Michel Therrien's a bit sensitive, no?

[Seeds of Grapes]

I love all this talk excusing the fat walrus for a couple of completely classless moves. You couch it in a hockey perspective, but it's nothing more than Hab-haters. Remember when Claude Lemieux put the puck in the opposing team net after the whistle blew at the end of the period? Completely classless move that caused bench-clearing brawls. That's playoff hockey. This too was a tasteless move, and one that will likely ignite an explosion in one of the two next games.

[fulcrum]

All you say is 'you take the draw, the rest of you back at the blueline you don't even need to take a timeout for that.

hahaha, true enough.... he even had the chalkboard out.....maybe it was more mind games.

[Big Ev]

I love all this talk excusing the fat walrus for a couple of completely classless moves. You couch it in a hockey perspective, but it's nothing more than Hab-haters. Remember when Claude Lemieux put the puck in the opposing team net after the whistle blew at the end of the period? Completely classless move that caused bench-clearing brawls. That's playoff hockey. This too was a tasteless move, and one that will likely ignite an explosion in one of the two next games.

Hab-haters? Nope. The people who think this is classless are getting their panties in a bunch over nothing.

Therrien needs to shut up and focus on his team, because I doubt they can rally after a statement game like that. This series is over.

[mister_mcgoo]

I was well on my way to saying the same thing....I think he wanted the game done....he likely tried to tell the players that during the whistle but the refs wouldn't let him. The only other option was to call the timeout. And at the end of the day, getting what he wanted said to his players, is far more important than worrying about what he was going to look like to the media or to the Montreal Canadiens.

If they take it that way, thats their right....

ok so my question is, watch the video from the start, he starts drawing up the play shortly thereafter and then tell me what takes all that time to sketch up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAWWTojY0LA

I dunno, it just doesn't jive

[fulcrum]

ok so my question is, watch the video from the start, he starts drawing up the play shortly thereafter and then tell me what takes all that time to sketch up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAWWTojY0LA

I dunno, it just doesn't jive

see above post....

like I said, maybe it was all mind games....hahaha. Who knows. I don't think it matters.

[Rylant]

Why would he be doing that unless he was trying to rub their noses in it and score another goal?

I absolutely hate this attitude. This is professional hockey, no? Do we EVER want our coaches to tell their players "ok fellas, that's enough scoring. Please don't score anymore goals. We don't want to hurt any feelings here."?

I want my coaches to say "This is the NHL. If you have an opportunity to score, you take it. Period. I don't care what the score is. I don't care how much time is left."

You think it's disrespectful to run up the score? I think it's the other way around. I think taking your foot off the gas is disrespectful. I think that not giving it 100 percent for the entire game is disrespectful. It's disrespectful to the fans, and it's disrespectful to the sport. You don't want to be humiliated? Don't let in so many goals... Score more...

Rylant

[Axeman33]

I personally still say he didnt do it for any other reason then to just hammer in to his guys to play the last 17 seconds smart and don't play their silly games. I am sure he wanted the game to be done just as bad as the Habs.

That being said, if he wants to put salt in the wounds and piss Therrien off, it certainly worked and I say good for him. Is it classless, maybe. Is it rich to watch as a fan of play off hockey. I sure think so. I dont cheer for either team but theres nothing better then pissing off your opponent, especially the way thsi series has gone so far. Whether intentional or not, it certainly did that and I am sure MacLean would do it again knowing the result now.

This is a great thread.

[fulcrum]

This is a great thread.

I am getting nothing done at work....LOL

[pbhockey4]

pbhockey4 , I'm not gonna reply to that wall of text because most of it is irrelevant but let me address the core of your question.



Because he didn't call the timeout to regroup or protect his players. He called the timeout on a PP and he was clearly visible on the bench drawing up the play he wanted them to execute with the draw deep in the Habs zone. Why would he be doing that unless he was trying to rub their noses in it and score another goal?

Don't get me wrong, I'm usually for playing hard til the last whistle and keeping the skate on the jugular so to speak but the smart call in this situation is to tell your centerman to win the draw back to the d-man and then skate it back into your zone and let time expire. And that has nothing to do with respect or classiness (though it definitely takes the bigger man to walk away) or anything else that Therrien is whining about, it is solely about doing what is best for your team and your players in that situation...why risk anyone getting hurt? What if the Sens scored again and there was another brawl and Karlsson gets knocked out of the playoffs? Obviously the Paulrus can do as he pleases, I just thought it was a poor decision

Not sure how my "wall of text" was "mostly irrelevant," but to each his own. My apologies for not using as much punctuation or smaller paragraphs...I don't have the skills of Angus, Dobber, and the other great writers of the daily ramblings.

Now that I am actually rambling myself, I believe you're leaving out an important fact here mcgoo, and it's that immediately before the powerplay, Rene Bourque got two penalties, one for two-handing Turris and one for crosschecking Turris. It's not like MacLean called this timeout 1:30 into an existing powerplay because he wanted to score a 7th goal. The timeout came immediately after Bourque's two stupid penalties, and when you see something like that as a coach, it's smart to regroup your players, and as I've stated time and time again now, tell them to not do anything stupid. You think MacLean would be happy if Turris (or anyone else) let his emotions get the best of him, did something stupid, and got suspended or hurt in the process? I don't think he would.

