There have been so many high caliber coaches in the National Hockey League and there are so many examples. There is Scotty Bowman, Larry Robinson and Gerard Gallant, just to name a few. It’s unfortunate that none of these coaches could ever be considered as a head coach for Montreal. This is the situation due to certain rules the Canadiens have in place.
The rule being if a coach doesn’t speak French, they are not even considered for the job. As such, we have seen a cycle of the Canadiens recycling coaches due to the lack of French coaches in the league. For the Habs, it’s been Jacques Martin, Michel Therrien, and at the moment, Claude Julien.
We saw what happened the last time an English coach was given the job. Riots started outside the Bell Centre. To me personally, it doesn’t make sense because there are so many coaches in this league that could help build Montreal into a contender. Despite that, it will never happen.
Not to say Claude Julien isn’t an amazing coach, but at this point, it limits the possibilities that the Canadiens have. Julien won’t be able to coach forever, and when it’s time for him to leave, whether he’s fired or decides to quit, we are ultimately back to square one.
I think the French media plays a part in it as well and they don’t appreciate the fact that it’s harder for them to do their job when the coach doesn’t speak French. Quebec needs to realize that Canada is a bilingual country and that even the city of Montreal is 56% english. Most Quebecers are in denial and honestly think that the province is strictly French, therefore seeing anglophones as a form of the enemy.
The policy needs to be modified because at the end of the day, what do the Montrealers want? a coach that speaks French, or a coach that can finally bring a Stanley Cup back to the city? It’s 2020. People need to learn to accept and diversify, not divide and cause conflict.
We have already seen change in the world in regards to anti-black racism, so now we need to work on bringing the francophones and the anglophones together. The province of Quebec needs to learn to accept English and not fight it. As a Montrealer, who grew up in an english speaking neighbourhood, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run into people recently who couldn’t speak English.
Another prime example is Kirk Muller. He was appointed the interim head coach when Claude Julien was hospitalized in the middle of round one. Once back in Montreal following his surgery, the first comment Julien made while speaking to the media about Kirk Muller was, “Oh, he doesn’t speak French.”
This policy needs to be changed or Montreal will be in the same loop forever.