As a diehard Habs fan, the last 17 years have been really difficult to deal with. From the time Ronald Corey, former president of the Montreal Canadiens, fired then general manager Serge Savard and Jacques Demers, our last Stanley Cup winning coach, this organization had been in a tail spin. Inexperience has been the biggest deterrent to any success in this organization, and it’s about time someone was held accountable.
It began with the hiring of the ultimate beer salesman, Rejean Houle, and his buddy, Mario Tremblay. Corey hired Tremblay strictly on the premise that he “talked” a good game as an analyst for Radio-Canada’s “La Soiree du Hockey.” In the meantime, Houle was expected to run the NHL’s most stored franchise. That inexperience showed when Patrick Roy told Corey that he was done as a Hab on December 2nd, 1995. Tremblay’s swelled head kept Roy in goal for 9 tallies against the Detroit Red Wings, and ended the love affair between Montreal and “St. Patrick.”
The subsequent trade of Roy and Mike Keene to Colorado for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko, just a mere four days after the incident, was the next step in the organization’s downfall. While Roy has always been the focal point of the trade, the fact that Keane, the Canadiens’ captain at the time, was sent packing as well had just as much impact. I’m not comparing Roy and his Hall of Fame accomplishments to Keane at all, but Keane was a huge part of the glue that held the Canadiens together. His lunch pail work ethic was an inspiration to many in the Canadiens’ locker room for a diminutive 3rd or 4th line player. Consequently, for the next 3 seasons, the Habs missed the playoffs.
The future looked a little bit better in 2000, when Rejean Houle was relieved of his duties as Habs’ GM and replaced by Andre Savard. Savard, who had worked as both an assistant coach in the NHL and a professional scout, had the pedigree needed to rebuild the Canadiens into contenders. While he could never get out of the shadow of the Patrick Roy trade, he did a wonderful job in rebuilding Montreal’s draft record. Unfortunately, that one element was the reason the Blue Blanc Rouge had to move in another direction.
To move the franchise away from the tumultuous ripple effect of arguably the worst trade in Canadiens’ history, Pierre Boivin, the newly anointed president of “Les Glorieux” hired Bob Gainey to take the reins from Savard, who remained as assistant GM. Gainey, a Stanley Cup winning player in Montreal and a Cup winning executive with the Dallas Stars, brought credibility back to the Canadiens’ front office. Gainey was given carte blanche to do as he pleased with the team in order to get it back on track.
The biggest mistake Gainey made wasn’t amongst the roster players, but in the front office itself. He surrounded himself with old friends and acquaintances, turning the Habs’ front office into his own boys’ club. Gainey hired Pierre Gauthier as his Director of Professional Scouting. When Andre Savard eventually left his post of assistant GM, Gauthier was given the position. From that moment, the Canadiens’ professional scouting department began to dwindle. Gone were the days of scouts actually attending games. Instead, Gauthier thought it prudent (and financially beneficial) to have players scouted on video. While the idea bears merit, unless you have one-on-one cameras on every player you cannot see everything a particular player is doing on the ice.
Gainey, who’s philosophy was to draft well but also to maintain a strong veteran presence on his teams, allowed Gauthier to scout the players he thought would bring the Canadiens back to their former glory. The problem, however, was the prospects that the Habs were drafting payed the price, traded away so the Habs could reel in Gainey’s prized veterans. That practice alone has caused the Canadiens’ current situation.
After the turmoil that surrounded Bob Gainey’s personal life, he decided to step away from the bright lights of being the general manager. Pierre Boivin, with his last act as Canadiens’ president, named Pierre Gauthier his successor. Gauthier continued to toe the Gainey line, but acquiring veterans via trade, in order to fill spaces left by injuries, while giving up substantial draft picks in the process. Given the job Trevor Timmons and the amateur scouts have done in drafting players, it was an ill-advised strategy that has hurt the Canadiens. The rest, as we say, is history.
The problem with the Canadiens has been close to 2 decades in the making. The wrong people were let go, and, what’s even worse, the wrong people were trusted to move this team forward. Maybe their intentions were in the best interest of the organization, but far too many mistakes were made. With more patience, and a little less bad luck from the injury bug, the Habs wouldn’t be anywhere near this bad.
Making moves isn’t what defines an NHL executive. His ability to understand his wards and develop the assets the organization has drafted requires patience. What’s worst of all, the lack of patience to watch their minor leaguers grow has sent this once glorious franchise into a freefall that may take another “rebuild” to get out of.
Screw the boys’ club, Geoff. It’s time to get to business, assuming you know how.
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