REV-G

If it came down to two candidates for GM position, Marc Bergevin or Pierre McGuire, who would overall be the best qualified for the position?

I think CC has hit the nail on the head with the point that what we often perceive as star GM candidates have often not done as well as other not as hyped up candidates, as per the examples he gave. However we also know there are some star GM's whose reputaion is deserved, but they have done it and put together strong teams over a period of years. Personally I am excited over this process and some of the names that we are discussing. Although I hope we don't go for someone who has done the job elsewhere and had mediocre results. I'm looking for some fresh approach by someone who is eager, knows the league and has a history of competence and success at whatever they have done. Let me ask again a question I posed at the beginning of this thread.Do you think there's any chance Dale Tallon could be our man? If, and that's a big question, he is interested, would Florida be willing to let him go and would he do a good job for us?? What do you think?

What is a little confusing to me is, why did Jim Nill even sit down and have two interviews with Geoff Moslon if his wife has cancer and moving isn't an option or the right thing to do right now?? Didn't he discuss and talk this through with her before he agreed to an interview. You would think the decision about whether they are willing to move would have taken place before he even met with us. Certainly caring for his wife and thinking of her is the highest priority for him, but why did he agree to talk to us if the time isn't right for them?? Sounds funny to me!

Vancouver is now down 3-0 in games. So the question is, if they lose this series 4-0 or if they just lose in the first round by whatever margin, is Vigneault's job in jeapordy?? I would have to say yes. They can't, and probably won't, change the core of the team, but if they get knocked out in the first round they likely will want to change something. So the coach may be the answer. He would then become my first choice to be our coach, by far!!

Tallon was my choice when I started this thread. But you'd obviously have to ask, why would they let him go? To me the only reason would be if he really wanted to come back to Montreal and he went and asked to be released, almost as a favour. I don't know if that has ever happened before, but I think he'd actually be the best choice of everyone we have on our list.

I really like that combo. With maybe Savard around for a few years as a consultant. To me that would be a great team going forward!

This morning TSN radio in Toronto reported that Daren Dreger was quoted as saying that the Montreal Canadiens have asked permission from the Toronto Maple Leafs to speak to their assistant GM Claude Loiselle. He said that the Leafs were expected to give permission to the Canadiens to interview Loiselle. I guess this isn't a surprise to anyone. But I'm glad to see that they are not wasting any time. Last week after Gauthier was released I read or heard somewhere that Molson and Savard were going to meet Monday and begin the process. If that's true, and this is only Tuesday, they are not wasting any time, wanting to take advantage of those extra days they said they wanted to gain by letting Gauthier go last week and not waiting till the end of the season. This also points to the fact that this isn't going to just be given to someone, but there is going to be a complete and solid search. Great news!

I think this would be a great team with room to train/mentor people and build a great team for years to come. I wonder if Pat Brisson would be interested??

So now that the process has started for real, let's begin in earnest discussing who ends up being our next GM. Maybe instead of all of us listing all the names that are out there, can I suggest that we each just choose one name, the very best in our opinion, as to who we think would make the best GM for us. Let's think outside the box, even if someone seems to not be available right now, for whatever reason, pick a person, who you think could potentially be a great fit as our next GM and lead back to the Stanley cup. And if someone has already listed your top choice, give us your 2nd pick. I'm going to name somone who I would not have thought of on my own but I heard Bob MacKenzie mention him and I thought this guy would be a great fit for us. He is currently under contract, but stranger things have happened [especially this year]. So my choice for our next GM would be Dale Tallon. Currently under contract to Florida, but he did a great job in laying the groundwork in Chicago, has rebuilt Florida fairly quickly, was a former player [which may not be a prerequisite] and he speaks french. So if we could negotiate a deal and somehow pry him out of Florida, Dale Talloon would be my top choice. What do you think??

Interesting that this morning on a Toronto Sports talk show Jacques Demers was being interviewed and they asked him who he thought should be the next coach of the Canadiens. He said that for him it was obvious who the next coach should be. Patrick Roy. He said Patrick knows Montreal, is a very knowledgeable hockey man, is very competitive and wants to win and has worked hard at learning how to coach. He said he knows for a fact that while he has been coaching the Remparts Patrick has on at least 4 occassions called NHL coaches to ask them about certain areas of coaching. His final commment was if that if Montreal didn't hire Patrick, then he would end up coming here with another team and beating us. I was a little uncertain at first but I think that Patrick might be the right guy for us.

You should post this as a separate thread on it's own. It will likely create a lot of interest. I thlink this could be a great team. Roy is unproven as an NHL GM but Hartley has had lots of experience as a coach, and he won a cup.

