Former Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien sat down with 91.9 Sports on Tuesday to finally break his silence and talk about his removal from the team.
February 14th 2017. The day when a lot of Montreal Canadiens fans got their wish. It was the day the team decided to part ways from then head coach Michel Therrien.
Many thought that this move should’ve came earlier. Perhaps even at the end of the disastrous 2015-2016 season where the Habs went from being a top team in the Eastern Conference to having a chance at winning the draft lottery. Even before that, fans voiced their displeasure with Therrien.
In particular how he handled certain players. His relationship with P.K. Subban didn’t look to be too solid. Additionally, the way Therrien used prospects added to the line-up was questionable at times.
Despite all of that, Therrien was a good coach for the Montreal Canadiens. After five seasons spent as the bench boss, he finished with a record of 194-121-37. Of course that includes the 2013-2014 season where the Canadiens made it all the way to the Conference Final.
Unfortunately, he was never able to get it done in Montreal. And when I say it, I mean winning a Stanley Cup. One of Marc Bergevin‘s first moves as GM was bringing Therrien back for a second stint for the team. Their friendship was well-known it couldn’t have been easy to let him go.
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Even though Therrien was fired about seven months ago, he has yet to speak to any media about it. That was until Tuesday. Therrien sat down with 91.9 Sports to talk about his time with the team and his experience after being fired from the Montreal Canadiens.
La première entrevue de Michel Therrien depuis son congédiement le 14 février dernier, c'est maintenant avec @JiCLajoie ! #JiCenliberte pic.twitter.com/nOnXgIDaPF
— BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) September 5, 2017
Therrien’s Side of the Story
The timing of did and didn’t make sense. On one hand, the Montreal Canadiens were first in the Atlantic Division and looked to keep that position. On the other hand, they were 3-7 in their last 10 games before the bye-week.
Fans wanted a change. Analysts wanted a change. Perhaps even the players wanted a change. However, Michel Therrien was surprised he was let go saying (translated):
"We all know when we get in there that we have a certain time. When you coach , you always have a certain time with each team… No (I never suspected it). It was known, on receiving the calendar, that this portion of the season would be difficult. So we were all looking forward to the break. We knew that afterwards, we would have a more favourable timetable. We knew that this break would do good both physically and mentally."
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Obviously it’s a results league, but the cushion that Therrien appeared to have wasn’t there anymore. Around the same time, Claude Julien, who was on the other side of the Boston Bruins rivalry, had been made available. Therrien’s firing was an acknowledgement that a change needed to be made but at the same time making the best of an opportunity.
Does Therrien get fired if Julien doesn’t? Probably not. Montreal very well could’ve and gone with an interim situation with Kirk Muller.
In terms of regrets, the 53-year-old didn’t fail to mention that deep playoff run in 2014. Hate to open up old wounds, but Chris Kreider injuring Carey Price was a major loss for the Montreal Canadiens. Therrien reflected on it saying:
"We lost in six games with Tokarski in the net. If we had Carey, I’m hopeful that we would have been able to pass that series and go to the final."
I’m sure all Montreal Canadiens fans would’ve been hopeful for that as well. From the sense of the interview, it seems like Therrien doesn’t have any hard feelings and has moved on. Whether he’ll ever get another NHL coaching job in the future is to be determined.
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What did you think initially feel about the Therrien firing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.