Canadiens Fire Carbonneau In Surprise Move

According to TSN.ca, the Montreal Canadiens have fired head coach Guy Carbonneau with just 16 games remaining in the regular season.

General manager Bob Gainey will take over the coaching duties for the remainder of the season, much like he did in 2005-06. That year, he fired Claude Julien in a late season move. Look how that one turned out in history. Julien has the Bruins in a virtual lock for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference this year, while the Habs are now in a battle for their playoff lives.

Currently, the Habs are tied with the Hurricanes for 5th in the East with 77 points. However, the Penguins, Panthers and Rangers are all one point back with 76. Buffalo is 10th with 73 points and fading fast without Ryan Miller.

The Habs started out the season well, but since the All-Star game that was held in their own rink, they just have not looked the same.

Carey Price has been awful in net, which forced Carbonneau to throw Jaroslav Halak in net to stop the bleeding.

According to Stats, Price was 3-10-1 since returning from an ankle injury on Jan. 20 before earning a 3-1 win against Dallas on Sunday. The win was Price's first since Feb. 3. That's the kind of stellar goaltending that gets coaches fired.

The remainder of the season should prove quite interesting with some of the teams chasing the Habs catching fire. I still think they get into the playoffs, but if this coaching change doesn't work it could be a very long summer in Montreal.