I noticed in the HW poll concerning whether Patrick Roy should be our next coach or GM or both, that over 60% voted for him to either be our coach, GM or both. Personally I think I would like him as our coach, but not GM, yet. Maybe after we see how he does as a coach first. But in the Toronto Star Rossie DeManno interviewed Roy recently and there were two interesting points that I picked up from her article. First, when she brought up to Patrick that a Montreal media person was reporting that Jeff Molson had a signed letter of intent for him to be the next coach in Montreal she said he didn't deny it but laughed it off. She noted he did not deny it. Maybe nothing, but maybe getting close to the truth??? Secondly, I heard either Doug McLean or another hockey insider this week say that they were convinced that the Phoenix Coyotes would be in Quebec city next season. Rossie noted that if that is the case Patrick Roy would be the perfect fit for some position with that new Quebec team. So if there is some truth to all this, and I know these are a lot of if's, then Molson may have locked Patrick up so as not to lose him to a potential new team in Quebec city. What do you think?

Given the situation we're in right now, with a coach that is only interim until the end of the season and a GM that most people seem to assume will not be our GM beyond this season, I wonder what the right time is to make these changes? Actually the coaching change is probably obvious. Wait till the end of the season, then get a feel for who is available among biligual coaches, and who could be available during the summer, and then decide who to approach. But if you're bringing in a new GM then he would be the guy to make that decision so the coaching decision will likely be dependant upon when a new GM would be named. So likely sometime in July for a coaching change. But what about the GM? Let's assume it's a done deal and Molson has decided that Pierre Gauthier is finished and a new GM will be named. When is the right time to make that change. It could be now. The trade deadline is gone. We're out of the playoffs. If you've made the decision to make a change, you don't want the existing GM to still be in place while you're preparing for the draft and potential trades and free agent signings in June and July. And you want the new GM to have time to get a feel for the team, it's prospects, who to keep and who to trade or let walk. But perhaps there is benefit to waiting until the season ends, so the players are gone and there are no distractions or circus like atmoshere that could engulf a team during the season, who has already made two coaching changes during the season. So in my mind, if there's going to be a change we should see it happen sometime during the two weeks after the end of the season. What do you think?

Hey nickm, welcome. I agree with a lot of what you said. We are a much better team than our record shows this year. WIth injuries and coaching changes and as you pointed out all the one goal and late-game losses, I think we should be improved next year. There are some concerns I still have, as follows: 1. That Molson doesn't keep Gautheir in place and does in fact make a change and bring in a new GM, and who this person will be. 2. Who our new coach will be? 3. I've read that this year's crop of free agents is not very strong at all. We have some real holes that we need to fill, so who can we sign? 4. That there is an amnesty clause and will that allow us to buy out only one player where we need to buy out two [Gomez and Kaberle]. Once these decisions are made, and trusting they are the right ones, then I'll feel more hopeful goling forward. But If Gauthier returns, and if there is no amnesty clause, then I believe there will still be some major issues that will stay with us. Hopefully not.

Depending on how we finish in the standings this year we have a very good chance of ending up with a top 5 pick and maybe even a top 3 pick. Steve HIndle wrote a very good evaluation of our prospects going into this draft and lays out a plan that to me is exciting for us going forward. He makes the point that we could possibly trade to get two picks in the top ten and end up addressing two of our most important needs, a top line center and a top line defenceman or potentially two top line centers. It's worth a read. http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Steven-Hindle/Evaluating-Montreals-Propsects--Draft-Needs/139/42686 As he describes it we could be a very good team next year and even better the following. Puts an encouraging spin on this years disaster.

Ok, so since we're out of the playoffs and did virtually nothing at the trade deadline, I would think that at this point most of us are now looking ahead to 4 things regarding out team. 1. Who will replace GM Pierre Gauthier? I can't imagine Molson would try to keep him on for another year so I'm assuming this will happen, maybe even before the end of the season. 2. Who will the new GM choose as our new coach? 3. How high a pick will we have in this year's draft. If it is in the top 3 we could be looking at a genuine franchise player. 4. The moving out of some players who just have not performed and are likely near the end of their careers. I'm thinking of at least Kaberle, Gomez and Campoli. Maybe a few more but at least these 3, which would bring a huge amount of cap space to sign a few really good players to go along with, what I think, is a really good remaining core. So for me next year does have some genuine hope and expectation. Since we're already looking ahead to next year give me your thoughts on this team as our GM and coach. Red Fisher sparked this thought in his article in the Gazette. Would Serge Savard and Patrick Roy make a good team, with Savard the GM and Roy as the coach. My view is that Savard would run the team and be a mentor to Roy and help keep him in line, with the hope that if Roy handles it well he could take over as GM in 3 years or so. The negatives: is Savard too far removed from the day to day running of the NHL and would this be an old school move? : would Patrick be controllable? Can he handle the postion during the pressure times and respond well? : would Patrick be a good NHL coach? Some junior coaches have and some haven't. I think he would. The postives: Savard did lead us to two Stanley Cups with class and dignity and has done very very well in business. : Roy is well liked by his players, he has been very successful in running his entire junior team, he is a winner. : Both men have experience, both speak english and french, both have been champions, both have a passion for the Montreal Canadiens and both want to win very badly, not stumble along spinning their wheels. Also, both are media friendly and would likely be very good in commmunicating with the media and fans. So, what do you think?

We only got back a 2nd round pick???

