With new Anglo coach, Habs strike a nerve in Quebec's language debates

I was reading about the controversy on tsn.ca and this is just ridiculous. It should be about who is best for the job- not what language you speak. As much as I hate the Habs I don't mean this is a bash but here are the issues I have with this: First of all, as I mentioned earlier- it is about who is best qualified for the job. 2.) If you HAVE to have a French speaking coach, shouldn't all your players be French or at least be able to speak it? Bit of a double standard there. 3.) If I was a Habs fan as an Anglophone myself I would be insulted by this because why should any English speaking hockey fan want to be a fan of a team that discriminates or looks down upon my own kind?

Randy Cunniworth, born Etobicoke (Toronto)
I guess the Habs just want an Anglo from S. Ontario to coach because they want to follow the blueprint of the White and Blue, which has been so successful in the past 40 years!
première leçon: Omni moi-
-AILLEURS!

Randy Cunnyworth was put into this position by Pierre Gauthier because Gauthier wanted to save his ass and made a desperate move to ditch his buddy Martin. This was not a well thought out move, it was sloppy and done with urgency and desperation. I am happy they are loosing only because Gauthier will be next to go.

JeSuisiLest wrote:

Randy Cunniworth, born Etobicoke (Toronto)
I guess the Habs just want an Anglo from S. Ontario to coach because they want to follow the blueprint of the White and Blue, which has been so successful in the past 40 years!
première leçon: Omni moi-
-AILLEURS!

The french coach wasnt doing very well,so they thought they would try an anglo. What they should have known was that it was the players,french and english that should have been replaced. I think this french thing is stupid ,if not racist.

you won't get it if you are not from Quebec. There is no way the Canadiens will not hire a French Speaking coach..............it's politics dudes

JeSuisiLest wrote:

Randy Cunniworth, born Etobicoke (Toronto)
I guess the Habs just want an Anglo from S. Ontario to coach because they want to follow the blueprint of the White and Blue, which has been so successful in the past 40 years!
première leçon: Omni moi-
-AILLEURS!

You can talk about the past all you want, but that's exactly what it is...history. It has nothing to do with the present. On the bright side, you still have half a season to turn it around and you are only a few points out. Here's looking forward to the next Leafs/Habs tilt.

Don't be so sadly mistaken that you actually think the Leafs are going anywhere this year, because they aren't either.!!!

Spartacus1962 wrote:

Don't be so sadly mistaken that you actually think the Leafs are going anywhere this year, because they aren't either.!!!

It's funny that just because I happen to be a fan of a rival team that you guys think I'm automatically here to trash your team when that isn't exactly the case. Believe me, I hate your team more then words can describe, but we still have half a season left to play anything can happen. Here's hoping for a good game next time our clubs meet.

I never said you were here to trash anyone, but it is CRYSTAL CLEAR from your post that that there is far more EGO involved in it than anything else and your intentions here are far less than genuine.

For instanmce, when was the last fucking time you came into the Montreal Canadians forum to doiscuss your so called support for te Habs situation right now?

You also stated in your reply..."Believe me, I hate your team more then words can describe, but we still have half a season left to play anything can happen"

If that's the case, then you are 100% sticking your big foot in your big mouth.

I believe you...you hate the Habs...so that begs the question, if your intentions are honorable and you hate the Habs so iuch but you do not want to start anything...

...WHAT IN THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN DOING HERE?

do yourself a favour and just leave!!!
Thanks
Merry Christmas

Spartacus1962 wrote:

