Just one week after the Bruins fired head coach Claude Julien, he has a new job – with Boston’s chief rivals. Generally speaking, first place coaches aren’t fired in-season. So as much as the move to bring back Julien is something along the lines of a spur-of-the-moment leap toward what the Habs hope is a positively fresh voice running the show, this turnover is also, in a way, a half of a season in the making.
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Speculation had been building that Therrien would be let go.
Can you imagine the kind of blood-boiling, frothing-at-the-mouth vengeance that the proud, distinguished Julien must be feeling toward the Bruins for him to eschew all the National Hockey League gigs waiting for him this offseason, and instead sign right on with the Canadiens in midseason?
Julien is still under contract with the Bruins, so the team had to give Montreal permission to talk to him. Both teams have played 58 games. He continued to say that he came to the conclusion that the team needed to find new energy, and a new direction.
“I don’t know if there’s a lesson”, Julien said about his first experience in Montreal.
So Julien’s now coaching the Bruins’ archrival, 10 years after he first came to Boston and six years after he led Boston to its only Stanley Cup championship in the past 54 years. “I am convinced that he has the capabilities to get our team back on the winning track”.
Owner Geoff Molson tweeted Tuesday afternoon: “Michel Therrien, merci beaucoup pour tout, thank you for giving everything you had to our Team”. He was replaced by Bruce Cassidy, and the B’s are a flawless 3-0-0 since his departure, with the last victory coming in a dominant 4-0 win over the Canadiens on Sunday night. “It’s a short conversation, about 20 seconds, just so you know”. Many feel the only reason that Therrien lasted as long as he did is because whoever they replaced him with had to be fluent in French. The latest episode is below and check us out on ITUNES as well! Who among us wouldn’t jump at any chance to coach his or her childhood team? There’s still a few days to kill before the Habs play again, but there’s a growing sense of optimism that this coaching change immediately makes Montreal a contender again.
The Bruins were 26-23-6 at the time of Julien’s termination.
Therrein has been under pressure since the mid-part of last season when the Canadiens tumble began.
With the Montreal Canadiens seeing their lead in the Atlantic Division slipping away, Les Habitantes made a major move on Tuesday, firing coach Michel Therrien and naming Julien as his replacement with 24 games left in the Canadiens’ season. Not counting his time with the New Jersey Devils, he’s only coached a team that’s missed the playoffs four times in 13 years. Unfortunately, the two seasons that they were forced to sit out have been the most recent, lining Julien up as the next to fall in a frustrated Bruins organization.
Julien is moving on to the place nearly every Bruins fan didn’t want him to go.
Under Therrien, Montreal missed the playoffs a year ago after a hot start, with a serious injury to star goalie Carey Price contributing to the team’s collapse. A 4-0 loss at NHL-worst Colorado on February 7 wasn’t acceptable.
It is an older, more confident Julien who will guide the Canadiens this time around.
Julien, 56, coached the Bruins to a 419-246-94 record during his 10 seasons in Boston, including a Stanley Cup title in 2010-11.
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Boston has created a monster not only for themselves, but for the rest of the Eastern Conference.
