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Claude Julien Fired (again)

  • With a few games remaining in the season and a 2nd place position in the Eastern Conference, the New Jersey Devils have fired coach Claude Julien.

    This makes the second time Julien has been fired in just over one year.

    This comes as more of a surprise and shock and certainly more details will follow.

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39 Comments
  1. #1 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 2, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    John Furguson Jr. will be next.

  2. #2 smiler2729 says:
    April 2, 2007 at 1:33 pm

    So does that mean Larry Robinson steps in and leads them to the Cup? Or is Pat Burns back? Maybe Robbie Ftorek! Maybe Lou-Lou hires Mario Tremblay! Whatever.
    Lou Lamoriello is an idiot who has all the Devils’ players drinking his Kool-Aid. How else do you explain such talented unrestricted free agents returning to New Jersey in the past 5 seasons for less money than they could have received on the open market (Stevens, Brodeur, Elias)?
    I hate New Jersey and not cuz they dominate the Habs but because they are always a un-original boring team. Kinda cool logo though eh?

  3. #3 smiler2729 says:
    April 2, 2007 at 1:40 pm

    Poor Claude Julien, he deserves better. Hopefully he ends up somewhere where he doesn’t have to bow to a GM who dictates how to coach.
    Maybe Boston, I hear Dave Lewis is done. Maybe Ottawa if they make an early playoff exit. And one never knows what will happen in Tampa Bay, Carolina, Washington, Edmonton, Colorado, Atlanta, Philadelphia over the summer, hey, even Calgary, Dallas and Pittsburgh might look for a change!
    Good luck to Claude, I kinda wish he was still our coach but I don’t make the changes, josh is the GM.

  4. #4 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 2, 2007 at 1:51 pm

    Josh can’t fire me cause I QUIT………There HA, HA, HA.

  5. #5 nigelski says:
    April 2, 2007 at 2:15 pm

    Hard to understand, but it’s not like he hasn’t fired guys at this stage before. It won them a cup once, when Robinson took over, I think. I’m not a Julien believer, myself. Half the reason he was hired by Montreal was because he’s french, and the other half was because he worked cheap and was already in the system. What amazes me more is the talk of coach of the year for Therrien. Michel, or Mike as he now likes to be called despite his Cretien like accent, was lucky to even have a job this season after his varied and uninspired rants last year.

    I think Crosby, Malkin and Staal have a hell of a lot more to do with the Penguins success than that lame duck of a coach. Coach of the year? Don’t make me laugh. There are at least 5 better candidates than that stiff.

    Any way, glad to see the Rangers wallop the Leafs last night. I watched the game and enjoyed it immensely. I hate the Leafs…

  6. #6 Joshtm says:
    April 2, 2007 at 2:20 pm

    Gotta love Lou, hey Bob Gainey, if you wanna see a winner, look at Jello Lamorello, that man a ring for almost every finger, except of course the middle finger which he gives to losers like Guy….

    If Carboneau was with the devils, they could win the cup, Guy could probably be a decent coach on any other team than the habs, with the habs he has no accountablity so he doesn’t give a rats ****! But hey, if he had pressure and accountablity, Guy Carboneau could win a cup!

  7. #7 R habs 4 real says:
    April 2, 2007 at 3:31 pm

    Why was Julien fired? Makes no sense! They’re in 2nd place! Lamoriello is a total moron! And with the playoffs a week away, and his team having a chance to win the cup, why would he do such an idiotic thing? Unbelievable!
    I could understand more if Carbo was fired, but to a coach who has guided his team to a 2nd place finish.

  8. #8 Joshtm says:
    April 2, 2007 at 3:32 pm

    Hey, how about trading Guy Carboneau for Larry Robinson? Larry would know how to kick both Saku and Alexei’s butt big time and he would know not to sign Dandy and Bouilly and how to use the rookies properly!

