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Post by UberCranky on Oct 31, 2002 7:26:26 GMT -5
Translated by mr. bozo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ www.cyberpresse.ca/reseau/sports/0210/spo_102100152232.html~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Certain players challenge Michel Therrien Canadian Press Montreal Things aren't going well for the Canadiens and, as is almost always the case, problems on the ice are mirrored off the ice. Unless it's the opposite? The coach is being challenged. In soft tones perhaps, but very clearly nevertheless. Last week, it was Mariusz Czerkawski who reluctantly accepted being benched for a game and who complained openly that his coach had not even greeted him on his arrival in Montreal and had not really talked with him, contrary to what the other had said. Wednesday, it was Donald Audette's turn to bring the same complaint forward, regarding Therrien: "There was no meeting. 'Hi, good morning'. If that's a meeting... " Czerkawski also stated that it was more difficult for him to play on the left side, while Audette's dissatisfaction echoed. Doug Gilmour also chimed in. Speaking about his move to left wing, to which he agreed willingly, according to Therrien, the veteran declared: "In any case, it's not for the rest of the season..." This is the same player who did not want to play left wing in Buffalo and who "required" to only play centre when coming to Montreal. Gilmour even acknowledged his frustration after last Saturday's game against Ottawa when he said that he wasn't going to remain in Montreal more than a week if things did not improve. "I have a choice between playing 11 or 18 minutes, he said. I want to play 18 minutes and for the moment, the only way to get this ice time is to play left wing." Gilmour is perhaps a time-bomb, but the Canadiens' leaders have always protected him and, as late as Tuesday, Therrien found a way of praising his modest performance. Double standard? A so-so start to the season The Canadiens aimed at a strong start to the season from their camp in Colorado. After the first month, they have a record of just .500, despite having played six of the first nine games at home. And one has to wonder where they would be without Jeff Hackett? In passing, who would have believed that anyone would have asked this question three weeks after the beginning of the season? The good news is that before Wednesday only five teams in the East had played better than .500: Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Boston, New Jersey and Pittsburgh, having only seven losses in total, one less than the Thrashers! The Canadiens find themselves in a group of four teams with .500 records. But when Therrien and his players declare that one of the problems is that the team has too many forwards to satisfy everyone's desire for ice time, someone is telling stories. How is it that the Canadiens have a surplus of talent and are overstocked with strong forwards? Let's see! Actually they have too many (small ones) of the same type. Consult the statistics: unfortunately often injured, Saku Koivu never had more than 57 points in one season; Czerkawski's production of has decreased each year for three years, from 70 to 51 points; Audette had a 71 point campaign in 64 games in Atlanta, but that was an exceptional year with an expansion team, and he could concentrate on the attack; the personal records of Yanic Perreault, Richard Zednik and Oleg Petrov are respectively 56, 47 and 44 points. And that's without mentioning the defense... The Canadiens are undoubtedly over-estimated by many observers, and you can bet that deep down its leaders know that very well.
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Post by UberCranky on Oct 31, 2002 7:27:39 GMT -5
Again, dug up by mr/ bozo ~~~~~~~~~ www.cyberpresse.ca/reseau/sports/0210/spo_102100152257.html~~~~~~~~~ Audette opens up Simon Drouin La Presse With the image of Mariusz Czerkawski, last Saturday, in his mind, Donald Audette had to speak his heart following his scratch from the lineup against Anaheim. Just like his Polish colleague, the Québécois forward was not particularly tender towards his coach at noon Wednesday. Obviously the channels of communication in the Canadiens' entourage deserve a serious cleaning. Without complaining openly, Audette admitted to not having had a discussion with his coach or his assistants after being benched Tuesday. "There was no meeting. 'Hi. Good morning'. If that's a meeting... ", declared Audette in a low voice, after practice Wednesday. Remarks which echo about that which Czerkawski complained about a few days ago. The day before Therrien was invited to provide explanations about Audette at the end of his press confrence. "A reaction is what we want. You can talk, but in context, you want a certain reaction from the player so that he increases his level of play", explained the Canadiens' coach. In fact, Therrien doesn't have to reach far to justify his decision. The small right winger has a blank record for the first eight games of the season. Worse still, he carries a poor -6 rating. "It's obvious that my statistics aren't strong, but I'll finish well. I've always finished well. I have more character than that and I'll show it. For sure there's a little frustration, that's not good. But it's the decision of the coach and I have to to live with." It's not the first time that the 33 year old veteran has had a slow start to the season. He had the same problem with Dallas last season. A promotion to the Mike Modano line helped him get untracked. Wednesday at practice Audette was found with Chad Kilger and Randy McKay... "It takes only one goal and the confidence returns. Confidence is significant and right now, it's not there. It's ice time that I want. If I don't get it I can't produce. But I have to earn it." When a scorer can't find the back of the net any more doubt settles in. "It's like you're in a bubble: you don't want to make mistakes because you know that they can be costly. When you think on the ice it's not good. I need to come back and play the game I'm capable of in the Canadiens' system. I haven't scored 250 goals in the league because I'm lucky..."
