Naw they were actively campaigning against him. I need to stop discussing the two of them. The more I think about what they did to this franchise the more angry I get.
For the first time in my life I couldn’t watch the Therrien coached Habs. I went from watching every single game for years to a handful under this group. It started with Therrien and ended with Bergevin. I got back into a bit when Julien returned because I was excited to have anyone aside from Michel running the team, but I found Julien to be more of the same except well meaning and respectful. Bergevin nearly ruined my Habs fandom forever. I didn’t switch to another team. I just jumped on the Raps/Jays bandwagon because they were at least fun to watch. MSL and Hugo have me excited to be Habs fan again. At least we know they have a plan and will pick a direction. Whether it works remains to be seen, but they’re going to do their best and they’re all smart dudes.
I generally agree, but I watched most of the cup run. The playoffs were fun and the vets were probably coaching more than Ducharme. Not the most watchable hockey, though, unless you like goaltending.
The organization either has to be fun and likable or win. Both would be good, but they spent so much time being neither, "the NHL isn't a development league and only winning counts" except that they didn't win.
I think Galchenyuk needed help outside of hockey more than on the ice, at least prior to his NHL knee injury. He was putting up points prior to that and he might have actually learned and listened to the coaches if they'd been able to get him to act and learn like a pro off the ice. Hughes and Gorton have spoken about addressing these issues. He lost a step after that injury and it really downgraded his game that was already one dimensional.
KK was a reach with disastrous development. I don't think any correct decisions were made about him in his time with the habs from picking him, to playing him in the NHL post draft, to messing with him later, to destroying the relationship so that he left.
Slaf can't possibly be as badly developed as KK. As a 1OA he's not going to be benched or played far down the lineup, and he has the 1OA status to fall back on if his confidence flags. We'll see if he's a top play driving winger or an Armia clone 3rd liner but he shouldn't bust. If he's good it won't matter too much how he compares to Cooley, Nemec, or Wright. If he ends up being only fair it could be a problem.
