Top 5 worst coaches in Montreal Canadiens franchise history
The Montreal Canadiens have had some excellent coaches over the years. But they’ve also had a few bad ones. Let’s take a look at the latter.
With the NHL season currently on hold, hockey history has become a favorite talking point for many hockey fans. And when you talk about hockey history, it’s hard not to talk about the NHL’s most successful franchise, the Montreal Canadiens. They’ve had countless great players and coaches. But, like all teams, they’ve also had a few stinkers.
The Canadiens had arguably the best head coach of all-time in Scotty Bowman, who led the Habs to an impressive dynasty in the 1970s. In eight years behind the bench, the Canadiens won five Stanley Cups, including four straight. He would later go on to coach the Pittsburgh Penguins mini-dynasty and the Detroit Red Wings dynasty in the 1990s and 2000s.
They also had Toe Blake and Dick Irvin, among others. However, this article isn’t about the good coaches. It’s about the bad ones. So let’s get started with the five worst coaches the Canadiens have ever had.
Honorable Mention: Michel Therrien
I originally had Michel Therrien on this list, but I pushed him off it because I wanted to include other eras than the post-1993 Stanley Cup era. Had he been on the list, four of the five coaches would have been from that era and, honestly, that’s a bit too many for me.
All of that said, Therrien absolutely deserves to be mentioned. But he was slightly less bad than the other five on this list.
5. Claude Julien
Every list needs a hot take, and this is mine. Claude Julien is not a terrible coach by any stretch of the imagination. He’s done fairly well considering the talent he has been given (which, frankly, hasn’t been much).
However, his inclusion on this list is necessary because Julien is about to go three seasons without making the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That’s quite rare for the Canadiens, as it’s only happened twice in franchise history (1998-99 to 2000-01 and 1919-20 to 1921-22).
Through seven seasons with the Canadiens, Julien’s team has made the playoffs just twice. Now, their three-year postseason drought is probably more due to general manager Marc Bergevin than Julien, but three years without playing meaningful hockey in April is enough to warrant a spot on this list.