Claude Julien and staff 2016-17

[habs1952]

1 hour ago, RicochetII said:

I have confidence, (hopefully not misguided), that DD under Julien can be useful. He was a ball and chain because of Therrien's usage of him more than anything. 

Having both of Galchenyuk and Desharnais up the middle is still a concern, but it's a risk we maybe have to take with our offensive struggles, with Danault, Mitchell, and Plekanec being our other options. If we get another top 6 center, there's no room for Desharnais (or Plekanec), but until then we are kind of stuck.

I'd prefer to have some size(McCarron) in the lineup not someone who is gonna fall down when Polak looks at him.

[BigTed3]

4 hours ago, Noob616 said:

Don't have a problem with Desharnais and Andrighetto in the lineup, much rather load 4 lines with some skilled players than have Flynn and McCarron on the 4th line.

Flynn, I'm completely agreed with, should be out of the line-up. McCarron, however, has skill. He uses his big frame pretty well to protect the puck, he gets to the front of the net, and he does have the ability to score (hard to prove that being on the 4th line all the time though). Haven't checked in about a week, but up until then, he was leading the team in percentage of scoring chances for-to-against at 5v5. He was making things happen on the ice. I'll take Mac over Ghetto and DD, one because we have a lot of small guys already and it doesn't hurt to have a big man that can play and two because he's actually done a pretty good job. Points will come when he gets put in a situation where he's playing with more skilled players.

[H_T_L]

I think DD was only in there at the request of MB,,, who's hoping to find a taker before March 1st. One or two decent shifts today but he made two glaring brutal passes.

[Habs=stanleycup]

Excerpts from article on CJ by the Toronto Sun:

TORONTO - As we are walking out of the Air Canada Centre early Saturday afternoon after the Montreal Canadiens morning skate, Claude Julien is attempting to explain how he is the type of coach who shuns attention.

Of course, just as those words are coming out of his mouth, he suddenly is swarmed by fans seeking autographs and photos the moment he steps through the door out onto Bay St.

How ironic.

Try as he might to avoid the spotlight, Julien knows it is there. As the coach of the Montreal Canadiens, it always will be there. It’s part of the package that goes hand in hand with being the bench boss of hockey’s most storied franchise. You can’t escape it.

“My wife and I talked about it, and it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up,” Julien told Postmedia. “The history, the tradition, all of it.

“I just don’t want to be The Story. It’s about the team. That’s why I asked the team not to have any kind of pre-game ceremony honouring my 1,000th NHL game on Thursday. I didn’t want to take away from the team.”

More than 14 years later, the Ottawa native stepped behind the bench for Game No. 1,001, this time a Hockey Night in Canada classic matchup between the Leafs and the Canadiens in front of a national audience Saturday.

These are, he says, the type of moments he embraces.

“I love being in hockey hotbeds,” Julien said. “I enjoy it so much.”

As the game is being played, Julien takes time to peer around the Air Canada Centre at all the red Canadiens jerseys sprinkled throughout the stands. It was, he admits later, a reminder of just how passionate this Canadiens-Maple Leafs rivalry can be.

“It’s obviously great to win the game but I thought it was great for everyone who watched the game,” Julien said. “Great saves, great scoring chances and I thought the pace of the game was very good from start to finish.

“I’m happy I was part of it and I was happy I -- and we -- came out on top.”

No wonder Julien called his hiring by the Habs in 2003 a “Cinderella story.” And even though the clock eventually struck midnight on his first stint in Montreal, now he’s returned, a wiser coach, a calmer coach and, most importantly, a Stanley Cup-winning coach.

“In terms of my transition being back here, I had to adjust quickly but it’s coming around fairly well,” he said. “I’ve had great help from my coaches, and the players have been very receptive.”

On Saturday night, Game No. 1,001 resulted in another OT thriller against the Leafs. Only this time, it was his Habs who came out on top.

Julien, like the entire Habs fan base, hopes it is a sign of things to come.

http://www.torontosun.com/2017/02/25/canadiens-coach-claude-julien-shuns-attention-but-comfortable-in-limelight

[H_T_L]

^^^^^Then there's TSN with their, "Leafs DOMINATED the 1st and 3rd periods" comment. 

[maas_art]

On 2/26/2017 at 5:36 AM, H_T_L said:

^^^^^Then there's TSN with their, "Leafs DOMINATED the 1st and 3rd periods" comment. 

