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It always happens sooner or later, every hockey season in Montreal. The panic has set in. As of February 8th, the Montreal Canadiens have lost four games in a row, the latest against the weakest team in the league, the Colorado Avalanche. I'm reluctant to ask the question, because Michel Therrien is the coach I have enjoyed watching the most in the last few years. His interviews and post-game scrums are always funny, win or lose—he is, in my eyes, very entertaining. However, ownership does not care about entertainment, they care about only one thing: a winning record. So, whether it's listening to sports radio or watching the last game's performance, I have to ask myself: is it time?  

Image source: CBC

Opinions on Michel Therrien have always been a subject of discussion on Montreal radio and blog sites, particularly when the team is not reaching its maximum potential. This time however, I do think that the situation is a little different. Although this latest stint as coach has seen Therrien lead the team for five years, the team is now slumping. Carey Price looks unmotivated, and several changes were made in the off-season. I think the Habs are a few players short of great team, most notably a top line center and top pairing defensemen. A Stanley Cup is not won in February, but the team should still be playing better.

Therrien’s first stint with the Montreal Canadiens came in the 2000-2001 season, replacing coach Alain Vigneault (who has since moved on to coach the New York Rangers). That edition of the Canadiens was terrible as they were rebuilding after many years under General Manager Réjean Houle. In Therrien’s second season with the Habs, he took a team that had Centers Yannick Perrault and an aging, soon to be retired Doug Gimour to the second round of the playoffs coming close to beating the Carolina Hurricanes (who then made it to the Stanley Cup's finals). It is a very honest effort considering the lack of offensive "punch" and a defensive core, but the next year, after injuries and a losing streak, management panicked as they often do in Montreal and fired Therrien.

After going back to the American hockey league coaching in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and having tremendous success, Therrien received the call from the Pittsburgh Penguins to coach their team. This again was a team going through a major rebuild, although they did have Sidney Crosby, who is often considered to be the best. After taking over mid-season, which saw him give us one of the best post-game rants ever, the Pens started playing with more grit and determination, and had a much better system in place. Therrien’s first full season with the team allowed them to earn 47 more points than the previous season. This is directly attributed to the work ethic put in place by coach Therrien. In his second season, he brought the team to the Stanley Cup finals against Detroit, and they only lost after six games. After his departure the following season, the Penguins managed to win the Cup.

Image source: Associated Press

One would say this proves Therrien is great at instilling structure within a team, but some have argued he cannot finish the job. I couldn't disagree more. Therrien, in my opinion, was simply the victim of circumstance. The Penguins won the cup the very same year he was replaced, but never made it past the second round but once in the next seven years. Michel Therrien knew what buttons to push and which changes to make during a game. Also, and most importantly, he brings passion to a team!

In 2012, the Montreal Canadiens were again in need of passion after missing the playoffs. General Manager Marc Bergevin made the call to the one man who could bring devotion and dedication back in an NHL dressing room and on the ice. The one man who could give the team back to the fans. Michel Therrien. With an elite-like team, Michel Therrien was poised to bring the Canadiens back to their promised land of the Stanley Cup Finals.

His first year was a success, with the team finishing second in the conference games, but his second year was even better. After eliminating their long time foes, the Boston Bruins, in seven games, the Habs found themselves in the conference finals to face the New York Rangers. The excitement was at an all time high in Montreal, and the possibility of playing hockey in mid-June for the Cup was a very real.

Then, disaster-struck. Price got injured. I am convinced that, had this not happened, the Canadiens would have won the Cup.

The following year, Montreal finished first in its division, and was eventually beaten by Stanley Cup finalists Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. The following year was a down year, as we saw several players out with injuries, most notably Carey Price.

With over five years with the team, Therrien is the team’s longest tenured coach in the last 35 years.  Sometimes after such a long stint, athletes tune out a coach, a manager, it's normal. Would firing Michel Therrien really change something? Doesn't every team go through slumps? I believe so. Considering the abundance of injuries to key players again this year, and the lack of offensive talent on the team, I do not think the coach is to blame.

I would not want to be Marc Bergevin right now, having to make this decision. With that in mind, I am happy to be writing this article and not managing the most successful hockey team of all time, as it must be constant pressure from fans and media who think they know what is best. The subject is up for debate, as it always is in Montreal. Should the coach be fired?  I'll let you, the reader, be the judge. However, it's a good thing the final decision is not in our hands!

CJLO presents your weekly show picks for the week of February 6th.

