News Article: Geoff Molson re-affirms confidence in Marc Bergevin, will not hire a president of hockey operations

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

When MB is eventually canned or leaves...a lot of people are going to lose their whole purpose for posting here.

They will just transfer their hate onto someone else. The hate speech toward Bergevin skyrocketed after he fired Therrien.

 

[Captain Mountain]

They will just transfer their hate onto someone else. The hate speech toward Bergevin skyrocketed after he fired Therrien.

Maybe, but optimism lasts for a long time. Bergevin was a "wizard" on here from 2012 to 2015 despite the fact that, with the benefit of hindsight, he didn't really do that great a job in that time frame. Its all about expectations and vision.

 

[417]

Maybe, but optimism lasts for a long time. Bergevin was a "wizard" on here from 2012 to 2015 despite the fact that, with the benefit of hindsight, he didn't really do that great a job in that time frame. Its all about expectations and vision.

Meh...I think the tide starting turning on MB after the Subban bridge deal.

Which is basically the start of his tenure here lol.

I'm sure whoever replaces him will have a grace period, probably just as short.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Meh...I think the tide starting turning on MB after the Subban bridge deal.

Which is basically the start of his tenure here lol.

I'm sure whoever replaces him will have a grace period, probably just as short.

Nah, it was still largely positive. People were still riding high on the Pacioretty, Price and Gallagher contracts, the cheap deadline rentals, moving contracts like Cole's off the books and optimism about the prospect pool. There are always people that raise a stink about every decision they don't agree, but it wasn't until the 2015-2016 season that the tide really turned against him.

 

[JuJu Mobb]

We've entered an eternal loop of Molson re-affirming confidence in Bergevin.

 

[417]

Nah, it was still largely positive. People were still riding high on the Pacioretty, Price and Gallagher contracts, the cheap deadline rentals, moving contracts like Cole's off the books and optimism about the prospect pool. There are always people that raise a stink about every decision they don't agree, but it wasn't until the 2015-2016 season that the tide really turned against him.

I guess it's all perception - but I think you forget how nasty things got during that negotiation.

The Subbanista's were out in full force then.

 

[LaP]

When MB is eventually canned or leaves...a lot of people are going to lose their whole purpose for posting here.

Don't think so. I'm one of the most vocal against MB but i was also vocal for him when he was hired and the team was winning and exciting to watch.

 

[Tyson]

The way he handled Radulov and Markov was horrible

 

[LaP]

I guess it's all perception - but I think you forget how nasty things got during that negotiation.

The Subbanista's were out in full force then.

And they were right. It would have been much better to sign Subban 5x6-7 or 6x6-7 than giving him a bridge contract and then having to sign him for a ridiculous contract. We all could see the skills there was not much risk at giving him between 6 and 7 millions for a couple of years. Note that very few people complained about Suzuki's contract so far for the same reason people complained about not doing the same with Subban.

But the criticism against how he handled Subban negotiation were very targeted. Very few at that point were criticizing MB as a whole only for the way he handled this negotiation. I remember only a few maybe dozen back then were very vocal against MB saying the team was 100% Price and back then i was defending MB and the team and i must admit i was wrong all along.

 

[abo9]

Nah, it was still largely positive. People were still riding high on the Pacioretty, Price and Gallagher contracts, the cheap deadline rentals, moving contracts like Cole's off the books and optimism about the prospect pool. There are always people that raise a stink about every decision they don't agree, but it wasn't until the 2015-2016 season that the tide really turned against him.

After he ran Radulov and Markov out of town, I think that was the nail in he coffin for a lot, including myself.

 

[Captain Mountain]

I guess it's all perception - but I think you forget how nasty things got during that negotiation.

The Subbanista's were out in full force then.

I would have been called a "Subbanista" back then. I think you're probably thinking of the long term deal and not the bridge. The conversation around the bridge deal was not nasty at all relative to any fanbase on here. The 2014 contract was a little more heated, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the 2015-2016 season heat. Prior to that Therrien got most of the heat.

 

[BLONG7]

The way he handled Radulov and Markov was horrible

The Legend was then born..............2017...........It's fallen apart since then!!
The more he did.........the worse it got. The rush to sign Pickle Jar Alzner....
Time for a change was 2017 and still.............here we are.
Silent owner......
Lame Duck GM...
Team playing terrible........
Lost season, 13 games in....
You could not have made this up, when the 2017 descent started....

