The coaching axe is in free fall throughout the Québec Major Junior Hockey League.
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan fired head coach Ron Choules on Thursday, the third head coach to receive his pink slip in six days throughout the league. The other two were Stéphane Hains in Baie-Comeau on Oct. 15 and Cam Russell in Halifax on Monday.
In a results-oriented business, Choules' firing is the most perplexing. The team was off to a good start at 10-5 and was miles ahead of the Drakkar and Mooseheads in the standings.
"It's hard to explain because our record is 10-5," acknowledged Titan general manager Sylvain Couturier. "Usually a coach is fired because of the record so that's not the case with Ron."
Not only is Choules' firing the most difficult to understand, but Choules is the only one of the three looking for a new job. Hains was given a reduced role within the Drakkar while Russell was demoted to assistant coach, but continues to hold his role as GM, in Halifax.
Choules will, however, receive compensation from the team, but was not offered another position within the organization.
Couturier said the team has not played up to its potential, in spite of the record. The organization expects the team to finish within the top five in league standings, regardless of which voice is heard from the bench.
The team anticipates naming a new head coach in the next seven to 10 days. Eric Dubois, who will take over as the interim head coach, will receive consideration, Couturier said. Dubois was previously the head coach and general manager in Baie-Comeau. Hains, the first coaching casualty of the season, had been Dubois' replacement.
Couturier insists the decision to fire Choules was not personal between GM and coach.
"There was nothing personal between myself and Ron," he said. "I'm pretty sure that Ron would say the same thing. Today I lost a coach, but I also lost a friend. I let go a friend as a coach."
Whether it was personal between Choules and team owner Léo-Guy Morrissette, Couturier offered this diplomatic response: "as a personal matter level, I can't answer that. I don't know."
The message between the lines reads more clearly than the statement itself. Morrissette allegedly thought a change of philosophy was needed, which is not surprising since Morrissette seems to preach that mentality often.
Morrissette is known for his sometimes emotional, hair-trigger reactions with his team. Acadie-Bathurst's previous two head coaches were fired in-season in Mario Durocher in 2006 and Denis Francoeur two years later. Durocher's squad was 33-22 at the time while Francoeur's had a 23-25 record when he was let go.
Expectations were much higher this season for the Titan after two seasons of rebuilding. Choules had helped turn the franchise back around and, seemingly, put them in a good spot.
The team's goal of finishing within the top five in league standings is very much intact. The Titan has the fifth-most points accumulated heading into Thursday night's games, but are third in the Maritimes Division behind Moncton and Saint John. By those admissions, the team is right on pace to achieve its goal.
"We're right where we want right now so we'll see how it ends," Couturier said. "I think the expectations are still the same. We're looking to make a run this year and definitely we won't be alone, but we are going to try to improve our hockey team (when the trading period opens) at Christmas probably and make a run for it."
It's clear the decision is not performance-based. But the team isn't ready to air its dirty laundry, either.
Sources say the firing is most likely precipitated from conflict between Morrissette and Choules.
Whether those reports are true, one thing is clear: the decision was not made from Couturier and Choules butting heads.
"One thing I would like to say on the record is Ron Choules was here for the two years of rebuilding of the team and both those years we did make the playoffs," Couturier said. "I think he deserves a lot of credit for whatever will happen this year."
Just not all the credit.
In a decision that doesn't quite add up, it appears that what's not being said carries more truth than what is being said.
