Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Carbo sent packing

I think there's something bigger happening within the Montreal Canadiens.

The announcement that General Manager Bob Gainey dismissed coach Guy Carbonneau came earlier this afternoon as I was heading out the door. I won't lie, it caught me off guard. But the more I thought about it, the more I realize it shouldn't have.

Coaching always crosses your mind when a team is not playing like it should. So it had crossed my mind when "partygate" broke. It seems to me that Carbonneau did not have control of his players.

It also crossed my mind when Kovalev was told by Bob Gainey (not coach Carbonneau) that he was staying home for that two-game roadtrip a few weeks ago. After the two-game hiatus Kovalev told reporters Gainey was the only one he talked to.

"I don't like to tell things to people or say how I feel," he said. "I'm not that open as a person.

"Bob is the only one I open up to and say how I feel."

I think there's more to this story than injured players, underachievement and a goaltender with no confidence. You don't drop your coach with 16 games left in the season if there's not something deeper going on. I don't think this is your standard "shake things up" firing.

To be a fly on the wall at the Montreal Canadiens team meetings.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You make good points. When I first heard he was fired, I was pretty damn shocked.. but there are always the deeper, hidden issues.. I love how the GM is taking over. "You know what? I'll do it myself."