Welcome (back) to Montreal: Francis Bouillon

Earlier this month we started looking at new Habs GM Marc Bergevin's work on Canada day 2012. We discussed free-agent prize Brandon Prust.


Bergevin also brought in Colby Armstrong, and brought back Francis Bouillon. There are many commonalities among the three players - the main being that they are hard workers who will bleed for the logo on their jersey. In the case of Bouillon and Armstrong however, they also have familiarity with Head Coach Michel Therrien.

Bringing Armstrong and Bouillon in to the Habs dressing room cements that the new relationship being forged between Head Coach and General Manager is one built on strong communication - both in the Press Box and in the dressing room.



The history between Bouillon and Therrien is long and strong. They first worked together in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. From 1992-1995 Therrien coached the rugged defenseman for 3 seasons with the Laval Titan before both moved to the Granby Predateurs for the 1995/1996 season. Therrien coached that Granby Predateurs team to it's first Memorial Cup victory in 25 years. As Captain of the team, Bouillon was the first player to parade around the Memorial Cup.

When Michel Therrien took over as Head Coach of the Canadiens (the first time) in November 2000, he was instrumental in getting Bouillon his first taste of NHL action. Bouillon played 74 games that season. 

In a 2005 interview with the Montral Gazette's Stu Cowan, Therrien (then coaching the Penguins' AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) said that his one big regret in leaving Montreal was "that I was not able to coach Francis Bouillon (more) when I was there.”

Bouillon is a hard working defensive defenseman. Last season with Nashville, he threw 103 hits in 66 games. Bouillon will always give you everything he has. "It was the biggest disappointment of my career to leave the Canadiens. It happened a little weirdly, but I do not blame anyone today and I'm looking towards the future" Bouillon told RDS after news of his signing broke. He received a 1 year, $1.5 million dollar contract from the Habs. 

When asked about reuniting with Michel Therrien, Bouillon was very candid, "Michel and I've had some great moments together during my career. I was very happy with his re-hiring by the Canadiens and I am very excited to return to his team."

"It's going to be team first," he said. "He's going to give a lot to the guys who work their ass off. He doesn't like the lazy guys or the guys who think they have good skill and they don't have to work. He like the rough game, and if you don't play rough or don't show up and want to win, he's going to play somebody else."

"He's pretty intense in everything he does....he wants to win," Bouillon added. "He was my pick (for Habs coach). He's got the character, and I think right now what they need to bring that team back on the right track  is  a coach who has character and who's going to put all the boys together and believe in his team."



The last time Bouillon played in Montreal was during the playoffs of the disastrous Centennial Season. Bouillon came back early from injury, didn't look great, and wasn't re-signed in the off-season.


Unless something has changed since he was last in Montreal, I see Bouillon as a capable bottom pairing defenseman. Probably a 6/7 on most teams, who may play more minutes with Montreal (if he's healthy) due to his work ethic and familiarity with the coach.

Admittedly, I have only seen Bouillon play a few games since leaving Montreal in 2009 so I reached out to some people who have seen much of "Le Pettite Geurrier" during his time in Nashville.

Amanda DiPaolo is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Political Science at Middle Tennessee State University - but her true passion lies in Hockey. DiPaolo runs Inside Smashville.com - a Nashville Predators blog, similar to the Breakdown. Inside Smashville is a great resource for reading Amanada's take on all things Predators.

In speaking with Amanda, I discovered that like the coach Amanda has a history with "The Cube" (as he was affectionately known in Nashville). "Since (Bouillon) spent most of his time in Montreal, I doubt there is anything that fans in Montreal don't know... and of course since coming to Nashville already a seasoned veteran, I don't think his style evolved any."

"I used to live in Fredericton, New Brunswick and so I've been familiar with Bouillon from his American Hockey League days!"

DiPaolo also spoke fondly of Bouillon's hard work, team play and leadership. "As fans in Montreal must know, Bouillon is not only an excellent defensive defenseman who is tough on the ice, but he is a real team player off the ice. During Nashville's recent playoff run, defenseman Kevin Klein started a trend in the locker room. He cut his hair into a mohawk. Other players followed suit, including former Habs Hal Gill and Bouillon. But the veteran defenseman who has recently rejoined the Canadiens took it one step further, Bouillon's young boys also started sporting mohawks in support of their dad."





Charlie Saunier hosts the Prednecknation  Radio show on prednecknation.com and has been covering the Nashville Predators for various outlets for over a decade. I went a little more in depth with Charlie on Bouillon starting with his health.

"Francis Bouillon recovered nicely from the injury he had when he first joined the Preds & stayed healthy over his tenure in Nashville, except for a concussion that cost him the end of the 2010-2011 season. While out during that stretch, he was missed quite a bit."

Bouillon, like in Montreal, was never a flashy player just a blue collar worker who "he answered the bell nightly and gave it his all every shift."

