stress is having an adverse effect...". I don't think the choice to trade Weise, another one of PK's close friends, was a coincidence. Maybe they figured getting some PK supporters out of the room, those that maybe encouraged his behavior, would force Pk to take it down a notch. I don't think PK did anything maliciously, think he was simply being himself, but for the aforementioned reasons, there's a time and place for everything. In saying that, i think PK's big personality is going to conflict with some of his nashville teammates.

not saying this to knock PK whatsoever. From a fans standpoint, we love it. From a teammates standpoint, when your game is struggling, team is struggling and there are many new faces in the dressing room, sometimes less is more. Teammates, especially during hard times, don't appreciate big personalities as much as the fans do. I'm sure he'll have some conflicts in Nashville as well. Johansson had his own conflicts with his former team, possible sometime down the road he and PK will butt heads. It's all speculation on my part.

Jeremy Roenik, had a big personality too. Fans loved his comments and antics (including his strip tease during a stoppage of play) and his constant media battles with Roy(who was another big personality). It has come out since, that his actions weren't always taken the same way from his teammates.

I just hope the habs didn't jump the gun. PK did have a NTC kicking in, hope they didn't pull the trigger to avoid a possible situation that could've or may have gone south some time in the future.

[Habs=stanleycup]

Excerpt from article by Stephen Demone:

-Just as how I think of the Canadiens of the early 1990s as Patrick Roy's team, when I think of the Canadiens today, I think of Michel Therrien. His influence has shaped the product we see on the ice, as well as the development of players such as Alex Galchenyuk, who finally convinced his coach after a long, bumpy road that he was a better option at centre than David Desharnais.

It could be that Bergevin is the only man who sees Therrien as an elite coach. The first major decision Bergevin made as General Manager was to hire him. It could be that he sees something the rest of us do not, and has been crafting his team in Therrien’s image, giving him all the tools he needs to succeed. This is not a diatribe against Therrien. He has been given everything he needs to win. He should now have no excuses whatsoever for not getting it done.

Kirk Muller adds a dimension to the coaching staff that has been lacking since Therrien has been at the helm. Communication between players and coaching staff will be much improved with Muller in the fold, and we should expect the power play to improve as well.

Some have murmured that the hiring of Muller as an Associate Coach puts pressure on Therrien to deliver a solid performance from his team next year, and that if the team stumbles out of the gate the Habs already have their coaching replacement hired. This could be, but I think the effect is more positive in that it gives the coaching staff the tools it has been needing for a long time, and could very well be the missing ingredient for success.

http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2016/7/27/12284238/the-era-of-michel-therrien-montreal-canadiens-identity-pk-subban-trade-marc-bergevin-history

[jeff33]

1. the line shuffling issue

the problem isnt line shuffling. therrien actually does not shuffle lines, he commits to certain players in certain positions, and he moves the deck chairs around them.

if there was actual shuffling , you would have seen eller get some linemates, some pp time. didnt matter what he did, it wasnt happening.

if there was actual shuffling, chuck would have had a go at 1c WAY earlier

if there was actual shuffling, desharnais doesnt play the entire year on the 1st wave of the pp. guy has 2 points on the year and hes still there? is that shuffling? shuffling is looking for solutions.

heres what it is. therrien plays favourites to the benefit or detriment, usually detriment, of the team.

fact: galchenyuk got his minutes and broke out because desharnais got injured.

dd can do whatever he wants on this team. god help radulov if he tries to deke someone out, turns it over and they score.

this is the main source of the absolute contempt i have for this coach. there is no meritocracy on this team, coach plays who he likes and if he doesnt like you, its at your expense, and if you dont like it see ya later.

