04/20/24
March 09, 2009
Montreal Canadiens fire coach Guy Carbonneau: Head Coach Guy Carbonneau has been fired, and G.M. Bob Gainey is taking over behind the bench for the second time in three years. The surprise announcement came Monday, a day after the Canadiens ended a two-game losing run with a 3-1 victory over the Stars in Dallas. Gainey, the Canadiens' GM since 2003, took over as coach after he fired Claude Julien on Jan. 14, 2006 and handled the team for the rest of the season. That was when he brought his former teammate Carbonneau in as an associate coach with a mandate to take over behind the bench to start the 2006-07 campaign. Expectations were high this season, with the club celebrating its 100th anniversary. The last time Gainey took over, he got Montreal into the playoffs, but lost in the 1st round to eventual Stanley Cup winner Carolina.
posted by tommytrump to hockey at 06:58 PM - 7 comments
Don't you even think about harmng one hair on Youppi's head !
posted by tommybiden at 08:45 PM on March 09, 2009
Since the NHL came to be, there hasn't been a decade (if you count 0-9 as a decade) where the Canadiens haven't won at least 1 Cup. I was saying at the beginning of the year to watch out for them, because of their start, and this fact. But as the season's wore on, I'm thinking the streak might be ending...
posted by MeatSaber at 12:22 AM on March 10, 2009
Youppi lives? I thought he committed suicide when the Expos left.
posted by jjzucal at 02:00 AM on March 10, 2009
Bob Gainey must be hockey's version of Pat Riley.
posted by graymatters at 01:39 PM on March 10, 2009
Youppi lives? I thought he committed suicide when the Expos left.
I think you mean when Major League Baseball betrayed the fans of the Montreal Expos.
Youppi is the offical mascot of the Montreal Canadiens. The purchase fee was apparently in the six figures. Youppi is one of 3 mascots in the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Famous Chicken, and Philadelphia Fanatic are the others.
posted by tommybiden at 06:48 PM on March 10, 2009
Outside of executing the mascot, they've tried every trick in the book to get this team going. It's entirely possible they're not as talented as everyone else believed they were.