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Now that it's happened, let's ask for real, who will be our GM?


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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??

Rumours say he wants to one day be a GM but doesn't want to leave clients like Crosby without a good agent. A lot of people in the media think he'd never drop Crosby and company to take a GM gig but I bet if Brisson felt they would be in good hands he would.

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Rumours say he wants to one day be a GM but doesn't want to leave clients like Crosby without a good agent. A lot of people in the media think he'd never drop Crosby and company to take a GM gig but I bet if Brisson felt they would be in good hands he would.

Rumours say he's not interested in the pay cut, and moving from Los Angeles.
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I thought Andea Savard did a great job for us before bob got his hands on this team. There are other good choices that might be just as good or better. BUT NO PIERRE MCGUIRE!!!!! it would be a monster mistake

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It's amazing how some forget how bad of shape the Habs were in both on and off the ice before Gainey took over. Yes, Gainey made some personnel blunders along the way but I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the day he stepped down a couple years ago Montreal was in much, much better shape than the day he had his introductory press conference. It saddens me to see people forgetting this as they drag him through the mud.

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It's amazing how some forget how bad of shape the Habs were in both on and off the ice before Gainey took over. Yes, Gainey made some personnel blunders along the way but I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the day he stepped down a couple years ago Montreal was in much, much better shape than the day he had his introductory press conference. It saddens me to see people forgetting this as they drag him through the mud.

The majority of blame on Gainey comes from two trades: one giving up Ribiero for nothing and the other was getting Gomez and losing McDonaugh for it.

The team Gainey inherited was:

Saku Koivu

Richard Zednik

Jan Bulis

Yanic Perreault

Andrei Markov

Patrice Brisebois

Andreas Dackell

Donald Audette

Oleg Petrov

Craig Rivet

Joe Juneau

Randy McKay

Mike Ribeiro

Chad Kilger

Mariuz Czerkawski

Niklas Sundstrom

Marcel Hossa

Patrick Traverse

Stephane Quintal

Jason Ward

Karl Dykhuis

Francis Boullion

Bill Lindsay

Jose Theodore

Mike Komisarek

Francois Beauchemin

Sylvain Blouin

Gord Dwyer

Mathieu Garon

Jeff Hackett

Ron Hainsey

A few guys might have been traded but yeah... that was the team. Gainey did wonders with the Canadiens.

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It's amazing how some forget how bad of shape the Habs were in both on and off the ice before Gainey took over. Yes, Gainey made some personnel blunders along the way but I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the day he stepped down a couple years ago Montreal was in much, much better shape than the day he had his introductory press conference. It saddens me to see people forgetting this as they drag him through the mud.

Well he did do some good moves and some bad as well i don't think he sucks as a gm. i wish he was our coach again
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Well he did do some good moves and some bad as well i don't think he sucks as a gm. i wish he was our coach again

No, i think Burke has the sucks award sown up. I would like to defend the Gomez trade as just looking bad in hindsight, but i was not fond when it went down, due to giving up Higgins and McDonaugh as well as takig the stupid Sather signing.

But all in all, Habs made playoffs till this year and the youth on team is super; with Eller, hopefully a Mikko Koivu to be and Pacioretty finally going hard to net, Yemelin, Subban, Price etc etc, whomever takes over has some great building blocks.

Heck; even a Pierre McQuire couldnt screw it up that bad could he?

Doug Risebrough? is he bilingual?

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Well he did do some good moves and some bad as well i don't think he sucks as a gm. i wish he was our coach again

After reading your previous post (below) which insinuated that you felt that Savard did great and Bob destroyed it, I find that a little surprising...

I thought Andea Savard did a great job for us before bob got his hands on this team.

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I felt Savard did a good job, notwithstanding that comical Asham trade (which I supported at the time, silly me).

Machine's analysis of Gainey's performance is fair. The Ribeiro and Gomez trades really hurt us, but other than that, he certainly brought order to the team and made us competitive year after year, a highly respected organization around the league. I still believe that the rebuild of 2009 is being unfairly maligned based on a lot of things that went wrong this particular season (plus Gauthier's inability to plug the holes on D). Bob left a team that needed some work but had a lot of ingredients to like. A good (not great) GM on the whole; but he did make those two glaring mistakes and - it must be said - didn't get a whole lot of luck either.

