Carbonneau looks to Land Back in NHL
Nothing circulates quite like a hockey rumor.
The latest being former Montreal Canadiens Head Coach Guy Carbonneau who is the current coach of Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the QMJHL. It goes without saying Carbonneau is eager to get back into the NHL after being fired 66 games into the 2008-2009 season. Carbonneau has told me he was never given a real reason for being let go.
Considering Carbonneau’s link to Blues GM Doug Armstrong it’s perfectly understandable why some would speculate he’ll one day wind up landing in the Blues organization. The two had a good working relationship is Dallas when Carbonneau worked as Armstrong’s Assistant GM. He left Dallas to work for Bob Gainey in Montreal where he coached for several seasons.
Listen, It’s hard to know what Armstrong plans on doing after the season. Does he keep in regular contact with Carbonneau? Sure he does, in fact sources confirm they last spoke about a month and a half ago.
I want to be careful here as Davis Payne is the Head Coach of the St. Louis Blues. Have there been some ups and downs in his first full year behind the bench? Sure, but for the most part Payne has done a decent job. This story isn’t intended to suggest the Blues need to make a coaching change.
Would he truly be given a fair shot to be successful if they were to make a change after one season on the job? Considering the Blues injuries to go along with the current roster he’s working with these aren’t exactly ideal circumstances for any head coach.
Can Davis Payne or Guy Carbonneau be a good coach? Depends what the roster looks like.
If the Blues had stronger ownership in place and were able to put together a more competitive roster it would a little easier to judge his performance.
The bottom line is, Payne is still learning the league. You may think you know the NHL but until you actually go through it for a full year or two you really don’t. The league is so fluid nowadays it takes time to really understand the NHL as a Head Coach.
It’s no shock to learn Armstrong and Carbonneau have stayed in regular contact. Why wouldn’t they? The NHL is stocked with retreads and this is how the NHL works. You’d have to be naïve to think the topic of the Blues is never brought up. Whether it be as a coach or in another capacity these two are friends and I'm told they've discussed a number of different ideas.
Carbonneau deserves another shot at coaching in the NHL and many believe going back and coaching junior is the best thing for him. He really struggled coaching Canada at the U-18 worlds last summer and one thing you better be able to do if you want to coach in today’s NHL is know how to handle young kids. This is especially the case in St. Louis.
I don’t expect Armstrong to comment on the Carbonneau rumors. If I’m Payne I certainly hope he doesn’t as there’s nothing worse than a vote of confidence.
As for Carbonneau, his contract with Montreal expires on June 30th and he has not committed to coaching Chicoutimi next season. He was disappointed he wasn’t given an opportunity to get the job in Dallas before Marc Crawford was hired. Many, including Carbonneau, believe the his relationship with Stars Captain Brendan Morrow played a major role is him being overlooked. Morrow is married to Carbonneau’s daughter.
Chicoutimi begins their playoff series with Drummondville tonight.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
strickland.andy@gmail.com
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17 Comments | Share: Share Tweet
I'd love to see Carbonneau behind the bench in St. Louis. Love it.
I have no issues with Davis Payne one way or the other. He seems a little to passive to me. But in the early going when everyone was healthy this team was really cooking. No question he's had a lot to deal with in learning his way in the NHL.
But, bottom line - he's not Armstrong's guy.
And Doug Armstrong has every right to bring in his guy if he so desires. Davis Payne knows this as well.
Armstrong either makes the move clean and fast or he stays with Davis Payne.
Plus, that really hasn't been his style up to this point. He hasn't hesitated to pull the trigger on what he wants to do. flag this comment
gobluesnotes1 mentioned the situation in Chicago when Q was hired as a scout. That's a great example actually. That situation lasted all of, what?, six or seven games before Savard was canned. The handwriting had already been on the wall. What's the purpose of going all through the summer, training camp and start the season only to bail out that quick?
It d0esn't seem to fit Doug Armstrong's style. flag this comment
Carbonneau has denied the rumor -
My translation :
"I've never had discussions with the St. Louis Blues, I've also never announced to the team that I wouldn't be back (next year)," he said just before the beginning of the playoffs opposing his formation to the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the QMJHL.
"We addressed the medias Wednesday and I even said I have no problem coming back in junior next year. We shall see that at the end of the season."
Source : http://lereveil.canoe.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=183850
Armstrong might want to bring in his own guy but at this point I still want to see what Payne can do with a NHL roster for a full season.
I like the way he has the D pushing the offense and his willingness to use players in a variety of different roles.
