Talk is swirling that Marc Bergevin will soon confirm Michel Therrien as returning to coach the Canadiens next season, despite their nightmarish result this year. Brendan Gallagher weighed in on the issue earlier today, and John Lu tweeted his words in defense of the coach.
#Habs Gallagher on Therrien’s reported backing from Bergevin to return next season. pic.twitter.com/10leUFmJbj
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) April 9, 2016
I have made my personal feelings on the subject of Therrien’s employment abundantly clear on this site, but Gallagher has a point here. Therrien can scarcely be faulted for the injuries that ravaged the lineup all year, and it is true that he cannot actually put skates on and win games himself; that is up to the players.
However, I would caution against reading too much into the comments. Gallagher has always been quite savvy when it comes to speaking with the media, and naturally he would defend his coach when asked about it. Even if – and I’m not suggesting that this is the case – he wanted Therrien gone, he wouldn’t say it publicly.
It’s a classy move by Gallagher. Rather than piling the blame on to the coach, he’s saying that he and his teammates feel they could have done better. Obviously some people, myself included, feel differently about the whole situation, but this is pretty much exactly how you’d expect a true leader in the dressing room to handle a question like that.
In any case, we should soon know what Michel Therrien’s fate will be, as the season ends for the team tonight.
