Melanson Moves On

As part of the coaching changes this week, the Canadiens say goodbye to long time goaltending coach Rollie Melanson. "Rollie The Goalie" originally came to Montreal in a trade with the New Jersey Devils in 1991. Melanson and now assistant coach Kirk Muller were received from the Devils for Stephane Richer and Tom Chorske. Melanson won five games in his only season in a Habs jersey.

1997 saw the return of Melanson as Montreal's goaltending coach. In his 11 seasons as part of the Canadiens coaching staff, his most notable achievement was probably the development of Jose Theodore into a Hart and Vezina winner.

Melanson's departure can be attributed to Carey Price's struggle during the second half of the season. With the old goalie coach gone, and a new defensive head coach in place, there is no reason Price shouldn't live up to his potential in the upcoming season.

One Hole Filled...

No matter who the new owners are, they're gonna need a coach. So before he starts on attracting players for next year, Bob Gainey has hired Jacques Martin as Montreal's 29th head coach.

So the best we can hope for is a team that racks up 100+ point seasons, like Martin's Senators did. And the worst we could get is a team that chokes repeatedly in the playoffs, like Martin's Senators did.

One appearance in the Eastern Conference final is the current peak of Martin's playoff performance, but Jacques can shuffle lines with the best of them during the regular season. His 517 wins put him 10th on the all-time list. Ask Mike Keenan (4th all-time) if that helps your job security after 1st round losses.

A lot can be said about Martin's defensive system and the lack of excitement it produces. Although Ottawa did fill nets, he has been criticized for being too safe and boring. To me, the style of play Martin employs is irrelevant as long as it wins games, and then wins the important games.

Jacques Martin coming on board does raise some other questions though:

1. Can he give the Canadiens an inside track on any free agents? Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat, and Jay Bouwmeester have all played three or more seasons under Martin, and the Habs would love to land any one of them.
2. Who are the other coaches next year? Rollie Melanson is already gone, and Kirk Muller was Carbo's pick. Doug Jarvis is close with Gainey, so he may stick around. Don Lever will hopefully get an opportunity with an organization that places more importance on ability than language. Rumours have immediately started to swirl about the return of Mario Tremblay and Jacques Lemaire.
3. Does the hiring of a defensive coach mean that Gainey is about to drag the club through a rebuilding phase focused on Price and Markov? With the goaltending coach gone and a new defensive system, nobody will be affected more than Carey Price by the coaching changes. Markov will also benefit greatly from not having to do almost everything by himself to get the puck to the red line.