By J.D. Lagrange, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
ESPN’s hockey analytics pioneer Rob Vollman created quite the stir throughout the Montreal Canadiens’ fan base earlier this week when he placed head coach Michel Therrien among the best coaches in the entire NHL. Vollman’s study was conducted to determine the correlation between the cost of paying for a top-tier head coach and the results that follow.
PENTICTON, BC. – Under normal circumstances, fans would be thrilled to have one of theirs being named amongst the best in the game. Fans are, for the most part, happy that P.K. Subban won a Norris Trophy. They are thrilled and brag about having not only the best goaltender, but the best player in the NHL in Carey Price. They are happy that Marc Bergevin is thought to be one of the best GM’s in the league and Max Pacioretty as one of the best wingers in the NHL.
So why the uproar, the indignity, at the mention that Therrien is a good coach? Could it be because those critics have been claiming long and hard, since he was re-hired by the club, that he shouldn’t have been the choice? Is it remotely possible that some people cannot give credit where credit is due, mostly because such admission would mean that they might have been wrong all that time?
Therrien’s pundits claim that he smothers offensive creativity, pulling out fancy stats about puck possession to justify their means. Yet, many of those same people were praising Jacques Martin for being a good coach. The most bizarre thing is that Martin’s system had a one-man forecheck and five-men collapsing in front of their net. Therrien is going with a two-men forecheck and encourages the stretch pass, utilising the team’s best weapon: its speed.
Should Therrien be found guilty for not having more offensive weapons in his line-up? Aside from Max Pacioretty and arguably Alex Galchenyuk, Therrien doesn’t have any elite talent up front, and he has not benefited from having a player finishing in the top 20 in points since taking over as a coach.
Further, Therrien’s defense has been ranked about average in the NHL since taking over. Aside from Subban, not even declining Andrei Markov is recognized league-wide as elite in the NHL anymore. The others… well… let’s just call it potential that hasn’t reached its peak.
Pundits will be quick to credit Therrien’s success to Carey Price and you know what? That’s a valid explanation. However, do those same people claim that the Penguins wouldn’t be where they are without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin? Do they not think that Mike Babcock would have had as much success without Niklas Lindstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg? Would the Joel Quinneville be seen as a good coach without Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith playing 30 minutes a game?
The fact is that most successful team has one or more key players they rely heavily on, and Therrien is no different with the exception that his key player happens to be the goalie. He can’t rely on his offense, nor can he rely on a tight, shut-down defense either with guys playing 30 minutes. His goalie is his best weapon. Jacques Demers was a good coach and how much did he rely on Patrick Roy?
It was great to see Marc Bergevin put the reporters at their place when they questioned the teams style of play, hinting to the defensive system. Like it or not, Bergevin was right by singling the reporter out because he had the guts to say out loud what pundits where thinking quietly. The fact is that the Habs’ system is no more defensive than any other (successful) team. If you’ve watched the Lightning in the playoffs, they all came back deep into their zone. As Bergevin pointed out though, they do have more punch up front and anyone with half a brain will acknowledge that.
In fact, what’s quite ironic is that the Blackhawks scored 229 goals last season, with the offensive punch that they have, compared to the Canadiens 221. That is eight (8) goals in 82 games more than the Habs. That is pretty telling isn’t it? Yet does anyone talk about Chicago as being a defensive team? Do they claim that Quenneville is smothering the offensive talent on his team? No, they think that he’s an outstanding coach! See the difference?
As Bergevin rightly pointed out, a few players had off seasons, notably P-A Parenteau and Brandon Prust. The powerplay was killing any momentum in the games, to the point where fans on Twitter wanted the Habs to decline the oppositions’ penalties!
What did Bergevin do? He got rid of Parenteau, he traded Prust for a more offensive guy in Zack Kassian and he hired Craig Ramsay to help with offense and the powerplay! He also signed Alexander Semin to a dirt cheap contract, a guy who oozes offensive talent but whose motivation is often like once beloved Alex Kovalev.
He also ensured that his coaching staff could rely on a true top-four defenseman when re-signing pending UFA Jeff Petry to a new contract, a guy who has fit in very nicely since the trade deadline. He sees and recognizes that his coach needs some help on defense. He saw and recognized that he needed help up front, some creativity and goals’ scoring ability. He recognized and saw that the powerplay was a huge issue and addressed that need as well.
Now take a minute to look at Michel Therrien’s record:
Let’s also remember that he took over a team which had finished dead last in the Eastern Conference, and 28th out of 30 teams in the overall standings. With the help of Bergevin and his team, Therrien helped bring this franchise back to respectability, finishing second in the Conference in 2012-13 with 63 points in 48 games, fourth (100 points) in 2013-14 and second (110 points) in 2014-15.
He may not be speaking the best English (or French for that matter). He may have friends in the media. He may come across to some as arrogant at times. He may appear to play favourites at times. But when you look at the team’s record since he was re-hired, if you look at how happy the players seem to be in the dressing room, it is very doubtful that Therrien is going anywhere any time soon folks. So pundits, please take a deep breath, swallow your pride for a minute and be the bigger man/woman, admitting as I did that perhaps, we were wrong when claiming that Therrien wasn’t the right guy to right this ship.
Go Habs Go!