ONE LAST THING AND I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS BUT I WILL EVERY SINGLE TIME I NEED TO.
THE ISSUE WITH CUNNEYWORTH IS NOT THAT HE IS FRENCH SPEAKING OR ENGLISH SPEAKING OR ANYTHING ELSE SPEAKING...AND THIS IS WHAT YET AGAIN, THE FRENCH DO NOT UNDERSTAND, IT DOES NOT MATTER IN THE LEAST, BECAUSE THE BOTTOM LINE IS CUNNEYWORTH IS NOT PROPERLY QUALIFIED FOR THAT JOB...AND THIS IS HOW COMPLETELY OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY AND RACIST THE FROGS OF QUEBEC AND MONTREAL ARE.
IN 6+ YEARS WORKING WITH 3 TEAMS OF COACHES CUNNEYWORTH HAS MADE ZERO CONTRIBUTIONS TO WINNING.
HE IS COMPLETELY USELESS AND WHATS WORSE IS THAT WHAT THE HABS NEED IS A COACH WITH EMOTION, A GUY LIKE SCOTTY BOWMAN OR MICHEL BERGERON AND ANY OTHER TYPE OF COACH AT ALL IS GOING TO FAIL MISERABLY.
EVEN WORSE, FOR 21 YEARS NOW THE MGMT FOR THIS TEAM HAS KNOWN EXACTLY WHAT IT NEEDED TO DO TO WIN, AND THEN NOT DONE IT, TIME AND TIME AND TIME AND TIME AND AGAIN, THEY DO NOT DO WHAT IS NEEDED OR EVEN NECESSARY...EVER !!!
THIS BAND AID SOLUTION IS A JOKE AND THE HABS ARE THE LAUGHING STROCK OF PREOFFESIONAL SPORTS, THE SINGLE WORST MANAGED PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM IN ORGANIZED PROFESSIONAL SPORTS HISTORY.
THE DAMAGE DONE BY REJEAN HOULE, SERGE SAVARD HIMSELF, PIERRE GUATHIER AND BON GAINEY NOW IS SO MONUMENTAL IT IS MIND BLOWING.
AND WHAT IS MOST AMAZING IN ALL OF IT IS THAT ANY 5 YEAR OLD WITH A FUCKING LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF THIS SPORT COULLD HAVE DONE A FAR BETTER JOB THAN ANY OF THEM HAVE UOP UNTIL NOW, IN FACT, I, ME, MYSELF... COULD STEP BEHIND THAT BENCH AND INSIDE OF 3 DAYS FOIX MOST IF NOT ALL OF THEIR PROBLEMS WIHTOLUT SPENMDING A FUCKING DIME.
MAKE NO FUCKING MISTAKE ABOUT THIS...IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, AND THIS IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST FUCK UP, THIS TEAM IS, THIS CLUSTER FUCK OF A TEAM, IN THE HISTORY OF ALL OF ORGANIZED PROFESSIONAL SPORTS.
BAR NONE.
LEAVE IT ALONE THE SAME WAY EVERY SINGLE FUCKING HABS FAN STAYED OUT OF THE LEAFS FORUM WHILE YOU WERE SPENDING THE PAST 10 OF 12 YEARS FAILING MISERABLY WIT YOUR OWN HOCKEY TEAM.

Good lord buddy. My post has NOTHING to do with EGO. I just think that the way the press is supposedly making it seem like a French/English thing is silly. Please, you don't think Hab fans trashed our team when we have been doing bad? What planet have you been on? I've been called stupid for sticking with my team, and just about every other name in the book by many Habs fans over the last 7 or so years. I have been on other websites as well where Habs fans filled up 20+ pages of kicking my team while they were down game in and game out so don't even try to play "innocent" with me. My team isn't perfect..they have a long way to go in order to become a top team, nor do I think they are God's gift to the world..I don't like every trade they have made, I still think our douche bag of a coach needs to be fired. If you guys turned your season around, as much as I do hate the Habs- I would also come back and give you credit for it. That being said, the one thing I do respect about the Habs is that when you see a problem, you at least immediately try to do something about it..such as firing the coach...I wish my guys would do that.

Listen, I live in Philadelphia and have been down here for almost 10 years. I deal with fans of different teams on many basis, and I actually can get along quite well with them. I just want to talk hockey.

that's cool by me.
we can talk hockey here.
I just do not want to hear from anyone, especially anyone living in a big time winning hockey city right now like Philly {which incidently also makes the best damn cheese steak sandwiches I ever had}how bad the team here is, believe me I already know.

