Confirmed with Link: Lefebvre relieved of his duties. Search for a new coach in Laval thread

[1909]

Bouchard as well as the Habs are in no rush announcing he's been given a job in the organisation. I don't expect any announcement before a couple of weeks.

 

[groovejuice]

Bouchard as well as the Habs are in no rush announcing he's been given a job in the organisation. I don't expect any announcement before a couple of weeks.

If Bouchard is coming, it's likely there's only some general job description and other details in place and the negotiation needs to be filled out.

 

[1909]

Most insiders of the Q seem to think that he's done with Junior and will join the Habs. The thing no one seems to know is in what capacity.

Tomorrow is the Armada's post-mortem and on Sunday he said that he will give an update on his future during the press conference.

He did not.

 

[MaxDummy]

Not sure I get all the hype around this guy but I'm open to new faces...

 

[Runner77]

If Bouchard gets the nod as AHL coach and assistant-GM and Larry Chuckles Carrière remains Laval GM, gonna be interesting to see what Bouchard does with Nick Carrière.

 

[Adam Michaels]

He did not.

Looks like it. All good.

 

[BLONG7]

Not sure I get all the hype around this guy but I'm open to new faces...

Agreed.............we need a new infusion of some guys, who are not already close to the clown, and who can bring new ideas, and share their knowledge with the organization. For years now, we have been going backwards, and MB needs some new blood with new ideas...

 

[Adam Michaels]

Not sure I get all the hype around this guy but I'm open to new faces...

There is a lot of things to like about Joel Bouchard.

- He's coached, managed, and has been president of one of the most successful Junior teams in the Q. While most teams go through cycles, as their players graduate to the pros or are too old to play junior and so they start anew, the Armada have remained consistently one of the top teams every year. No team in the Q is close to having played the same number of playoff games since the Armada began operation in 2011-12.

- He's never missed the playoffs. Lost in the 1st round once. Lost in the 2nd round twice. Lost in the Semi-Finals twice, and lost in the Finals twice (last year and this year). Also to be considered, his team was the youngest in all of CHL this year, which makes it even more of an impressive feat. He's like Gallant, his players give their all for him.

- He's a great communicator, a great teacher, and has helped develop some kids who have been drafted in the NHL or have earned a pro contract (whether AHL or NHL). He's never had superstars, but what that tells me is that he didn't need a MacKinnon or a Radulov to coach a team to the top of the standings and more often than not, have a deep playoff run.

- And even further than the QMJHL, we can talk about his job as GM of Team Canada for the World Juniors. And this proves that it has nothing to do with him speaking French. Because Team Canada do not have a francophone policy. Yet Bouchard and Ducharme together brought Team Canada to the Finals of the WJC, losing once and winning last year.

- He's one of hockey's best minds that is not in the pros yet. Ducharme is another one.

Now, we don't know how they will be in the pro level. However, they have both proven that they need to be given the chance. And Lord knows the Canadiens need a resurgence. And bringing in two of the best coming up is a step in the right direction.

 

[dinodebino]

This 'suspense' must end this week. Announce his hiring in the next 72 hours.

 

[crosbyshow]

Not sure I get all the hype around this guy but I'm open to new faces...

Bouchard is the complete package..

- tough
- great communicator
- technician
- charisma
- motivator
- played the game at the highest level
- won as a coach year after year with average teams on paper
- perfectly bilingual

I follow him closely since that he was analyst between periods on rds about 8 years ago.... for me he is the best that rds ever had as analyst.

 

[L4br3cqu3]

Bouchard is the complete package..

- tough
- great communicator
- technician
- charisma
- motivator
- played the game at the highest level
- won as a coach year after year with average teams on paper
- perfectly bilingual

I follow him closely since that he was analyst between periods on rds about 8 years ago.... for me he is the best that rds ever had as analyst.

I don't remember him too much as an analyst (and I'd add Marc Denis to that anyway, but yeah), but mostly with the capsules he did between periods, those were great.

Unless those technical capsules were what you meant ?

