Jacques Martin Hired as Next Montreal Head Coach
June 1, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
The Canadiens have named 56 year-old Jacques Martin as successor to Guy Carbonneau. It’s a good selection for a variety of reasons and there are no concerns to voice.
Martin is an experienced (and successful) coach and this is something the Canadiens have, in recent decades, lacked. Since the departure of Scotty Bowman in 1979, Boom Boom Geoffrion, Claude Ruel, Bob Berry, Jacques Lemaire, Jean Perron and Pat Burns were all notably inexperienced Montreal head coaching choices. Ruel is the exception but his appiontment after a ten-year absence from the bench was considered a stop-gap measure.
In recent seasons, the hirings of the comparably inexperienced Mario Tremblay, Alain Vigneault, Michel Therrien, Claude Julien and Guy Carbonneau continued that pattern.
The only clear exception in that time was the hiring of Jacques Demers in the early nineties. Demers’ experience in Detroit and St. Louis made up a solid dossier of seven years’ pro experience for a job that is amongst the toughest five pro coaching gigs in North American sports. It was certainly a factor in bringing an almost disparate group of youngsters and veterans to a title in 1992-93.
A young coach can still win the Stanley Cup as Perron proved in 1986. But the unique pressures of coaching in Montreal are a burden that few can carry for a sustained period.
Bowman coached eight seasons in Montreal. He won his first Stanley Cup of six with Montreal in 1971 following three finals’ appearances as the St. Louis Blues head coach in the late sixties.
The longest tenure for any of the rest mentioned is Pat Burns’ four seasons. Burns coached the team to a six-game finals loss to the Flames in 1988-89 before finally winning as bench boss with the New Jersey Devils in 2002-03.
The rest were unable to coach the team into the finals. And in Montreal, fanciful or no, that remains the goal.
Martin’s hire, though he was not the Canadiens’ first choice is in some ways a bit of fortune. Martin leaves his role as the Florida Panthers’ GM and it is uncommon that a GM will take the pay-cut and drop in status associated with returning to coaching.
Though he didn’t name names, Montreal general manager Bob Gainey confirmed in today’s press conference that others had been approached before Martin. One intriguing and repeated report in recent weeks suggested that Russian national head coach Vyacheslav Bykov turned down a Montreal offer.
In Martin, however, Gainey feels he has a solid candidate. And Gainey asserts that Martin is, at heart, a coach. Martin agreed saying that coaching is his first love.
The dignified, organized Martin has all the must-have criteria for a Canadiens coach. He will know how to deal with a demanding Montreal media having coached in bilingual hockey-mad Ottawa for ten seasons. He is fluently French and English.
He is a balanced coach known for disciplined teams that play two-way hockey. He is patient and poised. He has a career winning record (517-406-119-56) with ten playoff appearances. His 52-win season with Ottawa Senators in 2002-03 was good for first overall in the NHL. He is highly respected. In 2001-02, he stepped aside for two games, allowing Roger Neilson to coach in his 1000th NHL game. He has balanced personalities and coached winning hockey with players as talented and diverse as Jason Spezza, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson. This too, is a must on a Montreal team as dynamic and multi-cultural as any in today’s hockey landscape.
But it is Martin’s long NHL resume that will mark his tenure differently than most recent Canadiens’ coaches. From managing the younger players and to navigating the rumours and innuendo fuelled by the press corps and fans to elaborating and building on his experience with the Sens, Martin is in the right place at the right time. He is in position to guide this team through a process of maturity that will allow many of the regressed Canadiens players to move toward their greatest potential. He has the vision and knowledge to bring out the best in the team’s veteran core.
And, he too, like Demers and Bowman before him, is ready to take his final step in navigating the Stanley Cup maze. And this time it’s where the biggest and brightest of all NHL spotlights shines red, white and hot.
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