Michel Therrien does not spare the Montreal Canadiens and Alex Galchenyuk

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MarcO
September 27, 2022 (10:10 PM)

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Michel Therrien, former head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, visited La Poche Bleue on Tuesday afternoon to discuss his former team.

He made some pretty clear comments about how to recruit and develop young players in Montreal, including Michael McCarron and Alex Galchenyuk.

« The first priority in the new NHL is speed. If you have a big guy who can skate, it's explosive. If he skates faster or slower, it's not an advantage. We drafted Michael McCarron back in the day. He was a big center, but I could tell you after a year that he was never going to play as a regular in the NHL. It wasn't because he didn't put in the effort, he was a dedicated little guy, but he was always late to the game. Scouts will often blame coaches for a player's development. But I can tell you one thing, the only thing we could develop was our Christmas presents. There wasn't much to develop. »

Here's what he had to say about Alex Galchenyuk:

« In the case of Galchenyuk, he was drafted as the center of the future. He was supposed to replace Vincent Damphousse. I could tell you after a few games that he was not a center. I had seen him in the preparatory games. He was mixed up and he was losing confidence. I had put him on the wing so he would have less responsibility. I had him for about four years Galchenyuk and at the time he was the most productive player in his draft with Filip Forsberg from Nashville. You have to remember that he still scored 30 goals. What happened after that? I wasn't there anymore, I don't know. I have a good idea, but I'm going to say I don't know. »

So it was time for a change...

Credit: Fanadiens