Finally, Canadiens have qualified people in place

by Al Strachan for The Toronto Sun, 11/21/00

Pierre Boivin is relatively new to the hockey business but he knows enough hockey history to avoid making the same mistakes as his predecessors.

Five years ago, Ronald Corey, the Montreal Canadiens president at the time, cleaned house, just as Boivin did yesterday.

But Corey brought in a bunch of people whose only qualification was that they had once played for the Canadiens.

Yesterday, Boivin brought in genuine hockey people. They don't all have as much experience as fans might like, but at least they're part of the hockey world. They're not beer salesmen, restaurateurs or broadcasters.

The result will be good for the Canadiens, but it hardly takes great insight to figure that out. When you're 30th in a 30-team league, change hardly can be bad.

Nevertheless, given the time restrictions that were forced upon Boivin because a train that was rickety suddenly had gone completely off the rails, he made some excellent moves.

He likely isn't finished yet. Boivin probably will elevate Guy Carbonneau to coach for the start of next season.

But for the time being, Carbonneau is an assistant coach, thereby distanced from what is likely to continue to be a horrible season.

In the meantime, Michel Therrien comes in as coach from the Quebec farm team to see if he can do with enthusiasm what he certainly can't do with talent -- because there simply isn't enough of it in Montreal.

Therrien, whose Granby team won the 1996 Memorial Cup, made no secret of his approach yesterday. "This game is played with a lot of passion," he said. "There's lots of technique. There are lots of tactics. But the one thing you have to have is a lot of passion."

That approach can work. It's not as successful as it used to be -- which is why Jacques Demers isn't coaching at the moment -- because with NHL players making an average salary of about $1.5 million US, the battle for jobs creates its own passion.

But even so, on some nights, a hard-working weaker team can pick up an unexpected point or two.

With Carbonneau's vast experience beside him, Therrien has a chance of doing a reasonable job, and the Canadiens, by giving him a one-year deal, were able to hedge their bets.

If Therrien is successful, his contract can be extended. If not, he'll be kept in the organization in another capacity and Carbonneau will move up.

Having been a player does not automatically guarantee the insights that are needed to be a good coach. But Carbonneau always has displayed a sharp hockey mind. He understands the subtle nuances of the game and, through experience, he understands what it takes to win.

This time, the front office will be able to give the coaching staff some support. By the end of Rejean Houle's regime, the Canadiens were virtually a team without a general manager.

Former coach Alain Vigneault skipped Houle in the decision-making process and by doing so may have signed his own termination papers.

For some time now, Vigneault has been making personnel decisions -- including the one that let free-agent forward Shayne Corson move to the Maple Leafs -- and when his moves were as bad as Houle's, it made it easier for Boivin to let him go, thereby sweeping out the last vestiges of the Corey regime.

New GM Andre Savard and new assistant GM Martin Madden are highly regarded in hockey circles.

Madden has been around forever, but for much of his career was unwelcome in Montreal, having been a significant force in the Quebec Nordiques organization.

Savard is one of the more respected talent spotters in the league. He joined the Canadiens during the off-season when Jacques Lemaire went to the Minnesota Wild, but he's as responsible as anyone for the success of the Ottawa Senators.

Players such as Andreas Dackell, Jani Hurme, Magnus Arvedson, Marian Hossa and Martin Havlat are in Ottawa because of Savard.

It will take time before he can make similar contributions to the Montreal cause, but at least now there is some hope for Canadiens fans.

That puts them one step ahead of where they were on the weekend.