In a stunning move, Montreal Canadiens General Manager Pierre Gauthier has fired Head Coach Jacques Martin. With the club sitting 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 13-12-7 record, it was time to move the struggling team in a new direction. The word “stunning” is used only because the Canadiens have a reputation of being an old boys club, and so this move perhaps represents a changing of the guard.
Habs fans will be generally happy with the move, mostly because his passive-resistance style of coaching has been boring to watch and many have felt that he is responsible for the struggles of offensive players like Mike Cammalleri. Martin was under contract for the remainder of this season and next season.
Love him or hate him; Jacques Martin deserves to be thanked for his services. In his first year with the club, he guided them all the way to the Conference Finals where they lost to the Flyers, and his team made the playoffs in his second season as well.
Randy Cunneyworth will serve as the interim Head Coach, with assistant GM Larry Carriere joining him as an assistant. Pierre Gauthier does look a bit foolish now for losing young coaches from the Canadiens system like Guy Boucher and Kirk Muller.
Martin is the 6th Head Coach to be fired this season, joining Davis Payne, Paul Maurice, Bruce Boudreau, Randy Carlyle and Terry Murray.
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Written by Corey Krakower
I am the Director of NHL Content & Habs writer for ProSportsBlogging.com; I have spent 8 seasons behind the bench as a minor hockey coach; and I am the future GM of the Montreal Canadiens (according to my mom). I spend my days managing the Harrow Sports brand in my hometown of Montreal and I moonlight as a Hockey Advisor for Pi Athlete Management. Most importantly, I'll throw anyone under the bus for a laugh.
Jeff G Dec 17 20115:13 pm
It was inevitable but the real culprit of the Habs demise is the “Ghost” Gauthier! He needs to go!