Stone and Nilsson
I’m sure glad that Renney skated the hell out of them today so that they couldn’t go tonight.

That was genius.

While I understand Derek's frustration here, the reason why Stone and Nilsson sat wasn't directly related to being skated hard. Since I imagine they were only cleared by Medical that day -- it wouldn't have been a story on Saturday if they'd skated Friday as well -- they probably hadn't done much hard skating or seen much contact since their respective injuries, and certainly hadn't played at anything like game speed. Even if they kept up with their regular workouts at the gym, they would still need at least a couple of practices before they had their "game legs": that is, they'd need that amount of time to get their muscle coordination and timing back, for both their skating and their game skills. Otherwise, they'd basically look like everyone does in the early preseason: a gear slow and a half-second off on just about everything. Even given the current state of the team, I can't imagine having them playing at a suboptimal pace right after coming back from an injury, especially with five days of rest and practice ahead, would have been a wise move, for either the players or the team.

I've been following professional hockey for nearly 20 years now, and for most of that time, I've been persistently hit with disappointment after disappointment, as good teams falter just short of eternal glory, management deals off star players for pennies on the dollar (if anything at all) due to money or incompetence, and ownership groups with their own agendas hypocritically threaten to take my team away from me.  Yet despite the fact that the last 15 years have almost uniformly sucked for my teams in one fashion or another, and despite all the doom and gloom around the 'sphere this time of year, I can't entirely get down on these Oilers.  There are a couple of reasons for this, one being that we haven't played any meaningful games under the new staff yet, so it's hard to get more than a theoretical read on the team.  But there's another discovery that I made very recently that's reinforced my desire to believe, or at the very least not doubt so much, even though I'm probably setting myself up for disappointment once again.

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(Note: This is a repost of a comment I made last night on Habs Eyes on the Prize, which in hindsight was large enough to warrant the move.)

To follow up the prior point about rookie head coaches, I took a look at the coaches from ’79 to present (always a convenient interval in examining the merely-mortal Habs) to see what I could unearth:

1) Bernie Geoffrion (1979) – Shockingly, one of the most experienced hires of the modern era, with a half-year as a player-coach in New York (the NHL’s last, if memory serves, with only Glen Sather of the WHA’s Oilers succeeding him in major-pro) and three years behind the bench of the expansion Atlanta Flames. Only lasted 30 games due to health concerns, and never coached again.
2) Claude Ruel (1979-81) – A retread from the pre-Bowman days brought back after Geoffrion’s retirement. Fired after getting swept by the Oilers in three straight, and never coached again.
3) Bob Berry (1981-84) – Got into coaching his old team, the LA Kings, shortly after retiring. Got the job in Montreal after three decent years in LA with no playoff series wins. Left Montreal three years later with just as many. Continued on the next year with the rebuilding Penguins and, after a five-year hiatus, the Blues, who won him his only playoff series in 1993.
4) Jacques Lemaire (1984-85) – The first rookie on the list, who took over from Berry near the end of 1983-84. Led the Habs to the conference finals against the four-time champion Islanders before losing. Only lasted one more season with Montreal, but went on to win a Stanley Cup in New Jersey (‘95), and also guided the still-new Minnesota Wild to their only conference final in ’03.
5) Jean Perron (1985-88) – Won a Stanley Cup with Patrick Roy. Coached some decent Habs teams, but ran into the Bruins a couple of times and that was all she wrote. His only other coaching experience was a half-season in Quebec the following year.
6) Pat Burns (1988-92) – Now we’re into territory I can remember. Jack Adams and a Cup Final his rookie year, some solid regular seasons, but more trouble from the damned Bruins. Moved on to Toronto and Boston, where he racked up two more Adams Trophies and another conference final. Finally got his ring in ‘03 with the Devils.
7) Jacques Demers – As previously stated, had a dozen years of head-coaching experience going into the job with Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Quebec, St. Louis, and Detroit (the last of which earned him two Adams Trophies) before coming home to win the Cup. Also presided over the Habs’ first playoff miss since 1970 and was turfed four games into the next season. Coached a couple of awful Lightning teams afterwards, then moved into management and broadcasting.
8) Mario Tremblay (1995-97) – Yes, I’m ignoring one-game wonder Jacques Laperriere. Anyway, Tremblay was another rookie, and famously forced the Patrick Roy trade (though it might have been coming regardless), then failed to see much in the way of success. Made the playoffs both seasons, but that’s the most you can say. Now an assistant in Minny with Lemaire.
9) Alain Vigneault (1997-2000) – Wasn’t he the first of a series of coaches brought up from the AHL team to coach the big boys? Anyway, after his first year, the team never made the playoffs, though I’m sure personnel had nothing to do with that. Fired in late 2000, spent several years in the minors, then won the Adams his first year back in the Show with Vancouver in ‘07. Currently being made to look very smart by some Italian kid named Luongo.
10) Michel Therrien (2000-03) – Yeah, I remember the blow-up that was the beginning of the end of what was shaping up to be a magical ’02 run, between Theo’s heroics in net and Saku’s heroics just for showing up, never mind playing pretty darned well. Did much better his second time ‘round with Pittsburgh, getting to the Finals with some really solid young talent. It seems to me like he was a victim of injuries there, but whatever.
11) Claude Julien (2003-06) – Brought up from the shared farm team with Edmonton (an Oilers hire, too — I’m never sure if I should be bitter about that or not). Had a successful run in ‘04, but was replaced in ’06 by the GM. I always thought it was for playing Huet over Theo, but I was recently told he wasn’t helping the youngsters grow, so maybe that’s something. After a player revolution in New Jersey thwarted a promising season there, he’s found something good in Boston, being nominated alongside Carbo for an Adams last year. Jury’s out, but it’s looking good.
12) Bob Gainey (2006, 2009) – In Bob We Trust coached a series of mostly-bad sometimes-North Stars teams in the early to mid ‘90s, making a run to the Finals in his rookie year (1990-91), upsetting the defending-champion Oilers before being roasted by Mario Lemieux’s Penguins. Did much better as Stars GM, anyway. The Habs’ season turned around under him the first time around, though they wound up losing to the injury-blessed, eventual-champion Hurricanes (grrr). Fingers crossed the second time around goes better, though I’m not sure what I’d make of it if it did.
13) Guy Carbonneau (2006-09) – Obviously, we can’t know how he’ll do in his second job yet, but you have to think he’ll be a better communicator next time, no? I dunno, maybe he’s a better assistant coach.

So throwing out 1979-84, in which all coaching hires were vets, and again ignoring Laperriere, we have eight of ten head coaches being rookies in 25 years, and so far five of the seven who weren’t fired yesterday (Lemaire, Burns, Vigneault, Therrien, and Julien) have had equal or better success with subsequent jobs as they have in Montreal. True, every NHL head coach needs a starting point, but it seems to me that the Habs are giving out a disproportionate number of first-time jobs to guys who use that learning experience to become great coaches in other cities.