Habs have rich anglo history
The late Pierre Trudeau once said: "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."
But Quebec culture minister Christine St-Pierre obviously believes there is a place for the state in the dressing room of the Canadiens.
St-Pierre weighed in on the controversy surrounding the hiring of the unilingual Randy Cunneyworth as the Canadiens' interim head coach, saying she expects the Habs to rectify the situation by finding a head coach who can speak French.
Words like heritage and culture are being bandied about by politicians, fans and the media, but it might be instructive to look at the Canadiens' heritage.
The team was founded by an anglo, J. Ambrose O'Brien, and for most of the team's 100-plus-year history the owners were English. The most notable exceptions were Donat Raymond and Leo Dandurand.
Wait a minute. Dandurand, who also coached the Canadiens to their first Stanley Cup in the National Hockey League era in 1924, had a French name, but he was an American. He was born in Illinois and lived there until he was 16. That's when his family moved to Montreal, and he attended St. Mary's College, the forerunner of Loyola College.
The Canadiens have won a record 24 Stanley Cups, but you can count the Quebec francophone coaches who have won the Cup with the Canadiens on one hand and have fingers left over. There was Claude Ruel in 1969, Jean Perron in 1986 and Jacques Demers in 1993.
What's that, you say? How about Newsy Lalonde? He coached the 1916 Habs, but he was from Cornwall, Ont.
The most successful Canadiens head coach was Hector (Toe) Blake, with eight Cups. He learned French from his mother while growing up in northern Ontario.
Scotty Bowman, who is bilingual, won five Cups, while Dick Irvin won three, Cecil Hart two and Al MacNeil one.
The one heritage these men shared was that they were winners - and that's more important than language.
Cunneyworth deserves better: Some folks seem to take delight in the fact Cunneyworth lost his first two games behind the Canadiens' bench, but he has been placed in a lose-lose situation.
Cunneyworth has been saddled with a team that is damaged physically and emotionally. His first two games were against teams that are playing their best hockey, and the situation won't get any better Wednesday night when the Canadiens face a Chicago Blackhawks team that has the best record in the NHL.
The schedule hasn't allowed Cunneyworth to tweak the system because there is little time for practice. Tuesday marked Cunneyworth's first full practice with the team, and he won't get another until after Christmas.
The Canadiens also let Cunneyworth down at the press conference Saturday to announce his hiring as interim head coach. Knowing language is THE hot-button topic in Quebec, the team might have armed him with a few sentences of French to avoid a repeat of the furor over former captain Saku Koivu's reluctance to speak French. A "bonjour" can go a long way.
Who's next?: The folks at bodog.ca have released their odds on who will be head coach of the Canadiens at the start of next season, and Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy is the favourite at 2-1. The surprise second choice is Hamilton Bulldogs head coach Clément Jodoin at 5-2.
Bob Hartley, who won a Stanley Cup in Colorado and is listed at 5-1, is currently coaching in Europe. Paul Maurice, who was fired by the Hurricanes this season, is a surprising 9-1. The name sounds French, but Maurice is a unilingual anglophone.
Cunneyworth is listed at 15-1, followed by Guy Boucher at 20-1. Boucher would probably be higher if he didn't already have a job in Tampa Bay.
Retread Michel Therrien is at 40-1, followed by Winnipeg Jets assistant Pascal Vincent and former Anaheim Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, both at 45-1. There are no odds available for Michel Bergeron, Jacques Lemaire, Kirk Muller, Benoît Groulx, Jean Perron, Don Cherry or Senator Jacques Demers.
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