 

[417]

And they were right. It would have been much better to sign Subban 5x6-7 or 6x6-7 than giving him a bridge contract and then having to sign him for a ridiculous contract. We all could see the skills there was not much risk at giving him between 6 and 7 millions for a couple of years. Note that very few people complained about Suzuki's contract so far for the same reason people complained about not doing the same with Subban.

Debatable and I really don't want to get into that again...at the end of the day, he barely played out the contract he's currently on. So it changed nothing.

But the criticism against how he handled Subban negotiation were very targeted. Very few at that point were criticizing MB as a whole only for the way he handled this negotiation. I remember only a few maybe dozen back then were very vocal against MB saying the team was 100% Price and back then i was defending MB and the team and i must admit i was wrong all along.

Like I said...question of perception I suppose.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

Montreal Canadiens won't hire a general manager that isn't bilingual.

We really missed the boat not firing Bergevin after the disastrous 2016 season and hiring Julien Brisebois instead.

It was the rare convergence of the best man for the job also being French.

Bergevin and Brisebois are the only two French GMs today and there hasn't been a French GM before them since we had Gauthier in 2012.

If we saddle ourselves with requiring a French GM we're really hamstringing ourselves, even moreso by doing that with our coach.

 

[417]

I would have been called a "Subbanista" back then. I think you're probably thinking of the long term deal and not the bridge.

No I was referring specifically to the bridge deal - that's when then honeymoon ended IMO and again, it's funny because he hadn't actually begun his tenure since we were in a lockout.

The conversation around the bridge deal was not nasty at all relative to any fanbase on here. The 2014 contract was a little more heated, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the 2015-2016 season heat. Prior to that Therrien got most of the heat.

I have a different recollection of events but fair enough.

 

[montreal]

I still have a hard time believing this team will do a full rebuild and that MB won't be back, though the longer it goes without hearing anything about the contract talk between Molson/MB maybe he won't be back. With the team struggling so bad maybe that will change Molson's mind as well. Or are they waiting for Price, Edmundson, Byron and Perreault to get back and hope that the team plays a lot better?

The reason why I don't believe Molson would want to admit to a rebuild is how f***ing stupid he will look. So 2 years ago he sends out a letter saying it could take up to 7 years for the rebuild and then the next year he says the rebuild is over and now the players are saying not so fast. So what's he do say the rebuild is back on again? So it's on, it's off and then on in the span of under 3 years? Wouldn't that point to someone having no clue at how to run this organization and shouldn't be president just because they had enough money to buy the team?

I know most want MB and Timmins gone and think one or both are the main reason we suck but to me it starts with this clown as we need a real hockey president that has experience at running a NHL team not selling shitty beer.

 

[Conflicted Habs fan]

Stay the course!

 

[JoelWarlord]

Debatable and I really don't want to get into that again...at the end of the day, he barely played out the contract he's currently on. So it changed nothing.

It worked out fine in the end (other than the fact that 5 years out from the trade the value of drafting PK Subban in the 2nd round is now evaporated), but I just don't really see it as debatable that a 7x7M deal running from age 23-29 would have been better than the 2 year bridge and subsequent 8 year deal. A 7 year deal turns out to have included his entire prime, and instead the path the Canadiens chose meant they ultimately paid him 28% more money to lock in what turned out to be three years of steep decline.

Even if the eventual outcome was still trading him, I think prime PK Subban signed for three more years at 6.5M or 7M is a much more valuable trade asset than he was in this scenario signed for 6 more years at 9M, and probably opens up more options than making a 1 for 1 deal for another high salary long term deal. Just because things worked out OK in the end signing him to that big deal and trading him for Weber doesn't mean that things couldn't have worked out better had they demonstrated trust in a young top pair dman and paid him like his comparables in Pietrangelo/Doughty.

 

[Habs10025]

We all know they won't.

All I'm saying is that they can, they just choose not to because they are spineless.

Montreal Canadiens reside in a french speaking province speaking the language of the province is a must for management.