  9. #9 R habs 4 real says:
    April 2, 2007 at 3:40 pm

    think Carbo loves Dandenault and Bouillon because they’re french canadien. If they were european, they’re gone! Yeah, I believe the Kovalev story to the russian paper, saying carbo loves his own french canadien players, and hates Euros

  10. #10 nigelski says:
    April 2, 2007 at 5:01 pm

    Could be there’s a situation in Jersey that we don’t know about. Some conflict that the media hasn’t rooted out. A few get by them. It should be interesting to hear what Julien has to say about this. His reaction will say a lot.

  11. #11 La Verite says:
    April 2, 2007 at 6:27 pm

    Word on the street is that the Devils’ had gone to Lou to tell him that they were not happy with Julien. It’s impressive that they tuned him out and kept winning while the Habs did the same thing once upon a time and the team sucked.

  12. #12 Higgy21 says:
    April 2, 2007 at 6:44 pm

    Lou must realize that this will not put fans in the seats. IF you play this disgusting brand of hockey then 5000 fans is pretty darn good. IT will be a early exit for the Devils this year.

    ALso Lou realizes that this year is the end of the line for this goup of players. He knows its downhill from here. Good luck Lou, you’ll need it.

  13. #13 Higgy21 says:
    April 2, 2007 at 6:46 pm

    Where has Latendresse gone the last few games? HE has been invisible. Joshtm???

  14. #14 LA Habber says:
    April 2, 2007 at 8:37 pm

    Lou should have read a recent (TSN?) artiicle that showed over the past 20 years teams that were just average in their last 10 games won the cup. Teams who had peaked too soon didn’t have the stamina. It’s not just theory, the statistics were quite interesting. If anyone can cite the article more precisely I’m sure posters would be interested, it was just in the last couple of days.

  15. #15 HaBz4EveR says:
    April 2, 2007 at 8:44 pm

    Oh come one guys stop it with the French players thing. So they aint like kopitar or Malkin. They weren’t also the first draft picks of their year. If Montreal was a real bad team each year we would get good players. And look at Kotstystin, he is playing well, but not all that much more then latendresse.

    So please stop the French bashing. This is a team game anyways. And they are showing passion, especially Lappy, although his main goal isnt to score he’s doing that well.

  16. #16 joburg says:
    April 2, 2007 at 11:16 pm

    If anyone is interested- I have been sent an amazing e mail that has about
    7 or 8 pictures of a Habs rec room, if anyone is interested send me an
    e mail to cowboyboots@telus.net and I’ll forward it on to you. Sure wish I had a big enough house to have this…even though my hockey office has about
    100 differfent Habs items in it, it pales compares to this one.
    Smiler—yup they have a great Logo.
    Loved that Ranger kicking of TO, just hope they don’t do the same to the Habs now !

  17. #17 Snake says:
    April 3, 2007 at 12:50 am

    KOstisyn has been very impressive yet has not found the trigger for goal. Everytime he touches the puck something exciting seems to happen. Great chemistry with the linemates but mainly Pleks. Higgins is still finding his grove but is still playing hard. The one thing I notice about Higgins is he is fanning on alot of shots this year. Maybe holding the stick to tight but last year everytime he had a chance he put a hard shot on net. Im sure he will fix that. Plekanec is sooo underated its not even funny. Great stickhandler, good awareness and can feather the most beautiful saucer passes. I would take him over Mike Fisher anyday who is a similar player.

  18. #18 nigelski says:
    April 3, 2007 at 6:23 am

    I like Plekanec too, but I’d take Fisher. He’s much more physical, and gets it done on the scoresheet. That said, Pleks has made great strides since x-mas. I was thinking that he should have been benched prior to that, as he wasn’t scoring. I guess having to carry the defensive load for notorious non-back-checkers Samsonov and Kovalev took its toll. After seeing how he finished last year, I expected a breakout year for him, and though it took until January for him to get going, he hasn’t let me down.