He's a brilliant hockey mind and a great communicator, that's for sure, like you said, he's the complete package. (and if hired, a direct treat to MB, and most probably a Molson hire, pretty sure of that)

 

[Runner77]

He's a brilliant hockey mind and a great communicator, that's for sure, like you said, he's the complete package. (and if hired, a direct treat to MB, and most probably a Molson hire, pretty sure of that)

I'm definitely subscribing to that. This is no normal end of season review -- Ducharme and Bouchard are huge additions. Just hoping they won't get stuck with an incomplete clean-up when both of them are in the org. -- get the rest of the deadwood out, if they're really serious about massive changes. Of course, a great step in the right direction with Bouchard and Ducharme, assuming Bouchard is days away.

 

[Adam Michaels]

I'm definitely subscribing to that. This is no normal end of season review -- Ducharme and Bouchard are huge additions. Just hoping they won't get stuck with an incomplete clean-up when both of them are in the org. -- get the rest of the deadwood out, if they're really serious about massive changes. Of course, a great step in the right direction with Bouchard and Ducharme, assuming Bouchard is days away.

Not to mention, steps in the right direction also include the exodus of Lefebvre, Daigneault, Lacroix, and Dudley. And we know more are coming. And those departures are addition by subtraction on their own. Add to that Ducharme and (until it's officially announced) Bouchard entering the fold. Those are a lot of consecutive positives. It's very rare we've felt like they've been making right decision after right decision.

 

[Adam Michaels]

This 'suspense' must end this week. Announce his hiring in the next 72 hours.

I think Mikael Lalancette tweeted that the announcement should be made in the next few days.

Edit: Here is his tweet, responding to someone who said that Joel hasn't left yet.

 

[De Montreal]

Bouchard as well as the Habs are in no rush announcing he's been given a job in the organisation. I don't expect any announcement before a couple of weeks.

im thinking tomorrow

 

[Redux91]

Its coming, and its welcome.

 

[Adam Michaels]

Wouldn't surprise me if it's announced tomorrow. Ducharme's hiring was announced on a Friday. This is all I'm basing my prediction on.

Also, Michel Langevin on the radio this morning said he got word that Bergevin was in the Ottawa region yesterday. He believes that he may have went to meet with Tourigny for the coaching job in Laval.

One possibility is that if he went there to finalize a deal with him, then they may end up announcing Bouchard and Tourigny at the same time.

 

[DAChampion]

I wonder if they'll get someone good.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I wonder if they'll get someone good.

Doesn't look like it if they're going after Tourigny or Vincent.

 

[DAChampion]

I've long thought that the prospects in the AHL weren't as bad as the fanbase made them out to be. I think that guys like Tinordi, Leblanc, Beaulieu, Nygren, Ellis, McCarron, etc might have had decent NHL careers, they were good prospects, things just didn't work. Many of them stagnated.

In some of those cases though, they declined due to injuries (e.g. Tinordi), which plausibly has nothing to do with Lefebvre. However, some of them just didn't develop. A player cannot just teach himself, it's not the 19th century anymore. There needs to be a good teacher, good training, good motivator, and a good distribution of ice time.

 

[DAChampion]

Doesn't look like it if they're going after Tourigny or Vincent.

Are they? What's wrong with those guys? I thought that people liked Tourigny?

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Are they? What's wrong with those guys? I thought that people liked Tourigny?

From what I've read, they are pro-defense and dinosaurs in their mentality.

 

[DAChampion]

From what I've read, they are pro-defense and dinosaurs in their mentality.

Is hockey the only major pro sport that irrationally fetishizes defense like this?

In the other sports it seems to be well understood that you need both offense and defense to win. There are fewer stupid quotes like "defense wins championships, depth wins championships". It's both the offense and defense that wins championships, and that starts with your best players. There are six year olds that can grasp this.

Maybe football / European soccer. I don't know it well enough to say, but it does seem like some of the national teams focus on choking the adversary's offense. Is that representative?

 

[sheed36]

 

[waffledave]

It is Bouchard, confirmed by my friend who works for the team