|
Post by Doc Holliday on Dec 23, 2002 13:28:24 GMT -5
A poster by the name of EMB from HABFANS heard an interesting story on the radio from Renaud Lavoie.
He basically said that Therrien was almost axed a few weeks ago (following the Dallas defeat) and that no matter how well the team will play this year that the guy is out at the end of the season. According to Lavoie, the only reason why the team is doing good is because the players took it upon themselves to turn things around and that the coaching staff have no control over anything going on right now. He compared Therrien's situation with the one of Ftorek a couple of years ago in NJ when the players turned on him and he finally got canned just before the playoffs.
...I don't know what to think of this...
#1 Savard created for Therrien a situation where he was certain to carry disgruntled vets. IMO he needs to share part of the blame.
#2 If a journalist "knows" this, it must be a pretty obvious situation and if it is, why is Savard keeping MT in charge ?
Or Lavoie knows nothing and was just shooting in the dark to see what he could fetch...
|
|
|
Post by MPLABBE on Dec 23, 2002 13:38:45 GMT -5
Here is his post...I know this is not BS because Lavoie is always on that show...almost every week..
''Last night during another bout of insomnia, i was listening to the team 990 - montreal - 1 AM - the locker room show with norman and Earl- was i the only loser listening? anyhow..something crazy happened..they got in touch at 1 AM with Renaud Lavoie at his hotel room in uniondale - RDS/Habs reporter..I don't know if Lavoie was drunk, but he revealed some mighty juicy stuff - that you might not get otherwise...and he's in the know..if any reporter is in the know - it would be him...
here are some of the key points
1. 2 weeks ago -especially after game against dallas - someone 'high up' in habs management and at RDS asked him to start running a story that MT's head was on the chopping block..he wavered on it and instead Mathias Brunet ran one in la presse that saturday saying/citing anonymous sourcesthat MT's job was in jeopardy b(it wasn't players) - of course that weekend - habs went on a tear after colorado..so rumors died down.. lavoie acknowleges there are very deep concerns within habs management about MT - most importantly is that many players have little respect for him.. lavoie speculates on one of two things happened- either MT is a genius and has forced the players to take matters into their own hands by putting the the responsibility on them to be like a team (a la scotty bowman) -but this doesn't ring true as players have more power than ever in removing coaches- or 2 - with the amount of leadership in the room..the players decided they wanted to win.. but lavoie led on the whichever it was MT..was absolutely NOT in control of his team - of course everyone agreed that this coincides with theo getting hot too.. and the 2nd point which was much more interesting was that when earl said to renaud. 'how can he lose his job now? they're playing well" lavoie said: "remember ftorek in NJ? How great they were in december that year? Well eventually they tuined him out in march and he was fired with five games left..and they went on to win the stanley cup - players will only put up with a coach they don't like for so long"
he added "the habs are the 4th olderst team in the NHL..no rookies" he kept saying "no rookies" when they both asked if lavoie was insinuating MT would be fired - because of his ftorek analogy he said... "the players will only go as far as they need to go for coach..for the team, that is a different story..either way if the habs make the playoffs or not...look for big changes'
when they pushed him further...he was smug
'ah just talk to me in april and you'll see what i mean..ask me these questions again in april'
pretty ominous stuff on a show maybe lavoie felt nobody was listening to.. but ya got the scoop here first!
o yeah he also said that if theo stays reasonably hot..hack will be gone soon''
Hmmmm
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Dec 23, 2002 13:54:33 GMT -5
What's Montreal without a controversy? The team is playing well and firing on all cylinders and this bozo journalist steals the attention away from that and focus' on his perceptions of "this-is-what-I-know," scenario.
Whatever. Give these guys a break is what I'd tell this, ahem, reporter. What do you think the odds of that would be? Not too good as his paper is no doubt going to sell many editions.
Just doesn't stop does it? I know, Doug Gilmour is on steroids. Someone has to do a scoop on that!
Unfreakin' believable. Cheers.
|
|
|
Post by MPLABBE on Dec 23, 2002 14:03:59 GMT -5
well, this show airs at 1 am Monday morning so chances are about 10 people were listening ;D
also, you never know what the guys hosting the show asked as a question.
|
|
|
Post by TheHabsfan on Dec 23, 2002 14:10:33 GMT -5
Well... I can't say that I am disappointed. I have been waiting for the kind of sh*t to hit the fan for a while. I hope a change happens sooner rather than later. One thing that I am happy about...the players have enough pride to play their hearts out regardless of hating their coach. Many teams would play crappy hockey to get rid of their coaches. But not these guys! Viva Koivu, Gilmour and co.
|
|
|
Post by Ged on Dec 23, 2002 14:14:01 GMT -5
Like I said before, the clock is ticking. Time is not on MT's side. Carolina...bench minor... It's painful to see your team struggling through the high seas, with no captain at the helm.