    I think Higgins is a bit gunshy right now. He was looking awesome before he hurt his ankle, and even after he returned, he wasn’t skating well until February. He’s fit in well with Plekanec and Kostitsyn, and has looked dangerous the last little while even though the points haven’t been there. He’ll be big for us in the playoffs, if we get there: I’m certain of it.

  19. #19 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 3, 2007 at 8:11 am

    Well boys & girls, tonight is the night when we absolutely have to beat Boston. Loosing is not an option tonight. The Leafs pretty much have a sure 2 points tonight. I hope that the Flyers could muster up a win but it looks bleek that they could beat the Leafs.

    The Leafs or Montreal, should one of them loose tonight I think that it will pretty much be lights out for the loosing team.

    Agree Or Disagree?

  20. #20 fan4066 says:
    April 3, 2007 at 8:23 am

    If the laffs lose, I’de say Montreal is in. That would be a 3 pt lead and another win on the laffs. Toronto at home, they’ll probably win though. We still to be aware of the Canes too

  21. #21 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 3, 2007 at 8:39 am

    Hello Fan4066.

    Yes. The Canes are creeping back up there again. This is so hard on my nerves.

    I don’t know but I am getting a bad vibe for the next 3 games for us. Maybe it is my nerves. If we are to not make it, I hope that the canes do.

  22. #22 fan4066 says:
    April 3, 2007 at 9:11 am

    This, however, looks uneasy:

    Breaking down the final 3 games of these teams, I am boldly predicting outsomes based on the trends vs. the other teams this year…home vs roads, opponents, etc.

    If this did come down to looking like this…..it appears both get in and the Canes don’t!! The Canes may lose out on wins vs Montreal and pts vs Toronto

    Montreal: 79 41 32 6 88
    Bruins 80 42 32 6 90
    @ NYR 81 42 33 6 90
    @ Toronto 82 42 34 6 90

    Toronto: 79 38 30 11 87
    Philly 80 39 30 11 89
    @ NYI 81 39 31 11 89
    Canadiens 82 40 31 11 91

    Canes: 79 39 32 8 86
    @ TB 80 39 33 8 86
    Atlanta 81 39 34 8 86
    FLA 82 40 34 8 88 or 82 42 33 8 90

  23. #23 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 3, 2007 at 9:14 am

    You lost me there……………..

  24. #24 fan4066 says:
    April 3, 2007 at 9:15 am

    Typo…sorry
    FLA 82 41 34 8 90

  25. #25 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 3, 2007 at 9:19 am

    So what does all of that mean??????????

  26. #26 fan4066 says:
    April 3, 2007 at 9:20 am

    I just broke down the final 3 games left of each team and the accumulative record finishing the season…since I had people bugging me here at work…I frigged up the Canes last game prediction.

    If they beat Florida, they finish 82 40 34 8 88, and appears they will not tie Montreal for pts….they won’t make it!

  27. #27 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 3, 2007 at 9:40 am

    You can’t go by that anymore Fan4066.

    We need to win the next 3 games period.

    We won 5 in a row. Lost 1. We have won 1. Now just 3 more wins for a 4 games in a row.

    If our season comes down to the last game with T.O. It wiil be one nervous night. The Leafs may get lucky……….

  28. #28 fan4066 says:
    April 3, 2007 at 9:57 am

    Don’t get me wrong DAWG….there is nothing I will love more than to see them win all 3, and I pray to God we do. The NY and laffs games are going to be a true test of how bad they really, really want this. It may look like 6th is a hard reach now with the NYR @ 91…looking like 7th may be the best it gets now, and a possible date with either NJ or Pittsburgh. Ide rather finish 8th and take my chances the the Sabres

  29. #29 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 3, 2007 at 10:03 am

    I agree with you. We have the best record against Buffalo this year. 5-2-1.

    But, we all know that the playoffs are a differnt season all together. Regular season stats don’t mean much then.

    Like you said we will see how much the Habs want it.

    If they loose tonight, they loose the season.

