Marc Bergevin Press Conference 1 PM

[417]

Caufield was sent back to the NCAA for an additional year after being drafted though.

2 more years actually…they sent him back not because he wasn’t ready, he could have easily played last year, but because they (coaching staff) weren’t ready for him.

There was no point having him in Montreal to play on a 4th line at 8 mins a game.

They graduated him when they had a role for him to play.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Oooh @Runner77 is back from his hiatus. Welcome back!

Though I have to ask, was your absence a result of a promise you made to your wife for your vaycay?

 

[BenchBrawl]

For players development, few are mentioning it but Tomas Plekanec was a model of player development for a center (at least, for a center that isn't some gigantic superstar). Yeah, some like Suzuki can hit the ground running, but as soon as it,s clear the player isn't going to be that, just use the Plekanec model.

Plekanec spent three years in Hamilton. Then he came to Montreal and it took three years for him to become the #1 center between Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Kovalev (though it was more of a 1A/1B arrangement with Saku Koivu). But in almost every year, Plekanec was progressing through the lineup (and probably in Hamilton too). But he also benefitted from not being a 1st rounder; easier to work on yoruself in the minors when you're an obscure 3rd rounder progressing slowly but surely.

Hopefully Ryan Poehling will benefit from last season and be more assertive in his play.

 

[Not The One]

Lol... must be nice to believe these kinds of fantasies, I'll certainly agree to that!

What fantasy, did we not beat three of the supposed stronger teams in the playoffs or have I just been dreaming for a few months.

 

[Essenege]

Seems that Bergevin think it was a mistake to make him join the team that soon...lollllll.

You know...PROS know best after all.

Well, pros…and HFboards posters…will all make plenty of bad calls. I was pretty impressed with Bergy admitting his mistakes. It’s a pretty important quality as a GM actually, accept it was a mistake, cut your losses, move on.

 

[Archijerej]

Even if KK bust out, not matching was the best decision we could have made. No way we can risk future contracts to Suzuki, Caufield, Romanov and maybe Evans depending on what kind of year they have.

I agree. This was my position right from the beginning.

Now, a different question is how did it come to this? This has to be evaluated and rectified, or it will remain a major handicap for this organisation.

 

[BLONG7]

Oooh @Runner77 is back from his hiatus. Welcome back!

Though I have to ask, was your absence a result of a promise you made to your wife for your vaycay?

This board, is a better place with Runner77 around!!

 

[ole ole]

I'm out. That's the last straw for me. 3 year extension after forfeiting a #3 overall pick. What a joke of an organization. Drafted a sex offender, lose 2 centers and put our franchise player on an expansion list to protect Jake "Choke City" Allen...

Congrats Geoff, you've finally managed to make this team as awful as your beer

C-YA.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Suzuki will never be Crosby but there’s a very good chance he’ll be Patrice Bergeron.

Exactly, or some type of Toews or Brind'Amour-like center. The kind you need to go deep in the playoffs. This is why his acquisition is underrated to this day, even as everybody is in agreement he is a stud. Having Suzuki in our ranks is not trivial and was NOT a given.

 

[Whitesnake]

I guess we will see Caufield spend next 2 years in Laval eh?

I guess Caufield is just 3 years older than JK. And i also guess that if Caufield would have spend 1 year in the AHL, it woud not have hurt him too.

 

[BLONG7]

Well, pros…and HFboards posters…will all make plenty of bad calls. I was pretty impressed with Bergy admitting his mistakes. It’s a pretty important quality as a GM actually, accept it was a mistake, cut your losses, move on.

Took Bergy a long time to cut the arrogance behavior...

 

[Whitesnake]

Pro's normally do know best....they just don't know everything.

Reason why there are pros that are fired every year because they know so much more. Nah, pros don't know best. What pros do know...is WHO to know. Not WHAT.

 

[Whitesnake]

Bergevin using Jake Evans as a comparison to prove how we don't f*** up development is just mindboggling and should put a lot of question marks in the heads of big Bergie defenders. I know it won't. But it should. Jake f***ing Evans saw the NHL at 23 year old. Dumbass.

 

[Miller Time]

Took Bergy a long time to cut the arrogance behavior...

Lol, indeed

For our sake, let's hope it's sincere and not just him finally taking some advice from the Habs PR team

 

[Essenege]

Took Bergy a long time to cut the arrogance behavior...

He was quick all along his tenure to cut losses. Galchenyuk & Domi are the brightest example. Traded them before an additional drop in value and salvaged the asset (ultimately Anderson). We’ll see if it holds true with KK, although I think ultimately it will be viewed as a mistake.

 

[WinterLion]

Arpon asked MB if having KK in the NHL at 18 could serve as a lesson for future prospects, bringing up examples of Suzuki going back to Junior for a year and Caufield who went back to college. MB said yes, it is something they can learn moving forward. He said he's not perfect and they may not always make the right decision, but that they always do it with the best intentions.

It's so easy to look back and second guess. Good for him for looking at it this way and I don't doubt what he said.

 

[Whitesnake]

Well, pros…and HFboards posters…will all make plenty of bad calls. I was pretty impressed with Bergy admitting his mistakes. It’s a pretty important quality as a GM actually, accept it was a mistake, cut your losses, move on.

Difference is that some posters seem to want MORE accountability from posters than the actual management. It's really really funny.

 

[Whitesnake]

It's so easy to look back and second guess. Good for him for looking at it this way and I don't doubt what he said.

How do you evaluate somebody's job if you never look back? Geez...why is this the only work environment that shouldn't work that way?

 

[WinterLion]

Can somebody post a link to MB's presser? Sorry if it's been done already.

 

[Essenege]

Difference is that some posters seem to want MORE accountability from posters than the actual management. It's really really funny.

Do you think Bergy deserves some accountability for a cup finals? Or is it only allowed to acknowledge the negatives?

 

[Miller Time]

Reason why there are pros that are fired every year because they know so much more. Nah, pros don't know best. What pros do know...is WHO to know. Not WHAT.

This... at least for the mediocre bunch.

The top pros are that precisely because they are good at what they do, but for the rest? Being good at CYA & spin, and having the right contacts, is what keeps them in the game.

 

[le_sean]

MB mentioned there are things that sending KK back to Finland at 18 wouldn’t have fixed. I wonder what he was alluding to. Likely his skating? Maybe stop drafting bad skaters.

 

[Walrus26]

Congrats Geoff, you've finally managed to make this team as awful as your beer

No, not even close. You can't call any of that crap beer with a straight face.

 

[HostileCapSpace]

Can somebody post a link to MB's presser? Sorry if it's been done already.

 

[BLONG7]

He was quick all along his tenure to cut losses. Galchenyuk & Domi are the brightest example. Traded them before an additional drop in value and salvaged the asset (ultimately Anderson). We’ll see if it holds true with KK, although I think ultimately it will be viewed as a mistake.

All along? Ya, no not really, as a soft perimeter player in JD preps for his 5th season with the habs.....this is without a doubt the biggest blunder, and still is.......