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After reading your previous post (below) which insinuated that you felt that Savard did great and Bob destroyed it, I find that a little surprising...

Well i do think he did a better job then bob did. he was only here three yrs to bob's 7 and started a a very good rebuild for us. If savard had 7 yrs i think we would be in better shape.
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I felt Savard did a good job, notwithstanding that comical Asham trade (which I supported at the time, silly me).

Machine's analysis of Gainey's performance is fair. The Ribeiro and Gomez trades really hurt us, but other than that, he certainly brought order to the team and made us competitive year after year, a highly respected organization around the league. I still believe that the rebuild of 2009 is being unfairly maligned based on a lot of things that went wrong this particular season (plus Gauthier's inability to plug the holes on D). Bob left a team that needed some work but had a lot of ingredients to like. A good (not great) GM on the whole; but he did make those two glaring mistakes and - it must be said - didn't get a whole lot of luck either.

Bob got real lucky with the 5th Overall pick in 2005.

The problem with Bob's Habs has been injury. 05-06 we should have beaten the Hurricanes but Koivu got hurt. 06-07 we were a bubble team and kinda got screwed by the loser point (only team so far in NHL history to miss the playoffs when having more wins than the 8th seed due to less OTL), 07-08 we had no injuries and found ourselves taking the Conference, 08-09 we should have been that team but with a lot more depth but the goalies had consistency issues and it was such an injury plagued season and finally 09-10 was the brand new team and it dealt with injuries but surprised in the post-season.

I think my biggest issue with Andre Savard is he somehow thought Mathieu Garon was going to be a better goalie than Jose Theodore. I looked into the Kovalchuk trade that never happened and the goalie Atlanta wanted was Garon. Savard said no because he thought he was better than Theodore. If he pulled the trigger on that trade he would never been let go as GM two years later. All that said Savard was all about finding misplaced players and putting them on the Canadiens in hopes they'd play better. It was a poor strategy.

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Savard never really had a big budget, though, so that might have played into the 'finding misplaced players' strategy. Pre-lockout, the Habs were in the low $40m for payroll, which was respectable but hardly close to what the top teams like Toronto, Rangers, Philly and Detroit were spending ($60-$80m). But then again, Savard didn't really earn the trust to spend much higher, either, putting decent coin into Brisebois and Audette, and Gainey had to buy out three decently paid players in Audette, Czerkawski and Mackay upon taking over, plus eventually $1m to get out of the Brisebois deal after the lockout.

I don't see BriseBois or Bergevin as being 'safe' choices, really. I guess I differ here. They're young, they're apprenticing, but they are contributing to their organizations in a positive way and cast a wider net in terms of experience than what we're used to seeing out of our GM candidates. They have ideas that are different than the previous generations have had, Bergevin has never played for the Habs and BriseBois is from a strictly business/legal background that went into pro sports (which isn't dissimilar to how Selke, Pollock and Grundman got into the position). Carriere is the more traditional choice here, he'd be the safe guy I think... former player, long time scouting experience, some coaching, a lot of assistant GM positions, etc. He reads like an old school GM.

I also realize that this is the first time in Habs history there has truly been a chance to have an exhausting search for the team's GM position. A. Savard was the closest to a search candidate I can think of, but he was hired immediately upon the job becoming available. Gainey was hired because he was available, no one else was considered. Gauthier inherited the job. Serge Savard retired as a player and got the job. Grundman beat out Bowman, the hire was completely internal, as was Pollock replacing Selke. This is a rare moment in the team's history that they can have the chance to interview several candidates and conduct an exhaustive search.

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I cant believe McGuire is'nt getting suppport!

He has worked with and was personally endorsed by Scotty Bowman who is likely still the greatest hockey mind alive.

He is on the radio daily with TSN 990 and every time I hear him he proves to me that he has in depth knowledge of basically every player in the league as well the young prospects and players outside the league.

