Montreal Canadiens Fans Need to Give New Head Coach Michel Therrien a Chance

Michel Therrien is the new head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, according to tsn.ca.

The 48-year-old will get his second shot as the bench boss of the Habs. His last stint in Montreal started in 2000 and he went on to coach for two and a half seasons, leading the team to the Eastern Conference semifinals in the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Therrien replaced Alain Vigeneault during the 2000-01 season. Therrien's tenure ended in Montreal when Claude Julien replaced him in 2002-03. Therrien now replaces last year's interim head coach, Randy Cunneyworth, who was relieved of his duties by general manager Marc Bergevin on May 2.

Fans will need to give Therrien a fair shot if they want him to succeed. Some people are saying, "Well, it didn't work last time, so why would it work this time?" Those comments simply don't make any sense because everything has changed: the players, the system, the game itself. And Therrien himself is a different coach, with much more experience.

Therrien comes into Montreal having coached the Pittsburgh Penguins for four seasons and also leading them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007-08.

He has proven he can be successful, so fans have no reason to doubt him.

When Therrien coached the Habs in 2001-02, he had players like Yanic Perreault, Richard Zednik, Oleg Petrov, Doug Gilmour, Joe Juneau, Patrice Brisebois, Brian Savage, Craig Rivet and Jose Theodore. There is only one player who was on that roster who still plays with the Habs. It was then-22-year-old Andrei Markov, who was just breaking into the league.

Prior to coaching, Therrien played three seasons in the American Hockey League as a defenseman with the Sherbrooke Canadiens. The team won the Calder Cup in 1985, with a young Patrick Roy also on the roster.

Therrien deserves a fresh start in Montreal. He has a good young team, a new general manager and a season to improve from. Last year, the Habs finished dead last in the Eastern Conference. It can only go up from here, we hope.

Therrien has the experience. He speaks French and he has won before, so he is an ideal candidate in Montreal, regardless of whether he ever coached in Montreal before.

Give him a shot. Let's see what he can do.