(Columbus, Ohio) The story we were told was promising. It was about Pascal Vincent, among the Regents of Laval-Laurentides-Lanaudière, who had removed the son of the president of the organization. Said president was also a car dealer and provided a car to the young coach Vincent in the 1990s.
Rumor even has it that the day after Vincent’s decision, the dealership took back the keys to the car!
So here we are in the press room at Nationwide Arena, Monday evening, after the Blue Jackets’ resounding 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins. In his capacity as head coach in Columbus, Vincent addresses the local media, before taking a few minutes to speak with La Presse, who had a damn good anecdote to confirm, in the current circumstances of his club .
Vincent smiles when we tell him the story. To our chagrin, our man’s version differs somewhat. “I won’t make this any more dramatic than it is! “, he said, almost apologetically.
“He was a good player, but his conditioning wasn’t up to par. Young people were growing and he didn’t have his place. But my contract has not changed. I had a car provided. Mr. Langevin was really good to me. But of course he was disappointed, because he is a family man. »
One fact remains, however. Vincent had to make a heartbreaking decision about a player with a certain status, and he made it. As he has had to do repeatedly in recent weeks, after his disaster arrival in the head coaching chair to replace the short-lived Mike Babcock. We thought we had seen everything at the start of the season, but he did it again by sending Patrik Laine to the stands and benching Johnny Gaudreau.
“I have a value system. I coach a team, I was raised like that, I don’t play politics. I don’t play games with the players, he insists. We give opportunities, we take notes, we make decisions.
“The way I explain it, there’s the individual and the player. We take care of the individual as best we can, but when it comes time to evaluate the player, I have a whistle and I am a coach. And I don’t have much room to maneuver. You have a job to do. Are you doing it?
“Take Mario Lemieux. There is Mario, we take care of Mario. And there’s 66. When it comes time to play, it’s 66. Those are two approaches. It’s not that complicated. I know it may seem drastic from the outside, but communication with the players is constant, they know what to expect. We deal with the problems, I don’t let them drag on, and we move on. »
The decision obviously did not go unnoticed by the players. “They’re two big pieces of our team,” agreed Jackets captain Boone Jenner. It happened, but they have played very well since. We are hungry and Pascal is hungry. »
“It’s a strong message to everyone, whether veterans or young people. There will be no freebies and we have to work even harder, added striker Alexandre Texier. No matter the status, if you don’t do the work, you won’t play. We have several talented young people who are pushing and we have to do the job, because we know the sanction, in quotes. We understood well, and I think it did the team good. »
Laine has a goal and an assist in four games since hitting the bridge Nov. 19 in Philadelphia. Gaudreau has scored five points in six games, with a differential of 5, since he was benched on November 16. He could have increased his record Monday against the Bruins, obtaining two breakaways that he could not convert into goals.
Collectively, it’s even better. Since the defenestration – figuratively, of course – of Laine, Columbus has signed three victories in four games: 7-3 against Chicago, 2-1 against New Jersey and Monday’s 5-2 against Boston. And in their only loss, they led 2-0 midway through the third period, but Carolina rallied.
The head coach, however, refuses to take credit for the electroshock. “We played good hockey before, but we didn’t win,” he pleads. We note that in their streak of nine defeats from November 4 to 19, they lost six times by a goal, including twice in tiebreakers.
“We had the advantage, but we didn’t finish strong. It was a minute, a presence. In Carolina, we played a good game, but it was three sequences, bang, bang, bang. They scored.
“I don’t know if it’s related, but there’s a chemistry that builds behind it, because player X feels as important as player Y. They know they’ll be treated the same. We have very high standards and if we do not meet them, there will be consequences. It’s not fun to do. I don’t have fun in the evening when I come home, but I have no problem making these decisions. »