    LETS GO BOYS, LETS GO.

  30. #30 fan4066 says:
    April 3, 2007 at 10:14 am

    I truely believe we will beat the Bruins tonight, the carrot is hanging here to take. But, ya, we really need to win this tonight, just to keep pace with Toronto.

    Wouln’t it be freakin awesome waking up in the morning and hearing that Philly beat them!!! That would be just the BEST. That would be a 3 point lead with a 4 win margin, it would be a nice buffer to work with for sure

  31. #31 coutNY_HabsFan says:
    April 3, 2007 at 10:23 am

    C_D FYI, Our record against Buffalo is 4-2-2… in the playoffs there is no ties so things even up a bit…

    but I think we would have an advantage going into the Playoffs in that our confidence would be at a 3 mth high, which would position us as good 1st round spoiler… and Buffalo has a lot of pressure to go far in the playoffs (also shooting for the Presidents trophey), plus add the pressure of they have struggled against us, I could see good things in this match-up! I like that match-up over any other of the top 4 teams with the exception of Atl possibly???

  32. #32 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 3, 2007 at 10:36 am

    I stand corrected.

    Are you trying to pick a fight BUDDY BOY…….LOL……….

    You don’t want to drop the gloves with me. I have a mean bite……..LOL…

  33. #33 fan4066 says:
    April 3, 2007 at 10:53 am

    We have played the Swordsmen very tough this year, mostly, they beat us all up front of the season when they were flying high, but once they became human again, we’ve beaten them 3/4 since, and beating them last week is a nice way to enter a dance with them. We cave to come hard at them, they are finesse,we have to punish them to beat them…crush Briere in the boards

    Oct. 6 lost at Sabres, 5-4, SO
    Oct. 23 lost vs Sabres, 4-1
    Nov. 24 won at Sabres, 2-1, OT
    Dec. 9 lost vs Sabres, 3-2, SO
    Dec. 19 won at Sabres, 5-2
    Jan. 20 won vs Sabres, 4-3
    March 2 lost at Sabres, 8-5
    March 31 won vs Sabres, 4-3

  34. #34 Joshtm says:
    April 3, 2007 at 11:11 am

    I think that when the laffs need to win they overdo it and Raycroft always lets them down. Probably cause they get their heads overblown with worshiping and general brown nosing by the Toronto media, the Laffs will be off their game just a bit, enough for the rookies to tip them over and outscore them.

    Of course the toronto media has it down to the final game, and that TO needs to win in regulation time….talk about being overly optimistic! Since when has Sundin and Tucker and Raycroft delivered when they were needed the most? Never!

    I bet even the lacklustre Phlyers will bowl them over now. And the Islanders are smarting so they will payback, so it looks like strike three against the habs later in the week. Of course this is all reliant on the vets delivering for the habs, which we all know Koivu and Kovalev only come and go at their pleasure!

  35. #35 Joshtm says:
    April 3, 2007 at 11:34 am

    Of course here we are all overblown ourselves thinking we got easy wins against the Bruins, the Rangers and the Laffs!

  36. #36 R habs 4 real says:
    April 3, 2007 at 11:53 am

    Nothing will be easy pickings for us,nor has it been for the entire season.
    But here’s something that could make our game tonight a little bit easier. Bruins have recalled Toivonen, and he will be playing the next 2 games. He’s their version of Abbyshit. But the bottom line is, we MUST beat NYR no matter what! And if the NYR beat NYI tonight, then the Rangers clinch a playoff spot tonight. The only reason that would be good for us, is because the Rangers might not play as hard against us,with a playoff position set. we all know, that if there is nothing to be gained, player like Jagr won’t play hard, thus giving the habs an easy win. Even tho we don’t want the NYR to get in, it’s inevitable. But the good news is, even if they get in the playoffs, we could still finish higher than them, so it’s imperative we win all 3 games. Remember, the last game of the season for the Rangers is in Pittsburgh, and Pitt is still trying to finish in 2nd place, so there won’t be any gimmies for NYR. We must play 60 MINUTES! NO MORE INVISIBLE 1ST PERIODS! If we come out flat vs NYR or Leafs, they will kill us, and it will be over!