Further more listening to him speak make it very clear that he has an impeccable work ethic and dive to win and he knows what it take to get the job done all while bringing professionalism and class to the organization.

I'm sure that if McGuire does not become our GM he will go on to great success with another organization at some point down the road and on top of it all he's bilingual and a Montreal Native!

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Every time I hear McGuire on the radio, the only thing he proves is that he loves trying to convince people how much smarter he is than anyone else in the NHL.  He's got the same flaws today that are highlighted in the old Hartford article. I'm sure if he's the GM it will be an unmitigated disaster and we'll be the laughingstock of the league for a long time. He'll be more of a blowhard than Burke.

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Saskhab makes a good point about Carriere. Just as we would be correct to be frustrated with an inadequate search process or with someone being chosen simply because of his language or popularity, so we should be wary of the idea that no one associated with the outgoing regime must ever be our new GM, even if he is the best qualified. Carriere would be a bad PR choice but quite possibly a good hockey choice.

As for MacGuire, it's not just about his seemingly photographic memory, it's about leading a team. Is he a leader? Would YOU want to work under this guy? Is he the type of boss you'd serve with dedication and loyalty? His only experiences in a leadership role were disasters. He is not a leader of men, he is a guy with an extensive memory, so-so hockey judgement, and a gift for self-promotion. That's a whole other thing.

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If I was a team like Columbus with little luck in anything I'd try McGuire as GM. I mean, what would you have to lose?

However, this is Montreal. Montreal has better standards than Columbus. If it doesn't, move it to Seattle because everything about this team just doesn't ######ing matter then.

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If I was a team like Columbus with little luck in anything I'd try McGuire as GM. I mean, what would you have to lose?

However, this is Montreal. Montreal has better standards than Columbus. If it doesn't, move it to Seattle because everything about this team just doesn't ######ing matter then.

Right. MacGuire's media charisma and big mouth would be a great asset to an expansion team or a struggling team with a low profile in its market. I would certainly give him serious consideration in that context, for PR and business reasons more than hockey reasons. But that logic certainly doesn't apply in Montreal. This team does not need PR, it needs a sure hand on the rudder building toward elite-level on-ice success.

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Further more listening to him speak make it very clear that he has an impeccable work ethic and dive to win and he knows what it take to get the job done all while bringing professionalism and class to the organization.

I'm sure that if McGuire does not become our GM he will go on to great success with another organization at some point down the road and on top of it all he's bilingual and a Montreal Native!

I'm sure McGuire is competitive, but drive to win? The man hasn't been employed by a NHL team since the 1990s, he does not have an unburning desire to win the Stanley Cup. His desire seems to want to be the most knowledgable guy in the room. Why won't he take a job as a head scout, an assistant GM, etc. and try and earn his way to the top? If Scotty Bowman loves him so much, why has he not been employed by Detroit or Chicago?

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I'm sure McGuire is competitive, but drive to win? The man hasn't been employed by a NHL team since the 1990s, he does not have an unburning desire to win the Stanley Cup. His desire seems to want to be the most knowledgable guy in the room. Why won't he take a job as a head scout, an assistant GM, etc. and try and earn his way to the top? If Scotty Bowman loves him so much, why has he not been employed by Detroit or Chicago?

