Julien/By S. Bradley
Ever since they last won the Stanley Cup in 1993, the Montreal Canadiens have been searching for the next coach to take them to the top of the mountain.
And their fans have complained loudly about every one of those bench bosses.
Among those coaches that didn’t get the job done were Alain Vigneault and Claude Julien, who will now face one another as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks and Bruins, respectively, in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.
So while there’s great history involved in this coaching match-up as the first-ever head-to-head showdown between two French-Canadian coaches in the same Cup series, it has to pain the Habs backers that these are two guys their team let slip away.
Vigneault, a minor-league teammate of Julien’s as a player, preceded Julien as coach in Hull (QMJHL) and Montreal. The two have kept in touch over the years. Both were given the briefest of opportunities to get the Habs where they want to go. Now one of them will win the Cup before the Canadiens snap their now 18-year-long drought.
So, Bruins fans, you have yet another reason to enjoy this series after 21 years of waiting. Regardless of who wins, Habs fans are sure to be peeved.
Hogwash. Quebec city have very nice people and are very welcoming due to the tourist aspect of the city. If I had to choose a more welcoming environment for English speaking people, I’d choose Quebec city before Montreal but the truth is both cities are fine if you’re English, as evidenced by myself and many other people.
If you want to run into trouble, you just have to find miserable people. I’ve met many here, many in massachewsetts also and some along the way. (except for Vermont for some reason)
That was a neat article Pierre. I find it funny that whole countries will hire a foreigner to coach their national soccer team. If Quebec City gets a team now the demand for bi-lingual execs. just doubled. If people think Montreal has a language issue go to Quebec City. Finding someone who speaks English is not as easy.
Did jpt finally get nabbed by chris hansen? Add guy and that’s 3 quebecois coaches out of 4.
Here’s an interesting little article regarding the Habs and the issue of employing bilingual French speaking execs, coaches, and players. The bit at the end that references Brickley is kinda funny.
check it out – 1 minute read with some neat insight.
http://liveflashscore.com/departing-canadiens-president-language-issue-huge-disadvantage/
The firing of Julien was not really popular in montreal. He was on the verge of making the playoffs with an untalented Canadiens team when he was canned. Later, Lou Lamorielllo really screwed him over by firing him after a 100+ point season.
Vignealt did not seem to share the same popularity.
I have to say though, as a montreal fan, this matchup does not bother me all that much. Boston will fire Julien one day, Vancouver the same with Vignealt.
The real key is the talent and both teams have great players right now.