Dein erstes Forum » we almost took the same route. We

MONTREAL -- The wild fans, the history and the weight of expectations make the Montreal Canadiens a demanding team for any hockey coach, especially those with no NHL experience. But three who were in that position in the late 1990s and early 2000s -- Alain Vigneault, Michel Therrien and Claude Julien -- have gone on to do some impressive things in the NHL. A victory in the Eastern Conference final between Vigneaults New York Rangers and Therrien, in his second stint with Montreal, will put one of them in a Stanley Cup final. Between the three men, they will have been to the final five times. In 2008, Therrien reached the final with the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing in six games to the Detroit Red Wings. In 2011, Juliens Boston Bruins defeated Vigneaults Vancouver Canucks to claim the Stanley Cup. And in 2013, Julien had the Bruins back in the final only to lose to the Chicago Blackhawks. All three have credited the chance they got to coach middling-to-weak Montreal teams with their later success, even if their head coaching prospects were in doubt when they were eventually let go by the Canadiens. "You never know about the future," said the 50-year-old Therrien, whose team is coming off a second-round win over Juliens Bruins. "We learned a lot when we were young and that goes with experience. "Having to deal a lot with you (reporters) is a big part of our job. But it goes through a process. It goes with experience. Myself, Alain, Claude, we were young coaches at the time and we learned a lot. We started in Montreal and, Alain and me, we almost took the same route. We went back to the minors and went back to junior and the American League. "So Im glad for the success (Vigneault) had in Vancouver and New York. That was a great learning experience as a young coach to start in Montreal." There were actually four inexperienced coaches in a row, as Mario Tremblay got it started when he replaced Jacques Demers in 1995. But while Tremblay later worked as an assistant, he never got another head coaching job. In 1997, Tremblay was replaced by Vigneault, a former Ottawa Senators assistant who had been coaching in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Vigneault was replaced midway through the 2000-01 campaign by Therrien, who in turn lost his job to Julien in 2003. Vigneault was out of coaching for two seasons but returned with the junior P.E.I. Rocket before being named head coach of the Manitoba Moose, the Canucks AHL affiliate at the time. He was promoted to the Vancouver job to start the 2006-07 season and promptly took the Canucks to a division title and got the Jack Adams Trophy as NHL coach of the year, beating out Therrien and Buffalos Lindy Ruff. The Quebec City natives Canucks finished first overall in the NHL twice. But a drop-off last season saw Vancouver opt for former Rangers coach John Tortorella while Vigneault signed a five-year deal with New York. Now Vigneaults looking for another trip to the final. "My first NHL gig as a head coach was in a beautiful place, a Canadian city where hockey is passionate, hockey is demanding," the 53-year-old said. "Expectations were always very high, so I learned a lot. "I worked with some great people. It took me six years to get another kick at the can and obviously when I got my other chance, I used my experience in Montreal and my experience of going back to junior and also going to the American League and tried to help my new NHL team the best way I could. Now, this year, the Rangers have given me another opportunity and thats what Im trying to do." When Therrien left Montreal, he got a job coaching the Penguins farm club in Wilkes-Barre and was promoted to the NHL club on Dec. 15, 2005. He was fired suddenly on Feb. 15, 2009, one season after going to the final, in favour of Dan Bylsma. The new coach got Pittsburgh back to the final and avenged the defeat of Therriens team the year before by beating the Red Wings for the Cup. Therrien worked in television while waiting for his next chance, which came when new general manager Marc Bergevin hired him to return to the Canadiens at the start of last season. After Montreal, Julien was hired by the New Jersey Devils, but he also fell victim to a surprise firing late in the 2006-07 season despite a 47-24-8 record. The Bruins snapped him up the following season. Erik McCoy Saints Jersey . Saltalamacchia has agreed to a $21 million, three-year deal with the Miami Marlins, two people familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson Saints Jersey . The former central defender calmly nodded it down and quietly went about celebrating a win with his staff. For a man who has had a lot on his shoulders this season, it was an appropriate moment. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-Sam-Mills-Jersey/. About seven hours before facing Washington in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference second round series, team officials said the oft-injured Bynum would miss the rest of the playoffs and would not even be with the team for the rest of the post-season. Cameron Jordan Youth Jersey . Adding playoff teams. Monitoring instant replay from league headquarters. Possibly creating a set of guidelines to prevent locker-room bullying. Ted Ginn Jr Jersey . Then again, he really was at his home away from home. "It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night," Shields said after pitching Kansas City past the San Diego Padres 8-0 Wednesday. Jill Ellis has been named the U.S. national team coach in the run-up to the womens World Cup next summer in Canada and beyond. Ellis has been the interim coach since Tom Sermanni was surprisingly dismissed in early April after an exhibition victory against China. It was Ellis second stint as an interim coach with the team; she also took over when previous head coach Pia Sundhage resigned in 2012 to become head coach of Swedens national team. Ellis has a 6-0-3 record overall as the teams interim coach. Ellis was an assistant to both Sermanni and Sundhage. She was on the staff of the gold medal-winning U.S. teams at the Beijing and London Olympics. The 47-year-old coach, who is well respected among national team players, has had a lengthy coaching career, including 12 seasons at UCLA. "Not beating around the bush, I know the expectation, embrace the expectation," Ellis said Friday. "I know that we want to win, and I think this group is capable of winning. Thats what we want, it is always the expectation. People ask me if thats intimidating and I say no, because when you work for U.S. soccer its about winning gold medals and standing on the first-place podium." The U.S. womens team, which has been ranked No. 1 for the past six years, next plays a pair of exhibition matches against France in Tampa, Florida, and East Hartford, Connecticut, in mid-June. The United States will host the eight-team CONCACAF qualifying tournament in October for the 2015 World Cup, according to an announcement Friday. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in Mexico but there were "issues" concerning the venues, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said. The venues and schedule for the tournament have yet to be determined. Despite the teams success on the international stage in recent years, the U.S..ddddddddddddwomen havent won a World Cup title since 1999. Japan won the 2011 World Cup in Germany, defeating the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2-2 draw after extra time. "The job description is to win next summer," Gulati said during a conference call Friday announcing Ellis appointment. Beyond that, the U.S. team will also look to defend back-to-back-to-back Olympic titles in Brazil the following year. Sermanni helped the U.S. to a 13-0-3 record last year, but the Americans went 1-2-1 at the Algarve Cup in March, the last major tournament for the U.S. before qualifying this fall. The seventh-place Algarve Cup finish included a 1-0 loss to Sweden and Sundhage, ending a two-year, 43-game unbeaten streak. That was the first loss following a 16-0-4 start under Sermanni. Ellis led the team to a 3-0 exhibition win in the second match against China after Sermanni was dismissed. "Were comfortable with Jill, we love Jill, we have a lot of respect for Jill, and she didnt really miss a beat. She put the pen on the board and she just started coaching," U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo said following the match. "Im always honoured to be coached by Jill. Every time she has something to say, I always perk up and listen." Ellis will step down from her position as U.S. Soccer womens development director now that she is the head coach, the organization said. "We think Jills got all the right credentials, both in terms of experience, and how she relates to the players -- weve been able to see that firsthand in the two times shed been with the senior team and previously with our youth teams," Gulati said. "She gets top marks in all the work shes been doing on the technical side with all of our programs in the last several years. Its all of those things." ' ' '