It seems that many of my posts lately have been in defence of CJ and I would really rather focus on more positive things so after this one I will continue to read and respect everyone's opinion regarding Claude's ability but am gonna stay clear of commenting. In reality, his future and performance will be judged by his boss and not us/me.

Having said that I do want to get my last comments in. Yes I know Claude so perhaps I defend him more vigorously than I would another coach. But I also know hockey and I know coaching. Much has been said in this forum about leadership and motivation by the coach. I can tell you from my experience (30 plus years as a player, University hockey, Semi-Pro) and 12 years as a coach at the elite level, that motivation needs to come from the leaders on the team. Much has been said here about Koivi and Begin being the heart and soul of this team. If that is the case then it is up to them to stand up in the dressing room and get the guys going. I remember many games as a player where we were doing poorly and the coach would not even come into the room between periods. But our captains got us going. Our captains gave us crap for a poor performance.  If guys like Koivu and Begin are indeed the heart and soul of this team they need to step up. Because long after Julien is gone they are going to have to be the team leaders and the source of inspiration and motivation (unless they replace CJ with Anthony Robbins).

My experience as a coach has told me that I can control the x's and o's and the lineup. I can argue calls (I have been thrown out of about 6 games in my coaching career for disputing calls). I can go into the dressingroom and crap all over guys who are doing poorly or pat those on the back who are doing well. But I can't play the game. I cannot stop the puck. I can't put the puck in the net. I can't put a second effort in to get a puck out of my zone.

I have never been an advocate of blaming the coach for a team's poor performance unless it is obvious that the guy is totally in over his head (see Mario Tremblay). Julien has won a Memorial Cup and almost won an AHL championship. You do not do that without knowing what you are doing and without having the respect of your players. It does not happen. Much has been said here about CJ Needing to be more emotional (see Pat Quinnn, the blathering idiot). I would put my next paycheck on the fact that I bet the habs players have way more respect for Julien then the Leafs players do for Quinn.

In closing let me say this. CJ will ultimately be gone, whether it is next week, next month or next year. But after that happens, it is ultimately the players who need to be accountable. Someone in that dressing room needs to stand up and say "have a look in the mirror boys". Theo needs to be asked why he shows up one night and not the next. Bonk needs to find out why he can't find the net. Koivu needs to be asked why he has disappeared (except the Florida game) since Kovalev went down. Souray needs to look in the mirror and contemplate why he is letting his personal life ruin his career. Ribiero needs to stop resting on his laurels from his Junior days. etc etc.

What I saw last night was a good effort against the best team on the planet using what was not much better than an AHL caliber team. Lots of shots but right into Emery's chest. Theo not making the big stop when we needed it. So when CJ is coaching in Columbus or Nashville and all of these problems resurface, let us not go back to blaming the next coach.