Haha.  

[kinot-2]

CJ is a refreshing change form MT in his post game comments. 

[Habs=stanleycup]

“We need to play better and there’s no doubt about that,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “But what you take from this game is two points that are important in the standings and the character we showed in the third.

“We have to realize you can’t just show up and start playing hockey in the final 20 minutes because you’re not going to beat many teams.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/nhl/alex-galchenyuk-plays-heros-role-with-overtime-winner-as-montreal-canadiens-score-come-from-behind-win-over-new-jersey-devils

[Habs=stanleycup]

In my observations so far, it is finally so refreshing to have a solid, intelligent coach behind our bench with skill, who is on top of the game and is a natural, who knows what he's doing. Who understands the game, who sticks up for our players without playing favorites, who is always challenging the officials when it is needed.

Thanks CJ.

[eldag]

40 minutes ago, Habs=stanleycup said:

In my observations so far, it is finally so refreshing to have a solid, intelligent coach behind our bench with skill, who is on top of the game and is a natural, who knows what he's doing. Who understands the game, who sticks up for our players without playing favorites, who is always challenging the officials when it is needed.

Thanks CJ.

[maas_art]

43 minutes ago, Habs=stanleycup said:

In my observations so far, it is finally so refreshing to have a solid, intelligent coach behind our bench with skill, who is on top of the game and is a natural, who knows what he's doing. Who understands the game, who sticks up for our players without playing favorites, who is always challenging the officials when it is needed.

Thanks CJ.

He's not a perfect coach - no one is - but I agree, he's been a breath of fresh air.  Just the simple idea of line-matching has been a huge difference because guys like DD (who require sheltering) can become valuable players again by making sure they are not overmatched!

[H_T_L]

Kudos to CJ tonight on his decision to have Chucky out there, despite his earlier little blunder in OT.Anybody think he would have been out there for the winner if MT had still been behind the bench?? My money says he would have been on the bench.

[kinot-2]

1 minute ago, H_T_L said:

Kudos to CJ tonight on his decision to have Chucky out there, despite his earlier little blunder in OT.Anybody think he would have been out there for the winner if MT had still been behind the bench?? My money says he would have been on the bench.

I kinda wondered when they said he wasn't very good on the FOs tonight. 

[H_T_L]

2 minutes ago, kinot-2 said:

I kinda wondered when they said he wasn't very good on the FOs tonight. 

All our centers sucked on faceoffs tonight.

[Habs=stanleycup]

10 hours ago, maas_art said:

He's not a perfect coach - no one is - but I agree, he's been a breath of fresh air.  Just the simple idea of line-matching has been a huge difference because guys like DD (who require sheltering) can become valuable players again by making sure they are not overmatched!

He's not a perfect coach no, and no coach is, agreed, but CJ is absolutely the perfect coach for the Habs IMO. 

[ramcharger440]

Team played a great game last time out hope they can keep it up.

[MuddyWaterMoose]

Last night may have been our first convincing win with our new coach, however, prior to that, despite having a seemingly anemic offence, we held two of the leagues high scoring teams in Columbus and Nashville to only one goal each.  We also shut down Toronto's VERY potent powerplay.

The thing I noticed most about last night's game was that the team seemed to have adapted to the Rangers style of hockey and adjusted accordingly. The announcers mentioned on several occasions how the Rangers like to utilize the stretch pass and that Montreal was just not allowing it to happen. This was one of the many frustrations I had with MT. He never seemed to be able to adapt and adjust. 

Our goalie is back to form, the team looks confident and rejuvenated, and we have a REAL, competent coach. I'm excited for what the playoffs may bring. 

[ramcharger440]

Has the team playing with heart. it is nice to see them playing the system.

[BigTed3]

Arpon Basu published a story about playing in Mtl with a quote from Therrien that he gave Basu in an interview just before he was fired... in it, Therrien states that (and I'll paraphrase) "the questions the media ask aren't important. What's important is my answer, because that's what the guy at home watching tv sees. So if I don't like the angle a reporter is asking about, I just deviate things and talk about something else."

Just goes to show you what an arrogant and disrespectful coach he was. So glad to have Julien instead.

