Confirmed with Link: Brad Larsen Named Head Coach (Pascal Vincent, Steve McCarthy Hired as Assistants)

[Iron Balls McGinty]

The excitement generated on the Mains is overwhelming! Almost up to a full page of comments.

It only takes a couple of people to ask "Who?"

 

[Hello Johnny]

It's a move that makes sense, even if it's not the most exciting. Good luck Brad.

Imagine if he got a gig somewhere else down the line and made an immediate impact for another club. This place would be on fire.

 

[EspenK]

I like this for one reason - to me it signifies JD realizes the Jackets need to be rebuilt and they think Larsen will be good with the young guys. Hopefully he works out. the only guy interviewed who I would have preferred was Gallant.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I really like this hire.

I don’t really believe this. I was just saying it to try and convince myself.

But I figure there’s also not a whole lot of benefit to hand-wringing and complaining. It is what it is and I’m obviously rooting for him to succeed.

 

[Fan from AK]

I am a Tampa Bay fan applauding the Jackets for NOT hiring an NHL coaching retread. Just my 2 cents for I never understood a team hiring a coach that has gotten fired 5 times before. My Lightning hired a newcomer with Jon Cooper. Good luck moving forward CBJ's!!!!

 

[Byrral]

I posted the other day that the list looked a little short on candidates and that they might as well hire Larsen. I hope he channels the advice in my post.

In reality it was an obvious and easy decision. This gives them a 2 year timeframe to begin the rebuild the team without having to overspend on a new to the organization head coach versus Larsen who just wants a chance. He wouldn't be my choice but this gives me hope they are going to be patient and do this right.

Wish him well and look forward to his assistant announcements.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

He might have had a winning record in ahl but his players didn't put up crazy points. Underwhelming signing

He had Marchessault as a player and Bednar as an assistant as well.

 

[Fred Glover]

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I'm not convinced.

You certainly have iron balls McGinty

 

[CalBuckeyeRob]

They likely plan to gut the roster so not going to be a ton of options to oversee that process. Maybe Larsen has the lottery magic.

 

[Jive Pawnbroker]

It will be interesting to see what Larsen's approach towards Laine will be. When Laine told one of the coaches to f*** off in one of his first games here I'm assuming that it was meant for Larsen.

 

[Johansen2Foligno]

Any chance Torts is brought back as an assistant?

 

[Johansen2Foligno]

No doubt as little money as they could.

Unpaid internship for the experience to get the 2-3 years for an entry-level job.

 

[Fro]

Any chance Torts is brought back as an assistant?

Bawhahahahaha

 

[LetsGOJackets!!]

Any chance Torts is brought back as an assistant?

Larsen will give him Powerplay responsibilities.. ha ha argh!!!

 

[MAHJ71]

Can’t say I’m thrilled.

 

[majormajor]

Now add Jalonen as an assistant, and we have a huge upgrade over Torts for this team and personnel. Excited for the first time in a while for the #cbj . I was listening to scouching last night he said Quinn and Tocchet were as bad as Torts with line changing/ blending

On Scouch's YouTube? Was there data behind that.

In any case I'm beyond excited to see what Lars can do. Hopefully the Chemistry-Killer 3000 LineblenderTM is a thing of the past.

 

[majormajor]

I like this for one reason - to me it signifies JD realizes the Jackets need to be rebuilt and they think Larsen will be good with the young guys. Hopefully he works out. the only guy interviewed who I would have preferred was Gallant.

Maybe it signifies that. I'm also just not ruling out that they think Lars is going to be a great coach in this league. We wouldn't know.

 

[CBJ goalie]

I'm ok with this - he has a good record as coach in the AHL, and he knows the team.

Good luck Coach Larsen, most of us believe in you.

 

[AndBoomGoesTheCannon]

Just don't understand why you would go through a year with a lame duck coach if this is the direction you wanted to go. If you liked Larsen, you had a perfect chance to fire Torts and see a trial run of Larsen as HC. Pretty clear error by management.

 

[cslebn]

That was the blue jacket way because that's what the roster makeup consisted of and that worked under torts style of play. But now that the roster is much more skilled they need a new style of play to go with it

This is the way

 

[ColumbusTrill]

Maybe jarmo thought last season was broke beyond repair and wanted to give Larsen a fair go

 

[stonec]

Good signing. I reckon reading somewhere Larsen wasn't a fan of Tortorella's constant line juggling and benching. The same system without the line juggling and uncertainty is already an improvement. Add Jalonen or someone cheap as assistant who is good with strategy to help improve the power play and things start to look interesting.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Just don't understand why you would go through a year with a lame duck coach if this is the direction you wanted to go. If you liked Larsen, you had a perfect chance to fire Torts and see a trial run of Larsen as HC. Pretty clear error by management.

Been thinking about this. Is it possible they didn’t know Larsen was the guy until they did the interviews?

 

[majormajor]

Been thinking about this. Is it possible they didn’t know Larsen was the guy until they did the interviews?

He's been our AC for seven years, the team is suddenly struggling while Torts is flailing around. It's Jarmo's job to keep communication open with the Brads to know exactly what has gone wrong. He should already know what Lars thinks about everything.

If you want to hear a theory - Jarmo wasn't fully sold on Lars, but JD was.

 

[We Want Ten]

This screams rebuild with the cheapest option and see how it goes to me.

I just hope he's a better HC than a PP and forward coach.

Good luck Brad.