Is Patrick Roy slated to be the next Habs Coach?

[Morris_Shatford]

From Eklund:

Talking to sources there is a definite and growing possibility that Patrick Roy could be en route to interview with the Montreal Canadiens. I like this idea on several levels.

Beyond the obvious fun that would ensue reporting on Roy in Montreal (which would be amazingly awesome and make my job extremely easy) I do believe this current group of players in Montreal desperately need a coach like Patrick Roy...and here's why...

These players are under more scrutiny than any team in the NHL (yes even more than the Maple Leafs) and I get a sense there is a bit of media fatigue settling in with this group. A coach like Roy would understand this and immediately be able to shift the focus away from Markov, Cammalleri, Gomez, etc... That would be very healthy at this point and I truly believe the only chance this team has of seeing the playoffs is to get the pressure of the guys on the ice.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post ... ogger_id=1

[Nolan]

Honestly it wouldn't be a bad idea. But i'm certain it wouldn't end well, doesn't anyone remember how his first tenure with Montreal ended?

[spykelee]

Well, no coaching tenure really ever ends well... Patrick Roy meets all the requirements that this team would need, but I am somewhat skeptical as to whether he'd even be interested in this position. I think he'd like to be a head coach in the NHL at some point, somewhere, I"m just not sure he wants his start to be here nescecarily.

[Morris_Shatford]

Honestly it wouldn't be a bad idea. But i'm certain it wouldn't end well, doesn't anyone remember how his first tenure with Montreal ended?

There is how it appeared to end to the eyes of hockey fans outside of Montreal, and how it actually ended.

Mario Tremblay was an idiot;

There is a reason the only coaching jobs he saw since were on the good graces of his friend and former teammate Jacques Lemaire,

Roy and Tremblay had a feud that spanned well before he was ever made coach. These guys hated each other, and Ronald Corey's idiocy brought that situation to a head.

What sort of coach leaves his star goaltender in for nine goals in front of a home crowd?
Then what sort of management sides with a coach over the best player on your team and best goaltender in the league at the time?

It had nothing to do with the city, the fans, or the team.
It was all management, and management that is LONG gone.

[Morris_Shatford]

Well, no coaching tenure really ever ends well... Patrick Roy meets all the requirements that this team would need, but I am somewhat skeptical as to whether he'd even be interested in this position. I think he'd like to be a head coach in the NHL at some point, somewhere, I"m just not sure he wants his start to be here nescecarily.

Patrick Roy is an ass;
Which is exactly what this team needs.

Someone has to hold these guys accountable for some of the boneheaded hockey they are playing, and Roy does that AND speaks french.

[spykelee]

I love Patrick Roy, probably my all time favourite player, and the main reason why I became a Montreal fan so many years ago...

I agree with you that he is exactly what this team needs, I'm just not sure that he would want to join the ranks of the NHL in Montreal with a team in dissary... though he would obviously get a fairly substantial leash I'm sure. Neither the media nor the fans would want to run him out of town again.

If he wants the job, I'd say it's his to have. I really just don't like this whole "of course we'll hire somebody that speaks french stuff" I mean, jesus, just get the best guys for the job. French should be a minor secondary thing... like volunteer work on your resume. Why we limit ourselves like this is beyond me.

[Morris_Shatford]

The problem is that majority of the media during a home game in the Habs locker room is French media, there is only one team in Quebec and while Montreal isn't bad for bilingualism that is simply not the case in the overwhelming majority of urban centers who consider the Habs "their team".

It may seem utterly bizarre to those folks outside of that bubble, but Montreal is as hockey crazy of a market as Toronto and if the Leafs (in theory) hired a head coach who could not communicate with the majority of the media (Lets say some Russia bigshot coach) at post game press conferences they would be screaming bloody murder as well.

[spykelee]

I guess so... but where are the priorities really, know what I mean? Appeasing the fans and the media or in getting the best guys for the job. In Montreal's case, can you not just hire an interpreter or an assisant coach who's job it is to deal with the french media... If we have to appease this french thing, fine, but does it have to be with the guy who's running our team? Surely there must be a happy compromise somewhere in this...

[Morris_Shatford]

I guess so... but where are the priorities really, know what I mean? Appeasing the fans and the media or in getting the best guys for the job. In Montreal's case, can you not just hire an interpreter or an assisant coach who's job it is to deal with the french media... If we have to appease this french thing, fine, but does it have to be with the guy who's running our team? Surely there must be a happy compromise somewhere in this...

If lets say Mike Babcock was available; sure you make a concession.
However its Randy Cunnyworth, and its also an interim hire which is why I can see both sides of it.

If an elite level coach was available who was uni-lingual, sure.
However given that I feel a lot of these guys available are on a fairly even footing I would give the edge to the French Coach, if only to keep the media off the french players as much as possible.

[spykelee]

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating Randy Cunneyworth as our guy moving forward. I just hope we don't miss hiring the best guy because he doesn't speak french.

As you said, all things being equal, or close to it, I don't mind the french guy getting the nod, but only in that circumstance. I'd have to see who's available to make a judgement call one way or the other though.

As far as taking the pressure of our french guys, as far as I can tell, we only have two of them and they are hardly game changers. I doubt there feeling the pressure. If where going to take the pressure off anyone it should probably be Carey Price, and who better to do that, than Partick Roy.... and he even speaks french. Is he ready though?