Bob McKenzie

1/14/2006 6:18:23 PM

In the end, Claude Julien was done in by an old truth and a new reality.

The old truth is that any general manager, in this case Bob Gainey, who didn't hire the head coach, in this case Julien, is more inclined to make a change when things are not going so well.

And if that GM can look to a trusted old friend from their Montreal and Dallas days together, in this case Guy Carbonneau, well, then change is pretty much inevitable. That Carbonneau is a former Hab hero only makes the move easier to sell to the Montreal masses.

Now, in fairness to Gainey, it's not like he didn't give Julien a chance. And in fairness to Julien, he leaves Montreal with a winning record and a playoff upset to his credit.

But when a team hits the skids, like Montreal, something has to give and it's usually the coach.

And that's where the new reality comes in.

Most GMs, before they fire a coach in mid-season, make a big trade to shake things up and buy the coach some time. Gainey didn't do that, in large part no doubt, because it's difficult in the new NHL to make that kind of move, although if the GM was going to pull another Radek Bonk for Mathieu Garon clunker, just as well he sat on his hands.

The biggest surprise is that Julien took the fall before Boston coach Mike Sullivan, but the whispers out of Boston is that ownership is contemplating a clean sweep of GM Mike O'Connell and head coach Sullivan and that's taking some time to put together.

The rumour, and it's just that at this point, is the Bruins are trying to convince Ray Bourque to take over as GM.

In any case, something has to happen in Beantown soon.

This was written by Bob MacKenzie