On Friday February 10th, Black Marble, You, Police Des Moeurs, and Besatzung at Bar Le Ritz. Doors at 9 PM. Tickets are 13$ in advance and 15$ at the door.

On Saturday February 11th, Beige, Weird Star, and Doggo will play at Casa del Popolo. Doors at 8:30 PM. Tickets are 6$ in advance or 9$ at the door.

On Monday February 13th, Mykki Blanco will play the Fairmount Theatre with Cakes da Killa. Doors at 8pm Tickets are 20$.

All venues except Theatre Fairmount have gender neutral washroom and are wheelchair accessible.

Once again, CJLO fills your concert agenda. 

When January 20th, 2017 was selected as the release date for Austra’s third album, Future Politics, the group did not have in mind that they would be sharing it with the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Regardless of the outcome of the U.S. election, Katie Stelmanis, Austra’s principal songwriter and overall mastermind, wrote the album as both a rejection of worldwide trends occurring in the past several years and as a possible way forward from here on out. CJLO’s very own Ashes to Ashes host Alex had the privilege of discussing with Stelmanis the new album, whether Canada could have its own Trump, and more, before Austra’s Montreal performance last month at the Théàtre Fairmont.

Alex: Did you watch the Trump inauguration yesterday?

Katie Stelmanis: [shakes head] No.

A: Couldn’t bear to watch it?

KS: I was napping [laughs]. I was so... I had so much to do before, because our record came out yesterday, that I didn’t sleep at all the night before. So, then I had a radio thing yesterday morning and then I came home and I slept through the entire Trump inauguration.

A: Are you happy you slept through it?

KS: Yeah, I don’t really have any desire to see it [laughs].

A: On Instagram you posted a photo of the Women’s March going on right now in Montreal. I’m guessing you enjoyed that a bit more.

KS: [Laughs] Yeah definitely. I was only there for not too much time. I guess at the time I was there they were speaking French, so I didn’t understand what they were saying. It was great. You’re there for five minutes and it just feels really good.

A: Do you think it’s possible something like what’s happened in the States with Trump can happen in Canada now, because we have [Conservative candidates] Kellie Leitch, who wants values tests for immigrants, and Kevin O’Leary, [who] is now trying to get that Trump magic?

KS: Yeah, it kinda seems like Canada is always about ten years behind the United States. It’s like we have our Obama right now, so I definitely wouldn’t be surprised, I guess, if it happened. But I also can’t imagine Trudeau just not being in power forever, because people love him so much.

A: Do you think he’s going to be like his dad?

KS: He’s going to be in for the long haul, for sure.

A: Do you see your shows now as being a place of solace for the audience, since I’m guessing most Austra fans are not Trump supporters? I mean, maybe there are some, but I’m assuming more of them are unhappy with the results of the election. So, do you think the shows are going to be more of a bonding experience?

KS: Maybe, I guess I feel like the new record is kind of a lot more emo than [the] previous ones, and so our set’s kind of divided up where the first half is much more intimate, I guess, and the second half is more of a party, which is really new for us. We don’t really usually have the intimate part of the set. I was worried people wouldn’t react to it, but it seems like people are kind of embracing that moment, they just kind of wallow in the sadness a little bit.

A: Do you feel like with your songs you’re not sure how good they are until you perform them live and get a reaction from the audience?

KS: Not necessarily, because some songs just translate live and some don’t. Some of my favourite songs on the record we’ll never play live, because I just know it wouldn’t work [laughs]. And then some songs really come to life in a live setting. Some of the best records out there don’t really work in a live setting.

A: Do you prefer writing in the studio, or performing live for an audience?

KS: I guess I prefer performing it, maybe. I love being in the studio and I love writing, but there’s nothing quite like [performing live]. I suppose writing is like 98% gruelling and 2% extremely rewarding, like when you’re done or when something good happens, whereas performing live it’s just this kind of constantly euphoric experience.

A: In terms of songwriting for this record, while your last album [2013’s Olympia] was a group process, Future Politics is a return to the more independent songwriting process of Austra’s debut album [2011’s Feel It Break]. What necessitated the change from group to solo songwriting?

KS: I think I was just ready for it, I suppose. I had spent a long time touring on the road and I had just done this massively collaborative project, and I was just kind of ready to do it on my own, and I think I really wanted to kind of master all the aspects of the project I suppose, as opposed to depending on other people to make it better, and I definitely think this whole process did teach me a lot, more than I had ever learned making a record before. But, now I feel ready to collaborate again, because I feel like I have a stronger arsenal.