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Post by Bobs_HABit on Oct 31, 2002 9:03:07 GMT -5
tick, tick, tick goes the time bomb
or better yet the Good Ship Habitant is iceberg bound and the men at the helm, most specificily AS & MT, are in the dining lounge eating burritos.
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Post by MPLABBE on Oct 31, 2002 10:47:55 GMT -5
tick, tick, tick goes the time bomb or better yet the Good Ship Habitant is iceberg bound and the men at the helm, most specificily AS & MT, are in the dining lounge eating burritos. That about sums it up. Especially the burito part ;D
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Oct 31, 2002 12:07:14 GMT -5
The Canadiens don't have too many forwards. Numerically we may have more than other teams, but in total weight our 12 top forwards weigh less than their top nine forwards. It all evens out if only we are allowed 7 playes on the ice, right AS?
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Oct 31, 2002 12:52:04 GMT -5
Therrien isn't smart enough to find the plank and even if he did could he stay on course? As Howie Meeker said, "He couldn't hit the ocean from the end of a pier!"
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Post by HFTO on Oct 31, 2002 16:32:04 GMT -5
The sad part about this whole mess is that AS should have addressed the situation in the off season.I am quite sure the season will have to be lost before MT walks the proverbial plank,and it could besooner than you think. Remember Nov.18th trouble is brewing. HFTO
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Post by Habs_fan_in_LA on Oct 31, 2002 18:53:28 GMT -5
The sad part about this whole mess is that AS should have addressed the situation in the off season.I am quite sure the season will have to be lost before MT walks the proverbial plank,and it could besooner than you think. Remember Nov.18th trouble is brewing. HFTO Absolutely right HFTO! The fact that MTheaded is a bad coach is MT's fault. The fact that he is Montreal's bad coach is AS's fault. They both deserve to walk the plank!! Georgie, are you listening!!!
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Post by Viper on Oct 31, 2002 19:51:22 GMT -5
www.faceoff.com/nhl/teams/canadiens/news/story.html?f=/news/20021031/021031News217294.htmlThe team's new controversy involves winger Donald Audette, who was not happy to be a healthy scratch against Anaheim and said so to reporters the following day. Therrien would not say if Audette would dress against Carolina. Audette, who does not yet have a point this season, took turns skating with three other fourth-line players on Thursday. Blouin will likely join that mix when he meets up with the team in Carolina. Audette also got into a mini-altercation in practice after he was cross-checked by defenceman Craig Rivet during a three-on-three drill. The dispute was broken up by the other players. "It was nothing," said Rivet. "When you're working hard and battling, things like that happen. "I gave him a tap on the pads after it was done and it was all over." Rivet may have fired a more painful shot after practice when he was asked if there was discontent on the team over ice time. Winger Mariusz Czerkawski also complained publicly when he was scratched for a game last Saturday. "We have a lot of talent on all four lines so whoever is having success gets the ice time," said Rivet. "We're pro players here. "If you work hard and come to compete, you play. If other guys are not happy and not playing, there's a reason for it. It's because they're not working." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's Rivet coming forward to speak as a leader intersting that these comment's are coming forward it's time we got the role's down pat i think certain guy's are expecting to fill roles and other's are fighting for the same one. hopefully this weeds out a couple of problem's so the loser's can be moved to fill the leftover holes. For example : the first line Koivu Zed and..... chow/audette whoever step's up and proves he wants and can fill the slot(this crap shoulda been sorted out in camp but) the other get's a third or fourth line role until moved. maybe there's more to this blouin acquisition than we think it could be he's gonna be a hole filler after thing's get sorted out with the lines. who knows. i'm looking for anything right now to try and justify the move does anyone else think it's possible or am i just pulling strings and hoping here ??
