Montreal Canadiens: Looking Back at Michel Therrien’s Second Stint With Habs
Therrien took over after disastrous season
An even more compelling character in Habs history is the Flyers current assistant coach, Michel Therrien. He, like Julien, had two stints as Habs coach, and there were no shortage of naysayers and hecklers during his more recent stretch with the Canadiens that ended in 2017.
LADIES & GENTLEMEN BOYS & GIRLS CHILDREN OF ALL AGES! MICHEL THERRIEN HAS BEEN FIRED!!!!#FireTherrien
— All About The Habs (@AATHabs) February 14, 2017
This is my favourite tweet the Habs page has made since it announced that Therrien was fired. https://t.co/Z7e8TOec5J
— Mike Blondin (@MikeBlondin) August 10, 2020
When Therrien was finally let go, it almost seemed inevitable with all the vitriol fired his way on social media. Watching Therrien on the Philadelphia Flyers bench in this playoff series with the Habs makes one think back to his time in Montreal. It isn’t remembered very fondly thanks to twitter, but was he really that bad?
Therrien took over the Canadiens bench (for the second time) after they suffered through a difficult 2011-12 season. The Habs dealt with a few key injuries that season, but had one line capable of producing offence with David Desharnais, Erik Cole and Max Pacioretty all scoring over 60 points.
The team finished with a 31-35-14 record and cost two men – Jacques Martin and Randy Cunneyworth- their position as head coach. In stepped Therrien for a second time, to try and build a contender out of the 28th placed team in the league.