Monday 2 July 2012

Larry Robinson and why he won't coach Tinordi, Beaulieu, Ellis, Pateryn, Nygren, Thrower...

A Revealing article by Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette on how and why Larry Robinson won't be returning to the Montreal Canadiens organization to coach the defencemen.

Reading the linked article, I do not get the same sense that he wanted the job as much as Patrice Brisebois did his, or Pierre McGuire did the job he was applying for. Both of those guys were quite clear and overt in their intentions, as opposed to Larry, whose explanation that he’s busy moving and cleaning out after the storm verges on the ‘my cellphone died’ excuse to the girlfriend territory.  There is a coyness there, like the girl who’s playing hard to get, that is offputting a little.  

We all are big fans of Larry, we all wanted him behind the bench, but the stars didn’t align when Michel Therrien was named coach. We saw it coming, and Larry is being diplomatic about not jumping at the chance to come back.  I had resigned myself to the fact that he wouldn’t be our D coach as soon as Mr. Therrien was hired. Larry would have been a good fit with Patrick Roy, and an invaluable asset in providing NHL bench experience and scouting, as well as providing a bit of a reality check if the younger head coach was about to make an impulsive decision. On Mr. Therrien’s staff, the fit and relationship seemed that it wouldn’t work on first inspection.
Having Larry as our defenceman coach seemed like such a gimme, but somehow we never clicked. We’re like the couple of singles that friends are always trying to fix up, they seem like a great match and would be a great couple, but one is always involved or just starting to date someone else when the other is single.

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