Is Dominique Ducharme over his head?

[HockeyVirus]

On Feb 24th, the Habs fired Claude Julien as the Habs were losing their grip on the division lead and brought in a rookie coach who they hoped would bring a "new" method of playing and bring their group over the top.

They've won just 10 of 25 games under Ducharme ( ~64 point pace over 82 games) and regression across the board.

Their GF/GP has dropped from 3.39 (Feb 24) to 2.60 under him.

He doesn't seem to have any answers for this team who is now fighting to even make the playoffs in the North. Was this the wrong hire for Montreal for where they wanted their team to go?

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[ItWasJustified]

Yes.
No.
Maybe.

Let's see after the season

 

[deckercky]

Julien is a very good coach that was replaced with an unknown, so the firing was probably a bad idea. That said, wasn't the team trending that way with Julien already after a hot start?

 

[jcs0218]

I think firing Julien was an incorrect move.

Yes, the division lead was slipping away. But they were overachieving to start the season.

I think last year's bubble performance caused expectations to be too high.

Let's remember that they were really a 12th place team last season, and only made the bubble playoffs because of a one-time format change.

I don't see any elite players on their roster, and Price hasn't played up to his reputation.

Guys like Suzuki, Toffoli, and Petry are decent players. But when those are your best players, then you aren't going to be any more than a fringe playoff team.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Why they fired coach I still don't know.

 

[jiboy]

If you take away the early hot streak Ducharme and Julien have been getting similar results.

I would say its really 95% on the players , leaders have regressed and young players havent progressed much even if given opportunities..

 

[GOilers88]

Panic firing so early was a bad idea.

 

[Pucklington]

They were 25th in the league last year. That is a basement team.

They definitely improved their roster in the summer, but people obviously forgot they were not a good team last year. Is anyone really surprised?

 

[banks]

It's hard to say, since I don't watch every Habs game. But I always thought pretty highly of Julien. I'm pretty sure HF voted him the best coach in the North at the start of the season.

My personal opinion is that the roster is just not good enough. Deep forwards, great goalie when on his game. But no game breakers, and the core is oover the hill.

 

[nbwingsfan]

They were already trending that way before Julien got fired.

Theyre simply not a good hockey team and everyone knew it besides a few over excited Habs fans

 

[SpezDispenser]

Can’t make chicken salad out of chicken...

 

[Mickey Marner]

Montreal began regressing to their norm in February after their hot start.

It's a bit disingenuous only prorating their points from wins; they're on an 82 point pace under Ducharme. The previous three years under Julien they played at an 83 point pace. Julien also had an easier schedule with 11/18 games against non-playoff teams vs 12/25 for Ducharme. The team isn't that good because their players aren't that good, only so much a coach can do.

 

[IdontSpitOnTheIce]

Julien is a good coach obviously and Ducharme isn’t doing worse or better. The problem is the owner and the gm thinking they are better than the franchise.

 

[centipede2233]

I really laugh at bad GM’s who continually fire the coach and yield the same or even worse results. Bergevin, maybe your the problem...

 

[North Cole]

Who knows. GMs perpetually turning over the coach are the issue IMO. Its not as thought he has no clue how to coach, i just feel Berg is looking for something that doesn't exist.

Whats the saying - first time someone calls you a horse you punch them on the nose. Second time someone calls you a horse you call them a jerk. Third time someone calls you a horse, start shopping for a saddle.

At some point we need to recognize, when youre four or five coaches deep and the same problem persists, maybe its not a coach issue. Oilers went through the same issue 2012-2017

 

[shello]

I don't believe that letting Julian go was a bad call, although DD may have not been the right choice for behind the bench.

 

[TheNumber4]

No. Team just sucks. Not enough offensive talent. Its what happens when you Retool for an eternity hanging onto some delusion that one more mid round draft pick and mediocre UFA signing is gonna turn it all around.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Julien is a very good coach that was replaced with an unknown, so the firing was probably a bad idea. That said, wasn't the team trending that way with Julien already after a hot start?

We had several players part of the leadership group speaking out about Julien. A coach is as good as done when that happens. He lost the room. He has to go. I’m personally not a fan of Julien. His coaching style seems outdated but I guess we’ll find out when he gets another coaching gig.

 

[CanadienShark]

I don't have any issue with Julien being fired; it was the right move. Ducharme was a fine hire, but obviously isn't working.

 

[Fern111]

Ducharme has absolutely no idea what he's doing. I watch the Habs from time to time and they all just look like they don't give a shit, that's the #1 thing any coach should be able to do, motivate their guys and get them to hustle but he can't even be f***ed to do that right.

It doesn't help that the team is hot dookie but there's definitely more that a coach should be able to get out of some of those guys.

 

[WatchfulElm]

Pretty hard for a new coach to implement his coaching style when there's basically no training day, with an exhausting schedule of 25 games in 43 days, which includes lots of travel across Canada.

Also, the heart and soul of his team (Gallagher) is missing.

 

[ZenOil]

Lots of good players. Zero elite players.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Montreal’s problem has and always will be that they refuse to hire non-French GM’s/coaches

 

[Del Preston]

They were 25th in the league last year. That is a basement team.

They definitely improved their roster in the summer, but people obviously forgot they were not a good team last year. Is anyone really surprised?

An obscene amount of "experts" who picked the Habs to win the division.

 

[Bounces R Way]

The Habs really just aren't very good. Good teams have players that can carry the mail in the production department. The Canadiens I don't think have a single one. I really quite like Tyler Toffoli, but he should not be leading you in scoring. Ducharme new HC is desperate Marc Bergevin trying to spark something.

Molson needs to clean house in the offseason.