Spartacus1962 wrote:

that's cool by me.
we can talk hockey here.
I just do not want to hear from anyone, especially anyone living in a big time winning hockey city right now like Philly {which incidently also makes the best damn cheese steak sandwiches I ever had}how bad the team here is, believe me I already know.

Keep your head up, it will get better. You've got a great goalie for one thing and a good D-man in Subban. You've also got your first round draft pick as well. You also picked up one of my all time favorite Leafs (Kaberle). If he picks up his game, and you get Markov back that should make a good defensive pairing. PS- I feel you, believe me, I sat down here in Philly for about 7 years and watched a team in my own backyard make the playoffs, go to the finals all while mine hasn't even made the dance. At least your team has consistently made the dance since about 2007, and heck...they even surprised me a few years back heading to the conference finals.

my apologies for striking out and I tip my hat to you.

I do believe deep down that a good and proper coaching and mgmt staff could get more out of what this team has right now.

But for ten years at least they ignored the size up the middle of the ice thing and the speed of movement on the puck in our own end thing, the defense back in up at our blue line thing, and the in ability to finish offensively thing.

some of the "things" have been going on so long it is incredible to me they have not been corrected through simple coaching technique...I mean it's hockey 101 from Tom Watt's book from the early 1970's, "How To Play Hockey" {Which if you are reading this Labatts is the only Hockey book I can think of that is better than Dryden's "The Game"}

I mean basic Hockey beginners stuff that somehow a PRO team is not able to do with any consistency and for the past 20+ years now.

That's just not normal to me.

Not sure Markov is ever going to amount to anything special, in the past 14 years he was great at getting assist after assist after assist in games we lost just like Sakku Koivu did and never did quite "POWN" a single game on his own.

Then there's the fact that he's a bit of a "Russian Pussy" type guy and the first time someone hits him in either knee hard enough he's finished.

Subban I love and think he is another potential Bobby Orr that they are ruining by holding back with their defensive minded Bullshit and he should be playing as a third line winger just to mix it up every now and then. Do something creative with the guy for crying out loud, he's special and your a bunch of Morons for not taking advantage of it.

making the dance and getting knocked out in the first rd is the same thing to me !!!!

Unacceptable !

Cheers
Happy Holidays to you !!!
Check this out...
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/promet...

Spartacus1962 wrote:

my apologies for striking out and I tip my hat to you.
I do believe deep down that a good and proper coaching and mgmt staff could get more out of what this team has right now.
But for ten years at least they ignored the size up the middle of the ice thing and the speed of movement on the puck in our own end thing, the defense back in up at our blue line thing, and the in ability to finish offensively thing.
some of the "things" have been going on so long it is incredible to me they have not been corrected through simple coaching technique...I mean it's hockey 101 from Tom Watt's book from the early 1970's, "How To Play Hockey" {Which if you are reading this Labatts is the only Hockey book I can think of that is better than Dryden's "The Game"}
I mean basic Hockey beginners stuff that somehow a PRO team is not able to do with any consistency and for the past 20+ years now.
That's just not normal to me.
Not sure Markov is ever going to amount to anything special, in the past 14 years he was great at getting assist after assist after assist in games we lost just like Sakku Koivu did and never did quite "POWN" a single game on his own.
Then there's the fact that he's a bit of a "Russian Pussy" type guy and the first time someone hits him in either knee hard enough he's finished.
Subban I love and think he is another potential Bobby Orr that they are ruining by holding back with their defensive minded Bullshit and he should be playing as a third line winger just to mix it up every now and then. Do something creative with the guy for crying out loud, he's special and your a bunch of Morons for not taking advantage of it.
making the dance and getting knocked out in the first rd is the same thing to me !!!!
Unacceptable !
Cheers
Happy Holidays to you !!!
Check this out...
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/promet...