I agree totally. If it came down to Vigneault and Boucher I'd take Vingneault in a minute. If we ever did sign Vigneault and Boucher had been fired, I wonder if Boucher would be considered for an assistant coach position or does he legitimately need to be the head guy somewhere at some level, not necessarily just the NHL?

I read in the Gazette that Pat Hickey said Montreal might get another crack at Guy Boucher because he is on thin ice in Tampa. Tampa has a young and smart GM and has some very good players. They hired Boucher and he brought his coaching staff that he was familiar with along with him. Goaltending has probably been their archiles heel this year. So here then is my hypothetical question. If Boucher gets fired from Tampa it will probably mean that they did not make the playoffs. So if he's fired would we want to take a chance on a coach who did exceptionally well in the AHL but did poorly and was fired after his first season coaching millionaries in the NHL? What do you think?

I just read Eklund on HockeyBuzz and he said something that made me laugh. He said that his source in Montreal, in relation to Jeff Cater said, "..we are all in..". How in the world, with Pierre Gauthier as GM, would anyone know we all in on Jeff Carter??? I wonder if Gauthier even tells his own staff who he's speaking to and what he's working on. I'm sure he asks thier opinion on certain players but the thought of Gauthier letting out any info to anyone regarding who he's trading for is hillarious. What is Eklund thinking if he for a minute thinks we believe he has a source telling him what Gauthier is planning. What a joke!!

This morning in Ontario I heard a few different sports talk show commentators talking about the shouting match between Gomez and Randy Ladoucceur Tuesday morning during practice. One of them stated that the Canadiens must do something with Scott Gomez. They felt the Canadiens cannot continue to pay the huge salary with, at this point, very little return. As of today, he's scored one goal in the past year, and last night against the Hurricanes the coach sat him for most of the game and he played very little. Today in practice it appears he was going thru the motions on a drill which drew an immediate angry response from the coaches. So obviously, besides doing almost nothing in regards to scoring, the coaches are not happy with what they're seeing from him. So what options do we have? I like Gomez as a person and it sounds like he is well liked by his teammates. But he simply is not producing anything to justify his huge contract. So as we approach trade deadline I thought it would be a good time to ask, what are our options and what is likely to happen regarding Scott Gomez. Option 1: We keep him, move him around on different lines and use his puck carrying abilities as much as we're able. Option 2: Trade him. But with his huge contract and almost no production, would anyone actually be willing to take that on? I can't imagine at his age and lack of production the last few years anyone would take that on. Option 3: Buy him out. I think the cap hit on a buyout would be something like 4 million this year and 4.5 million next year. In that ballpark anyway. Option 4: Send him to Hamilton to play with the Bulldogs. To be honest, from strictly a business point of view, option 4 seems to be the only viable option. I personally wouldn't like doing that to anyone. And I don't know if we've ever been in a position like this before. Wade Redden was sent down and is still in the minors I think. Sheldon Souray was sent down but now he has made it back and seems to bne doing well. Would making a move like that hurt us in the eyes of potential free agents? It hasn't seemed to hurt the Rangers. I'm curious what others think we should with Scott Gomez. Tell me what you think about this.

I have read two blogs in the last day or two, one written by Kamal Panesar and the other by Louis Moustakas and they are discussing the fact that they believe P.K. Subban is being shopped around. They wrote that TSN 990's Tony Marinaro stated that Subban was indeed being shopped around. Does anyone know if this true, are these good sources or is this just an Eklund type rumour?? I'm not saying it's true, I'm wondering if anyone knows if it's true?

Interesting thought about Roy being our coach or GM [for me he'd have to first be our coach] and the concern about him having a meltdown. I was listening to Doug McLean on a talk show last week and he was talking about a well known person he worked with who had just died. This guy was a GM and McLean absolutely adored this guy but he said this guy had a meltdown in the pressbox every night. McLean said the guy fired him at least 8 times, although it never ended up actually happening. It got to the point where McLean said he asked ahead to be seated at the other end of the press box so as not to have to endure the fits this guy would take every game. He and Jacques Martin were working for the guy, who was the GM of the St. Louis Blues at the time. Who was he?? The Professor, Ron Caron. I would take him, or someone like him, because their whole life is dedicataed to building a winning team. I was actually not too open to having Patrick Roy become part of our team only because of that fire and unpredicability. But when I thought of Ron Caron and his actions and success and how the people around him were intimidated by him but still worked for him and spoke highly of him later, maybe Patrick is what we need?? But I think there are two key incredients he must have. A winning record and a well run, classy organization. If he has both, that might be the best choice.

I don't think Savard and Carbo have close links to the present administration at all. They both moved on because of the current administration. A person who travels with and is close to the team told me Carbo and Gainey no longer speak. I don't know much about Pierre Lacroix any more but that's an interesting thought....another option to throw into the mix. My concern with Patrick Roy is that there may not be any middle ground with him. He may turn out to be terrific or a bombshell that blows up in our face. If it's the latter, it would be too much for this team to handle.

Personally I wouldn't hold it against a GM to try something new. That's part of what is needed in every sport, some creative out of the box thinking.