By Jordan Long
The Montreal Canadians’ record sits at 31-19-8 for a total of 70 points. They are leading the Atlantic Division by 6 points over the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators . On Tuesday, they made a surprising move firing Head Coach Michel Therrien. According to ESPN, General Manager Marc Bergevin said, “The decision to remove Michel from his coaching duties was a difficult one because I have lots of respect for him. I came to the conclusion that our team needed a new energy, a new voice, a new direction.” They hired Claude Julien as his replacement.
The Canadians were playing decent hockey under Therrien. Their offense is the reason they are on top of the Atlantic Division. They score 2.83 goals per game. On defense, Montreal allowed 2.55 goals against per game. On special teams the power play was scoring on the man advantage. They scored on 21.4% of the time on the power play ranking 7th in the NHL.
The only area that was poor was the power play kill. They killed off 79.4% of the penalties they took which ranks 22nd in the league. It seemed every time they were a skater down, opponents would set their power play and score.
The last straw was the start in February. The Canadians are 1-5-1 to start the month. That is not going to get the job done.
Montreal was quick to hire a new Head Coach. Claude Julien will be behind the bench the rest of the season starting on Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets. Julien had been the Boston Bruins Head Coach until February 7th when he was canned. He brings plenty of playoff experience.
The Canadians know they will be in the playoffs. They made the move for Julian because they feel he gives them the best chance to win a cup. Julien won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011. The Bruins also appeared in the Stanley Cup Final in 2013. It is up to Julien to win the Cup this season. If he doesn’t, they might second guess this decision.
What do you think of the Montreal Canadians firing Michel Therrien and hiring Claude Julien ?
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