The Michel Therrien Invitational Golf Tournament benefiting the CHC Foundation was held yesterday despite the rainy weather. It was the media’s first chance to talk to the Montreal Canadiens Head Coach and get his thoughts on the various moves that General Manager Marc Bergevin made these past 6 weeks. The tournament was well attended and here are some of the personalities that made an appearance:
Tentative lineup of personalities in today's 3rd annual Michel Therrien golf tourney to benefit #Habs @CHCFondation: pic.twitter.com/PuPUpS1GOu
— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) August 11, 2015It’s nice to see current Habs Lars Eller & David Desharnais supporting their coach and it’s interesting to see that former players of Therrien’s such as Kris Letang and Max Talbot were there as well. It speaks about the mostly positive relationship between the coach and players. However, the name on the list that strikes me the most is that of Charles Hudon, which leads me to believe that he indeed has the inside track on making the jump to the NHL out of training camp. Sven Andrighetto and Nikita Scherbak are also in Montreal training this Summer. Were those prospects invited to the tournament as well?
When it came to discussing the impact that new Forward Alexander Semin might have with the Habs, Therrien didn’t really say anything too surprising (comments courtesy of Arpon Basu, NHL.com):
"It's a nice challenge, that's how I look at it. .He's a guy that's full of potential, and there's an opportunity for him to get back to where we think he can be as a player, and where I imagine he also thinks he can be as a player. We're going to give him an opportunity, and it's the type of player we were missing when you looked at our team. He's a guy who can score, who can make plays and who's shown in the past that he can contribute to the success of a team offensively. But as far as I'm concerned, I see it as a challenge."
Leadership and keeping each other accountable was mentioned as well. Therrien and Bergevin have put a lot of effort into changing the culture of the Canadiens locker room and so far the results have mostly been impressive. Therrien went on to say:
"These days it's not like the old days that it's my way or the highway, it doesn't work like that. You need to try to first of all build a relationship with players, communicate a lot. I truly believe in those things, in teaching [them] the way you want them to play, the way you want them to compete. And our young leaders are really buying into that. This is a group that competes a lot and they work hard. I've got a lot of respect for my players."
The other comment that I think Habs fans can feel a little more comfortable with was Therrien’s words about Alex Galchenyuk and his future as a center.
My little exchange with Michel Therrien on Alex Galchenyuk's potential in the middle. Not very forthcoming. pic.twitter.com/fwS6abhxzU
— Ðrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) August 11, 2015It seems as though the plans for Galchenyuk to become a full time centerman are still very much alive. I truly believe that Bergevin’s comments at the end of season press conference were blown out of proportion and was more of a ploy in contract negotiations than anything else. Similarly to last training camp, Galchenyuk should get the opportunity during the pre-season to play center and his performance will dictate where he plays. What was good to hear though was that Therrien spent a little time with Galchenyuk in Florida this off-season and this can only be positive for their relationship in terms of building trust and communication.
“He spends his summers there, so I took the opportunity to have lunch with him. We had a good conversation. It was good to see him, especially in a different context outside of business and outside of hockey.…
Of course, the best news out of the tournament was that they raised $226,000!
Today, the 3rd annual Michel Therrien Invitational raised $226,000 to benefit the @CHCFondation. Thank you! #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) August 12, 20156 more weeks until training camp :)
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