Laval Rocket: Jean-François Houle Discussion Thread

[Laurentide]

I wouldn't bring him back as I do think we should strive for better there but if he's back I'm fine with it as he's been good to give the TOI and PP time that you want to see for the prospects no matter if they struggle or not. I really like that just don't like some things like his lineups, defensive structure, special teams, and I think he's too slow to make changes. That PP1 was shit and he did nothing to fix it and that is troubling when you could clearly see better puck movement from PP2.

Very few fans need to hear from the head coach of the AHL team so I wouldn't be fixated on a francophone candidate to replace Houle unless the Habs plan to use the farm team to promote coaches as well as players. Even so, you inevitably have a whack of francophone ex-players working as assistant coaches who can talk to the media. Just find a guy who can properly develop talent who isn't a dinosaur from the Bergevin school of f-bombs and h'attitude.

 

[Tyson]

The young players seem to develop well under Houle...maybe it's the AHL vets they bring in. It's not Houle's fault they started the year with Strauss Mann as the veteran goalie.
If you look at how well Mailloux, Roy, Dobes, Xhekaj developed under Houle then maybe we bring him back. No other AHL coach over the past 10 years has developed prospects better.

 

[montreal]

Very few fans need to hear from the head coach of the AHL team so I wouldn't be fixated on a francophone candidate to replace Houle unless the Habs plan to use the farm team to promote coaches as well as players. Even so, you inevitably have a whack of francophone ex-players working as assistant coaches who can talk to the media. Just find a guy who can properly develop talent who isn't a dinosaur from the Bergevin school of f-bombs and h'attitude.

I've never heard them say the AHL HC must be francophone, to me I don't care personally what language anyone speaks just hire the best guy for the job.

I liked Bouchard a lot because of hos well his teams are structured defensively but he had issues with the offense. Houle has been good with the offense but the defense has been shit. But how much of that is to due with poor roster construction as what can you do when you have Norlinder, Trudeau, Barron, Mailloux, that's a lot of defensive mistakes you are going to have over a season.

 

[montreal]

The young players seem to develop well under Houle...maybe it's the AHL vets they bring in. It's not Houle's fault they started the year with Strauss Mann as the veteran goalie.
If you look at how well Mailloux, Roy, Dobes, Xhekaj developed under Houle then maybe we bring him back. No other AHL coach over the past 10 years has developed prospects better.

We'll see as the main guys he's developed on the NHL roster are Roy, RHP, Ylonen, Barron.

Hard to say what kind of impact he has had on the kids that only played a handful of games. Reinbacher played just 11 games, Struble 13 this year in Laval, Xhekaj 17 games.

He did 100% what you would want to see in the case of Mailloux and Barron, giving them high TOI and PP time. I wish the media would have asked Hughes how to they handle situations like Barron, how do they prioritize development when you have 2 players of the same mold/skill but only 1 spot. So when Barron got sent down I liked that he didn't move Mailloux off the 1st PP unit in place of Barron since Mailloux was at the time getting the job done after he was moved up a 2 months or so into the season to PP1 from PP2. Since Barron had shown he could produce in the NHL, I thought he would bump him but he didn't. I wondered if that was managements call or his.

Which shows there's so much we as fans just can't know that goes on behind the scenes as to who is making what calls and when, how, etc..

That said when you saw PP1 struggling, he did nothing about it and that to me is very troubling, when you can't come up with answers is not what I want to see. He moved Farrell up to PP1 for 1 game and then had him back on PP2 when Farrell had been one of the only players creating offense moving the puck since he returned from injury.

 

[salbutera]

I'm pretty sure it was the most recent podcast on Basu- Godin, but could have been Engels earlier when I listened to the sick podcast, but whichever one seems to think favourably of him and believes the org does, too, but didn't sound like there was any direct evidence, more of a speculation.

Houle & Hughes go back 30+ years, it was Houle that Hughes entrusted with taking over his summer camp. I would be shocked if Houle isn’t back

 

[montreal]

Houle & Hughes go back 30+ years, it was Houle that Hughes entrusted with taking over his summer camp. I would be shocked if Houle isn’t back

why not sign him last summer then?

