According to Renaud Lavoie of RDS, Pierre Groulx will not be with the Canadiens next season:
L’entraîneur des gardiens, Pierre Groulx, ne sera pas de retour avec le Canadien. MTL avait l’option cette année sur son contrat. #RDS
— Renaud Lavoie (@RenLavoieRDS) June 3, 2013
It seems that Carey Price’s down season has claimed a victim. It’s not a shocking move to be entirely honest, as Price’s problems last season came from a change in his technique that he and Groulx worked together on, trying to change his style to play closer to how Jonathan Quick plays.
Whether it was Price’s decision or Groulx’s we’ll never know.
Groulx had been with the Canadiens ever since Roland Melanson was let go after the last season that Price was below league average. In some circles, Groulx was given a large share of the credit for turning Price’s career around after Jaroslav Halak was traded in the summer of 2010.
The surprise part is that the organization is dismissing coaches after such a successful season, although Groulx’s territory was clearly a problem area. You can choose to see the decision however you’d like, but for Bergevin to make this kind of decision seems to me to say that he’s not satisfied with ‘okay’, he wants more.
That makes me wonder if JJ Daigneault’s job is safe.
PRESS RELEASE
MONTREAL – Montreal Canadiens general manager, Marc Bergevin, announced Monday that the organization will not renew the contract of goaltending coach Pierre Groulx.
” I want to sincerely thank Pierre Groulx for his contribution to the Canadiens’ organization over the past four years. Pierre is a coach with a strong work ethic, a true professional who largely contributed to the development of our goaltenders. Unfortunately, we have to make the difficult decision today not to renew his contract with the team. I want to wish Pierre the best of luck with the pursuit of his career ” said Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin.
Pierre Groulx joined the Canadiens’ organization as an assistant coach on July 6, 2009. He completed his fourth season with the team in 2012-13. Prior to joining the Canadiens, Groulx worked for the Florida Panthers and the Ottawa Senators.
