As noted, I'm a Julien fan.
Me too. Forever grateful for his time here. Whatever his shortcomings as a coach, he really cared about winning, and did win in Boston. Something no other coach ever did in my lifetime.
Would only add, with ownership in Ottawa as prime example at present (and Jacobs, Wirtz, and Norris in the past), "A fish rots from the head."
EM is the worst owner in the NHL. Awful, awful b*stard. Deserves every bad turn he receives.
I agree with all of this.
I actually hold no ill will toward management, coaching, or even players. It's the fans & media I detest.
I’m actually the opposite.
I direct my rage toward the people who actually affect the outcome on the ice. Of course, I’ll likely never interact with any of them, but they’re the ones that keep beating the Bruins. The fans root for who they root for. Yeah, they can be a nuisance, but I’ve actually been treated with nothing but respect from Canadiens fans that I’ve met face-to-face. I’ve never been behind enemy lines in Montreal, but other fans I’ve met elsewhere in Quebec and in the Caribbean have always wanted to talk hockey with me and have been quite engaging.
I just thank God I was born here in Massachusetts! I could never root for that team!!!
Would think fans/media are clamoring.
They are for Marc Bergevin’s head, and have been for a while. I stalk the Habs forum every now and again and Julien seems to have dodged a lot of the venom.
He’s a good coach and they know it.
I'm not ecstatic at their demise as I have been in years past
I am!
I'm also a big Claude Julien fan and think he did a masterful job with the hand he was dealt.
Yup. Good coaching and Carey Price.
Montreal also has the problem that the GM and Coach MUST be fluent in French. I personally don't think the language is as much of an issue as it was even 20 years ago but the culture is still there.
I think this is absolutely stupid. If I were a Canadiens fan, I wouldn’t care if the coach and GM spoke Swahili, as long as the team won.
Knowing what I know of the somewhat complicated culture up there from family and my own learning, one would think that winning at all costs would be the top priority for the Canadiens and their fans, but as I said; it’s more complicated than that.
To that I say; go ahead and keep on losing. I’d LOVE to see them barely squeak into the playoffs and have the Bruins annihilate them for the next 20 years or so. The Bruins have about a 25% success rate all-time against the Habs in the playoffs. I want that number to come up.
I f*****g hate them more than the Yankees; Lakers; and Jets combined, and that will never ever change.