I asked Saunier if anything stuck out in particular about Bouillon during his tenure in Music city. "He never took a minute of his ice time for granted. He played so much bigger than his size and was willing to play the "Predator" way as Head Coach Barrt Trotz loves to say. He hit, fought, and chipped in on offense when he could. His defense was solid and made it very easy for his partners to take more offensive risks."

"He never dominated the stat sheet or made headlines, but was solid every time he came over the boards."

Saunier expanded that much like in Montreal Bouillion was noticed for what he brings to the table.
"You would hear a good bit of chatter about him throughout the stands. The Predator way is a huge thing here and when Bouillon bought in right away, it was easy to recognize and appreciate."




Hard worker. Willing to fight for teammates. Perfect team guy. Sounds like a good fit.

Saunier was puzzled as well why Nashville General Manager David Poile made no attempt to keep Bouillon - a popular figure in Nashville with the team. "This is an odd one for sure. Bouillon was a solid 2nd pair D-man and very affordable at this point in his career. With his level of experience, it was expected he would be brought back, but that was not to be and no word has been given by GM Poile as to why a contract was not offered. In my opinion, it was a depth issue on the prospect side of the ledger. Roman Josi had a great rookie campaign and is expected to make a run at the 1st pair with Shea Weber this season. Ryan Ellis is also expected to make the roster this season and could be a 3rd pair guy with Hal Gill and a Power Play specialist. Jon Blum spent much of last year in the AHL, but is expected to be back with Preds this year and if he's back to his form of 2 seasons ago, he will fill that 2nd D-pair slot with Kevin Klein. I know GM Poile has wanted these prospects to take over and it seems as if they will have the chance this training camp. Even with Ryan Suter leaving, the D-corps is still quite stocked."

Francis Bouillon typifies a depth defenseman. He'll put his hard hat and working boots on before every shift of every game and dig in for a long night's work. He's the type of gritty player Michel Therrien loves to have, he's the kind of guy teammates love, and he's the kind of guy who will bleed for the  logo in the front, not the name on the back.

Welcome back to Montreal Francis Bouillon.



For more from Stu Cowan, read him in the Montreal Gazette and follow him on Twitter @StuCowan1

For more from Amanda DiPaolo, read her on Inside Smashville.com and follow her on Twitter @adpreds

For more from Charlie Saunier tune in to the Prednecknation Radio show  and follow him on Twitter @crazycharlie615

Meet the "new" boss...

When training camp starts in September, Andrei Markov is likely to be the first through the door. He'll be wanting to test out his knee, get everything set for the season and meet the new bench boss. Markov you see, who has played his entire NHL career for the Montreal Canadiens, has played for this boss before.

At 11:48 pm last night, TSN's Darren Dreger sent out a tweet; "The Montreal Canadiens have made their coaching decision. Its believed Michel Therrien is the man. Announcement in the next 24-48 hrs."

And with that, what is old is new again. "Mike" is back to being "Michel", a defense-first system is in place for the season, a good teacher for young players in behind the bench, and a mustard yellow suit will be back into play.

Hab fans didn't seem to be too excited by the news, if the Twitter-verse is much indication. Jay Baruchel writer and star of the recently released film "GOON" and ardent Habs fan summed up the feelings of many "I leave twitter for 2 hours to finish work for the day and this is what happens? Einstein would call this the definition of something."



Let's not mistake things, the Michel Therrien that steps behind the Habs bench in September is not the same Coach that left Montreal in 2003.He has coached close to 300 NHL games since then. He groomed some of the league's youngest and brightest stars. He's been to a Stanley Cup Final.


No, this is not the same Michel Therrien. This one is more experienced and is more prepared for the Challenge of coaching in Montreal.

A few days ago when TSN's Bob McKenzie  tweeted the other day that "Now that Bob Hartley is new head coach in CGY, MTL job is down to Michel Therrien or Marc Crawford." I wrote a piece where I discussed why I felt Crawford would be the better of the two choices for this group of Canadiens.

I am not against Michel Therrien, I think he is a better coach now than when he was last in Montreal, but I think it's time for a different face here. After Martin, Julien, Therrien and Vigneault it's time to bring in an offensive coach, not ask a coach to change his style.

Hal Gill: "The message (from the coaching staff) was we need to play as a team with their system. I tried to preach it but the hard part was we didn’t play to guys’ strengths. With Gomez, you don’t expect him to chip it up the boards, you want him to come back and pick it up. If he can’t do that, he can’t be effective."



Therrien preaches defense, Crawford preaches offense. Therrien throws players' under the bus, Crawford protects his players. Therrien has been to a Stanley Cup Final, Crawford has won a Stanley Cup. Therrien has coached here before, Crawford is dying to coach here once - evidenced by the fact that he is taking French lessons just to interview for the job.

Is it possible that Marc Bergevin will ask Therrien to open up his style more and press the attack? Yes it is. Is it possible Therrien's style may have evolved on it's own? of course. In my estimation though, an experienced, Stanley cup winning, offense oriented guy is available and he's the right guy for the job. Moreso then a guy whose style needs to change.