2. but what could he do with his all star goalie out etc etc

all this says is that without the best goaltending performance possible we come in last place. sooooo your coaching has literally no positive impact on the standings. your coaching strategy is price saves everything and we bang in a rebound at some point...right?

this is good with you guys or am i off here?

you know how you win , shorthanded or otherwise? you play the guys who are playing the best and you sit the guys who are hacking it.

when dd can have 2 pp points in a million tries and eller cant get a shift out there no matter what he does, and will also end up playing more than galchenyuk every single night, then its easy for us to see that you are playing who you want because you said so, not trying to be creative with your players, not promoting and demoting in terms of effectiveness, your just doing what you feel like

not only is that wrong on principle, its also horrible for the team because this coach's opinion on these matters turns out to be nowhere near reality.

this guy made a team with crosby and malkin have bad possession numbers, and for me, its not a dump and chase thing or any of that stuff. its what im saying here. this coach has not got the foggiest clue of who to play with who, and how long they should play. he does what he feels like and we can all jump in a lake. "thats like you second guessing me" imagine what this guy is to play for, my god

final point, muller isnt threatening squat. coach t goes when mb goes. if we go 0-82, mb will go out there and tell me that the players werent listening to his message and thats why we lost.

lets all talk again when shaw and desharnais are playing more minutes than radulov and galchenyuk

[Regis22]

i don't care who we had behind the bench last season, Scotty Bowman or Toronto's multi-million dollar coach, no coach could've had success missing their all-star tender,

No team should have stunk the joint out as bad as the Habs did missing their star goalie

2. but what could he do with his all star goalie out etc etc

all this says is that without the best goaltending performance possible we come in last place. sooooo your coaching has literally no positive impact on the standings. your coaching strategy is price saves everything and we bang in a rebound at some point...right?

Basically yea .

This team stinks with CP 31

[Regis22]

No team should have stunk the joint out as bad as the Habs did missing their star goalie

Basically yea .

This team stinks with CP 31

No team should have stunk the joint out as bad as the Habs did missing their star goalie

Basically yea .

This team stinks with CP 31

without cp

[Habberwacky]

1. the line shuffling issue

the problem isnt line shuffling. therrien actually does not shuffle lines, he commits to certain players in certain positions, and he moves the deck chairs around them.

if there was actual shuffling , you would have seen eller get some linemates, some pp time. didnt matter what he did, it wasnt happening.

if there was actual shuffling, chuck would have had a go at 1c WAY earlier

if there was actual shuffling, desharnais doesnt play the entire year on the 1st wave of the pp. guy has 2 points on the year and hes still there? is that shuffling? shuffling is looking for solutions.

heres what it is. therrien plays favourites to the benefit or detriment, usually detriment, of the team.

fact: galchenyuk got his minutes and broke out because desharnais got injured.

dd can do whatever he wants on this team. god help radulov if he tries to deke someone out, turns it over and they score.

this is the main source of the absolute contempt i have for this coach. there is no meritocracy on this team, coach plays who he likes and if he doesnt like you, its at your expense, and if you dont like it see ya later.

2. but what could he do with his all star goalie out etc etc

all this says is that without the best goaltending performance possible we come in last place. sooooo your coaching has literally no positive impact on the standings. your coaching strategy is price saves everything and we bang in a rebound at some point...right?

this is good with you guys or am i off here?

you know how you win , shorthanded or otherwise? you play the guys who are playing the best and you sit the guys who are hacking it.

when dd can have 2 pp points in a million tries and eller cant get a shift out there no matter what he does, and will also end up playing more than galchenyuk every single night, then its easy for us to see that you are playing who you want because you said so, not trying to be creative with your players, not promoting and demoting in terms of effectiveness, your just doing what you feel like

not only is that wrong on principle, its also horrible for the team because this coach's opinion on these matters turns out to be nowhere near reality.

this guy made a team with crosby and malkin have bad possession numbers, and for me, its not a dump and chase thing or any of that stuff. its what im saying here. this coach has not got the foggiest clue of who to play with who, and how long they should play. he does what he feels like and we can all jump in a lake. "thats like you second guessing me" imagine what this guy is to play for, my god

final point, muller isnt threatening squat. coach t goes when mb goes. if we go 0-82, mb will go out there and tell me that the players werent listening to his message and thats why we lost.

lets all talk again when shaw and desharnais are playing more minutes than radulov and galchenyuk

Chucky did have a go at centre early in the year and didn't look terrible but had no chemistry with Semin (not sure anyone could have done better). Anyhow I remember some posts here stating he was in over his head including posts of my own and shortly after he was moved back to the wing. If you listen to Galchenyuk he basically said he did not get his confidence going until late in the year and this makes a lot of sense. Once the team had basically fallen off a cliff the pressure was off and he really found his game. Hope fully he is ready to go and Therrien can leave him there for the whole season this yeardespite the fact he is still relatively young to assume a number one centre role. So we won't be talking again?

