Chara feels Julien good fit for Habs
Bruins’ captain says coach’s recent firing in Boston was a ‘wake-up call’ for his teammates
As much as the loyal Boston fan base might be shocked that Claude Julien has joined the enemy, you won’t find any dartboards with their former coach’s photo on it hanging inside the Bruins dressing room.
There will be no such target practice here. Not under captain Zdeno Chara’s watch anyway.
While many of his Bruins teammates used the team’s bye week to flock to some sun-splashed beach down south, Chara remained at home preparing for the team’s stretch drive while taking care of daughter Elliz, 7, and twin boys Ben and Zack, who celebrate their first birthday on March 7.
As such, he found himself in snowy Beantown on Tuesday when the city and its rabid hockey supporters were caught off guard by the stunning news: Exactly one week after being fired by the Bruins, Julien had been hired by the Montreal Canadiens.
Yes, the hated Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins most bitter foes. It was, indeed, the type of news that was difficult to digest.
The image of Julien behind the Habs bench, well, at first blush you might think it stands to have the same impact for Boston sports zealots as seeing Johnny Damon sign a four-year, $52 million US free agent deal with the New York Yankees in 2005, just one season after helping the Red Sox win their first World Series in 86 years.
Indeed, the first time Damon came to Fenway Park wearing the pinstripes of the team Bostonians call The Evil Empire, fans greeted him with chants of “Johnny Cash” and chucked at him fake dollar bills with his photo printed on them.
Chara doesn’t expect the same reaction for Julien. At least there won’t be one coming from him.
In fact, while Julien’s hiring by the Habs sent shock waves through the entire hockey world, Chara wasn’t really surprised. In his mind, it was a logical move for both parties.
“First off, he’s a very good coach,” Chara said from Boston on Thursday. “He’s bilingual, which is important for that market. He’s coached in Montreal before, so he knows the pressures involved. And he helped us win a Stanley Cup and go to another final, so he has a strong resume.
“It makes sense. (Canadiens general manager) Marc Bergevin and Claude worked together with Team Canada at the World Cup last September and, from what I read, they seemed to see things the same way.
“I didn’t think it would take him long to get hired. There were a number of teams with coaching openings and even a new team (Las Vegas Golden Knights) coming in. Montreal obviously decided to act quickly while he was still available.”
Here’s the difference between the Damon and Julien situations. Damon left Boston on his own in pursuit of big bucks. As for Julien, it was not his decision to leave.
And while Julien might harbour thoughts of revenge against the Bruins hierarchy — not that he’s likely to admit such a thing publicly — Chara said there are no hard feelings on his part towards his former coach in a rivalry that already is among the most heated in the NHL.
“Hey, those are the types of things the media brings up when we play (Montreal),” Chara said. “It’s all part of it. We don’t play them in the regular season anymore but maybe in the playoffs. In the meantime, we are just concentrating on playing better and making the post-season.
“Claude and I went through a lot together. He joined the organization a year after I did and we had some success. You never forget the people you win a Stanley Cup with. “But it’s a business.” Rumours of Julien’s imminent dismissal by the Bruins have been circulating for years dating back to late in 2010 when team president Cam Neely approached then-GM Peter Chiarelli about cutting ties with the veteran coach. Nevertheless, Chara said the actual act of firing Julien shook up the entire Bruins roster.
“The bottom line is, it’s on us as players,” said the captain. “We weren’t playing that bad, but we weren’t getting results. Like I said, that’s on us.”
Since the coaching change was made, the Bruins are 3-0 under replacement Bruce Cassidy, outscoring the opposition 14-6 in the process. Chara acknowledges that some of the Bruins younger players likely are comfortable with Cassidy, having played for him with the team’s American Hockey League farm team in Providence.
“Whenever a coach is fired, you feel responsible,” Chara said. “It’s a wake-up call.”
Julien’s family remains behind his Boston, where his kids go to school and where he’s been ingrained in the community for over a decade. It will always be a special place for him, as Chara will tell you.
As such, don’t be surprised if Julien gets a nice hand from the crowd when he returns to the TD Garden.