My take was that it was a good hire, he was a candidate who ticked off a lot of boxes of what I expect from a position coach. He played the position himself and has a credible career at that position, which I suspect is important in this age of Judgment by YouTube. He has a good coaching résumé, working as a defencemen coach for the Senators and Islanders, and also as a head coach in the AHL for the Senators' farm team in Binghamton, along with a stint coaching for Hockey Canada, notably at the Spengler Cup.
Yet, in spite of all this experience, he's still relatively youthful, which I tend to think is important when relating to players, and to be open to innovation as a coach. This also ties in with a new attitude on the ice during practices, with Laval head coach Joël Bouchard famous for participating in drills, and Canadiens Assistant Coach Dominique Ducharme also noted for being very hands-on and didactic during practice. If the new way is for coaches to skate and engage with their players in practice, Mr. Richardson should be able to fit in.
With the Canadiens' early results, with the way the team is playing, and the mildly surprising showing of the defencemen, sans Shea Weber, it's tempting to declare that Luke Richardson is doing a great job, and that his approach has transformed our blueliners, but it's hard to tease apart what effect a summer break had, how much of the uptick to attribute to the new fast-paced system based on 'la relance', and how much is purely due to better coaching.
When contemplating the evidence, one aspect we can base our evaluation on is how the individuals are doing. Mike Reilly is transformed, qualitatively different than the more timid, error-prone performances we saw from him at the end of last season. Jordie Benn, a plodder who we thought was ill-suited for today's game, and likely waiver-wire fodder, is surprisingly effective, making the most of his modest talent, yet still providing 100% effort, as always.
Xavier Ouellet was thought to need a change of scenery, and maybe needing to hear a new voice, after playing under Jeff Blashill in the Detroit organization his entire pro career. Well, so far so good, it seems, with Xavier turning in creditable performance on the third pair with Jordie Benn, and certainly not riding the coattails of a stud partner.
Even Karl Alzner, almost risibly ineffective last season, often flailing around in his own end for extended periods, unable to clear the zone and go for a change, looked promising against the Blues, a big tough team that was expected to provide a challenge. Karl looked suited to the new way of doing things, he made good passes, and was seen pinching in on the play on his first shift, taking the puck to the Blues net.
So most defencemen seem to have taken a step forward from last season, except for maybe Victor Mete, who hasn't progressed like most fans would have hoped. We might be seeing in him the early stages of a sophomore jinx.
I'll caution that I think the hype on Victor exceeded his actual production, seeing as he scored no goals and had one hit all season. I think his sticking with the club had more to do with the Grand Club having no other options, having divested itself of Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin and Nathan Beaulieu, the entire left-side of the blue line, in one off-season. Victor did well in camp, but didn't 'break down the door', didn't make us sit up and take notice. He benefited from being put on Shea Weber's left, and not coughing up the bit. Normally he would have been returned to London with a pat on the back, not hopefully inserted into the lineup with crossed fingers.
Another piece of evidence is the testimonial from Mike Reilly on how the coaching is clear and helpful, with good video and good communication, effective coaching.
«Il est clair que je joue avec plus de confiance cette année. La communication est excellente avec les entraîneurs. Nous sommes bien préparés. Nous profitons de conseils quotidiens et de remarques associés à des bandes vidéo afin qu’on puisse bien comprendre ce qui est demandé de nous, ce qu’on fait de bien et ce qu’on doit corriger. Je n’ai jamais profité de ce genre de communication au Minnesota», a tenu à souligner Reilly avant de prendre la part du mérite qui lui revenait sur le jeu qui a mené à son but.Again, we can take this with a grain of salt, no player would openly criticize his coach(es) if he thought they weren't good at their job, but it's one more piece of the puzzle.
One final thought, and it's a big one for me, is what Jack Todd said on the HIO Show this summer, after the hire was announced. Mr. Todd related how Jean-Jacques Daigneault never impressed him as a coach, that he was a nice enough guy who worked hard, but who wasn't the most eloquent speaker or incisive analyst. He gave as an example how, during Gary Bettman's First Lockout, Mr. Daigneault was the Canadiens' union representative, and failed lamentably at the task of expounding the NHLPA's position, leaving the press members more confused than before they'd spoken with him.
To me, that's the smoking gun, that maybe Mr. Daigneault was a hard-worker who knew the game, but may not have been able to transmit that knowledge to is charges. He may have struggled to earn the respect of the players he served, if Mr. Todd's testimony is to be believed.
On first meeting Mr. Richardson, he has an imposing presence, but a calm, thoughtful way of expressing himself. I don't think he'll have the same challenges Jack Todd noted of his predecessor.
Marc Bergevin came into the job in 2012 promising stability, that the revolving door approach was over with, that the media furor(s) wouldn't affect his decision-making, but there came a point where a change was necessary, for substantial reasons rather than just Montréal reasons. Let's hope that Luke Richardson is an upgrade and we can look forward to a Weber-Juulsen-Romanov-Brook era, now that the aborted Markov-Subban-Tinordi-Beaulieu era is over.
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