The Montreal Canadiens chose to keep Michel Therrien after relieving him of his coaching duties, but his future is cloudy as his contract is set to expire.
The Montreal Canadiens did something that many saw coming. It was still an unorthodox decision even though it was arguably the right one. The team chose to fire Michel Therrien during the 2016-17 season despite being first in the Atlantic Division.
The team had another hot start to their season winning 9 of their first 10 games. Because of that, the Habs were the first team to reach the 20-point mark with still a lot of hockey left to play. What was concerning for followers of the club was how they were winning.
The majority of the victories came at the expense of being both out-shot and out-chanced. Additionally, Al Montoya was a big part of it who started three of the team’s first five games. Montreal reaped the benefits of their start which had them cool off significantly. Injuries to Andrei Markov, Brendan Gallagher, and Alex Galchenyuk didn’t help, but the team’s play didn’t improve once they returned.
It left Marc Bergevin with no choice but to search for a new voice in the room and that came at the expense of Therrien’s job. The two-time Habs coach didn’t leave the organization entirely. He revealed on TSN radio that he would be joining the team as a scout. Seeing as how he was on contract, it made sense for him to do something.
The original extension was a four-year contract signed on Saturday, June 14th, 2014. It’s almost a wrap for Therrien as far as that contract goes.
Nothing will be known about his work in the last year until the draft, assuming that is even revealed. Bergevin could continue to revamp his front office which may include new personnel in the team’s scouting staff.
Odds are Therrien is left free to walk and search for work elsewhere. Similarly to Rick Dudley, he’s part of an old way of thinking that the Montreal Canadiens may be trying to move away from. Who knows, maybe he returns years down the line as a coach of some kind (knocks on wood furiously).
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