Gestion des attentes et cadrage chez les entraîneurs de la LNH : la saison 2016-2017 des Canadiens de Montréal
This thesis examines expectation management as performed by the two different head coaches of the Montreal Canadiens during the 2016-2017 season along with the frames used to this end. Knowing that 1) failure to meet expectations is a key factor in head coach dismissals (Humphreys et al., 2016) and that 2) the NHL has the highest turnover rate in North America for that profession (Zinser, 2008), the work environment of the fabled Montreal Canadiens appeared to provide fertile ground to address questions linked to those phenomena. Nearly all media interviews given by Michel Therrien and Claude Julien over a full season were studied through discourse analysis, using the concepts of expectation management and framing. Specifically, this thesis investigates whether coaches try to manage expectations and if certain modus operandi or tendencies can be extracted while compiling an inventory of frames used in this context. It was found that both head coaches displayed adroitness and idiosyncratic traits in expectation management and in framing reality. Claude Julien, for instance, was more self-contained than his predecessor in using the Stanley Cup frame. Frames that pertained to preparation, efforts and contingencies were most frequently used. Certain forms of denialism also appeared during successful spells while zones of tolerance proved to be quite useful in difficult times. This thesis should be viewed as an exploration of public expectation management in sports rather than a comprehensive picture as it explores a single season while drawing on no other research, non-existent it seems in this peculiar niche.
disconfirmation framing expectation management NHL discourse analysis Montreal Canadiens media head coach