Therrien’s style isn’t what Florida is looking for
Old-school ways of former Habs coach wouldn’t impress Panthers’ young stars
After Michel Therrien was relieved of his head coaching duties with the Canadiens, he headed south to his off-season home in Florida.
He would like to make it his permanent residence by landing the vacant head coaching job with the Florida Panthers, but he appears to be a long shot.
Dale Tallon, who has reemerged as the boss of all things hockey with the dysfunctional franchise, has offered some guidelines on what he’s looking for and Therrien doesn’t fit the description.
“We’re looking for a creative guy, a contemporary guy who is a good communicator, a good teacher,” Tallon told Harvey Fialkov of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “(Someone) who can handle the younger player today and can understand that they still have to be coached and mentored and taught, yet still have that passion to win.”
Tallon is also on record as saying that he’s looking for a younger coach after 60-year-old interim coach Tom Rowe failed to bond with the Panthers’ core of 20-somethings led by Aaron Ekblad, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck and Michael Matheson.
At 53, Therrien isn’t necessarily old — four of the coaches still in the Stanley Cup playoffs are older — but there is a perception that he is old-school in his approach to the game.
He’s had success as a teacher, winning a Memorial Cup in Granby and earning a second shot at an NHL coaching job with a strong effort with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. Many of those players went on to win a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby, who played for Therrien in Pittsburgh, has given Therrien an unqualified endorsement.
Those achievements have to be balanced against his perceived problems in Montreal with P.K. Subban and Alex Galchenyuk.
But the style of play may be the biggest obstacle to Therrien landing with the Panthers.
Tallon wants someone who coaches a run-and-gun, highscoring offence with puck-moving defencemen who join the attack.
That sounds a bit like Therrien’s vision for the Canadiens when he talked about utilizing the team’s speed, but the identity on the ice was something different with the emphasis on defence.
Therrien’s favourite score seemed to be 2-1.
As Tallon moves ahead in his search, there are too many viable candidates ahead of Therrien. One of the leading candidates could be Montreal native and former Canadien Jim Montgomery, who recently led the University of Denver to an NCAA title.
The 47-year-old Montgomery has been interviewed for the job and the Panthers have a good line on him because two of their prospects, Henrik Borgstrom and goaltender Evan Cowley were part of that NCAA run.
Borgstrom, who was the Panthers’ first-round draft choice last June, was Denver’s leading scorer.
Montgomery’s resumé also includes two USHL championships with the Dubuque Fighting Saints. He coached Matheson, Zemgus Girgensons and Johnny Gaudreau in Dubuque as well as Flyers farmhand Nick Luukko, whose father, Peter, is the Panthers’ executive chairman.
Hockey Hall of Famer and current Nashville assistant coach Phil Housley, Washington assistant coach Todd Reirden and Toronto Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe are also believed to be on Tallon’s radar.
Housley was the ultimate rushing defenceman as a player, and he and Tallon have ties to Chicago and worked together on the 2016 U.S. World Cup team.
The 45-year-old Reirden previously worked in Pittsburgh and has tutored defencemen Kris Letang, Matt Niskanen and John Carlson.
Keefe, who is the youngest candidate at 36, has played a role in the renaissance of the Maple Leafs, working with William Nylander, Zach Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen.
As for Therrien, if he wants to coach next season, his best prospects may rest with some old friends who once worked as his assistants.
Gerard Gallant, who was fired by the Panthers last fall, has landed on his feet as the head coach of the expansion team in Las Vegas and is building a staff from scratch.
And then there’s Mike Yeo, who replaced Ken Hitchcock in St. Louis.
Yeo made his NHL coaching debut as Therrien’s assistant in Pittsburgh and has often expressed his admiration for the former Habs coach.
Note: The Canadiens have signed free agent defenceman Jakub Jerabek, 25, to a one-year, twoway contract. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Czech recorded five goals and 29 assists in 59 games last season with Vityaz Podolsk in the KHL.
We’re looking for a creative guy, a contemporary guy who is a good communicator, a good teacher. (Someone) who can handle the younger player today.