Only Jeff Gorton did this

No matter how much I search, I can’t find any others. Not just this year, but for 30 years. A coaching team where everyone is on their first experience in the NHL, there’s just the Canadian who has that.

Not only had Martin St-Louis, Trevor Letowski and Stéphane Robidas never managed in the NHL before arriving in Montreal, but neither had the new coaching consultant, Roger Grillo. And of course, general manager Kent Hughes is in the same boat. The only one who had experience before the arrival of this gang was Alex Burrows, who is no longer there and who had a year under his belt.

This is a very unique approach or gamble on the part of Jeff Gorton, who remains the accountable authority on this reality.

Nobody does that

I went to see how, over the past thirty years, recruit coaches who have not made it big in the NHL have surrounded themselves. You’ll see, it’s quite revealing. You can consult the list below.

What this exposes is that the Canadian is alone in his camp. Nobody does that. There is always experience to support a rookie coach. Most of the time, we are talking about at least one coach who has at least five years of experience. Even coaches with strong personalities, even future winners of several Jack Adams trophies, even coaches for whom things went badly, even those who had long careers behind the bench.

But Montreal decided to go its own way. Is this a good idea? Time will tell.

And I don’t write this with a hint of bad faith. It may very well work.

Brilliances

Martin St-Louis had an atypical journey as a player and he succeeded. He can do the same thing as a coach.

Trevor Letowski had no NHL coaching experience. But he still played more than 600 games there in addition to managing Ontario junior hockey for 11 years. He’s obviously a brilliant hockey head.

Stéphane Robidas helped revive the careers of Mike Matheson and Johnathan Kovacevic. This is already a feat that few defender coaches can boast of having achieved.

Of the eight more consistent defensemen he has coached for three years, five had never played in the NHL. And among the three who had already done so, I count Justin Barron, who had played two games with the Avalanche. In short, it’s difficult to blame Robidas for anything, on the contrary.

However, when teams bring in new blood behind the bench, even if there are two rookie coaches, there is always a wise old man nearby to provide support. Many have made a career of it and teams compete for it over the years. That must mean they have an important role.

Would adding an experienced coach improve the Canadian?

I don’t think Christian Dvorak would suddenly become a scorer. But a new, experienced voice, after three years of learning on the job, can, in my humble opinion, have an impact. It’s like any business, board of directors, garage league team, political party or volunteer committee.

Who was with these coaches when they were rookies? (years of NHL experience)

• Paul Maurice had Ted Sator (10 years old).
• Marc Crawford had Jacque Martin (8 years old).
• Jacques Martin had Barclay Plager (9 years old).
• Darryl Sutter had Paul Baxter (3).
• Mike Sullivan had Wayne Cashman (15).
• Peter Laviolette had Jacques Laperrière (20 years old).
• Michel Therrien had Rick Green (7 years old).
• Patrick Roy had Tim Army (11 years old).
• Barry Trotz had Brent Peterson (2).
• Alain Vigneault had Clément Jodoin (3 years) and Dave King (3 years).
• Pat Burns had Jacques Laperrière (7 years old).
• Bruce Cassidy had Glen Halon (4 years) and Randy Carlyle (1 year).
• Lindy Ruff had Don Lever (7 years old)
• Bob Hartley had Bryan Trottier (4 years) and Jacques Cloutier (2 years).
• Joel Quenneville had Jim Roberts (11) and Roger Neilson (20).
• Dan Bylsma had Tony Granato (6).
• Jacques Lemaire had Jacques Laperrière (2 years).
• John Tortorella had Craig Ramsay (9 years old)
• Spencer Carbery a Kirk Muller (18 ans).
• Luke Richardson a Kevin Dean (5 ans)
• Rick Tocchet had Rick Wilson (21).
• Jared Bednar a encore Ray Bennett (16 ans).
• Jon Cooper had Rick Bowness (26).
• Travis Green had Doug Jarvis (25).
• André Tourigne still has John Madden (5 years).
• Craig Berube avait Gord Murphy (11 ans).
• Jim Montgomery avait Rick Bowness (31 ans)
• Claude Julien had Guy Charron (12 years old) and Rick Green (9 years old).
• Sheldon Keefe had Paul MacLean (16).
• Peter Deboer had Mike Kitchen (18 years).
• John Hynes avait Geoff Ward (7 ans).
• Dominique Ducharme had Luke Richardson (8 years old).
• Guy Carbonneau had Doug Jarvis (15 years old).
• Jacques Demers had Barclay Plager (6 years old).
• Mario Tremblay had Jacques Laperrière (15 years old).