[jeff33]

Chucky did have a go at centre early in the year and didn't look terrible but had no chemistry with Semin (not sure anyone could have done better). Anyhow I remember some posts here stating he was in over his head including posts of my own and shortly after he was moved back to the wing. If you listen to Galchenyuk he basically said he did not get his confidence going until late in the year and this makes a lot of sense. Once the team had basically fallen off a cliff the pressure was off and he really found his game. Hope fully he is ready to go and Therrien can leave him there for the whole season this yeardespite the fact he is still relatively young to assume a number one centre role. So we won't be talking again?

if i see ice time being allocated sensibly i will be in here giving credit where its due.

[FirstStar]

Chucky did have a go at centre early in the year and didn't look terrible but had no chemistry with Semin (not sure anyone could have done better). Anyhow I remember some posts here stating he was in over his head including posts of my own and shortly after he was moved back to the wing. If you listen to Galchenyuk he basically said he did not get his confidence going until late in the year and this makes a lot of sense. Once the team had basically fallen off a cliff the pressure was off and he really found his game. Hope fully he is ready to go and Therrien can leave him there for the whole season this yeardespite the fact he is still relatively young to assume a number one centre role. So we won't be talking again?

I don't get how people are so convinced that Chucky's late season breakout wasn't according to his natural curve.

He did do well at centre, but I noticed in 2014-15 when he had a strong of 5 games, he started strong and ended the 5 game span almost invisible. From what i saw, he was so close to being ready, but was missing a certain something. First 2 games he was great, a lot of promise, created scoring chances, but then Downie rocked him behind the pens net, he got up slowly and finished his shift. He was reluctant to go into the corners from then on. 2 games later we faced the pens again and again Chuck was rocked by Downie. He was taken off the top line the next game and paired with Prust. I feel he had the skill to play, but not the physical confidence or the size. Just like Eller did when he finally got his spot at centre, Chuck bulked up over the summer. That gave him a little more size and confidence, which lead into the 2015-16 season.

For me, if he was ready to break out sooner, he probably would've. Kids who break out, usually do it from a lower line and get moved up.

I don't feel Chucks development was stalled. For me, the one area that concerned him was, imo, playing against men and having the physique to take hits and dish them out. After bulking up in the post season and growing a beard (covering up his baby face), he seemed much more confident going into last season.

[FirstStar]

if i see ice time being allocated sensibly i will be in here giving credit where its due.

If we want to trade DD we have to make him look valuable. Can't trade a 4 mil player if he isn't seeing ice time. We have to justify the contract and have his icetime match a player of his value.

No matter what we do i think we're stuck with him, but we do have to make him seem appealing to other teams. can't do that by having him ride the pine.

[jeff33]

If we want to trade DD we have to make him look valuable. Can't trade a 4 mil player if he isn't seeing ice time. We have to justify the contract and have his icetime match a player of his value.

No matter what we do i think we're stuck with him, but we do have to make him seem appealing to other teams. can't do that by having him ride the pine.

did we not do that for the last two years? lol

and now he has no value because of it, because theres a very clear record of what he is, and the solution is play him more?

the solution was trade him 3 years ago, and by now hes a buy out. and hes gonna play top 9 again, and take quality ice time away from better players

we dont WANT to trade dd. we love dd. coach is not listening to the stats. he is not watching the game. his mind is made up. we have to understand that

[FirstStar]

did we not do that for the last two years? lol

and now he has no value because of it, because theres a very clear record of what he is, and the solution is play him more?

the solution was trade him 3 years ago, and by now hes a buy out. and hes gonna play top 9 again, and take quality ice time away from better players

we dont WANT to trade dd. we love dd. coach is not listening to the stats. he is not watching the game. his mind is made up. we have to understand that

I'm not disagreeing, I'd like to move him, but we have to market him. He missed chunks of last season with an injury and, I doubt with the freefall, that many teams were checking out our players last season.