Kind of how I feel about my team. Ron has to work on that clear the puck thing...and the PK as well. A good transition game is very important...being stuck in your own zone for too long leads to penalties and GA. I know that your team has never really been known for a big team, outside of say Hal Gill. Your Penalty Kill can't possibly be any worse then ours though. I know that the Habs have been having trouble with Markov...I agree...that's the problem with knees. That is what made Orr retire. Kabby should help your special teams, but he needs to shoot more.

A coworker of mine is a Habs fan, told him I'm not giving him any gears cause I remember the days of Vesa Toskala letting in a 200ft shot, Brett Lebda blowing a tire and watching the Nashville player blow by him for a break away goal, and being tied with a triangle in the standings after about 10 games into the season lol.

Spartacus1962 wrote:

my apologies for striking out and I tip my hat to you.
I do believe deep down that a good and proper coaching and mgmt staff could get more out of what this team has right now.
But for ten years at least they ignored the size up the middle of the ice thing and the speed of movement on the puck in our own end thing, the defense back in up at our blue line thing, and the in ability to finish offensively thing.
some of the "things" have been going on so long it is incredible to me they have not been corrected through simple coaching technique...I mean it's hockey 101 from Tom Watt's book from the early 1970's, "How To Play Hockey" {Which if you are reading this Labatts is the only Hockey book I can think of that is better than Dryden's "The Game"}
I mean basic Hockey beginners stuff that somehow a PRO team is not able to do with any consistency and for the past 20+ years now.
That's just not normal to me.
Not sure Markov is ever going to amount to anything special, in the past 14 years he was great at getting assist after assist after assist in games we lost just like Sakku Koivu did and never did quite "POWN" a single game on his own.
Then there's the fact that he's a bit of a "Russian Pussy" type guy and the first time someone hits him in either knee hard enough he's finished.
Subban I love and think he is another potential Bobby Orr that they are ruining by holding back with their defensive minded Bullshit and he should be playing as a third line winger just to mix it up every now and then. Do something creative with the guy for crying out loud, he's special and your a bunch of Morons for not taking advantage of it.
making the dance and getting knocked out in the first rd is the same thing to me !!!!
Unacceptable !
Cheers
Happy Holidays to you !!!
Check this out...
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/fox/promet...

Merry Christmas!

Something I found for you Habs fans as I was reading The Hockey News:

*Winning percentage under OLD coach:.464 vs NEW coach-.505

*a total of 36 teams have posted better records under the NEW coach for the remainder of that season while 16 of them were worse.

* 9 out of 42 coaches who took over teams that were out of a the playoffs managed to get their teams into a playoff position, while just three of 10 new coaches who were hired by teams ithat were already in a playoff position ended up on the outside looking in once the season ended.

* teams that got a new bench boss posted a .506 during their first 10 games and worked their way up to .521 in games 41-50 before declining again in the long run.

* out of 52 coaches fired, only 4 of them were fired after their team had just won a game.

That's pretty much word for word from The Hockey News January 2, 2012 Volume 65 page 21.

Gautier will be fired at the very latest during the offseason and I bet you'll be back at it again next year. Keep Cammy, and get rid of Gomez as all he is is just a big salary. Not sure if buying him out would count ALL against the cap, but you'd be better off trading him.

Personally, I'm surprised the Habs haven't gone with a guy like Randy Carlyle or Ted Nolan. If people can get over the French speaking thing those two may be a fit. I'm surprised that nobody has hired Nolan...don't forget he took an Islanders team that was supposed to finish dead last to the playoffs. Paul Maurice is also available.

