Montreal Canadiens: The impact of the Gerard Gallant firing

There have been a lot of coaches fired this season, but Gerard Gallant is a name who the Montreal Canadiens have looked to before.

The Montreal Canadiens saw their almost win streak come to an end Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. However, it was a different kind of loss than what the team has displayed this season. At the same time, it wasn’t the only thing that came to an end that day as Gerard Gallant is now jobless.

Despite having two eight-game losing streaks, there have rarely been games where the Canadiens looked as if they gave up. Claude Julien has demanded effort from his players regardless of the result of the game and it’s shown in how they play. The Blackhawks game was different.

The Montreal Canadiens looked slow, defeated, and reckless. That recklessness in some ways cost them the game as Max Domi‘s roughing penalty in the second period led to Alex Debrincat’s powerplay goal to make it 3-1. The game was reachable before then. After that, it was over and as much as some question Julien’s decision to bench Domi, he deserved it.

That doesn’t change the fact that it’s another loss for Montreal. It was their 28th to be exact (21st in regulation), and it looks as if the plan now is to ride out the rest of the season. They’re sixth in the Atlantic Division with 47 points in 48 games with little to no hope of making the playoffs. But will everything ride out?

Shocking news broke the hockey world Wednesday as the Vegas Golden Knights announced the firing of Gerard Gallant. The Golden Knights were in a slump losing their last four games and hovering outside of a playoff spot. However, it seemed as if they were getting really unlucky as the number of chances and shots they’d generate each game generally leads to success. Obviously, management didn’t think they could wait for the positive swing and made the decision.

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Gallant shocked everyone by bringing that expansion team to a Stanley Cup Final in their first year. Vegas continued their success in the regular season and the playoffs the season after but weren’t able to make it as high. Everyone should remember the infamous five-minute major that saw the Golden Knights allow four goals on one penalty to lose that seventh game in overtime eventually.

It makes Gallant’s replacement even more puzzling as Peter DeBoer is taking his place. It doesn’t look as if the Golden Knights were planning on making the change from the get-go. There were reports flying around that the two sides were working on a contract extension. What it looks like, as an outside observer, is Vegas saw an opportunity and chose to hire DeBoer before another team could jump in.

Which brings us to the Montreal Canadiens. Claude Julien has looked more and more frustrated as the season has gone on. He must know the temperature of his seat, and we don’t know what Marc Bergevin is thinking.  The Habs GM has made decisions when he felt it was for the best, that’s how Julien was hired in the first place.

If Gallant is a good replacement, you have to think Julien’s time is running up.

Gallant was part of the Habs staff back when Michel Therrien was the coach, and he seemed to have a positive impact on the locker room and the players. He’s a players coach, and his team plays hard for him. He inspires them to do better and trusts that they can get the job done. Again, look at what he did with Vegas. Expansion teams take years to be as good as the Golden Knights were and Gallant was able to make them play to their strengths.

Claude Julien isn’t a bad coach, but something needs to change. This is not to say Julien has lost the room. However, if Gallant is an improvement, it would be a mistake to let him pass before another team swoops in.