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Oct 31, 2002 21:08:17 GMT -5
This is one sticky situation Savard has painted himself into. Firstly, by giving Therrien a contract extension, he lets his players know his choice is for coach.
Secondly, he and Therrien, consulted Gilmour for advise on several club decisions last year.
Now, the acknowledged leader of the club last year, Gilmour, is bitter about certain coaching decisions. Not only does he hint at that to the press, it actually reflects in his unmotivated play. This is very non-characteristic for a guy of Killer's reputation to do.
Audette's play has ebbed, as has Chow's. Could this termoil explain Quintal's lack of interest on some nights? I know he dislocated his finger in a shoving match but up until that point his play was sub-par. Could this situation also have affected Dykhuis' play? We've seen him play better as well.
Come to think of it, has anyone noticed Jeff Hackett's facial expressions lately? He may have been playing extremely well of late, but he's not a happy camper these days. Take a look at this face through his mask next time he gets the nod. He usually has a smile on his face. No so much now.
I still think we've only been privy to the surface reactions in this scenario. I'd like to know what the skinny is around the professional circiut. Cheers.
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Post by JohnnyVerdun on Oct 31, 2002 21:12:10 GMT -5
I give it to you for what I paid for it....From a poster called "Montreal" on another board, which makes this quadruple hearsay:
"In 3 on 3 drills today, Audette and Rivet got into a mild altercation. (faceoff.com) Rivet crosschecked Audette, who got into a hissy fit I guess. Rivet said it was no big deal, and that when players work hard in drills these things happen. He gave Audette a tap on the pads afterwards.
First I hear about Brezzy/Koivu having some words, now Audette Rivet. Demers thinks somethings bad in the locker room and could blow up soon. I also read on fanhome.com that some guy there clamins he works at the Bell center, and he said that Savard had a talk with Therrien, and is not happy with Therrien not having set lines.
Dont know whats going on behind the scenes, but if there's trouble behind doors, it explains somewhat why they are having a tough time playing hockey. (cause so far they haven't been playing much hockey. Just skating around in circles, is more like it) Hopefully things get solved sooner then later. But I guess its better to have the problems early in the season then towards the end."
Well, well, well, interesting times is about to begin....
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Post by MPLABBE on Oct 31, 2002 21:18:26 GMT -5
yikes...where is that team unity we saw all last year?
Like I said yesterday we are this close to having the dressing room blow up!
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Post by seventeen on Oct 31, 2002 22:49:59 GMT -5
yikes...where is that team unity we saw all last year? Last year, there was the Koivu situation which was so strong that everyone rallied around it. Add Theo's superlative play and only the sharp-eyed and sharper-tongued posters on this board saw through it and realized that our boat captain was pointed toward the reef. With the benefit of even more hindsight it seems to be clearer that as a GM, Savard makes a great head scout (and there's even some question about that as there's no consensus as to who actually made the calls on Havlat, Hossa, Fisher etc. He wasn't in Ottawa when Volchenkov was drafted, was he?). The contracts, the mediocre trades, the coaching extension, the poor team make-up....that's a lot of mistakes. Funny thing is I still likehim. I like the fact there are no leaks until something happens, I like our drafting record so far and I like the fact he doesn't babble like Houle did. I just wish he'd can MT and Green, let Charron take over for now and see if he's the guy. If not, look elsewhere for the very best...someone who's not afraid to play kids. And Savard has to prune the tree, cutting out the large numbers. God, I'm good. Hey, I can do this job. And I'll work cheap, only $500,000 a year until I turn everything around, then I want the big bucks.
