Go Habs Go!

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

And the constant pressure to win in Mtl must be unbearable at times. He’s been lucky for two years but now the fans & media are starting to question (with reason) his competency.

He hasn’t feel half of what it can be, because him and his bosses made it clear that the first years would be pretty bumpy. For this season, at the team golf tournament, the different levels of management has expressed their expectations for the 2024-2025 season. Let’s look back at these statements:

Jeff Molson said he was confident to see some good improvements.

Gorton and Hugues stated that they were seeing the team being part of the "mix", i.e. battling for the last spots for the playoffs. Not necessarily making the playoffs.

Martin Saint-Louis, being asked several times, refused to use the term "being in the mix", he said that this year he was focusing on results. His point seemed more in line with the owner than with his direct bosses.

So clearly, if someone should be starting to feel pressured, it is more likely to be Gorton and Hugues, but they hold the better end of the stick, as opposed to the coach. And they don’t have to speak to the media every single day.

MSL is starting to show some signs of exasperation in post game interviews but I think it’s half directed towards the media’s expectations and questions. He speaks as someone who still believes that his team will starts to win soon and be a tough team to beat. In the end, he could resign and say that he never promised that his team would make the playoffs and he would be fuckin’ right to say so.

 

[EagerBeaver]

And the constant pressure to win in Mtl must be unbearable at times.

It's no greater than what Aaron Boone faces as manager of the NY Yankees, and I can guarantee everyone in this thread Boone has been second guessed 10 times more aggressively in his pressers and for many more years than MSL has.

 

[Doc Holliday]

It's no greater than what Aaron Boone faces as manager of the NY Yankees, and I can guarantee everyone in this thread Boone has been second guessed 10 times more aggressively in his pressers and for many more years than MSL has.

That’s like comparing apples & oranges. NYC has many major professional sports teams. They have the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Mets, Jets, Giants, Rangers & Islanders. As for the Yankees it’s true that the manager often is under pressure. But let’s face it: the Mets are a better team & the Yankees were very lucky to advance in the playoffs. They were fortunate that they got the inferior matchups throughout the playoffs. Plus people under 40 don’t really give a crap about baseball. Ten years from now it likely will be a dying sport with most stadiums half-full. But that’s another story & i don’t want to go off-topic.

The thing is that Montreal is a much smaller city than the likes of NYC & Toronto & they are a one major professional sport city. They only have the Habs. Nothing else that matters as far as major professional sports go. People of all ages from age 4 to age 99 follow hockey in Quebec & the majority of them cheer for the Habs. They are not simply Montreal’s team: they are the entire province of Quebec’s team. That’s why the pressure to win in this market is greater than any other market on the entire planet!

 

[Doc Holliday]

So clearly, if someone should be starting to feel pressured, it is more likely to be Gorton and Hugues, but they hold the better end of the stick, as opposed to the coach. And they don’t have to speak to the media every single day.

MSL is starting to show some signs of exasperation in post game interviews but I think it’s half directed towards the media’s expectations and questions. He speaks as someone who still believes that his team will starts to win soon and be a tough team to beat. In the end, he could resign and say that he never promised that his team would make the playoffs and he would be fuckin’ right to say so.

All very valid points & i totally agree with your observations. The current fate of the Habs is all on Hughes & Gorton because they are the ones responsible for the players on the current roster & they are the ones responsible for handing the team over to a guy with zero professional coaching experience who’s highest level of coaching was at the bantam level. When you think about it this was a totally ridiculous move! It would have been ridiculous evennif the team would have been the Kraken, the Ducks or the Sharks! This is the NHL…the best hockey league on the planet! And a guy with no experience was asked to take over the most prestigious hockey organization in the entire world? WTF? This was supposed to work? Why? How? And the sacrificial lamb is to blame for a grossly incompetent decision by upper management? Ridiculous!

By the way i’m not sure Kent Hughes would ever have been GM had Jeff Gorton spoken french. He was hired under the condition that he hire a GM who also spoke french. And it’s no big secret that Gorton has always enjoyed simply being a GM. That’s why when his good friend & former boss John Davidson got the president’s job in Columbus there were rumours that he’d get Jeff Gorton to be his GM. However i knew this wouldn’t happen this year for the simple fact that Gorton has a contract with the Habs & the team never would have allowed him to walk away & sign with any other NHL hockey team.

To conclude the person most responsible for this debacle is the owner & team president: Geoff Molson. He hired all of these guys. The buck stops with him. By the way on a side note i was never in favor of the club owner putting himself in charge of the hockey organization. He took over from the highly respected Pierre Boivin after he purchased the team. This was the first time ever that the club’s owner put himself in charge of the hockey team’s operation. For example he holds the same title as Brendan Shanahan in Toronto. But hey, it’s his hockey team after all & he can do as he pleases with it. But maybe…just maybe…had the team had a Ronald Corey or Pierre Boivin type in charge instead the team wouldn’t be in this position right now.

 

[EagerBeaver]

As for the Yankees it’s true that the manager often is under pressure.