 

[LaP]

I still have a hard time believing this team will do a full rebuild and that MB won't be back, though the longer it goes without hearing anything about the contract talk between Molson/MB maybe he won't be back. With the team struggling so bad maybe that will change Molson's mind as well. Or are they waiting for Price, Edmundson, Byron and Perreault to get back and hope that the team plays a lot better?

The reason why I don't believe Molson would want to admit to a rebuild is how f***ing stupid he will look. So 2 years ago he sends out a letter saying it could take up to 7 years for the rebuild and then the next year he says the rebuild is over and now the players are saying not so fast. So what's he do say the rebuild is back on again? So it's on, it's off and then on in the span of under 3 years? Wouldn't that point to someone having no clue at how to run this organization and shouldn't be president just because they had enough money to buy the team?

I know most want MB and Timmins gone and think one or both are the main reason we suck but to me it starts with this clown as we need a real hockey president that has experience at running a NHL team not selling shitty beer.

For now i'm pretty sure they are waiting for Price and Edmundson ti be back and see where it goes.

 

[Habs10025]

We really missed the boat not firing Bergevin after the disastrous 2016 season and hiring Julien Brisebois instead.

It was the rare convergence of the best man for the job also being French.

Bergevin and Brisebois are the only two French GMs today and there hasn't been a French GM before them since we had Gauthier in 2012.

If we saddle ourselves with requiring a French GM we're really hamstringing ourselves, even moreso by doing that with our coach.

If a general manager is not bilingual they are not qualified to be general manager of the Montreal Canadiens .

 

[Tyson]

I still have a hard time believing this team will do a full rebuild and that MB won't be back, though the longer it goes without hearing anything about the contract talk between Molson/MB maybe he won't be back. With the team struggling so bad maybe that will change Molson's mind as well. Or are they waiting for Price, Edmundson, Byron and Perreault to get back and hope that the team plays a lot better?

The reason why I don't believe Molson would want to admit to a rebuild is how f***ing stupid he will look. So 2 years ago he sends out a letter saying it could take up to 7 years for the rebuild and then the next year he says the rebuild is over and now the players are saying not so fast. So what's he do say the rebuild is back on again? So it's on, it's off and then on in the span of under 3 years? Wouldn't that point to someone having no clue at how to run this organization and shouldn't be president just because they had enough money to buy the team?

I know most want MB and Timmins gone and think one or both are the main reason we suck but to me it starts with this clown as we need a real hockey president that has experience at running a NHL team not selling shitty beer.

They simply are not committed to excellence

 

[417]

It absolutely changed things. It was a big unnecessary wedge to drive between the club and a player who was already so good that Jacques Martin trusted him to be an all situations #1 as a rookie, and meant we had to pay him an extra 28% for two seasons within the middle of Price/Pacioretty's primes, and it ultimately was a big factor in eventually trading him. I just don't really see it as debatable that a 7x7M deal running from age 23-29 would have been better than the 2 year bridge and subsequent 8 year deal. A 7 year deal turns out to have included his entire prime, and instead the path the Canadiens chose meant they ultimately paid him 28% more money to lock in what turned out to be three years of steep decline.

I don't think things would have have worked out different if he had signed 7 x 7.

That Subban and Habs marriage was never going to last. In fact, had they caved and signed him to that deal, it might have made things worst.

Even if the eventual outcome was still trading him, I think prime PK Subban signed for three more years at 6.5M or 7M is a much more valuable trade asset than he was in this scenario signed for 6 more years at 9M, and probably opens up more options than making a 1 for 1 deal for another high salary long term deal (which admittedly worked out as well as it possibly could have, but still was probably not the optimal return possible for a prime aged Norris calibre dman). Just because things worked out OK in the end doesn't mean that things couldn't have worked out better.

From a trade asset perspective...sure.

But I just meant, either way, a divorce was inevitable.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Montreal Canadiens reside in a french speaking province speaking the language of the province is a must for management.

It's not a must. It's a privately owned company and the person who owns that company can do whatever the hell they want.

 

[MasterD]

Montreal Canadiens reside in a french speaking province speaking the language of the province is a must for management.

Why? I don't give a **** what language the CEO/GM of Costco speaks! I care what products they're trying to sell me.