A: I read that you actually started writing in Montreal, but it didn’t go so well because you wrote it in the winter, and our winters aren’t great, to say the least.

KS: No [laughs]. I had moved to Montreal... I love Montreal and I feel like I can still live here, but at the time I was just touring in the summers and off in the winters. So, I was like, “Okay, my only time to hang out in Montreal is like January/February [laughs] like this sucks.” Yeah, so that’s why I left and went to Mexico.

A: Do you think if you would have written it during the summer, where it’s a bit more pleasant, it would have lead to a different record?

KS: Definitely, for sure. I was also living pretty far out in Outremont, to the point where I couldn’t really walk over to Mile End, and like everything kind of closed at 7 p.m. near me. So, unless I took a cab I was just completely isolated.

A: Do you have any other places for a future record you’d like to write in?

KS: I mean, there’s lots of other places I’d like to go to, I suppose, that I’ve never been to. I’ve never been to Argentina, and I’d really like to spend time there. I’ve never been to... I don’t know, there are a lot of places [laughs] anywhere.

A: Do you ever hope, maybe, to get some airline to promote you to go write somewhere?

KS: Uh-huh, that’d be cool. I feel like with the next record, whatever situation I’m in, I want to make sure... like with this record it was written very mobile. I just had a little tiny keyboard and the most compact setup possible. But I feel like when I write the next one, I want to make sure I have access to a real piano. So, I feel like I’ll be staying in one place for the majority of the time.

A: You read a lot of political and science fiction literature while writing the album. I was wondering, do you ever see yourself moving into a long-form writing format as well, instead of a three/four minute song?

KS: Yeah, maybe. I mean, me and some of my friends, my dancer friend Emily Law and Zeesy Powers, an artist, we applied for a Canadian grant to do a more long-form production that would be a collaboration of musical, visual, and dance performance. So, if I get that I guess that’s what I’ll be doing next, but I don’t know if we get the grant yet.

A: That makes me curious. I don’t think we understand often how important grants are for artists. Could you maybe explain?

KS: I absolutely wouldn’t have a career if it wasn’t for grants. I got a grant to record my first record, and then I got a grant to go to SXSW and perform it, and then when I got to South-by I got a record deal based on the record I had made. So, if I didn’t have that opportunity I wouldn’t have done any of those things.

A: I hear Trump now wants to cut the National Endowment for the Arts.

KS: Musicians in the States don’t get anything [laughs], at least not in the independent music world, like as we do in Canada. I never understand how Americans do it at all.

A: Do you recommend then artists move to Canada, put your feet down?

KS: Well, I think... I mean it’s not too easy to move to Canada [laughs]. I would say so, but I don’t think people realize... people think that Canada’s just like welcoming open arms, but it’s actually really hard to immigrate to Canada and to become eligible for the grants in general. I guess I was lucky I was born in a place where they give you money to make music.

A: You produced and engineered the album yourself, and you were saying you’re looking for your next project to go back to collaborating. But, do you feel that, well, “Now I’ve done it and I know I can do it, why would I need someone else to do it for me?”

KS: I’ve enjoyed doing what I did, but I also feel like that there’s limits to my abilities in all those realms, and so I’d really like to work with people who have completely different abilities and collaborate.

A: I know the record overall is optimistic, but do you feel yourself, personally and professional, optimistic for the next year?

KS: No... Oh, personally and professionally. Personally and professionally, sure. I’m super excited to tour this record and it just came out yesterday, and it seems like people are liking it, which is great. I’m just excited that people seem to be responding to it and it seems to be resonating, so I guess I’m optimistic about that.

A: Do you feel that if Hillary Clinton got elected instead of Trump you’re record would have had the same effect?

KS: Not to the same extent. Maybe the Bernie Sanders supporters would have got it [laughs], but definitely not. There isn’t the same rage towards Hillary as there obviously is to Trump.

A: It’s ironic then that while Trump is obviously a disruptor, to say the least, it’s great for your new record in a way.

KS: I mean, I don’t even want to say that [laughs]. I was writing about stuff like three years ago that has culminated into something. At the time there was sort of like all this, sort of like tension brewing, and that’s really what I was writing about, and then it’s resulted in Trump.

Check out Austra’s video for their latest single, “I Love You More Than You Love Yourself,” below.

Photo credit: Renata Raksha.

Hosted by Patricia Petit Liang

Stories by Jeremiah Ho, Michael Foldvari & Patricia Petit Liang

Produced by Patricia Petit Liang