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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. Lebron Basketball Cheap . The four-time Grand Slam champion has beaten Hantuchova nine straight times, with the Slovaks only win coming when they first played 10 years ago. "I had a tough first opponent who can play extremely good tennis," Sharapova said. LeBron Shoes From China . With the final four being arguably the four best – and most complete – teams from the regular season, picking a winner is not as easy as it sounds. http://www.lebroncheap.com/ .com) - Even on the day his New Hampshire football team became the nations top-ranked team two weeks ago, coach Sean McDonnell conceded something about the team they replaced at No. Discount LeBron Shoes . The government says top golfers are expected to compete in the PGA Tour event at the Ashburn Golf Club in the suburb of Fall River from July 3-6 and again next year. Wholesale LeBron Shoes . -- So much for concern that running back Marshawn Lynch would be absent from the Seattle Seahawks minicamp.Reggie Abercrombie saw a hanging slider, got the barrel of the bat on the baseball and then raised his finger to the sky. The Winnipeg Goldeyes (10-5) veteran slugger had delivered a monster two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth that gave the Fish a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the visiting Lincoln Saltdogs (6-9). "He kind of got a slider up and I got the barrel on it," said Abercrombie after the game. "Hes a good pitcher, but he made a mistake. You dont plan on this kind of thing happening, but when it happens, its sort of the reason you play baseball. Whenever you can do something like that for your team, its one of the things you try to enjoy." Not only did Abercrombie enjoy it, so too did his teammates, who met him at homeplate after he followed Donnie Webb across the plate. Webb had singled with one out in the bottom, of the ninth to set up Abercrombies heroics.It was a fitting ending to a brilliant pitching performance by veteran Goldeyes left-hander Chris Salamida, a performance that was almost lost. He threw eight innings of three-hit shutout baseball at Shaw Park, but the Goldeyes bullpen couldnt save his victory. Chris Kissock and Brendan Lafferty allowed four runs on five hits and two walks in the top of the ninth, as the Goldeyes blew a 3-0 eighth-inning lead and fell behind 4-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Its the first time this season the Goldeyes bullpen blew a save. "After Chris (Kissock) came out of the game, I batted him on the back," said Salamida. "Hell be back tomorrow and hell be great. Its just one of those things. Hell be back, better than ever next time." But thats when Reggie came on and hit his second homer in as many nights. Amazingly, the Goldeyes are now 8-2 this season in games in which theyyve hit home runs.dddddddddddd With the win, the Goldeyes took over sole possession of first place in the American Associations North Division for the first time this season. "I felt really good tonight," said Salamida. "After that bad start to the season, I made a few adjustments to my mechanics and slowed down my delivery. When you pitch too quickly, it affects other parts of the delivery and thats what contributed to the slow start. Tonight, I just tried to throw strikes and get ahead of hitters. I had only three strikeouts, but I dont really try to get a lot of strikeouts. I try to pitch-to-contact and let my defense do its job and the defense was perfect tonight. I have a great defense behind me." Salamida, who got off to a terrible start this season in his first two outings, pitched eight complete innings, allowing no runs on three hits and only one walk. He retired the first 11 batters he faced and had a one-hitter through six innings. The Goldeyes didnt score much early in the game, but with Salamida dealing, they didnt have to score much.Tyler Kuhn led off the game with a single and scored all the way from first on a double by Jake Blackwood. In the fourth inning, Ray Sadler singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Donnie Webb. And with one out in the eighth inning, Kuhn pounded out his second triple in as many nights and scored on a sacrifice fly by Blackwood. Bellamy (1-0, 6.35 ERA) got the win for Winnipeg, while Marshall Schuler suffered the loss (0-2, 2.35 ERA).The Goldeyes and Saltdogs will play Game 3 of this four-game series on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at Shaw Park. Jason Jarvis (1-2, 10-39 ERA) will get the start for Winnipeg, while Joe Bisenius (0-0, 4.24 ERA) will take to the bump for Lincoln. ' ' '