Today marks the one year anniversary of the firing of Michel Therrien and the hiring of Claude Julien to be the new head coach of the Montreal Canadiens.
Good morning Montreal Canadiens fans and Happy Valentines Day. I hope your desks and/or mailboxes are filled with Habs flavoured card and also some of those heart-shaped candy things. However, for some of you, it could just be another day, and that’s alright, but it won’t be one for Claude Julien anymore.
A year ago today, the Habs chose to part with Michel Therrien replacing him with Julien to have his second go around with the team as head coach. The story behind Therrien’s departure is an ongoing topic, but fans were very receptive to the decision. Although Montreal was at the top of the Atlantic Division, the way they were playing gave signs of the wins not being sustainable.
With the Boston Bruins letting go of Julien earlier, it was a good opportunity for the Habs to bring him back for a victory lap. Not only that, he got a five-year contract to boot.
As we sit here five months into his first full season as head coach, it doesn’t take a high-class investigator to know that things haven’t gone the way anyone wanted. The fan perception of Julien has cycled this year where at times he’s being praised and others regretting his return.
A few critiques, in particular, is definitely his usage of Karl Alzner, Joseph Morrow, and Victor Mete (for other reasons). There’s also the choice to keep players such as Daniel Carr and Jakub Jerabek out of the lineup, but those can’t be helped either.
That said, although the season has turned out the way it has, it always seems like Julien is trying to make the best decisions to give them the best chance to win. You can’t deny the impact he’s had on Alex Galchenyuk‘s season as he went from being a player on the fourth line who would sometimes be stapled to the bench to a confident engaging force. Additionally, he’s allowed Nikita Scherbak the freedom to spread his wings a little bit and it’s been paying off.
Growth is going to be the Habs’ mantra between now and the beginning of next season. Despite the frustrating moves at times from Julien, right now he’s the right man for the job. Hopefully, there’s a little more positivity around the Habs when he reaches his second year anniversary.
Do you have any favourite memories or moments from Julien yet? Check out these links below and drop a comment.
Morning Links
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