Claude Julien sacked by Habs
Claude Julien and Kirk Muller have been fired by the Canadiens after a promising start to the short NHL season collapsed in a sequence of losses.
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Kate
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walkerp 15:29 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
I don’t follow hockey at all, but at this point, as a pro sports fan of other sports, there is something wrong with ownership here, right? They don’t fire him in all the past crap seasons but now just when the team is finally having a good season, they fire him during a very minor hiccup in their momentum?
Kate 18:49 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
I think there’s kind of a “last straw” feeling about it, this time around, from the little I’m picking up about it.
This season is so short that once momentum is lost, there isn’t much room to turn it around.
Mark 19:55 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
Every team wants to win the cup every year, but with the salary cap in place, there are seasons to load up on superstars and go for it, seasons to rebuild, and seasons that fall somewhere in the middle of all that.
The Habs have 2 superstars on expensive contracts (Price and Weber) who are getting older and their performance is expected to drop. So they have a window to win the cup in the next 1-2 years before they have to restructure part of the team (Price and Weber account for 20% of their total salary cap). It doesn’t mean that they can’t win in 5 years, it just means it won’t happen with whatever plan the GM (Bergevin) put in place.
This season, the GM loaded up some pretty expensive additions (Anderson, Toffoli), so it’s clear he wanted to make a run this year. The season isn’t going poorly, but Julien was a pretty conservative coach and playing a defensive style that I don’t think Bergevin appreciated anymore, not with the new players. Bergevin is also trying to save his job too. He’s been in place in 2012 and at some point, you have to get results.
That’s just my 0.02, put me on RDS. 🙂
Kate 22:56 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
Thanks for the analysis, Mark.
walkerp 20:21 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
Thanks, I appreciate the analysis. The point about the conservative style is particularly helpful.
Kevin 21:52 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
I have long argued that the Canadiens’s owners view their hockey team as just one part of a well-diversified portfolio that includes promoting concerts, real estate, and more. Putting bums in the seats is more important, especially with long seasons, than putting in the very hard effort to possibly win the Cup. It’s worked well for most of the past 3 decades.
Joey 22:36 on 2021-02-24 Permalink
An NHL coach is only as good as his starting goalie, and Carey Price has been a dud this year.