Carbonneau Out/Gainey In

Guy Carbonneau was fired as coach of the struggling Montreal Canadiens yesterday, replaced behind the bench by General Manager Bob Gainey. As of this morning the Habs found themselves in 5th place in the Eastern Conference, posting a 36-24-7 record good for 79 points, but only 2 points from being out of the playoffs. Since Jan. 2 the Canadiens are 15-15-1, including losing 10 of 13 in late January and February.

For Gainey these numbers are unacceptable for last years top Eastern Conference team. Montreal entered the season with cup expectations heading into their centennial. Carey Price, expected to be the second coming of Patrick Roy was going to backstop the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup. This years Montreal squad has played inconsistent for the entire season. Injuries have hurt the team, as has Price's poor play, and the distractions of a season long anniversary party. But Carbonneau was calling the shots behind the bench, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't get a consistent positive effort from his players.

Carbonneau is clearly taking the blame for what is only partly his fault. This move wreaks of desperation. GM Bob Gainey is trying to light a fire under his player's asses in the hopes that they don't continue their current nosedive. If he stood by and did nothing he very well could find his team out of the playoffs by this time next week.

Not all hope is lost though- Montreal beat out Edmonton 4-3 in OT on Gainey's return to the bench and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, however the suddenly sizzling Pittsburgh Penguins are a point back with Carolina and Florida 2 points back. Montreal doesn't have the luxury of a massive winning streak early-on to carry the team into the postseason (like my Boston Bruins seem to be doing). They need to win, and it has to happen now. If they continue to stumble and skid they will easily find themselves out of the postseason on April 12th.



I think the Habs will be in the playoffs with a first round exit as the likely outcome.