 

[salbutera]

why not sign him last summer then?

Why wait till end of year presser to announce org will pick up option on MSLs contract? There were so many other areas of focus is my assumption

For all we know there may already have been a verbal agreement or maybe Houle takes on another role…

 

[Pat Riot]

Why wait till end of year presser to announce org will pick up option on MSLs contract? There were so many other areas of focus is my assumption

For all we know there may already have been a verbal agreement or maybe Houle takes on another role…

I think Houle is good as gone.

 

[Treb]

Why wait till end of year presser to announce org will pick up option on MSLs contract? There were so many other areas of focus is my assumption

For all we know there may already have been a verbal agreement or maybe Houle takes on another role…

Doesn't feel like someone who has a verbal agreement. Rocket : L'avenir est incertain pour Houle à Laval

 

[Tyson]

We'll see as the main guys he's developed on the NHL roster are Roy, RHP, Ylonen, Barron.

Hard to say what kind of impact he has had on the kids that only played a handful of games. Reinbacher played just 11 games, Struble 13 this year in Laval, Xhekaj 17 games.

He did 100% what you would want to see in the case of Mailloux and Barron, giving them high TOI and PP time. I wish the media would have asked Hughes how to they handle situations like Barron, how do they prioritize development when you have 2 players of the same mold/skill but only 1 spot. So when Barron got sent down I liked that he didn't move Mailloux off the 1st PP unit in place of Barron since Mailloux was at the time getting the job done after he was moved up a 2 months or so into the season to PP1 from PP2. Since Barron had shown he could produce in the NHL, I thought he would bump him but he didn't. I wondered if that was managements call or his.

Which shows there's so much we as fans just can't know that goes on behind the scenes as to who is making what calls and when, how, etc..

That said when you saw PP1 struggling, he did nothing about it and that to me is very troubling, when you can't come up with answers is not what I want to see. He moved Farrell up to PP1 for 1 game and then had him back on PP2 when Farrell had been one of the only players creating offense moving the puck since he returned from injury.

Guys like RHP, Belzile, Condotta and Gignac all showed up in Montreal ready to play. Houle has done some good things. He also had to change the teams system to man on man after MSL took over.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

I've heard for decades about this Habs-only problem (because the Nordiques, despite all the fleur de lys festooned on their jerseys, never had a problem hiring unilingual anglos to coach the team)

My answer to the Habs would be this: If you have decided, for whatever reason, that the Habs and the Rocket must have a bilingual (or outright francophone) head coach, and you know in advance that the pool of such coaches is not deep, why are you not doing anything to develop them aside from occasionally hiring one who you know is in over his head? Why do the Habs not invest any money into developing a generation of bilingual coaches through the formation of some sort of coaching "academy"? It's not like they don't have the money to do it.

So instead of forever settling for the next talking head from L'Antichambre to step behind the bench, why not groom them in an academy of some sort?

I agree, it is somewhat comical to a point. You can almost guarantee that if we fast forward 30 years, all of Julien Briesebois, Danny Briere, Mathieu Darche, and Martin Madden will have been employed by the Habs at some point.

For the Head Coaches, it is almost a guarantee we have Pascal Vincent and Andre Tourigny at different points.

 

[Vachon23]

For the defensive structure, he used MSL system so I wouldn’t blame him for that

 

[Treb]

For the defensive structure, he used MSL system so I wouldn’t blame him for that

How he applies the system is still his responsibility.

 

[Vachon23]

How he applies the system is still his responsibility.

Probably, but his defensive structure was fine the 1st year when he didn’t use the MSL system.

That’s the main reason I want an experience coach next to MSL, to help that defensive structure that is not good for both team

 

[Shred]

I agree, it is somewhat comical to a point. You can almost guarantee that if we fast forward 30 years, all of Julien Briesebois, Danny Briere, Mathieu Darche, and Martin Madden will have been employed by the Habs at some point.

For the Head Coaches, it is almost a guarantee we have Pascal Vincent and Andre Tourigny at different points.

