Guy on Kirk Muller's re-hiring by the Habs

Interviewed by the Montreal Gazette, Guy recently had some kind words about Kirk Muller, who has just been re-hired by the Montreal Canadiens as an assistant coach.  Muller was originally hired as an assistant coach by Carbo when he took over as head coach of the Habs in 2006.

This video was shot at a Pro-Am tournament in Brossard, QC to support Alzheimer's research.

The firing, over four years ago, still stings

Guy has done a special interview with the Quebec newspaper La Presse, concerning his firing from the Canadiens in March 2009 and his relationship with Bob Gainey.

The Google translation to English is wonky; I've tried to clean it up to the best of my ability.

I can understand the pain felt by coach Peter Laviolette, who was fired by the Flyers earlier this week.

The memories of my own dismissal are still fresh in my memory, even four and a half years later ...

Coming back from Dallas on March 9, 2009, I was happy on the plane, because we had won the match against the Stars, and things seemed to get back into place after a slump in January.

We would play 11 of our last 16 games at home, where we had a good record. I foresaw the end of the season with optimism, especially as our injured players began to return to the game.

When we landed in Montreal around noon, I received a call from Bob Gainey, who did not accompany the team to Dallas.

I took the call, expecting to receive congratulations from him for our game against the Stars. He asked me to meet him as soon as possible at the Bell Centre. I told him that I would spend some time at home before we met.

When he told me he would meet me at home, I asked why. I experienced great emotions with this man. I was with him when his wife died. I was one of the first people he called after the tragedy of his daughter. I thought he had serious things to discuss.

But I was not expecting bad news about my job.  We had, after all, 104 points last year, and despite our slump during the winter, our record was 35-24-7. I coached in the All-Star Game as assistant to Claude Julien.  Nothing allowed me to believe that my job was in danger.

When I opened the door, I felt something strange. He sat at the table, my wife was with me. Bob told me that he wanted to make changes and I was relieved of my duties.

I was in shock. I said "what?"  I was fired for the first time in my life.  I tried to find out why, but when I saw that it was useless, I thanked him and I said goodbye, saying that he had made a mistake.

I went on a very long walk.  That was in March and it was cold, but I did not freeze ...

What makes it worse today is that I still don't know the reason why Bob fired me.  I wish I had a reason.  Because of our long friendship as coaches, as former teammates, I believe I deserved a reason.

I would have preferred him to say: we tried you, but you're not a good coach.  Nothing like that. He fired me without telling me why.

We have spoken twice since.  It was cordial, and I agreed to meet him in the hope that I would finally learn why he fired me.  This has not happened.  I do not know if it will happen one day, probably not, but for me, it would allow me to finally close this chapter of my career. 

Interview by Mathias Brunet

Guy to coach in Israel...and OT: farewell, Daniel Alfredsson

Mike Keenan was originally slated to coach the Maccabi Canada men's hockey team, but has been forced to bow out due to family medical issues.  Guy will be replacing him at the Maccabi Games in Metula, Israel which take place from July 16 to July 31.  We wish him and the team the best of luck!  (link)

And in a stunning turn of events, the longtime captain of my team, the Ottawa Senators -- Daniel Alfredsson -- has left us for Detroit, hoping for the chance to win a Stanley Cup before he retires.  Can't say as I blame him, but I'm left once again reaching into my Byrds/Gene Clark fandom to find words for what I can't express.  Probably silly, but here it is.

(Clark, with slight lyric modifications by yours truly)

"Tried So Hard"

Stopped awhile this morning on our way back home 
We had to realize this time that we'd be all alone 
Cause he is moving somewhere far away not slow 
And though we tried so hard to please him
He said he really had to go
Even though this time it really hurts us bad
We've been through similarities
It's not the first break we've had
And we just can't let it bring us down too low
And though we tried so hard to please him
There must be something more to know
Never thought that we would find our end this way
It seemed that everything was going fine
Still with all the things that we can do or say
It won't change the fate we know so well is ours

So we'll stop again and look right past the pain
Cause we've been in love before and we can love again
While he is moving somewhere far away not slow
And though we tried so hard to please him
He said he really had to go...

And the original:

Finally, to coincide with my previous post about Super Dave, I have found a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" style connection between Guy and the Super One.  Featured in a 1990 episode of Super Dave was renowned Quebec impressionist Andre Philippe Gagnon, whose music video for "La Canada" featured...Guy!  (look for him at around the 1:28 mark)  And that's only 3 degrees!

Why Guy isn't coaching in the NHL -- this blog's take on it

The Buffalo Sabres fired their head coach Lindy Ruff today, which is huge news because they hired him way back in July 1997.  To put that into perspective, I've doubled in age since he took the job.  (I was 16 then, I'm 32 now.) Many people in jobs that have nothing to do with hockey don't last sixteen years.

Anyway.  With Ruff's firing came the social media speculation that Guy would take over, which always happens when any coach in the NHL is let go.  The Sabres opted (at least in the interim) for Ron Rolston, who had previously been the coach of their AHL affiliate in Rochester.  I did some tweeting myself about why Guy is not currently coaching in the league, and I thought I'd expound on that here.

• The problems in communicating with players certainly figured in Guy's firing from the Montreal Canadiens nearly four years ago.  Here's the thing:  Guy, by all accounts I've read and by my own brief interactions with him, is an introvert.  Communicating isn't easy.  By his own admission he hired Kirk Muller as assistant because Muller had (and I'm paraphrasing Guy's words here) "something that I don't -- he can talk."  But, you ask, how can he discuss hockey on RDS and not communicate with players?  The answer is that introverts are funny -- I know, I am one.  I can stand up in front of a packed church and do readings but get me with someone one-on-one, and I run for the hills.  But the basic fact is that if Guy wants to coach in the NHL, if he wants to coach anywhere, he has to find a way to get around these issues.  There are ways to learn communication.  Which brings me to my second point:  

• Teams are turning to the AHL and other minor/junior leagues more and more to find new coaches.  (Case in point:  the Sabres and Ron Rolston.)  If Guy wants to be a head coach in the NHL again, I believe he will have to pay his dues and ride the bus -- something that, as of now, he's unwilling to do.  He has stated on the record that he will accept nothing less than an NHL head coaching position.  

Now, this is PURE SPECULATION, but honestly?  I think Guy's thinking is that he would take an NHL head coaching job if one comes up, but for now, he's enjoying the exposure and contact with the league that his current analyst position on RDS is giving him.

His former assistant in Montreal, Kirk Muller (who is now head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes) said recently when asked that Guy "should be coaching in the NHL."  I do think Guy's second chance in the league will come; he may just have to be very patient.

Habs coaching news

Michel Therrien was named the new head coach of the Montreal Canadiens this week.  Carbo confirmed that he had three interviews with the organization; two with general manager Marc Bergevin and one with assistant general manager Rick Dudley.

This afternoon, Tony Marinaro of Montreal's TSN Radio 990 tweeted that an assistant coaching job with the Habs is Carbo's if he wants it.  Stay tuned...

Guy and the Canadiens' search for a new head coach

Per Bob McKenzie on Twitter, Carbo is a candidate for the Montreal Canadiens' head coaching position.  Other candidates are Bob Hartley, Marc Crawford, and Michel Therrien.  (Crawford would be an interesting hire, seeing as he does not speak French.)  Montreal is currently touching base with the candidates.

Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette thinks Carbo as a head coach and Larry Robinson as an assistant would be a compelling team; read his thoughts on the subject here.