As much as the guy annoys me, I think Mcguire would be a great man for the job. He could finally put all that knowledge he likes to share with everyone to good use! Seriously, though, I think he'd do great, and I'd like to see Damphousse as an assistant, with Timmons as head of scouting, and Savard remaining as a consultant. I think this team would be capable of building a winner, because they would have an in depth knowledge of professional scouting which we have seemed to lack over the last few years, and, even though I'm not a Quebecois, I would love to see a greater emphasis on drafting and developing more French-Canadian talent. I think Savard did a good job of this in the past, and I see nothing wrong with focusing on that aspect. There are no fans in hockey like Montreal fans, my wife and I love it there, and I think it'd be great for all habs fans to have some home grown talent on this team. As for head coach, who knows? Roy is already the popular choice, and by all accounts he has done very well with the Ramparts. After watching Martin and then Cunneyworth behind the bench, I'm ready to see a more emotional, aggresive coach behind the bench. And seriously, the coach needs to speak french in order to deal with the media in Montreal, its just not fair to stick an anglophone in that position. For all of you who think Guy Boucher would be great, well, he has a ton of talent in Tampa, and they are going nowhere this year, so maybe he wouldn't be such a great choice. Perhaps Crawford would be a safer choice than Roy (although I am kind of hoping for Roy, and that he would have enough sense to surround himself with some very experienced assistants). Perhaps guys like Carbanneau (i'm sure thats spelled wrong) or Therian would be choices for assistant? Well, maybe not Therian, he's just as emotional as Roy. Recycling coaches has worked in the past, and sometimes these guys need to fail a few times before perfecting their trade (see Claude Julien)

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The problem with an emphasis on French Canadian talent is that there just isn't as much anymore.

Think about it. Youth hockey in Quebec is at an all time low. You get maybe two actual French Canadian players in the top 60 of a draft anymore. Most get drafted between the fourth and fifth rounds. Not only that but you have to select them over other teams who also have scouts in the area.

Next, you have to select the right Quebecois player. Can't select a Nordiques fan. Can't select an Angelo Esposito. Can't select a guy whose entire dream is to just be a Montreal Canadien because he'll get comfortable and lazy.

Honestly, the team is selecting a good amount of Quebecois players. What the team needs to do better, if anything, is identify good UFA Quebecois players. That's where you get the mature French Canadian players who are ready to commit to the team and commit to winning. But even then there's guys like Vincent Lecavalier who only wants to come to Quebec for endorsements and during the summer vacation and has little to no interest playing in Montreal year round. When it's hard to make a full NHL team of Quebecois players with all of the players in the NHL, the expectation for Montreal to have the majority of them is ridiculous.

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I would leave Serge Savard out of this after the job is done.

Would you trust a man wearing a toupée ? I won't.

+1 LOL

Might as well have McGuire as GM, his head is clean and shiny

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Why in the world would anyone think McGuire should even be considered? He is a TV analyst and that in itself does not make him qualified to be a GM. For a comparison, the Detroit Lions of the NFL took an NFL analyst ( Millen I believe was the name) and made him the GM, the Lions are just now beginning to get themselves out the mess created. Viewing an analyst on TV and liking what he or she may say does not qualify them to actually do the job. There are many more qualified individuals being listed by the members on this board. Montreal can do much better and need to do much better. We shall see.

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Famous McGuire Statements that he now doesn't acknowledge exist.

= The pick of Carey Price was straight off the Reservation.

- The Canadiens made a big mistake passing up on Alexei Cheraponov and Angelo Esposito to draft Ryan McDonagh.

- Max Pacioretty will be a great third liner in the NHL, he reminds me of Mike McPhee.

- Lars Eller will never be a goal scorer in the NHL.  I'll be shocked if he ever scores 20 goals in his career.  (16 as a 22 year old with very little PP time).

- Jaroslav Halak is a better goalie than Carey Price.

- If I was named GM of an NHL team, Mike Milbury would be in my top 3 coaching candidates. (said in the last 2 months)

- If I was named GM of the Montreal Canadiens, I'd do everything possible to trade for Vincent Lecavalier. (said in the last 2 months)

- The Chicago Blackhawks have 2 elite centres in Jonathan Toews and Dave Bolland.  Montreal doesn't have anyone in their league.  Tomas Plekanec doesn't stack up to Dave Bolland.

- Dmitri Orlov will be the next Sergei Zubov, he's gonna be that good.

- On Steven Valiquette: "A guy that can make big-time stops at the right time..."

- Luke Schenn is the human eraser. He's the next Adam Foote.

- Dion Phaneuf will win a lot of Norris Trophies in the NHL

- Justin Pogge is the future of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He'll sure as hell remind you though every time he was ever right about something when he goes on the radio. Never acknowledging when he's been dead wrong. I file it under "Throw enough shit at the wall, some of it is bound to stick."

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