Montreal Canadiens: A double meaning behind Claude Julien’s message to the team
Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien had a heavy message to the team at yesterday’s morning skate which could be taken in more ways than one.
It’s hard to keep your players dialled in, especially in the final few games of the regular season. It must be even more difficult when your team is set to miss the playoffs and the only left to play for is internal growth and self-recognition. Claude Julien has been quoted saying that he intends to make sure the Montreal Canadiens are playing their best regardless of the fact that they’ll be missing the playoffs for the second time in three years.
What he’s recently said has had fans talking. There’s been a lot of evaluation, especially when you consider how well younger players in Nikita Scherbak, Noah Juulsen, and Mike Reilly have been playing. Additionally, the likes of Alex Galchenyuk and Artturi Lehkonen to name a few are fighting to have a strong finish to the year.
It doesn’t take an experienced analyst to notice that some players have stood out in a bad way more times than Julien and the rest of the coaching staff would like. Call it what you like, but that was most likely part of the reason why Jordie Benn was made a healthy scratch Tuesday night against the Winnipeg Jets. Benn was obviously frustrated by the decision, but from it came the quote that may change how we view the team.
#Habs Julien with a frank quote on young players needing to push to improve and not take for granted that they are locks to make next year’s team: “Players have to get better or we have to get better players.”
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) April 3, 2018
Nothing wrong with that, and seeing as Julien is the coach, even if there was something wrong with it, he could say what he wants. Looking at the quote on the surface, it’s a way to make sure the younger players on the roster currently don’t lose the fire to improve and look for new ways to contribute. You can look at individuals like Brendan Gallagher and Paul Byron who never stop working and are having better seasons because of it.
More from Editorials
- Montreal Canadiens: Senators Rebuild At Crisis Point As Kent Hughes Moves Forward
- Montreal Canadiens: Jonathan Drouin Continues Charity Work In Montreal After Leaving Habs
- Montreal Canadiens: Laval Rocket Lineup Going To Be Must Watch
- Montreal Canadiens: Jesse Ylönen Contract Extension Analysis
- Montreal Canadiens: Top 31 Prospects – #31 Quentin Miller
That’s the surface meaning, but let’s play with this a little bit. What if that quote wasn’t all at the feet of the youth on the Montreal Canadiens. Sure there is going to be a significant difference of investment and interest in the likes of Jonathan Drouin, Jacob de La Rose, Galchenyuk, and Lehkonen, but shouldn’t that quote apply to some of the older players as well?
Benn, Karl Alzner, and David Schlemko will need to be better if they’re still here next season. If not, then the Montreal Canadiens will have to venture out and, as Julien said, get better players. Now, this ties into an additional meaning to this. Marc Bergevin, were you listening?
When the ‘Fire Julien’ posts were starting to appear, many made the point that there’s only so much he can do with the players on the team. The same went for the system he implements. If Julien isn’t up to making adjustments on it to compensate for the personnel, then he’ll need players on the team who can rise to the challenge.
Next: How a Hated Leafs Trade Got the Habs Joni Ikonen
Perhaps that was a subtle nudge to Bergevin and his grand master plan for the offseason. Granted, this is just looking at things from different angles. For all we know, what Julien said was only about the youth on the Montreal Canadiens and nothing else. However, it’s interesting to see how focus Julien appears to be as he’s already taking the measure to implement a hard-working culture and mentality into the players in the team.