Michel Therrien has many excellent qualities. Mainly that he is known as being fantastic with young players. See his work in the QMJHL, with Hershey in the AHL, and with young Penguins and Habs' teams in the NHL. He has a fiery personality - something we haven't seen in Montreal since he left. He has good communication and bench management skills. He is a good hockey Coach.

I don't feel that he's the best man for the team of Habs as currently assembled, but the roster can still be tweaked, I've been wrong before, and I am certainly willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Playing with Fire

Recently traded ex-Habs Hal Gill and Jaroslav Spacek talked about the system that former Coach Jacques Martin employed with the Montreal Gazette's Dave Stubbs. Spacek: "I think we played too much of a defensive system, I didn’t like that. I think it was even boring to watch us, to be honest. To be very honest. Come on, at home, we play like this? I think it was boring a little bit. At the end of the night, if you win 2-1, nobody cares. It’s a win. But there weren’t too many games that we win 5-2, 6-4, wide-open games in which you just had fun. There weren’t too many like that." Hal Gill elaborated "The message (from the coaching staff) was we need to play as a team with their system. I tried to preach it but the hard part was we didn’t play to guys’ strengths. With Gomez, you don’t expect him to chip it up the boards, you want him to come back and pick it up. If he can’t do that, he can’t be effective."

Speculation from many is that Scott Gomez will be buried in Hamilton this season. That very well could be the case. His salary is an albatross on the books. At his best performance levels, Scott Gomez will never live up to that salary, and in Montreal we have barely seen his best. I see things differently, I'd like to see a coach come in that allows the players to play to their strengths.Gives players properly defined roles. A coach who can be systematic when necessary, but knows how to open things up too. Give that kind of coach to the players - like Gomez - and then see what they can do. If he still doesn't perform, then bury him. But first, I'd bring in Marc Crawford.

  


In an article for the Hockey News a few years back, former NHL General Manager Mike Smith discussed "what makes a good coach".

For the purposes of the article, Smith interviewed multiple people from various sports, one of whom was former Canadiens GM Serge Savard. The same Serge Savard who currently has the ear of Canadiens owner Geoff Molson. Savard told Smith that “The coach has to treat everyone with respect – they will respect him in return.”



Savard, in a separate interview, told TSN 990's Mitch Melnick that the coach must speak French - the same way in his view that he must speak English. Crawford speaks both languages.

New Assistant General Manager Rick Dudley told Tony Marinaro that one of the qualities that is essential for the next Coach of the Canadiens is that he be a teacher. (A quality that GM Marc Bergevin said was apparent in all the candidates that have been interviewed.)

TSN's Bob McKenzie who doesn't usually get these things wrong, tweeted the other day that "Now that Bob Hartley is new head coach in CGY, MTL job is down to Michel Therrien or Marc Crawford."
I am not against Michel Therrien, I think he is a better coach now than when he was last in Montreal, but I think it's time for a different face here. After Martin, Julien, Therrien and Vigneault it's time to bring in an offensive coach, not ask a coach to change his style.

Therrien preaches defense, Crawford preaches offense. Therrien throws players' under the bus, Crawford protects his players. Therrien has been to a Stanley Cup Final, Crawford has won a Stanley Cup. Therrien has coached here before, Crawford is dying to coach here once - evidenced by the fact that he is taking French lessons just to interview for the job.

Marc Crawford won the Jack Adams award as the NHL's best Coach in 1995. He won a Stanley Cup with Colorado 1 year later. Since his first coaching job (with Quebec) 18 seasons ago, Crawford has only been out of the league 2 seasons - never having to wait too long to be hired again. He has coached his teams to a career record of 549-421-103-78, a winning percentage .556.




The Canadiens are a young team with only one direction to move - up. Crawford has been in this situation before. In Quebec he came on coaching a promising young team and took them to a Stanley cup. In Vancouver, he took a rebuilding team from the cellar to first in the division. Crawford slowly developed the Canucks into a successful regular season team, emphasizing a fast-paced and offensive style of play. Although his Vancouver teams' ultimately did not fare well in the playoffs, his coaching record in Vancouver still ranks tops among that franchise's history.

After years of Stoic personalities behind the bench, Martin, Gainey, Julien, the Canadiens players seem to be dying for a passionate coach with a bit of bite. I believe that is why many of them talk so positively about Kirk Muller and Randy Cunneyworth.



After Guy Carbonneau and Mario Tremblay as coaches, it became evident to many watching that Montreal is no place for a rookie head coach. No place for a coach who is solely a motivator not a strategist, and no place for a coach who throws his own players under the bus.



Either way, it seems as though Hab-fans are about to get a fiery personality here, and that is something I can get behind. It's time to see the Habs play with some fire - like they started to behind Coach Cunney.