Montreal Canadiens: Micheal Therrien Denies Comments Towards Max Pacioretty

Montreal Canadiens Head Coach Michel Therrien denies that he called Max Pacioretty the ‘worst captain in Canadiens history’ during a Golf tournament

Earlier this week, former TVA broadcaster and current radio-show host Michel Villeneuve claimed that he heard from multiple witnesses that Montreal Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien was telling people that Canadiens star Max Pacioretty was the ‘worst captain in Canadiens history’.

It didn’t take long for Pacioretty or Therrien to respond, via Yahoo Sports.

“There’s worse lists to be on,” said Pacioretty, who was named team captain in 2015.

“Being on a list of Canadiens captains is a pretty good list to be on.”

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After the Therrien comments went viral, Pacioretty said he spoke to his coach and feels that his words were erroneously reported. “It’s unfortunate that something like that would get made-up, catch wildfire and spread,” he said in Toronto on Wednesday. “This is something that’s obviously not true. I’m not going to sit here and pout. It is unfortunate. It is something I don’t want to deal with.”

Pacioretty said he has had conversations with Therrien and his teammates since the story broke and feels it’s a rallying point for the team.

“It’s unfortunate that someone would make something like that up. But it brings us closer together. Having that approach of handling it the right way. I promise this team is going to be on board and everyone’s going to be on the same page this year, and this is a small example of it. I’ve spoken to the coach many times, I’ve spoken to him since then, I’ve spoken to players on the team, and we’re all on the same page. We’re going to show that this year,” he said.

“I’ve been in Montreal for eight years, and I know there are right ways to handle this and wrong ways to handle this, and the right way to handle it is to be positive and use it the right way. The conversations that you have with people after a thing like this aren’t normal conversations. They bring people closer together. They tend to be a little bit more emotional, and you speak from the heart.”

Pacioretty said that in all of his conversations, he took solace in the support he received. “Whether it was the coach, the general manager or the players, everyone had my back,” he said.

Beaulieu on the Market?

Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin told Francois Gagnon of RDS on Friday that he was ‘listening to calls’ for young defender Nathan Beaulieu. Curiously, this comes three days after Beaulieu defended his teammate and captain via Twitter.

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Some potential destinations for the 23-year-old Beaulieu and his $1 million dollar cap hit include the Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, and the Edmonton Oilers.

So, what do you all think of this Pacioretty-Therrien situation? Some fans may have a hard time backing up the Canadiens coach of four years, as Therrien has had public rifts with other players such as P.K. Subban. Post your opinion in the comments section below!