Goaltending has been problematic this season. Halak hasn't been as sharp and we didn't get from Conklin what he normally brings. Injuries were a major problem and I don't know where the GM and coach differed as to lines at certain times but that has been questionable at times. Look at Berglund's play and production since him and Oshie have been disbanded. Stewart started slumping when he was moved around. BUT....
There have been two games recently one against a really good hot team and one against a young, talented but losing team where the Blues absolutely dominated the game.
I think his philosphy at times has changed because of injuries. He wants an up-tempo pressure game sort of like a full court press with a super fast transition game. He can get the transition game now that a number of crap defensemen are gone but we lack having three full scoring lines. You don't actually need a sniper per say(but Stewart fits the bill), but spread out scoring and the ability to play FOUR lines. I have been saying this for years now. You need AT LEAST three legitimate scoring lines. No one scores every night. It happens. If the opposition cannot defend against more than two lines at the most you are golden.
I think the roster next year will reflect Payne's concepts better. Maybe Halak will redeem himself or at least have some competition that pushes him(like he always had in Montreal). It would be impossible for us not to have three scoring lines next year and a fourth that is also dangerous. Cracknell and Porter have proven themselves NHL players that can add some offense from a the fourth line and move up or down. D'Ags could be moved down to the fourth line or add in Sobotka who can be greasey. That's four lines when you add in some of the players we should see in the line up next season. I think McRae could see himself on the third or fourth line. WIth offensive players he looks better. He needs to work on his skating but he seems to be figuring out the game at the NHL level.
Though Halak has been spotty this season when is the last time we had a netminder with six shutouts in a season? SOme nights when he's been focused he's been incredible. He needs to improve his consistency on a regular basis. We have seen many mistakes from young guys but what is happening now should have happened a couple of years ago and we'd be farther down the road by now. I'd look around the free agent goaltending market this summer as well. It's been a tough market for veteran goaltenders and having one that can push Halak would be good. I think Payne didn't manage his starts as well as he could have earlier in the year. But this team is going from inexperience to experienced very quickly.
So spending big money on a free agent goal scorer might not be the best idea. Trading for one that also has heart might be a good idea but I think the Blues have a lot of winners in the locker room right now and the rest of the season is about learning and then next season it'll be a lot better. We should have more depth to deal with injuries and a coach with more experience on how to deal with them. flag this comment
Payne will have every opportunity to succeed next year. He'll have three scoring lines to play with and a D that can get them the puck. How good that third line is going to be will depend on how well Tarasenko adjusts, whether or not Berglund has that break out season we've all been waiting for, and if Dagastini can improve or at least maintain his point total from this year. flag this comment
A full season with a healthy roster will help. Getting Perron and Steen back will allow Payne to play the uptempo style he likes. You just can't pull that off with the AHL lineup we have. Sure, they can skate hard, but they just don't have the skill to sustain the pressure and keep the other team on their heels. I've always been in agreement with Guru about having three dangerous lines. Just look at Chicago and Philly last year in the Finals. Pittsburgh has three top 2 picks playing center. Detroit has had three dangerous lines dating back to the Russian Five. flag this comment
I think we found two keepers in Cracknell(who I said should have been called up last season when he was scoring like crazy in the AHL-size does count but he's not as bad of a skater as some reports), and as I've said since we've had him Porter. Porter may not be lighting up the lamp but he has nasty speed, heart, hits and knows the game. As a fourth liner man he'll keep the other team on its toes.
Domination without a Steen or a Perron out there not to mention a Tarasenko or a Scwartz. McRae looks just about ready but I think he needs another season in Peoria to be ready. He's hesitant at times and needs to find his confidence at this level and working on his skating a bit otherwise he has sweet hands and a twisted wrister.
Never had a problem with the pick up of COnks, he's just had a terrible season. I don't know what it is with our goaltenders this year but terrible. I think Bishop can play in the NHL and I believe he can get better. I noticed this year he stayed back towards the net more, thus using his size and realizing he doesn't have to come as far out to cut down an angle as a Manny Legace. I think Conklin should retire and be the goaltender coach. He's dealt with struggles and became a great back up until this season that is. Certain periods of time this team just gave up on the season and I think we can all figure out where ten points went that would have them right in it. The injuries did suck though.
But as I said before look how much this team is better without Brewer or Jackman out there slowing down the transition game. Our defensemen now are very ice aware and filled with hockey sense. Petro has now scored more goals and points than EJ ever did and since Pronger. In one full season. You got to love some things this year, like the trade we made. I'm glad we dealt high on EJ, he just was too secure here and couldn't improve his team game. That's what suffered the most his inability to trust his team mates which scouts usually use to devalue a player which makes you wonder why he went so high with those who followed. WHat did the scouts see? flag this comment