I wonder if PD would have hired Luke Richardson to coach Ottawa instead of Guy Boucher how things would have turned out?
How Richardson's circuitous journey prepared him to step in for Canadiens - Sportsnet.ca
I dont doubt that Luke and likely will eventually become a good NHL head coach.
But I absolutely do not think he was ready for it back when he was in talks for it with us for the job, and Boucher got more out of that roster than Richardson would have imo. And I was a bit surprised that he was so bold in his self belief and that he was 100% deserving and ready for an NHL job already.
His AHL record was nothing to write home about at all. Yes there was some positive growth from some of his players. But there were in reality dozens of more qualified candidates out there that had much better resumes than his. And if not for his NHL resume and his reputation of being well liked and respected, he was not deserving of the job at all tbh..
But he believed in himself so much that he turned down the Sens offer as an NHL assistant saying that he was ready to be a HC, and would wait for that time to come. Sat out a full year of hockey - then took a job for 1 year with the Islanders (a team with an associate coach - so he was way down the totem poll), got fired. Then he spent 3 years with the Habs which had Kirk Muller as the associate coach, and Ducharme as an assistant both ahead of him there as well.
Fast forward to today and he is coaching in the Stanley Cup finals due to a very, very whacky set of separate events. And yeah with Carey Price playing the way he is, and his team is already living on free money from the house where any success is considered a coup of sorts, he looks really comfortable behind that bench.
But I dont think hes better than DJ as a NHL head coach or feel like we missed the boat at all. And to be honest I think that Troy Mann is a way better minor league coach and developer of kids than Luke was for us. So Im very happy for Luke, but Im still not even sure if hes the guy I would be targeting for an HC role.