Canadiens Fire Carbonneau, Gainey Takes Over

The Montreal Canadiens shocked the hockey world on Monday by announcing that head coach Guy Carbonneau had been fired by the team. General manager Bob Gainey will take over the head coaching duties for the rest of the season. The team also announced that associate coach Doug Jarvis, as well as assistant coaches Kirk Muller and Roland Melanson will keep their jobs. This is the second time Gainey has taken over behind the Canadiens bench, with the first time during the 2005-06 season after Claude Julien was relieved of his coaching duties. Carbonneau was named head coach on May 5, 2006 and held the position for nearly three years. The Canadiens started the 2008-09 season, their 100th in the NHL, very strong, but have slipped through the standings in recent weeks and are barely hanging onto a playoff spot. The firing of Carbonneau comes as a bit of a shock since he was a Jack Adams Trophy finalist last season for coach-of-the-year. It's obvious that firing Carbonneau is the only option the Canadiens had at this time of year to shake up the team without trading away half the team. However, the team's woes can't be pinned solely on Carbonneau. Injuries to some of their top forwards, along with inconsistent play from some of their top forwards have kept the Canadiens from being at the top of the Northeast Division for most of the season. Hopefully Gainey can get the team back on track and keep them from missing the playoffs.

Penguins Fire Head Coach Michel Therrien

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Sunday that they have fired head coach Michel Therrien. He will be replaced on an interim by Dan Bylsma, the head coach of the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Also, assistant coach Andre Savard was reassigned within the organization while assistant coach Mike Yeo and goaltending coach Gilles Meloche will remain on staff. Tom Fitzgerald, the Penguins' director of player development, will replace Savard as assistant coach. The Penguins are currently 27-25-6 and are just four points out of the playoffs after making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2008. Under Therrien, the Penguins have made the playoffs the past two seasons, but have been slumping the past couple of months and are in danger of falling out of contention. The firing of Therrien comes as no surprise as it was rumored some of the Penguins did not like his demanding coaching style and that some players clashed with him. Rather than shake-up the team with a trade, firing Therrien was the easiest option. Bylsma has stated that he wants to make the Penguins a more up-tempo team, which could help pull the Penguins out of their current slump as they have a lot of promising talent on the team. However, if the Penguins cannot pull out of their slump, a trade or two could be the only course of action to get them back into playoff contention.

Hurricanes Fire Head Coach Laviolette

The Carolina Hurricanes fired head coach Peter Laviolette on Wednesday and have replaced him with former Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice. The move comes after weeks of speculation of change in Carolina. Rumors began this past summer that Laviolette would get fired due to the team's lack on consistency with him at the helm. Laviolette was hired by the team in 2003 after Maurice had been fired halfway through the 2003-04 season. Laviolette guided the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup championship in 2006, but the team has missed the playoffs the past two seasons. While Laviolette was a bit inconsistent at times while coaching the Hurricanes, one cannot completely blame him for the team's woes the past two seasons. The Hurricanes have been challenged by injuries to star players in recent seasons, which has kept their performance at average. All of the Hurricanes' problems should not be solely blamed on Laviolette's coaching, as they have not had a very healthy roster over the past few seasons. Maurice, who had been fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs last summer, should be a decent fit for the Hurricanes as he is familiar with the organization. Maurice's no-nonsense coaching style might be able to spark the Hurricanes, but his average coaching record throughout his career could also keep the team from improving.

Lightning Fire Head Coach Melrose

I apologize for not posting this sooner. The Tampa Bay Lightning announced on Friday that they have fired head coach Barry Melrose. Associate coach Rick Tocchet will replace Melrose as head coach. Under Melrose, the Lightning were 5-7-4. Melrose, who had previously been a hockey analyst with ESPN, was hired by the Lightning as their new head coach on June 24, replacing John Tortorella. The last time Melrose coached in the NHL was during the mid 1990s, during which time he coached the Los Angeles Kings to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993. He was fired by the Kings in 1995 after a six-game losing streak. The Lightning's hiring of Melrose was a bit of a surprise, as there were more experienced coaches available when he was hired by the team. It would have been hard to imagine that he would have had a successful season in Tampa Bay for a couple reasons: 1.) he had not coached in any level of hockey over the last 13 years, and 2.) he has no coaching experience under the new, faster paced NHL created by the players' strike in 2004. Right now, it appears that Tocchet will be the new head coach for the foreseeable future, as the team claims they are not searching for a new coach right now. If Tocchet has a successful season, he will more than likely return as Lightning coach next season. If the team cannot pull out of their current slump and struggle the rest of the way through the season, Lightning management will definitely be aggressive in their search for a new head coach next summer.