The big story in the NHL this week revolved around P.K. Subban, Michel Therrien and the Montreal Canadiens.
Therrien placed blame on Subban for a turnover late in Wednesday’s 3-2 regulation loss to the Colorado Avalanche
“It was a selfish play that cost us the game,” Therrien said. “The team worked hard. We deserved a better result. It’s too bad an individual mistake cost us the game late in the game.”
It’s not every day you hear a coach publically call out a star player and Therrien was criticized for how he handled the loss.
However, Don Cherry can empathize with Therrien and defended the Canadiens coach. On Coach’s Corner Saturday, Cherry said he did the same thing to Brad Park decades ago when he was head coach of the Boston Bruins when Park was careless with the puck and a mistake cost them in a game against the Washington Capitals.
“I took a towel, threw it right in his face and the whole deal – I’m still hot after [the game] – and I woke up the next day and I said, ‘What have I done?’ and that’s exactly what happened [with Therrien],” Cherry said. “He wanted that point badly and he lost it and it’s too bad and don’t blame Michel for that one…He lost it and I lost it at Park.”
When you play in a market like Montreal and a contentious story like this one revolves around one of the NHL’s top stars it’s not something you can quietly sweep under the rug. The situation even spurred trade rumours after a report that the Canadiens were gauging interest on Subban surfaced Friday.
Those rumours have since been squashed with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reporting Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin said he will not trade Subban.
