Gainey Article in Dallas Paper...

[Spider-Man NL]

Good article about Gainey from the Dallas hockey writer....

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Gainey gets his second wind

Former Stars GM took needed break before moving on to Montreal

Wednesday, December 31, 2003

MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News

Bob Gainey admits that when he stepped down from his job as general manager of the Stars, he was "tired."

The man who spent a year in France to "recharge his batteries" after his NHL career ended in 1988 said he needed another break. So Gainey took a year as Stars consultant and traveled the world. He cleared his brain, worked with minor leaguers, did some scouting and basically gained a new hunger for the game.

"It was needed," he said. "And then it was time to get back to work."

Gainey has his sleeves rolled up again and is working feverishly as GM of the Montreal Canadiens. You wouldn't tell it, of course, because he rarely changes his exterior demeanor. But as the stone-faced legend likes to say, he's like a duck on the water – "calm on the surface, but paddling like heck underneath."

"Knowing a guy like Bob who doesn't panic makes you more confident as a player," said Montreal goalie Jose Theodore, who received Gainey's support when family members were indicted on racketeering charges in the summer. "He brings consistency. He does what's best for the team, and you count on that."

Gainey may have made his biggest statement in October, when he addressed the boo birds who had been riding defenseman Patrice Briesbois for more than a season.

"We don't need those fans. We don't want those fans," Gainey told a media gathering at the time. "My message to those fans is to stay home. They're not good fans, they're yellow fans."

The statement was a huge risk in Montreal, where rabid fans can turn on just about anyone, but it also united a team that needed some solidarity against both the grousing fans and media.

When asked how many other people in Montreal could have gotten away with that, veteran Joe Juneau responded: "It's not how many people could get away with it, it's how many people would have even thought to do it."

Gainey is a reserved man, but when he does speak emotionally, it comes from the heart. Those close to him say he's a person first before he's a GM.

"That might have been the most important thing I learned from Bob," said Stars GM Doug Armstrong, who worked with Gainey for 12 years. "He sees the players as people with lives, with wives and kids and things that are intertwined. He understood that as well as anybody, and I think the players sensed that in him."

Former Stars winger Brett Hull agreed.

"He's more than just a great hockey guy, he's a great human being," Hull said. "The time I had there was fantastic, and a lot of that was because of him."

In his short time with the Canadiens, players and coaches there feel the same way.

"We're solidified by a man like him," said coach Claude Julien. "We're one. We're together in all this. That's the feeling he gives you."

Juneau said the calm and confidence of Gainey has covered the organization like a warm blanket.

"I feel it, and I'm 36 years old, so it's got to mean even more to a kid that's 20," Juneau said. "We have a lot of young guys right now, so the timing of Bob Gainey joining the team is tremendous."

Gainey didn't plan it that way, but he did plan for his own well-being by taking that year off and finding just the right project. By doing that, he established a base for everything else.

"I'm most happy for Bob because he's rejuvenated," Armstrong said. "He's in a great environment in Montreal and he's building something, which he loves to do. I think it's worked out great for him."

[habitual_hab]

awesome post. thanks.

Lawyer and amateur athlete Bill McMurtry on Gainey:

Montreal destroyed Toronto in a semi-final many years ago and the determining factor of that series was Bob Gainey, in the hardest body check I saw all season, flatten Tiger Williams. Well, the series was over. Williams tried on five or six occasions to provoke a fight with Gainey and he just turned and skated away. But he was always there when it mattered and he showed more courage than any goon I've ever seen in hockey. And more skill. And that's what it should be about.

Gainey was pure class as a player and has taken that classy demeanor with him into management. As a Habs fan I was thrilled when the proven hockey mind of Andre Savard came on board. When Savard moved aside for Gainey I was ecstatic. But I think that's something we should all remember -- Savard's selflessness for the future good of the Canadiens' organization deserves accolades also.

[Edited on 2004/1/2 by habitual_hab]