  37. #37 CANADIENS-DAWG says:
    April 3, 2007 at 12:02 pm

    Never mind NY or T.O. right now. We need to beat Boston tonight.

  38. #38 fan4066 says:
    April 3, 2007 at 12:11 pm

    I agree with both of you. But DAWG is right, we HAVE to beat the Bruins tonite, it’s impairative we do so, again it goes back to how bad they really want this playoff spot. Their best hockey of the year has to be played in these last 3 games of the season, or this year was all for nothing!

  39. #39 Joshtm says:
    April 3, 2007 at 2:36 pm

    What was sad was Carbo basically crapping all over Saku, Guy, you leave that to me, imagine the let down this will have on the rest of the team!

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  • goalie : I don't know when they'll announce it but the Oilers will be signing Sutter (Flames ex-coach) to coach their team - that's why Kevin Lowe chose him to coach in the World's. That was the world's worst kept secret.
  • Senet1 : I guess I wish we could get it done so all the speculating was over and we can get to building out team.
  • goalie : I can't type.... what a faux pas on my behalf...
  • goalie : I just realized what I said adn didn't say yesterday. What a fayx as on my behalf. Regarding coaching Randy Cunnyworth MUSDT stay as an assistant- he deserves at least that after the tremendous job he did in the latter part of this past season. I'd still mlike to have Robinson, Carbo adn Allard on the staff also.
  • Avatar37 : I agree Senet, my choice if we can't have Cunneyworth would be Crawford, Robinson on defense, Cunneyworth for offense, and Carbo as offense/faceoffs .
  • Senet1 : I think if I had my choice it would be Crawford and see if he could get Carbo and Robinson as assistants. That would be my idea coaching team.
  • goalie : I witnesed Marc Crawford MANY times when the Avs, etc. played against Oilers and let me tell you - he is constantly on the referees asses virtually game after game. He is the complete OPPOSITE of J. Martin. Crawford is calm on TSN but he is one excited coach behind the bench. A friend of mine who was an NHL linesman for 26 years said they dreaded Crawford he was so tough on the officials!
  • goalie : You know, I've bee thinking about the coaching situation. I'd be really excited if the Habs had Hartley as head coach and Carbo adn Robinson as his assistants. I also read it somewhere about a month ago that Toronto's goalie coach Allard (?) wants to relocate back to Montreal where he has his goaltending school/business. Add him to the mix and I'd say the Habs would be in great shape coaching wise.
  • Avatar37 : Well, from what I recall, Hartley didn't do all that well with the Thrashers. But, I don't know enough about him to judge one way or the other. Crawford I do know, and he always seemed to be a good, level headed coach to me.
  • Senet1 : even Pacioretty two years ago did not impress any of us. Younger players have to play and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. If they sit in the press box they are learning nothing.
  • Senet1 : Of course if he have some good assistants like a Larry Robinson to teach the young defence and someone like Carbo to teach faceoffs etc. then your coach does not have to be as good at teaching. If Hartley fits the bill you get no argument from me. My only previous point is that if he is impatient with your younger players to the point that he does not play them, then we are right back where we were with Martin. Martin was a good coach too, but how he handled Emelin, PK and even Pacioretty two
  • goalie : I would like to see the Habs sign a coach who realizes that our team isn't tough enough (we need to get bigger and somewhat more nastier),the coach needs t be a great TEACHER and be a coach who can get the players to understand and buy into his system. Other than that I couldn't care what lingo he speaks. I wnat to see our team become a ligitimate contender fast!
  • HabsLoseAgain : Well we dont know if he is or is not a teaching coach. I woukd just hate to paint Hartley something that he is not. There will always be questions but if Hartley was hired as the habs new bench boss i for one would not be overly upset.
