We're six days away from a deadline that Bob Gainey has placed regarding the completion of the coaching staff of the Montreal Canadiens. There has been a lot of speculation since Jacques Martin's hire, that the Canadiens were wiping the slate clean with their assistants; a process which began with the firing of goaltending coach, Rollie Melanson.

Kirk Muller, Doug Jarvis, and Don Lever must be feeling a bit like Tony Granato did over the last month, as his job was publicly offered to Patrick Roy, and winner Joe Sacco, before he was eventually fired.

Over the last couple of weeks, the three coaches currently under contract have heard the names of Mario Tremblay, Jacques Lemaire, Guy Boucher (Drummondville), and David Marcoux (Flames goaltending coach) thrown around, and despite none of the above being officially hired by the Canadiens, Jarvis, Muller, and Lever have to be wondering what they will be doing this upcoming season.

When Guy Carbonneau took his position with the Canadiens it wasn't a hard sell to keep Doug Jarvis on board. Carbonneau certainly had positive experiences with Jarvis in Dallas. While many suggest that Jarvis remained because he was Gainey's guy, Carbonneau was given the option to bring in whoever he wanted as his assistants, hence Kirk Muller's hiring.

Jacques Martin was hired, and told that he will get to choose whomever he'd like to bring into the organization to be his assistants. Some of the names being thrown around certainly merit consideration, but if Martin is doing the choosing he may well elect to bring in guys he has experience working with. So as not to start a bigger fire of speculation, that list is too long to get into at this juncture, though as mentioned atop this article, it won't be another six days until we find out.

Could Gainey's deadline also mean that the ownership debacle might be a lot clearer six days down the line, as well?

Gainey spoke of his priorities last time we all convened at the Bell Centre, upon our learning of Jacques Martin's hire. The coaching staff would have to be settled before his players could be seriously negotiated with. So Gainey's deadline essentially tells us that some of the ten unrestricted free agents will be signed, beginning next week.

Inevitably, Gainey has set up what should be the most exciting month for the Canadiens of their 100th year. Two weeks to sign whichever free agents he considers a priority, a draft, and of course: the beginning of unrestricted free agency, in a summer where the Canadiens could potentially have more money to spend than any other team in the league.

As far Jarvis and Muller are concerned, should they fall by the wayside in Martin's new regime, there's a new GM in Dallas who might have different ideas of how he'd like to operate his bench. Guy Carbonneau is available too.

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Speaking of coaching changes, it seems Brent Sutter is about to announce what everyone has already speculated since Jersey was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The "homesick" Sutter (by his own admission) has had it with the swamp, and wishes to be closer to home in Red Deer, Alberta, where he owns the WHL Rebels, and where his brother Darryl has assumed coaching duties of the Flames until a better candidate becomes available...

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