How About a Little Respect for Habs Coach Therrien?

By Dan Saragosti, Special to  All Habs Hockey Magazine

MONTREAL, QC. — There are many reasons for the success of the Habs in this year’s playoffs. Most commentators have rightly focused on the excellence of Carey Price and P.K. Subban, who’ve both matured into top playoff performers. Many have mentioned the team’s new found depth, as fifteen players have scored in the playoffs and different players seem to step up every night. Let’s not forget a third-string goalie named Dustin Tokarski, who hasn’t been too shabby.

Less people have written about the work of coach Michel Therrien, but some are starting to take notice of his work.

When Canadiens General Manager Marc Bergevin hired Therrien in June 2012, the reaction was mostly negative. The Hockey News wrote, “His hiring has the stench of a stopgap measure, a consolation choice that will suffice for a couple of years before an ideal candidate becomes available.”

The team had just finished a horrible season. Coach Jacques Martin was fired partway through the season, assistant Randy Cunneyworth was named interim coach, and he was harshly criticized from the start for his inability to speak French before being fired at season’s end. Many wondered if the team was bound to choose from a small pool of candidates who came from the right ethnic group, which probably added to the criticism of the Therrien hiring.

Montreal had already seen the Therrien show, and hadn’t been impressed. He’d coached the team from 2000 to 2003, and he had some success at first, taking a mediocre team to the second round of the playoffs in his second year. But the Habs lost the series, in part because he took a bench penalty when they were up two games to one and leading 3-0 in the third period. They lost the game 5-4, as well as the next two games, and Therrien’s image took a big hit.

He was portrayed as a coarse roughneck. His spoken English was heavily accented and ungrammatical, a reflection of his working class background – he worked as a cable splicer and a bodyguard for Roch Voisine before becoming a full-time coach. When he’d coached in the AHL, he was known to smoke in team meetings and on the bus, and was suspended for spitting on a goalie.

In his first stint with the Habs, Therrien wore loud suits that combined with his beefy frame and slicked back hair to make him look like a mobster in a Broadway musical. When he was fired, he was widely criticized and even mocked.

Therrien then returned to the AHL before being promoted to the Pittsburgh Penguins head job in 2005. The team had one of the best single season turnarounds in NHL history in his second season and reached a Stanley Cup final the next year.

Then again, people felt that he was lucky to coach a team that featured Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The team regressed in Therrien’s fourth year, and it went on to win the Cup after he was fired. Many thought a key factor was better coaching by his replacement, Dan Bylsma.

During his stint with the Penguins, Therrien added to the reputation as a hothead by showing that he wasn’t afraid to criticize his players during his first year in Pittsburgh. After one poor effort, he called his team’s performance pathetic, and said it looked like half of the team didn’t care. He capped off an all-time great rant by saying, “I really start to believe their goal is to be the worst defensive club in the league.”

When he returned to coach the Canadiens for a second time, Therrien promised he’d learned from experience and had mellowed out. His suits fit better – maybe the stylish Bergevin gave him some tips.

One of his first decisions showed that he still didn’t shy from controversy. He banned the triple low five which Subban and Price had used to celebrate victories the year before, saying the team concept had to come first.

Fans were worried about how the stars would react, but the team seemed to buy into Therrien’s message. They followed up a last-place finish by winning their division. But the team slumped near the end of the season, and was easily dismissed by the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs. Many felt that Therrien was outcoached in the playoffs.

This season, he’s again made controversial decisions. At times early in the year, Subban got less playing time than inferior defencemen or found himself on the bench in crucial situations. When Therrien was asked if he thought Subban should make the Canadian Olympic team, he answered, “It’s not up to me.” Apart from his handling of his star defenceman, the coach was criticized for not trusting young players, and for playing too much dump and chase hockey.

In December and January, the team went through a long slump. They lost four games in a row, scoring five goals while conceding 19. In the last game, the Washington Capitals took a 4-0 lead in the second period, and the Habs had only four shots.

It looked like the team had given up on their coach. All over town and throughout the web, people were calling for Therrien to be fired. But Bergevin stuck with his man, and the Habs ship righted course and qualified for the playoffs handily.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper was hailed as a coach of the year candidate, but the Habs were well prepared as they swept the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs. Therrien moved late season addition Thomas Vanek off the team’s most potent line, which helped give the team a more balanced attack, along with the improved depth and the re-emergence of Rene Bourque from a somnolent season. The Canadiens’ forecheck also consistently gave the Lightning problems.

But the Lightning featured all kinds of rookies and a backup goalie. Everyone expected a much tougher test from the Boston Bruins, a big, brutal team built for the playoffs that had just won the President’s Cup.

The Canadiens won the first game of the series in Boston, and came a third period collapse away from sweeping the first three games. Their speed gave the Bruins fits, and once again their forecheck was effective. Therrien inserted Michaël Bournival in the line-up after the second game, and the rookie played well on the second line.

Once again Therrien was tough on his stars, and this time it seemed to work. Vanek floated around game 1 against the Bruins so badly that a TV announcer speculated that he was injured. Maybe he is – hockey players only reveal their injuries when they finish the playoffs – but Therrien dropped him to the fourth line for much of the game. After the game he said of Vanek, “There’s a few players on our team who need to step up their game and he’s one of them.”

Vanek scored two goals each in games 2 and 6, and got more involved. Before game 6, Therrien said his top scorers needed to step up, and both Vanek and Max Pacioretty scored.

Therrien made other good moves. He inserted Douglas Murray into the lineup to add toughness and took him out when the big defenceman had a couple of tough games. Most felt he should’ve done that earlier, but gave him credit for boldly replacing him with rookie Nathan Beaulieu, who hadn’t played a game in almost a month. He sat out Daniel Briere in game 5, and Briere’s old legs were rejuvenated in game 7, when he got a goal and an assist.

When the Habs eliminated the Bruins, Subban and Dale Wiese both talked about finally getting some respect. Several writers suggested they it was Therrien who’d pushed the idea that the team was seen as Rodney Dangerfield. It was a notion that could also be applied to the coach, but things were starting to change.

Damien Cox wrote in The Toronto Star that, “Somewhere along the line, you have to figure, Michel Therrien is going to get some credit.” An article on Sportsnet.ca was entitled “Therrien adjustments put Habs over the top.”

After the Bruins series, Bergevin strongly hinted that Therrien’s contract would be renewed, saying, “He’s a very good coach, and he’s proving it now.” Even Don Cherry got in on the act, praising Therrien on Coach’s Corner in game 5 of the Rangers series.

Now the team faces long odds to come back against the Rangers, down 3-2 in the series and without their star goalie. The team came out flat in game one, which may have been a hangover from the Bruins series but could also be blamed on the coach. Their forecheck has been used against them, Vanek has once again disappeared, and they had trouble adjusting to the Rangers’ speed. Therrien got caught up in mind games with Alain Vigneault that could be seen as a distraction.

If the team falls to the Rangers, Therrien may continue to be seen as a coach who can help a bad team improve but won’t bring them to the promised land. On the other hand, Therrien has stayed calm and has made bold moves like choosing an AHL goalie over an established backup, and the Habs are still alive.

If Tokarski plays out of his mind, if Price comes back to save the team, or the Canadiens find another way to beat the Rangers, Therrien may finally be seen as an elite coach. He, like his team in the Boston series,  may finally get respect.