  • Senet1 : My thoughts are not that he is or is not a good coach but rather that when he won the cup he had an experience team of superstars on that team. Where as we have a group of young inexperienced players, is he a teaching coach or a tactical coach or both? I am not question whether he is a good coach, but my question therefore is he the coach for us at this point in the deveopment of our team?? Not sure we are all purely speculating at the moment?
  • Senet1 : Something happened to my first post. I will try again.
  • Senet1 : That is why I said I am not sure he is the coach for us at this time? Right now we are all speculating including yourself, because non of us know for sure?
  • HabsLoseAgain : Crawford also won a cup with Patrick Roy so would you say he is a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best goaltenders of alltime?
  • HabsLoseAgain : Senrt so please give me some reasons why you think Hartley is not the coach the habs need right now. What is it that you do not like about him or his coaching style?
  • HabsLoseAgain : Well all great coaches had great players playing for them so i guess you you add a a pile of other coaches to that list including Bowan......
  • Senet1 : Hartley, was he a good coach or did he just have great players and one of the best altime goaltenders of all time. I am not sure that he is the type of coach that this organization needs right now. Unless of course we sign a ton of free agents.
  • Avatar37 : However, my feelings may completely be wrong, Hartley may turn out to be a good fit.
  • Avatar37 : I didn't say Hartley was unknown, I said we demoted a good coach in Cunneyworth and now have an unknown quantity because we don't have a coach. I don't have that great a feeling about Hartley, I'd be much more comfortable with Crawford.
  • HabsLoseAgain : In my opinion i think he might be a good fit in montreal. Oh and he also likes to have a tough team.
  • HabsLoseAgain : Also this year he coached the ZSC Lions to the swiss championship title.
  • HabsLoseAgain : lol the so called "unknown" won a cup in 2000-2001 with the colarado avalanch.
  • HabsLoseAgain : lol Bob Hartley is not an unknown lol.....sheesh.
  • Senet1 : I think he has until the trading deadline to show us that he deserves to be on this team. If he does not get back on track then he could be simply a 2nd round draft pick to whoever we can trade him to.
  • Avatar37 : Bourque reminds me of Pouliot, size, skill, and invisible. He needs to get back to playing a physical game and bang people around and maybe he'll start getting some of those garbage goals again. Need to get to the front of the net. I hope he can find his game again.
  • Avatar37 : We had a good coach in Randy Cunneyworth. Now we have an unknown, with Bob Hartley rumoured to be the front runner. I'd rather have Cunneyworth.
  • goalie : A player like Rene Bourwue has al the physical attributes of what would be a beter than average player. Hwever, he certainly didn't play that well especially after being in Montreal about three weeks. We NEED players like Rene to play hard AND produce points on a REGULAR BASIS in order for us to be competitive.
  • Senet1 : MONTREAL – Rene Bourque had a rocky start to his career as a Hab, but he’s planning on using the next four years to make up for it. After arriving in Montreal under less-than-ideal circumstances in January, Bourque spent the following 38 games hoping to find the spark he needed to rekindle his offensive production. Despite flanking Tomas Plekanec on the team’s second line to close out the season, the 30-year-old sniper suddenly found himself firing blanks in his new NHL home.
  • Senet1 : I think we have to be patient and not expect too much too soon. Let's get a strong management team in place, make a good choices in the draft get a good coach and then see what we need at the free agent market. I will not be too disapointed if we miss the playoffs again next year if it means a long term team success. We have the opportunity to make some major strides over the next two years at the draft table. Then we fill in the holes.
  • goalie : I certainly agree that we need to get some impact forwards who will sign for 5 years, not for a season then walk away. That's not going to help us.
  • goalie : I wouldn't trade PK for Ovetchkin no matter what. He is a coach's NIGHTMARE and a poor team player.
  • Senet1 : I believe he will as we graducally put better players around him and build this team.

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