I think CJ is a big piece of the puzzle no question. But we have alot of problems that go beyond coaching. I am a level 3 certified coach which means I am qualified to coach major junior,. so i tend to look at things from a coaching standpoint. I have said it before, and I will say it when CJ and I play some golf this summer (or earlier lol), he is too loyal to some players. Unfortunately I am not sure how much of that is his doing and how much of it comes from "upstairs". And no he will not tell me. I suspect a bit of both. Funny but my son watched the last 2 games with me (he is home for Xmas) and is not a Habs fan (Colorado unfortunately but hey it is better than Toronto). He has a pretty good hockey mind which is not tarnished by loyalties and bias like ours is. He made these points and I agree:

1. This is the weakest team at center in the league. This is affecting penalty killing and the power play. How many teams have to use their top Penalty Killer on the Power Play too?


2. Lacking toughness (this was Taylor's idea because he spends half the season in the sin bin). He feels that the little bit of skill we do have in some positions is not being given the room to move because we are being hit at will. We counted 3 times in the Washington game that Kovalev was run at . This is unacceptable. Last night someone took a run at Sundin in the leafs game and Tucker pummeled him. We do not seem to have the personnel nor the will to do this.


3. Our dmen are terribly immobile. I asked Taylor to pay special attention to the habs d last night. He felt that Streit was the best we had out there (scary I know). I agree. Aside from Markov, Streit is the only guy the habs have that can carry the puck up ice. I really do not know what everyone has against this guy. He makes mistakes yes. But then again so does Bouillon. Taylor wondered what Boillon is doing in the NHL. He is not very mobile and he gets caught alot. This really limits what they can do offensively. And-O wants the dmen to carry the puck more. We simply do not have the bodies for that. That is why Streit is in the lineup folks. Because aside from him and Markov we have a defence corps that is slowwwww. And the whole league knows it.


4. Leadership- with Koivu out where is the leadership? I see no one on the bench yapping. If Koivu is all we have for leadership and he is gonna be out half the season, then we need to get leaders to fill in.


5. Goaltending- I will not blame Huet for these 2 losses. But I will say this. We have YET to get consistent goaltending. Belfour stole the game for Toronto last night. Some will say it is not up to the goalie to "steal games". Maybe not. But when a team is struggling the goalie needs to be your best player. We have not had that. That i sfact


6. Coaching- I feel for CJ at this point. He has tried everything. And sometimes it is just time for a fresh approach. What I cannot live with is the pathetic excuse for an effort. To say that he does not have the team prepared is a remark that is just not true. No one prepares more than he does. If the team comes out of the gate slow it is not because CJ has not prepared them. It is simply a lack of desire and heart. No one willing to pay the price. My son said last night "Dad I have not seen a Hab block a shot all night". He was right. But 75% of the players who are there wearing the CH need to hang their heads. They are overpaid millionaires who, to be blunt, could care less. My son would give his right arm to be out there busting his butt. Maybe some of these guys need to rememmber what that felt like.

JohnM wrote:

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It's easy to nit pick at the team when it's losing. You need to look at the overall play. Effort is what is sorely missing on this team. How is Sutter in Calgary able to grind everything out of his players? There is something missing in CJ's arsenal to get that out of his players. On a side note, Bonk and Koivu made the road trip. Not sure what it means or if they will play but let's hope it's a good sign.

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Uhmm..I think we would need to look at the talent in Calgary.

1. One of the best goalies in the league


2. Jerome Iginla, not Steve begin as your number one center


3. Dfence that can skate and hit


4. For starters

Not sure you can put that much blame on BG.

In goal:

We are supposed to have a top 5 goalie in the league. He won the Hart and Vezina and was supposed to be on the Olympic team prior to this years poor play.

Defence:

Markov, Souray and Rivet are quality defenceman. Souray has taken awhile to come into form but is finally doing so. Komi is young and will develop and Dandy was signed and has cup experience from Detroit.

Forwards:

First line should be able to compete against anyone in the league. Second line with Ribs and Ryder should have been able to compete as well. Bonk was signed to shutdown the other teams top lines and chip in some points. With Bonk, Sunny and Bulis we should have a good 3rd line as well. Throw in Begin, Pleks, Perez and we have a team.

With all the players going down, CJ needs to come up with a game plan to try not to lose more players and play as a team with effort. So far that has not been the case.

JohnM wrote:

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barry33 wrote: Pittsburgh 0 wins and 5 losses since Therrien hired. I am in total shock!!! I fully expected all of that teams' personnel problems to disappeare with a new coach! Funny, Therrien sucked here also. That's what happens when you put a minor league coach in the NHL.

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John- your argument is so flawed it is laughable. Julien has more experience than 50% of the coaches in the NHL right now. Let me list a few:

1. Gretzky- Phoenix- No experience


2. McTavish- Edmonton-No experience


3. Sutter-Calgary-No experience


4. Tortorella -Tampa Bay (went from the IHL to Tampa)


5. Mike Babcock- Now with Detroit. Went from the IHL to Anaheim and they went to the finals in the first year. At 33 years of age mind you


6. Larry Robinson- nuff said

Where do you think all of these coaches get their start John? And what makes you think that coaching an AHL team is much different than coaching an NHL team?  So lets have a look at the so called "veterans" who may be available to come coach our beloved Habs. Hmmm...Ted Nolan? 2 years in Buffalo and has not been able to land an NHL job since. Jacques Demers? Is Toe Blake still alive?  Larry Robinson could be the man. But wait! He could not handle the stress in that hockey hotbed called New Jersey. Maybe we can dig up Dick Irvin. Eddie Olcyk now has 3 years expereince. Would he now be classified as a veteran coach? Mario Tremblay?

The funny thing is, that this is the ONLY place I hear the fire Julien rant. You watch TSN, read the Gazette, all they talk about is how good a job he has been doing. No John. What we need are players. We need a captain who is healthy and can lead his team. I watched the Leafs game last night. What a different team with Sundin, a captain and leader, in the lineup.  That my friend is what we need, regardless of who the coach is. So lets concentrate on getting him healthy if that is at all possible.