I didn't see that MacLean had gone to the whiteboard, so thanks for pointing that out to me. But it's not like he was setting up some play to absolutely shove the puck down Montreal's throat and score a 7th goal...did you see the formation the Sens were in on that next faceoff? Look at the last second of the clip below and you'll see that it's at BEST a 1-1-3 in the offensive zone, and more like a 1-4 with Turris the lone guy at the faceoff line. That's more of a formation that a team takes when holding a lead in their defensive zone, not one takes on the powerplay when trying to score another goal, as you accuse the Sens of doing. So while I want to believe you and say that MacLean was telling Therrien to f*** off with the timeout, it still just looks like good coaching to me. Regroup your players, tell them not to do anything stupid, and change the faceoff formation to be more passive and run out the clock.

In my mind what would've really told Therrien to screw himself would've been to throw every grinder left on the bench out on the ice and start another brawl at the end of the game. That says, "Hey Michel, we're gonna beat you 6-1 on the scoreboard and rub salt on your wounds by beating the piss out players." I don't believe that MacLean's intention was to call that timeout simply to spite the Canadiens, though I do believe the fact that it came off that way was a welcomed side effect.

Video of the timeout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_uzhUayczg

[Big Ev]

It's classless to say that your defence's goal is to be one of the worst defensive groups in the league.

[mister_mcgoo]

I absolutely hate this attitude. This is professional hockey, no? Do we EVER want our coaches to tell their players "ok fellas, that's enough scoring. Please don't score anymore goals. We don't want to hurt any feelings here."?

I want my coaches to say "This is the NHL. If you have an opportunity to score, you take it. Period. I don't care what the score is. I don't care how much time is left."

You think it's disrespectful to run up the score? I think it's the other way around. I think taking your foot off the gas is disrespectful. I think that not giving it 100 percent for the entire game is disrespectful. It's disrespectful to the fans, and it's disrespectful to the sport. You don't want to be humiliated? Don't let in so many goals... Score more...

Rylant

And I absolutely hate it when folks don't bother to read posts all the way thru before replying. Had you continued reading you would got to this part:

Don't get me wrong, I'm usually for playing hard til the last whistle and keeping the skate on the jugular so to speak but the smart call in this situation is to tell your centerman to win the draw back to the d-man and then skate it back into your zone and let time expire. And that has nothing to do with respect or classiness (though it definitely takes the bigger man to walk away) or anything else that Therrien is whining about, it is solely about doing what is best for your team and your players in that situation...why risk anyone getting hurt? What if the Sens scored again and there was another brawl and Karlsson gets knocked out of the playoffs? Obviously the Paulrus can do as he pleases, I just thought it was a poor decision

Sure its nice to be classy and a good sport but after the horrible, classless display the Habs put on, I feel that all bets are off. The point I keep trying to drive home is 'why do this with 17 secs?' The risks are high, the reward almost nil, it's just a poor decision

[pbhockey4]

I am getting nothing done at work....LOL

Haha agreed!

[wendelclark17]

ok so my question is, watch the video from the start, he starts drawing up the play shortly thereafter and then tell me what takes all that time to sketch up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAWWTojY0LA

I dunno, it just doesn't jive

I agree the chalkboard was a little much and it did seem to take a long time to tell them to just stay at the blueline. Having said that it was also very loud in there so maybe he thought it was a more effficient way of getting his point across to the guys on the ice.

At the end of the day we will never really know. I'm trying not to be biased towards either team here as they both are great rivals of the leafs thats just what I think happened, In a 6-1 game with no donnybrooks etc I would almost guarantee MacLean doesnt take that timeout.

On a side note: I'm absolutely loving this series, it is a war, just what playoff hockey should be.

[Big Ev]

What exactly were the risks? Was Davey Desharnais gonna go after Karlsson or something?

[pbhockey4]

And I absolutely hate it when folks don't bother to read posts all the way thru before replying. Had you continued reading you would got to this part:



Sure its nice to be classy and a good sport but after the horrible, classless display the Habs put on, I feel that all bets are off. The point I keep trying to drive home is 'why do this with 17 secs?'The risks are high, the reward almost nil, it's just a poor decision

Because 17 seconds is more than enough time for a player on either team to do anything stupid that could be detrimental to himself and his team. As high as the Canadiens emotions were flying, the Sens' emotions were just as high, especially following the slash and crosscheck from Bourque on Turris. What if Turris goes out that next shift and decides to try and tomahawk a Canadien player as revenge for Bourque's penalties, and then gets suspended? Or what if a pissed off Sens guy goes after a Canadiens guy and breaks his hand punching his helmet? I find it absurd that you think nothing good can come from a timeout from the Sens at that stage in the game, especially after Bourque's penalties immediately prior. There were two teams involved in the game, and MacLean did what was best for his team, and his team only. As I said before, he didn't give a damn what Therrien or the rest of the Habs were thinking/wanting at that point. He cared about his team, what it needed at the time, and what it needed to do to finish the game focused on moving forward to game 4, not getting revenge for stuff that had already happened in game 3.