The Canadiens lost last night game but they also lost an important player, their head coach Claude Julien. Marc Bergevin has just spoken to the media and confirmed that his head coach was taken to hospital during the night with chest pains. The Canadiens decided to be up front about his absence so as not to cause any concerns that this could be Covid-19 related. If it was, the implications would have been huge for the team.
It has been reported that Julien's wife is not coming to Toronto and that Julien will hopefully soon be out of hospital and on his way home. This means that Kirk Muller will be taking over coaching duties for the rest of the playoffs.
Thankfully, Muller has been in the business for years and was a head coach himself in Carolina for 3 seasons. He's known as a player's coach and the Canadiens should be in good hands under his direction.
It's hard to say at this point what the implications will be for the team but I do believe that Muller is less old school than Julien is and could perhaps be tempted to give more kids a chance in these playoffs. If I had my wish, the line-up would look like this:
Tatar-Suzuki-Gallagher
Drouin-Kotkaniemi-Domi
Lehkonen-Danault- Byron
Poehling-Evans-Armia
Chiarot - Weber
Kulak - Petry
Mete - Fleury
This would put Mete back on his natural side and give Fleury some much needed experience. Juulsen could also be a possibility but considering he hasn't played in so long because of all the injuries, he might be a bigger gamble.
We'll see what other information the Habs reveal on Julien's health in the coming days but for now, it really looks like Kirk Muller is the man for the foreseeable future. According to Habs captain Shea Weber, this will give the Habs added motivation for the squad wanting to rally around their coach.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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