Dominique Ducharme has fresh ideas, and he is going to give his talented youngsters a chance to show what they can do
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• Special to Montreal Gazette
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Ah. There’s nothing like a converted touchdown on a Saturday night in early March to dull the claws of your critics.
After a mad, mad, mad, mad stretch that saw the Canadiens fire head coach Claude Julien, assistant Kirk Muller and goalie coach Stéphane Waite (and a couple of minor stumbles out of the gate for new head coach Dominique Ducharme), the Habs got their groove back in that 7-1 win over a good Winnipeg Jets team.
Of course, the real reason they won was that they ditched the Jinx Blue jerseys in favour of Rockin’ Red — but there were also a few other minor details we noticed:
Start with Jesperi Kotkaniemi. If you want to know why Montreal drafted Kotkaniemi ahead of Brady Tkachuk, it was all right there.
In his first big move, Ducharme put Kotkaniemi between high-scoring Tyler Toffoli and Josh Anderson and it worked like a dream. Kotkaniemi, who once told Arpon Basu that he didn’t have a weak side when it came to taking faceoffs because “both sides are bad,” was good from both sides Saturday.
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Kotkaniemi won all six faceoffs in the first period and was an eye-popping 13 for 15 for the game.
The club’s much-maligned forwards came through to the point that only Corey Perry (who has been a blessing since he escaped the taxi squad) missed the score sheet. Carey Price, the much-maligned goaltender, appeared to have received three words of advice from new goalie coach Sean Burke: “Move your feet.”
Price moved his feet. He was square to the shooter. When he does that, it’s like trying to chuck a banana past King Kong. He’s too large to be scored on.
Then there was Brendan Gallagher. Every year they tell us Gallagher is getting too beaten up, that he can’t take this kind of punishment and keep producing, that the contract was too much.
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Then they play the games and there is Gallagher in his office, getting buffeted around like a raft in a gale, then you look up and Gallagher has 10 goals and it’s impossible to imagine this team without him.
All in all, Saturday’s game was a beautiful ending to a very rough stretch. It won’t mean much unless the Canadiens can sustain their momentum through another of those six-game road trips (beginning in Vancouver, where the Leafs’ juggernaut hit a speed bump), but you have to like the way Ducharme has it going.
It has to be a relief to Marc Bergevin, who took radical steps after the season’s quick start dissolved in a long stretch of fluffed saves, missed nets and a goalie controversy.
Bergevin could have handled Waite’s firing better, simply by waiting until the morning after. By canning him between periods, Bergevin made himself look like a man floundering around in the dark trying to find the light switch. It appears Bergevin did know what he was doing, but the timing was straight out of Pierre Gauthier’s Handy Guide on How Not to Do Things.
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Still, the Canadiens emerged from a tough stretch solidly in possession of a playoff spot, with a chance to move up and avoid Toronto in the first round. (Although the first round might be the time to catch the Leafs, while they’re still jittery and painfully aware of their long string of first-round playoff failures.)
I hate firings, but changes had to be made. Bergevin has assembled a stronger team than any we have seen since at least 2014 and he had every right to expect better results on the ice. When he didn’t see them, he moved swiftly and decisively, even if the timing could have been better.
He also hired the right coach. Ducharme communicates, he has fresh ideas, and he is going to give his talented youngsters a chance to show what they can do.
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You can’t ask for more.
Lies, rumours &&&& vicious innuendo: Cole Caufield is going to tear up the National Hockey League. You didn’t read it here first, but it’s true. That shot is so good, Caufield can make the highlight reels while ringing one off the post. You’re gonna love him, people. …
We shrugged when we saw Tom Wilson’s hit on Brandon Carlo. Of course the refs ignored it and of course Player Safety would do nothing. But then they brought the hammer down on Wilson with a seven-game suspension. Richly deserved — but why this one when so many similar hits have brought nothing at all? The consistently inconsistent NHL. …
FIFA godfather Gianni Infantino’s claim for replay review is epic. VAR, says Infantino, “adds another layer of adrenalin” for fans waiting for the outcome of another botched decision. No, Gianni, all it does is waste time and infuriate fans.
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Heroes: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Brendan Gallagher, Jeff Petry, Tyler Toffoli, Josh Anderson, Tomas Tatar, Jonathan Drouin, Phillip Danault, Olivier Renard, Artemi Panarin, &&&& last but not least, Walter Gretzky.
Zeros: Tom Wilson, the NHL Department of Player Safety, UFC, Dana White, VAR, Gianni Infantino, Kevin Gilmore, Justin Kingsley, Nikita Mazepin, Ron MacLean, David Samson &&&& last but not least, Jeffrey Loria.
Now and forever.
Twitter.com/jacktodd46
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifWh0dHBzOi8vbW9udHJlYWxnYXpldHRlLmNvbS9zcG9ydHMvaG9ja2V5L25obC9ob2NrZXktaW5zaWRlLW91dC9qYWNrLXRvZGQtaGFicy1zaGFrZXVwLWJlaGluZC10aGUtYmVuY2gtcGF5cy1vZmYtYWdhaW5zdC1qZXRz0gGrAWh0dHBzOi8vbW9udHJlYWxnYXpldHRlLmNvbS9zcG9ydHMvaG9ja2V5L25obC9ob2NrZXktaW5zaWRlLW91dC9qYWNrLXRvZGQtaGFicy1zaGFrZXVwLWJlaGluZC10aGUtYmVuY2gtcGF5cy1vZmYtYWdhaW5zdC1qZXRzL3djbS9kZjBlYzM5Yy1mNmRhLTQ5OTgtOTc3Yy0yODFlNTk3MDM5NzcvYW1wLw?oc=5
2021-03-07 19:59:45Z
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