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Post by PTH on Oct 31, 2002 23:22:53 GMT -5
Last year was pretty unique, with Theo standing on his head, Hack out most of the time and the Koivu situation. With Koivu out, we gave Gilmour a lot more slack, since there weren't many other options at center. Perreault wasn't being challenged as much, he was our #1 center by default. I think being in a no-pressure situation is good for Yanic though. Hack being out made Theo's performance way more important, but it also meant that when Theo had bad games we didn't make much of a deal, there weren't many alternatives, after all. With the benefit of even more hindsight it seems to be clearer that as a GM, Savard makes a great head scout (and there's even some question about that as there's no consensus as to who actually made the calls on Havlat, Hossa, Fisher etc. He wasn't in Ottawa when Volchenkov was drafted, was he?). Well, he was only scout for 1 or 2 years, and always in North America, so he can't take much credit for all those Europeans. Mike Fisher is his, but so are many North American flops. Yup. What's worse is that they all grow together into an awful monster. The contracts combined to bad trades combined to the team makeup make a change necessary, but his options are limited. And the coaching situation makes a shakeup even more necessary. I think a lot of us have a lingering liking for AS just because he's not Houle, we feel he's at least competent, and can make some minor moves without looking like a fool. Then again, when you look at several of his small deals, you realise that past his Ottawa experience (Juneau-Dackell) he hasn't gotten anything special for this team. Unlikely..... he's the one who got all these guys, and he's shown a tendency to want to hang onto assets whatever happens. Just look at Robidas... for one we could have gotten a pick BACK, but he chose not to do anything. AS is decent, but has yet to show anything that a decent assistant coach wouldn't be able to do as GM...
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Post by wade on Oct 31, 2002 23:46:21 GMT -5
Is this the extreme imitation we expected MT to be? just an interesting article thought some of you might like it about coaches these days... do we need a coach with this much attitude?? it sure would be interesting... or do we need a calm AV type coach? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brophy challenges coach to fight
Canadian Press
10/31/2002
John Brophy is at it again. The 69-year-old coach of the Wheeling Nailers challenged the Reading Royals to fight not once but twice at a recent East Coast Hockey League. The first attempt at fisticuffs was after an altercation at the end of last Sunday's game, won 3-2 by the visiting Royals. Then Brophy - a former Toronto Maple Leafs coach - rushed Reading coach David Lohrei in the parking lot after the game. Wheeling had blown a 2-0 lead, paying the price for penalties by yielding two power-play goals before giving up the winner with three minutes remaining. The incident occurred when Lohrei got off his team bus to get some information about a local pizza joint. Brophy and the Nailers were on another bus in the arena parking lot, preparing to leave for a road trip. ``He came off the bus - I saw him coming all the way _ and he literally charged across the parking lot,'' Lohrei said Thursday from Reading. ``Thank goodness security was there. The security guards had to hold him back. He was challenging me and he actually wanted to fight in the parking lot.'' Things had got ugly as the final whistle blew when Wheeling defenceman J.P. Soucy, from Riviere-du-Loup, Que., slew-footed Reading goalie Scott Fankhouser. The goalie got up and went after Soucy and the dance was on. Things calmed down until Soucy ``began to throttle'' Reading's Simon Tremblay, a defenceman from Beauport, Que., Lohrei recounted. Lohrei was pretty hot himself, upset that his players had been jumped and his rival coach was ``enjoying'' the sight. ``It was at that point that things got kind of crazy around our bench as well,'' the Reading coach added. ``John came down to our bench, actually reached around and grabbed one of my players, Brad Rooney (of St. Catharines, Ont.), grabbed him by the sweater. And their assistant coach was challenging me to come out on the ice to fight, if you can imagine. My goodness.'' The referees broke it up and Lohrei thought the incident was over until the parking lot confrontation occurred. Lohrei, who says Brophy has a few years on him, wanted no part of a punch-up with a senior citizen, albeit one with a hard-nosed reputation and 1,003 wins in 28 years of pro hockey. ``I said `John, I don't think you want to do this.' Can you imagine if we would have fought?'' Added Lohrei: ``I've certainly taken some abuse from family and friends on my fighting partners.'' Soucy, meanwhile, was suspended for two games. There could be more fireworks Friday night, when the two teams meet again in Reading. The league phoned both teams, demanding an end to the hostilities. ``There's been some severe warnings,'' said Lohrei. Soucy will have to sit out the game because of his suspension. But he should be back when the two teams meet again Nov. 30 in Wheeling. ``That will be a pressure-cooker,'' Lohrei said. Brophy did not immediately return a call.
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