If we rewind 20 years, Brisebois, Darche and Briere have been employed by the Habs as well

 

[Vachon23]

The part where I agree is wth letting Houle go is that I don’t see him being the next Habs Head Coach and I want us to develop a futur NHL
HC

 

[vokiel]

Probably, but his defensive structure was fine the 1st year when he didn’t use the MSL system.

That’s the main reason I want an experience coach next to MSL, to help that defensive structure that is not good for both team

Maybe that experienced coach should be behind the Habs' bench to help MSL, not really in Laval?

 

[Vachon23]

Maybe that experienced coach should be behind the Habs' bench to help MSL, not really in Laval?

Yes that’s what I wanted to say

 

[montreal]

Why wait till end of year presser to announce org will pick up option on MSLs contract? There were so many other areas of focus is my assumption

For all we know there may already have been a verbal agreement or maybe Houle takes on another role…

because MSL has almost no experience as a HC so you need to see how it unfolds. Then add he likely makes a lot more then Houle so if Hughes was such a big fan of Houle it should have been a no brainer after 2 years to re-sign him if they were so happy with the job he did. But we'll see what happens.

Guys like RHP, Belzile, Condotta and Gignac all showed up in Montreal ready to play. Houle has done some good things. He also had to change the teams system to man on man after MSL took over.

Well Belzile is 32 now and before he made the NHL he was in the AHL/ECHL for 6 years before even going to Laval so I wouldn't look at him in any way in terms of the HC. Gignac spent 4 years in the AHL/ECHL so not really the same either. Condotta I could have added but since he only played 4 NHL games I wouldn't say one way or the other as the sample size is so small.

So we'll see if he's done enough to be re-signed or not.

For the defensive structure, he used MSL system so I wouldn’t blame him for that

I don't agree at all, it wasn't the system imo, it was poor decisions and turnovers. To be fair Hughes and company have their share of the blame as roster construction is a big part of the problem as you can only do so much with Norlinder, Trudeau, Barron, Mailloux who have some many defensive issues.

But this is where management will need to make the right call here as next year is huge when you have Hutson, Reinbacher and Engstrom turning pro (unless they plan on loaning Engstrom back to the SHL, but he is eligible for the AHL unlike Norlinder when he first came over due to him being under contract in Sweden)

Whatever they do, it just needs to be the right move.

Probably, but his defensive structure was fine the 1st year when he didn’t use the MSL system.

It was not fine at all, they were one of the worst teams in the league in GA.

 

[salbutera]

because MSL has almost no experience as a HC so you need to see how it unfolds. Then add he likely makes a lot more then Houle so if Hughes was such a big fan of Houle it should have been a no brainer after 2 years to re-sign him if they were so happy with the job he did. But we'll see what happens.

Who have HuGo “got rid of” since coming on board? Dom Dom…anyone else?

 

[Tyson]

Who have HuGo “got rid of” since coming on board? Dom Dom…anyone else?

Entire medical staff

 

[salbutera]

Entire medical staff

Thanks

 

[Vachon23]

But this is where management will need to make the right call here as next year is huge when you have Hutson, Reinbacher and Engstrom turning pro

To be honest, I would make the change too and I already have a list of candidates in mind

But I don’t think Houle is a bad coach the blame can’t be only on him

 

[Goldthorpe]

Very few fans need to hear from the head coach of the AHL team so I wouldn't be fixated on a francophone candidate to replace Houle unless the Habs plan to use the farm team to promote coaches as well as players.

Godin in the Basu and Godin Notebook podcast made that point: that the habs AHL coach job may be seen as a "get up or get out" job. Since there's so few opportunities for french-speaking coaches to make it in the NHL, and since the habs need a steady stream of french-speaking coaches as candidates for the big club, it may be better to let Houle go and gives the opportunity to someone else if there's no long-term beliefs he will succeed to MSL.

 

[Vachon23]

I have 4 names I would highly consider as for now:

Stephane Julien
Stephane Robidas
Jason Pominville

And I’m curious about Serge Aubin who I know less well then the 3 others.

I would like to add Carl Malette to the coaching staff too who would be a great add for the PP and the forward group