Montreal Canadiens: Which Version of Dominique Ducharme Will We See?

If there ever should be a new Olympic event, fans debating about their team in the off-season should practically be one. A gold medal to you if you’ve spent countless time sitting with friends and family and debating the “if’s” and “but’s” of the upcoming Montreal Canadiens season.

The additions and subtractions and the analytics giving us nightmarish shades of learning algebra all over again. The X’s and Y’s flying all over the place to support or dismiss a player. A nightmare I say.

The debates won’t end however until the puck drops on the new season. By then, it’ll be a whole other story.

In the meantime, while we’re still wondering how the opening night lineup will look like and if they’re good enough to go deep in the playoffs again, a notable topic of discussion also involves the men behind the Canadiens’ bench.

With the interim tag removed, Dominique Ducharme now has the power to manage his team the way he wants. Head coaches normally have some form of saying as to what kind of player they want on their team so the additions of David Savard, Cedric Paquette, Mathieu Perreault and Chris Wideman are all the kind of players that Ducharme loves – hard-working and dedicated.

Whether you want to accept the fact or not, when Claude Julien and Kirk Muller were let go, Ducharme was put in the driver’s seat but with the teacher beside him. It’s kind of like starting a new job or position at work and having a supervisor shadow you for 3 months with the threat that they can fire you at any time if things don’t go as planned. That’s exactly what Ducharme went through last season with that interim tag looming over his head.

Rarely do we see a coach come in and change everything on a dime. Regardless of the sport or job you’re in, you don’t come crashing through the gates and say everything will change overnight. It takes time for people to adapt. At the start of last season, Claude Julien was sitting in his 5th season at the helm of the team. That’s 5 years of listening and adapting to one man’s rule. You can’t erase all of that overnight.

We saw Ducharme, however, impose a modified version of Julien’s strategy with an emphasis on the blue line carrying the puck for the rush. Something that might have caught some teams off guard at first but quickly caught on. You can do that if your defensive corp consists of puck-moving defensemen like Victor Hedman, Alex Pietrangelo or Morgan Reilly. You can’t do that with Weber, Chiarot or Edmundson, whose primary goal is to block and hit.

We also saw some questionable usage of lines and personnel after the trade deadline and into the playoffs. Almost as if there had to be justification to use Eric Staal, Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson so often. It was pretty clear that Marc Bergevin was the one that had the hands on the wheel and decided how this team was going to be played.

Bergevin and Julien shared a similar vision of what this team should look like. Big and tough to play against. A team that will leave you black and blue after only a period. In other words, there was harmony between coach and GM since that’s what got Julien to win a cup with the Bruins in the first place.

When the news came out that some veterans, heavily rumoured to have been Corey Perry and Eric Staal, stood up in the dressing room after the 4-0 beating in Game 4 against the Leafs, the word was starting to spread that the message being sent was not aimed only at the players. The coaching staff was called upon to step up as well and lead this team. That’s when the major changes started taking place.

A tough and hard skating practice ensued and the top 4 defensemen in Weber, Petry, Chiarot and Edmundson were asked to shut the perimeter and make sure no one gets through. The rest of the team were to support them and keep their eyes open for the long pass and crash the net as much as possible in order to create pressure and to give the chance for the back end to do quick and often shift changes.

Jon Merrill went from playing 16:38 in Game 4 to a mere 9:18 in Game 5. Gustafsson played 6:39 in Game 6 and 10:20 in Game 7. Ducharme wasn’t going to let anyone dictate anything and insisted on heavy minutes from the big 4 at the blue line and played even minutes with the top 9 wingers while Danault played heavy defensive-minded minutes down the middle.

What ensued was a “trap on steroids” type of play with emphasis given on blocking shots and the wingers relied upon their speed and strength to drive the offense, something guys like Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher have made a career of.

When Luke Richardson took over while Ducharme was away due to testing positive for COVID-19, Ducharme was still pulling the strings at a distance. It was reported that he would talk to everyone via Zoom in between periods and before and/or after practices as well. This time, he started taking control of the wheel.

Many will argue that the Habs wouldn’t have gotten this far if Perry and Staal hadn’t stood up after Game 4 and they’d probably be right. That’s the advantage of bringing in veterans and leadership in a locker room.

Now, however, Perry is off to Tampa Bay while Staal is still mulling over if he still wants to play or not. The Canadiens’ biggest leader in captain Shea Weber is likely making retirement plans with his wife and kids as we speak. So as much experience as everyone else acquired during this incredible playoff run, it’s going to be up to Ducharme to pave the way towards success.

Ducharme is young and hungry and has a lot to prove. The same can be said for Alex Burrows who will once again have the task of leading the offense and powerplay. Luke Richardson has firmly established himself as a good assistant coach managing the blue line but the pressure will be on him to make sure the defence takes a step forward despite the loss of Weber.

Trevor Letowski has been brought into the mix as a new assistant coach. The former NHLer and head coach of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL has worked with Ducharme at the World Junior Championships so their relationship is not new. However, the bottom line is replacing Julien and Muller with Ducharme, Burrows and Letowski is a huge dip in NHL experience.

Will this lack of experience play against the Canadiens or is this the breath of fresh air everyone needs? Is the team still motivated despite losing their captain? Will it be up to Ducharme to lead or will some players stand up and take charge?

Are we going to see the real Dominique Ducharme we saw glimpses of in the playoffs or will Marc Bergevin keep a tight leash on his coaching staff knowing this might be his final year with the Canadiens and maybe even the NHL?

Dust off your scientific calculators, more X’s and Y’s are headed your way.