[Habs=stanleycup]

12 hours ago, BigTed3 said:

Arpon Basu published a story about playing in Mtl with a quote from Therrien that he gave Basu in an interview just before he was fired... in it, Therrien states that (and I'll paraphrase) "the questions the media ask aren't important. What's important is my answer, because that's what the guy at home watching tv sees. So if I don't like the angle a reporter is asking about, I just deviate things and talk about something else."

Just goes to show you what an arrogant and disrespectful coach he was. So glad to have Julien instead.

Perhaps that's why MT is still unemployed.

Agreed, CJ is a godsend.

[maas_art]

Its been so long since we've had an actual, good coach, its really amazing to watch.

There have been so many changes!  Better deployment, line-matching, line combinations that make at least some sense, a defensive system etc etc.

The thing that I appreciate most though are the apparently lines of communication that were sorely missing prior to the CJ hire.   Ex-Players would routinely say that they had no idea how MT felt about their games and they werent sure what areas they needed to address.  They said they were scared to make mistakes.    Finally we have a coach who understands that hockey is a game of inches and ALL players make mistakes.  Punishing a guy for a bad bounce just means he's twice as likely to make a mistake his next shift.   A player gets scratched and Julien addresses the media saying "yeah, I talked to _____ this morning. He's not happy but he understands..."  In MT's world they'd just see that their name wasnt on the board.  No talk, no explanation of what they needed to work on.

The only thing that would have made this better is if we'd hired a real coach 2 years ago when we certainly looked like we needed to. Who knows, maybe PK would still be with us!

[ramcharger440]

No excuse for playing Emelin and on top of that for playing him as many minutes as he did!

[maas_art]

8 hours ago, ramcharger440 said:

No excuse for playing Emelin and on top of that for playing him as many minutes as he did!

Actually, i think you can make an arguement for why he's done that.  We dont have a lot of top quality dmen.  Outside of Weber, Markov and Petry we really have no players who are bone fide top 4.  We have some maybes:  Beau, Benn - and - Emelin.  

Its not the playoffs yet and Julien is still a new coach here. in his mind, if everyone was playing to their potential, Emelin might be a top 4 guy (on this roster).   And the reality is that a non-slumping Emelin makes this roster better. So I think Julien is playing him to try to get him turned around.  I dont know if it will work - but if it doesnt, I fully expect CJ to drop Emelin from the roster come p/o time.

At a certain point you have to play your 6 best defensmen. Right now, I think Julien is still trying to determine who those are.  If Emelin plays like he has for stretches, he's easily in the top 6, maybe the top 4.  Right now, Id rank him below every other guy we have called up and possibly below Nesterov and Redmond - both of whom id like to give one more chance to before the playoffs. 

 

So, while i totally agree that Emelin has been terrible, I do at least *understand* why julien is playing him.  At least i think thats why.

[PuckPundit]

On 3/15/2017 at 6:39 PM, ramcharger440 said:

No excuse for playing Emelin and on top of that for playing him as many minutes as he did!

I think as a new coach, CJ perceives players from his perspective as a former Bruins HC.  The only references he has are the 4 games Habs play against Bruins each year.  He sees Emelin performing against the Bruins, so his judgement is still clouded by that perception.  

Every HC has his favourites and CJ can be stubborn towards certain players too even during his Boston tenure.  It's no wonder he was always in the hot seat.  Even Mike 'so-called best coach' Babcock is criticized now for his love affair with Zach Hyman.

But what's obvious is Emelin being a liability on ice RIGHT NOW.  It's costing the team goals and wins. Forget past performances.

CJ can continue to keep blind faith, waiting patiently for Emelin to turn the corner.  But time is running out, the number of remaining games dwindling.  Eventually the results will catch up to CJ.  It's a matter how many points he can afford to drop, sticking to his choice.  

[eldag]

CJ is getting a lot of latitude from the fans for his deployments I think and that is only fair as he has produced pretty good results with a very thin team talent-wise. We will have a better read after the B2B with Ottawa this weekend and right now I think we would need to be happy with a split. I believe if either team sweeps they secure the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Apparently at today's practice, GallyB and Rads and Emelin were absent with the latter two being sick and Gally taking a therapy day. King was skating with the third line and Martinsen was with Ott and McCarron on the 4th. I get the feeling Martinsen will be scratched again if Rads and GallyB are both playing on Saturday and that doesn't make any sense to me. I am also scratching my head at their failure to call up Hudon. Shouldn't this team be exploring all options to produce some offence and get more wins .........??