MSL has never faced pressure like Boone in his pressers. Has MSL ever been asked if he thought a playoff series was "in the bag"? Boone actually faced this question during the Cleveland series- see 3:59 mark of video. How would MSL handle this same question?

 

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

Has MSL ever been asked if he thought a playoff series was "in the bag"?

Of course not, the entire management had already stated that a playoff spot was not on the horizon yet. But you can bet that next year the hordes of journalists will be much more incisive in their questions and criticisms, no matter who the coach will be at that moment.

 

[Doc Holliday]

An enormous amount of noise this morning about the state of the habs this morning on radio & on the podcasts. Complaints of a serious lack of intensity in Saturday’s game. Talk about Nylander using the entire habs team as pylons in his brilliant end to end rush on which he scored. David Savard looking like a coward when he refused to drop the gloves against Domi after cross checking him several times. Arber Xehkaj absolutely uninterested in doing something (like a fight) to wake the team up & try to change the momentum. MSL’s comments after the game making some wonder on which planet he resides. And on & on. Now I’m starting to wonder if MSM will still be the coach after Xmas. The habs are now dead-last in the NHL after management & ownership promised they’d be in the mix for a possible playoffs spot. You know what? After watching Saturday’s game i have come to the conclusion that MSL has lost the team. The players no longer believe in him.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Talk about Nylander using the entire habs team as pylons in his brilliant end to end rush on which he scored.

Nylander dances through multiple Canadiens for beauty end-to-end goal

www.sportsnet.ca

 

[EagerBeaver]

The habs are now dead-last in the NHL

Not only dead last in points. Dead last in goal differential, -23.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Hearing from my sources that Gerard Gallant will be hired as assistant coach to help MSL after they met in Toronto on Saturday afternoon. If it happens this is a great hiring!

 

[gaby]

Agree....je l'ai toujours aimé....sait bien motiver ses jeunes joueurs.....yep.....would b a great news.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Hearing from my sources that Gerard Gallant will be hired as assistant coach to help MSL after they met in Toronto on Saturday afternoon. If it happens this is a great hiring!

Gallant should be head coach and MSL the assistant!

 

[Doc Holliday]

Gallant should be head coach and MSL the assistant!

No doubt. But Gallant doesn’t speak french. Unfortunately Gerry Gallant will never be the head coach for the Habs. And that’s probably why MSL would agree to hire him as his assistant head coach. He’s aware he’ll never have a chance at taking his job away from him.

 

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

Gallant should be head coach and MSL the assistant!

No big deal, we are seeing teams hiring seasoned coaches as assistant these days. I don’t think it’s a bad idea, the rookie coach ends up being taught by the assistant who, acts more like a mentor as well as helping behind the bench during games.

 

[EagerBeaver]

He’s aware he’ll never have a chance at taking his job away from him.

This is not fair. Gallant took the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Finals in their very first year as a pure expansion team, and almost won the damn thing! This was one of the most incredible coaching accomplishments in North American sports coaching history.

 

[Doc Holliday]

This is not fair. Gallant took the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Finals in their very first year as a pure expansion team, and almost won the damn thing! This was one of the most incredible coaching accomplishments in North American sports coaching history.

Gallant has won everywhere he’s coached. He has a great record in his first seasons with teams he’s coached. However for whatever reason teams soon get tired of him after 1-2 years & get rid of him. Who knows maybe his temperment makes him a better fit as an NHL assistant coach. By the way i remember when Vegas fired him. It happened after a road game in Carolina while he was waiting for the team bus to show up to pick up the team. After his firing he had to wait outside on a street corner waiting for a taxi to pick him up. I found this move by Vegas to be absolutely classless! They could have waited until the team returned to Vegas!

 

[gaby]

SHEA WEBER.....c'est sa journée....bien mérité....j'ai l'impression qu'on va le voir bientôt derrière un banc de joueurs dans la NHL.....et pourquoi pas à NASHVILLE / ville qu'l adore et ou il serait accueilli comme un dieu....lol ....ou MONTRÉAL qui l'a
très bien traité.....d'abord comme adjoint à MSL.....et ensuite prendre la relève......il sait certainement dire ''bonjour'' et ''merci''......on lui pardonnerait sûrement son francais.......lolllll

 

[Doc Holliday]

High scoring game in Buffalomp today. Both starting goalies were absolutely brutal & had to be pulled. Let’s face it folks: Cayden Primeau is NOT an NHL goalie. He’s a very good AHL goalie. But he has no business being in the NHL.

MSL finally separated Nick Suzuki from Cole Caufield and this has shown to be a good decision so far. Many called for this move for weeks! If MSL insists on playing Suzuki against the other team’s top line then Cole Caufield has no business being on his line since he’s a tremendous defensive liabilty when he’s on the ice & the line will end up allowing more goals than they score which has already been the case.

Final score: Habs 7 Sabres 5

Suzuki & Caufield each with a pair of goals.

 

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

d'abord comme adjoint à MSL....

Rassure moi, c’est une blague non? On va mettre un assistant coach qui n’a jamais passé une seconde derrière un banc pour assister un coach qui en est à sa 3ieme année et qui, clairement, en arrache!

 

[gaby]

Ouin vu de même...lol