After starting the 2016-17 NHL season with an incredible 13-1-1 record, the Canadiens have fallen back to the earth, posting an 18-18-7 album as. The 4-0 loss to Boston on February 12 was their sixth in seven games and it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for former Habs head coach Michel Therrien. The Canadiens declared two weeks later, on Valentine’s Day, that they would be moving on from Therrien and bringing Claude Julien back into the fold following his recent departure from Boston.
It became clear that gamers had grown tired of Therrien, and from many reports from former players, that is not a big surprise. Julien will bring a much-needed personality change behind the bench in Montreal and ought to immediately command the esteem in a somewhat shattered locker area. This is a move that will, if nothing else, calm the frustrations of jaded lovers but ought to be a fantastic long-term movement for the historic franchise.
BetOnline has set up several props related specifically to the Habs and also how the remainder of the 2016-17 will play out for them. You can bet on the OVER/UNDER for the number of points they will finish with, where they will stand when the final whistle blows on the regular season and the way their 2016-17 will end.
At this point, it looks like it’d take an utter collapse for anyone to overtake the Canadiens for first place in the Atlantic. Despite their awful run, they nevertheless sit up six points on the Senators and Bruins to the top place and as we have seen from each coach firing/hiring this year , we should see an immediate boost from the Canadiens’ playwith. As of this writing, the Canadiens were on pace for 99 points and it’s unlikely they get worse beneath Julien. I enjoy them for OVER that 97.5-point total that’s been set to them and if they do, then they will easily win their division.
There is some dispute among pundits on if the Canadiens have the talent necessary to make a deep run in the playoffs and when this trainer swap was a desperate movement. The one issue with that debate is that the Habs still possess Carey Price, the consensus greatest goalie in the NHL/world. No. 31 had obviously become frustrated with all the head coach in Montreal and it showed in his play. Julien should be able to get Price’s head screwed back and when he does, there is no limit to what this team can do.
Although the talent levels of the two teams cannot truly be compared, this move feels a lot like the one the Penguins made in the middle of last season’s Stanley Cup-winning season. Mike Johnston had lost the esteem of the Penguins locker room along with stale had grown. You can only tell the identical motivational speech so many times before you get tagged as a blowhard and I think that is exactly how Max Pacioretty and the rest of the Habs felt about Therrien.
With the thickness of competition coming in the Metropolitan, it is going to be hard for the Canadiens to make it out of the East and I am not at all suggesting they move deep in the postseason. What I am saying is that with a highly respected coach in Julien now behind the seat, they have a lot greater chance.
Montreal’s first match with Julien at the helm will come Saturday when the Canadiens sponsor the Jets at the Bell Centre. This will be must-watch television and based on the small sample size that has seen the Islanders, Blues and Bruins go a combined 16-5 up in games thus far under new direction, the Habs ought to be a fantastic bet.
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