nice reads... NOT sure about TED though......
Ted Nolan's NHL coaching career was quite brief. He won the Jack Adams Trophy for Coach of the Year in 1997, and his GM John Muckler won Executive of the Year that same year. His goalie Dominik Hasek won both the Vezina for Top Goalie of the Year AND the Hart Trophy for League MVP, and Mike Peca won the Selke for Defensive Forward of the Year.
Not all was happy in the Sabres organization though. In fact, it was one of the bigger public front office messes the league has seen in some time.
Behind the scenes a large power struggle had been taking place. Nolan, who wasn't very popular with most of his players for his style of pitting them against one another, had also been trying to sabatoge Muckler (his own GM) in an attempt to gain more team control because of a personality conflict with Muckler (and because Nolan wanted more power)
The team's star goalie Dominik Hasek, known as a brash individual not afraid to speak his mind and that can generate his own personality conflicts, was busy brewing his own conflict with Nolan. Hasek is a volatile player anyways, prone to sulking and depression, and at one point local media criticized Hasek and Nolan and the team rushed to his defense, and Hasek acted better. It was short-lived however. In the middle of the playoffs that year Hasek made it known that he would never play for Nolan again and that either Nolan had to be canned, or he be traded. Hasek backed his up by refusing to play the remainder of the playoffs (he was also suspended by the league in there, but he also had a suspicious "injury" he was claiming that nobody wopuld talk about that kept him out of other games he could have played) and the Sabres were eliminated. Hasek's demand had weight of its own -- he's a future Hall of Fame goalie and perrenial All-Star.
Nolan had been doing his own politicking in the background meanwhile, going behind Muckler's back to then President Larry Quinn in an attempt to get Quinn to fire Muckler so that he would be free of not only the conflict with him, but also gain more control over the team. A brash, stupid move by a young cooach who hadn't earned anything yet.
As soon as the season was over, Nolan got his wish -- Muckler was fired, despite his being named Executive of the Year less than 24 hours earlier. Quinn, in firing Muckler, took the unusual step of stating that Muckler had NOT been fired for doing his job poorly, which was odd because it made it seem like he didn't want to hurt Muckler's chances of getting rehired somewhere else and possibly even felt sorry for him. Nolan probably felt at that point he'd gotten his wish, could throw some weight around to bring in a GM he liked and could manipulate, and all would be well.
All was not well though, even with Muckler finally out of Nolan's way.
Apparently Quinn and Sabres ownership were still not really all that impressed with the problems Nolan's presence in the organization brought on. In June of that year the Sabres only offered Nolan a one year extension after his winning the Jack Adams. Nolan refused, calling the deal "insulting" -- bad move for a coach who should be relishing his NHL chance, not burning bridges.

also....
Hasek also wasn't budging. He reiterated his demand that it was either him, or Nolan.
In the meantime, Quinn began allowing Nolan to interview for coaching jobs with other NHL teams -- an odd move by NHL standards. Apparently Quinn had gotten less-than-positive responses form potential GM's he'd ha dpreliminary contact with, and they weren't too thrilled with the notion of hiring in and having to deal with Nolan. It seemed that if they wanted to get a decent GM, they would have to possibly axe Nolan as well and get him out of the way because he was already viewed as a "problem" by the rest of the league.
On June 12th the Sabres finally got a new GM in Darcy Reiger after failing to get their first two choices. One of Reiger's first tasks was to evaluate Nolan and the situation he'd caused. It didn't help that Muckler was well-liked amongst the rest of the front office because Muckler had been the one that hired them in. Reiger quickly found out how unpopular Nolan was with many in the organization. Ownership was split though on keeping Nolan (the team had multiple owners as partners). It was a mess.
Reiger even asked around the league about Nolan. He didn't get much of a better response there either, as John Mucker was well-liked and respected by his peers around the league.
Nolan had made enemies, and quickly. He didn't seem to have too many backers, as a result.
So on June 30th , 1997 the Sabres chose -- and fired Nolan weeks after his winning the Caoch of the Year honors. Ted Nolan had still lost in the longrun anyways, even though he'd managed to get Muckler canned like he wanted. Dominik Hasek would stay in Buffalo and eventually lead the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Finals
So here we are in 2005, and Nolan has never stood a serious chance at getting back into the NHL. Why is that?
Well it's obvious -- what GM would want to hire a coach with a history of backstabbing, and what owner wants to bring in a drama queen?

Personally I would prefer Carbonnea back and see Gauthier get fired....Carbonneau would make a good GM...Hes respected and has a great sense for the game...plus he was a captain.