Coaching is one tough way to make a living.
At the highest level in professional hockey, there are 31 head coaches. They are an elite and eclectic group, with very different career paths, different backgrounds and different makeups. Some were star players at the highest level; many had very modest playing careers and refocused their energies on coaching at a young age. They have one thing in common: they all have a defined term job.
This past week in Montreal, that term expired for veteran coach Claude Julien.
In a move that caught most in the hockey world by total surprise, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin relieved both Julien and associate head coach Kirk Muller of their duties. The replacements came from within the organization, with Dominique Ducharme getting the big seat and newcomer Alex Burrows elevating from an assistant’s role with minor-league affiliate Laval to join the group.
The immediate reasons presented by Bergevin dealt with a different message being required, by a different messenger, and high expectations not being met. “What I saw was a team that was lost, which lacked a sense of direction a little bit. These are things that happen in professional sport. Coaches keep giving instructions, but at some point their message no longer gets through,” said Bergevin.
Montreal’s season got off to a terrific start, with the off-season additions all contributing perfectly. Bergevin was being applauded for the changes, and all was good. In a short period of time, everything swung drastically. The coach became the focal point, and a change was deemed necessary.
By definition, I’m practically an expert on coaching changes and what they will or will not bring. In a 13-year NHL career, I played for nine head coaches. I’m still trying to figure out how that is even possible.
I played for really good teams, making the playoffs 13 straight times. This included six trips to the conference finals and three trips to the Stanley Cup final, falling short of the ultimate prize each time.
Some of the coaching changes produced positive results, some less so. Ultimately, the locker room decided if the change worked.
There are many ways to section off a locker room, but virtually every one I have been in can be split into three pieces. These aren’t absolute stone-wall dividers I’m talking about, and there are those who sit on the proverbial wall, but coaches know there is always some version of this.
The first group are the absolute coach champions. On a top team they will include the star players who garner the most ice time, and the right voices — strong, loud voices that will be listened to. They are the most consistent players, and the ones coaches naturally turn to. It is human nature for a coach standing behind a bench to see certain names and numbers on the bench in front of him. Those are the ones he plays.
The third group are the malcontents, and they were in every locker room I have ever been in. The better the team, the more this group is neutralized. Someone isn’t happy every single day in an NHL room. Their ice time has been reduced, their role has changed. In their eyes they’re not appreciated, and the grass is likely much greener elsewhere. The more a team struggles, the more confidence this group gains in being heard, and the louder they become. They may revel in a coaching change, because it supports what they think they know, that they have somehow been wronged.
The group in between is where the real power resides.
It’s a mixture of personalities without a true leader. Pieces can slide forward into the top group or drop down into the third, depending on the day. This can often be a younger group: more impressionable, less certain and not as secure. The younger faction, often 19 or 20 years old, are likely being told no for the first time in their careers, and they’re not sure how to react. They’ve always been the best player, and a coach for the first time has told them they’re not on the power play, or the first line, or the penalty kill. It’s a harsh awakening, and they have to navigate their way through this.
Somehow, Montreal’s locker room got out of balance. Players move in and out of these groups both consciously and unconsciously, and the mix at an exact point of the season just wasn’t right. It’s magnified because of the shortened season, and Bergevin felt a new voice was needed to alter that balance.
When coaches change, every player’s immediate thought is about how it affects them. This can’t be a surprise. The change can have an enormous impact on every part of their life.
It’s a fresh time, but it’s also a scary time. There are so many unknowns.
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It’s an opportunity for players to move to a new group. All of a sudden there is a clean slate in front of you, or at least that’s what you’re told. Will the new guy see you in a different way? Will you finally be appreciated? Will your ice time magically increase? Will you get new linemates? Or it might go the other way. Will someone else replace what you’ve been doing? Will they be given your opportunity?
All eyes around the league will be focused on the Canadiens and the effect of the change in command. There are positive recent reference points from last year’s mid-season changes in both Toronto, with Sheldon Keefe taking over, and Dallas, with Rick Bowness leading his team to the Cup final. The ultimate mid-season change in St. Louis two seasons ago saw newly appointed Craig Berube lead the Blues to a Stanley Cup.
Montreal can only hope the latter is the case.