I'd play him to start the season, while he's fresh and motivated. Give him 3rd line where he has the better match up and keep our fingers crossed.

He's a better player than most give him credit for. His biggest issue, is obviously size. He has way better creativity and vision than Lars ever had, unfortunately, he had none of Lars' size or physicality.

I don't know why MT has him playing strictly centre. I would put on the wing, being a left handed shot, I'd put him on the right side. Keeps him out of the boards battles, both in the d and off-zone. He'll have to work the boards some, but not as bad as a centre. His passing is actually quite decent, due to his size, he's easily intimidated and sometimes coughs up the puck. That's why if we market him as a winger, kind of like St Louis, we may have more interest. One of my biggest issues with his game, despite size and lack of physicality, was his FO %. When he signed the current contract, it wasn't very good, it was bad actually. But he did improve that aspect of his game. Regardless, I'd have shaw taking the draws, dealing with opposing centres, have DD on the right wing and maybe a sven or another prospect with offensive flare playing the LW. It would make a very small 3rd line, but with Shaw's sandpaper, might balance things out.

That would be my plan if i were MB. Clearly he hasn't sparked much interest as a centre.

[fnveenie]

DD was actually much better at wing. He shot more and didn't force passes like he does at C. He's an effective winger and I have no idea why Therrien can't see that.

[Guest habs1952]

I'm not disagreeing, I'd like to move him, but we have to market him. He missed chunks of last season with an injury and, I doubt with the freefall, that many teams were checking out our players last season.

It's hard to market stale bread. DD is well past his best before date.

[FirstStar]

It's hard to market stale bread. DD is well past his best before date.

Still have to try. Save us from having to buy him out.

[FirstStar]

DD was actually much better at wing. He shot more and didn't force passes like he does at C. He's an effective winger and I have no idea why Therrien can't see that.

Right?

He would've been great on Lars' wing, Lars lacked vision and creativity and DD lacked size. Together they could've made a decent player.

It was something I wished we would've seen. Too late now, but Lars could've taken on centres while DD was free to make plays.

[Regis22]

If we want to trade DD we have to make him look valuable. Can't trade a 4 mil player if he isn't seeing ice time. We have to justify the contract and have his icetime match a player of his value. .

He's been in the league for 5 1/2 years

IMO , playing him more , or less , doesn't matter

Teams know what they are getting with him

They either want him or don't

And I don't think the Habs are trying to deal him because he's a hometown boy and MT likes him

[jeff33]

He's been in the league for 5 1/2 years

IMO , playing him more , or less , doesn't matter

Teams know what they are getting with him

They either want him or don't

And I don't think the Habs are trying to deal him because he's a hometown boy and MT likes him

exactly

why doesnt MT try him on wing, or in such or that situation....because MT <3 DD hes not actually making coherent decisions

[BigTed3]

From The Score, a ranking of the 30 coaches in the league. Therrien is ranked 24th out of 30 coaches and if you look at the criteria for ranking, they state that this is based on past success and ability of the players to buy into the system, etc. So of the 6 guys ranked behind Therrien, 3 are actually just starting new stints with their teams (Flames, Sens, Ducks) next year and so lost points simply for not being able to be evaluated on the criteria. So Therrien is essentially ranked 24th out of 27 by this evaluation. Not good but probably quite accurate. He is ahead of Willie Desjardins, John Tortorella, and Patrick Roy.... I can agree with that too, but being ahead of those three bottom feeders is hardly an accomplishment. Here's the link:

http://www.thescore.com/news/1064618

[Regis22]

. He is ahead of Willie Desjardins, John Tortorella, and Patrick Roy.... I can agree with that too, but being ahead of those three bottom feeders is hardly an accomplishment. Here's the link:

http://www.thescore.com/news/1064618

So he's ranked at the bottom , or very near to it, since those other 3 are bad coaches.

See what happens when you have friends in high places

[PuckPundit]

I would very much like to watch how Guy "The Butcher" Boucher compares to Therrien when the new season unfolds .