Post by mattgough60 on Apr 4, 2016 22:42:17 GMT -5
iJack Todd: Habs Ink Guy Carbonneau to a 3 year deal
Published November 7 2016
The Canadians, sick of their losing ways, parted with head coach Michel Therrian late last night, and at about 1 pm EST today, they announced the signing of former head coach Guy Carbonneau to a three year deal worth 6 million over that span.
" We're very happy that Guy was willing to come on for another stint with the Canadians" said GM Gough. " He's well liked around here, all the players know him and respect him. It's the plus of being a Canadians Alumni, you're very much involved with the team, even after your playing/coaching days".
Guy Carbonneau got the axe despite a .589 winning percentage and a President’s Trophy. After Gainey bounced Carbonneau and installed himself behind the bench in the spring of 2009, the club played .500 hockey the rest of the way and was swept out of the playoffs by the Boston Bruins. On the face of it, the Habs would have been much better off sticking with Carbonneau.
Despite a goaltending carousel throughout his tenure, the Canadiens put up a 124-83-23 record under Carbonneau and his 2007-2008 team had the top power play in the league — in sharp contrast to Therrien’s teams, which were safer declining the penalty.
Carbonneau, the last Canadiens captain to hoist the Stanley Cup in 1993, when asked about the going through struggle in Montreal, replied “The fact that I played almost 20 years … been through it as a player a little bit kind of helped me manage,”. “But it’s a different thing. As a player, you have a direct impact on the game. You can do something on the ice. You don’t enjoy when people criticize you (as a player), but at least there’s things that you can do to kind of overturn that.”
Asked about an explanation for his previous firing, he replied “I’ll never get it … and I’m not looking for it, anyways, anymore,”. “I made my peace with what I did. It’s always upsetting when you get those calls (getting fired) and it’s never fun. We all have an ego and think that we do things the right way.
“I wish they would have told me so I could get a better grip of what I did wrong and how I could get better,” he added. “But it doesn't matter, I'm here now, and I'm ready to lead this team again.”
GM Matt Gough went on to discuss his expectations for Guy and the team. " We want to win. Carbo knows that, the guys in the locker room know that, it has not been a secret here". " We need guys to step up right now, Veteran guys like Plekanec, Markov, Subban, Gallagher, Chucky; they've been here before. We've had losing stints, but we need to find a way to weather it and start wininng hockey games".
Sources:
montrealgazette.com/sports/jack-todd-dynamic-guy-boucher-tops-list-as-next-habs-coach
montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/nhl/montreal-canadiens/stu-cowan-carbonneau-shares-therriens-pain-as-canadiens-season-derails