And the men who hold high places Must be the ones who start To mould a new reality Closer to the heart
|
|
Nai
Rookie
Posts: 8
|
Post by Nai on Dec 23, 2002 14:21:51 GMT -5
The same thing happened in '86 when the players got fed up of Jean Perron and started to play for each other instead of playing for the coach...and see what happened! Gainey took charge of the team. Perron had no choice but to follow the "parade".
|
|
|
Post by Ryan on Dec 23, 2002 15:02:06 GMT -5
I'm not getting my hopes up despite recent success and think all the sudden MT learned how to coach.
He sucks, and he needs to be fired ASAP along with the coaching staff. We're not playing any different right now, just Theo found his game and has won a couple games behind some decent scoring.
Nothing has been fixed, this team will be broken until a new coach is in place.
|
|
|
Post by JohnnyVerdun on Dec 23, 2002 15:12:22 GMT -5
well, this show airs at 1 am Monday morning so chances are about 10 people were listening ;D also, you never know what the guys hosting the show asked as a question. I was listening. Don't ask. Anyway, although it may partly be a linguistic thing, this character Lavoie sounded like a total crackhead. If you get any smarmier sounding you don't have to go to pimp school. He's a really revolting sounding character, imo, who really relishes sounding like someone who's in the know. I can't stress how not straightforward a character this is. Anyway, what it all boiled down to was that the players were not playing for MT but for themselves.....? Hello? This is 2002. Who gives a flying french f#ck why they play. For money, for love of the game, for eachother, for pride, for their coach. What difference does it make? Coaches are judged on results. Therrien will be here until he stops getting results. He fits Savard's needs right now. A coach who will not step out of line and who's acceptable to the press and the public. By the way, he also referred to Jacques Martin as the greatest coach in the game, and said he put him up there with Scotty Bowman, before adding that Martin "would never be fired". He's a total waste-product. I wouldn't trust him to give me directions to Canadian Tire, much less for the inside scoop on what's going on in Habville....
|
|
|
Post by HFTO on Dec 23, 2002 15:18:05 GMT -5
If MT is a lame duck coach I think its up to Savardto recognize that and make a change before our fortunes turn. IMO I still think we should be making a move to improve the team. HFTO
|
|
|
Post by habwest on Dec 23, 2002 18:25:17 GMT -5
Hmmm....team plays well, GM fires coach. Now wouldn't the media have a field day with that. Ol' AS has made a few mistakes but he's not suicidal.
As far as this guy Lavoie having a "scoop", it was pretty clear that the players took the decision to play better, for whatever reason, after the Dallas disaster when they had a player's only meeting the next day. Immediately after their play started to improve. Even Homer could have figured that one out.
If the players are in fact in charge, and winning, as long as MT and co. have the smarts to open the gate and stand aside they may well hang around for quite a while.
|
|
|
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Dec 23, 2002 22:41:04 GMT -5
By the way, he also referred to Jacques Martin as the greatest coach in the game, and said he put him up there with Scotty Bowman, before adding that Martin "would never be fired". He's a total waste-product. I wouldn't trust him to give me directions to Canadian Tire, much less for the inside scoop on what's going on in Habville.... Jacques Martin is indeed a fine coach, JV, but he has been given the talent to work with as well. The thing that makes Martin a good coach is that he gets that talent to listen to him and they play well together as a result. Bowman is also one of the greatest coaches of all time, but note I didn't say THE greatest of all time. I won't go through them all, but Scotty will be the first to tell you that he had tremendously talented teams to coach all through his career. And if you chronologically follow his NHL tenure he's had the luxury of picking what teams he's had the privlege of coaching. I don't know this guy from Adam, JV, but as far as I'm concerned he's grabbing attention where he can. Things are going well, but ..... Cheers.
|
|
|
Post by Vichab on Dec 24, 2002 2:12:37 GMT -5
Dis, you're absolutely right about bowman and his talented teams except for when he was in buffalo where he didn't have much talent and he had a dismal record.
This guy lavoie sounds like a moron. besides has he said anything out of the obvious. with the payroll on this team if they slip far below .500 MT is gone. he was close to that a few weeks ago. Being outshot by a large margin in most games is ridiculous and cost us again tonight. MT is useless and the sooner he goes the better. I would prefer the boys go on a long losing streak to dump MT now then waiting until the end of the season.
|
|