Making Sense of the Montreal Canadiens

Making Sense of Les Canadiens

Concerning, laughable, retarded, these are just a few of the “Accolades” Montreal Canadiens' general manager Bob Gainey received after he went on a free agent spending spree.

The 2008-09 NHL season was supposed to be a great celebration for Canadiens fans. You see, 2008-09 marked the 100th anniversary of the NHL’s most celebrated franchise, a franchise deep in history and a winning tradition that is unparalleled.

Sadly, outside of a few Canadiens players being elected to the All-Star game, albeit through ballot stuffing, the season ended with the Montreal Canadiens mired in controversy, distrust, and, for the most part, total failure.

The All-Star game aside, Canadiens players didn't make their fans proud last season.

In February, three players were suspected of being linked to a mob figure. According to the reports, brothers Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn and veteran defenseman Roman Hamrlik were sighted frequently with Pasquale Mangiola, who was allegedly connected with organized crime in the Montreal area.

The report sent shock waves throughout la Belle Province and caused many to ask, what was going on? Prior to the reports, GM Gainey traded for veteran defenseman Mathieu Schneider, sent Sergei Kostitsyn down to the AHL, and left the inconsistent star forward Alexei Kovalev home for Montreal's road trip.

Questioning whether or not his team was “Emotionally engaged”, Gainey threw the first stone and it landed square in the face of head coach Guy Carbonneau. Carbonneau, who was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award last year, was fired.

In the hopes of turning around the Canadiens in the final 35 games, Gainey decided it would be best for him to assume the head coaching duties. Gainey accomplished this feat, but in the end it was all for not.

The Canadiens managed to sneak into the playoffs, but were no match for the mighty Boston Bruins, who dispatched of the frazzled Canadiens in four-straight games.

Starting goaltender Carey Price, who was the poster boy for les Canadiens the year before, sank so low that the fans unmercifully booed the youngster at every opportunity, leading Price to give the hometown fans the "Patrick Roy Salute".

Clearly, the Canadiens had hit rock bottom.

The offseason brought about an unprecedented amount of debate as to what Gainey would do.

First up, find a new head coach.

On June 1, Gainey made the curious move of stealing Francophone Jaques Martin away from the Florida Panthers to coach the Canadiens. In Martin, Gainey got himself a coach that is regarded as a no nonsense task master, who is capable of handling the tough Montreal media.

Only time will tell whether or not the hiring of Martin was a good one.

For the most part, the fans liked the move, but, at the same time, many questioned if Martin was the best man for the job. Rumblings suggested a big factor in Martin’s hiring was his ability to speak French, but that is hardly out of the ordinary when we are talking about les Canadiens, is it?

Moving on...back to the players...many believed Gainey should dismiss the likes of Price and the Kositsyn brothers, others called for Gainey’s head on a platter. In the end, Gainey would put in motion what could only be called a total rebuild.

To the surprise and protest of many fans, Gainey announced that he intended to let star forward Kovalev leave via free agency. Gainey also let it be known that he did not intend on resigning popular hometown forward Alex Tanguay, defenseman Mike Komisarek, forward Robert Lang, longtime captain Saku Koivu, and others.

Instead, Gainey brought in a bevy of “New Blood”. Clearly, Gainey had had enough of the old regime and had taken it upon himself to bring in players he felt would keep their noses clean and perform at a higher level.

So, with his pockets stuffed to the brim with “Dead Presidents”, Gainey made several key acquisitions.

Defenseman Hal Gill was brought in from the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, power play specialist Mike Cammalleri was signed away from the Calgary Flames, Scott Gomez was acquired via trade for up and coming forward Chris Higgins and others, speedster Brian Gionta was signed away from the New Jersey Devils, Paul Mara was signed away from the New York Rangers, Jaroslav Spacek was signed away from the Buffalo Sabres, and Travis Moen was signed away from the San Jose Sharks.

Of Montreal’s free agents, only Tomas Plekanec, Guillaume Latendresse and Kyle Chipchura were resigned. What was left, was a skeleton of the 2008-09 roster, and deservedly so.

Hockey experts have had time to analyze the departures and acquisitions made by Gainey and his staff. For the most part, many believe the Canadiens did not place enough emphasis on size and see the acquisitions as being too small.

Factor in the high price Gainey paid to his trifecta of forwards and you have a ton of Canadiens fans that are in a state of discontent. The question is, is it warranted?

Gainey will suggest that his club needed a change and felt the acquisition of speed would serve him well going forward. At first glance it would seem as if Gainey put too much emphasis on speed, but when looked at closely, you can see Gainey actually got bigger on the back end, which should off-set his (for the lack of a better word) shortcomings!

At 6'7" and 250 pounds, Gill is an imposing defenseman, Mara weighs in at 215 pounds and stands 6'4" and forward Moen rounds out the undersized forwards with his rugged 6'2", 215 pound frame.

Complicating matters further, Gainey had to deal with a change of ownership.

On June, 20, it was confirmed that the Molson Brothers had purchased George Gillett Jr.' 81.1 percent stake of the Montreal Canadiens.

The sale would do little to distract Gainey from his mandate. What was done, had been done, there was no turning back at this point. The Molson family would have to live with Gainey’s decisions.

When everything is said and done, I believe Gainey had to roll the dice. I don’t agree with all of his moves, then again, does anybody ever endorse an NHL GM entirely?

Canadiens fans should see a concerted effort towards making the playoffs and a lot less  drama on and off the ice. Hopefully goaltender Price can regain his form and earn the forgiveness of the fans. After all, he was an All-Star, as voted by Montreal’s faithful, and there is little doubt that, while a little hot-headed at times, he is talented.

In the end, the GM’s job is to win games and put forth a product his community can be proud of. With a little hard work and a little luck, Gainey should accomplish that.