Canadiens Get A GM

And he even speaks French!

Montreal has signed Marc Bergevin, the former assistant GM in Chicago to a 5-year deal, to be the team's general manager.

A veteran of 19 NHL seasons split between Chicago, New York Islanders, Hartford, Tampa Bay, Detroit, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Vancouver becomes the 16th general manager in the club's history.

Habs fans hope he brings a little something different to the team than what he provided in his playing days. Back in 2000 when he was playing with the Blues, Bergevin had one of the most embarrassing own goals:

Luckily, his abilities in the front office have been proven to be better than that. He has worked as the assistant GM in Chigaco as well as in the scouting department. He has a vast knowledge of players all over the world and will help the Canadiens at the draft.

The 46-year old is a native Montrealer and is fluent in both English and French, which always seems to be a requirement for the Canadiens.

Based on his opening press conference, the communication with the media will be in stark contrast to that of former-GM Pierre Gauthier. While Gauthier kept information secretive and was not very articulate with the media, Bergevin will have much better press conferences and will communicate clearly with the media.

Serge Savard had been an active part of the process of picking the GM, and now that Bergevin has been hired, it is likely that his role with the team will be diminished and he will not have a big impact on team decisions from this point forward.

Could St. Patrick be behind the Habs bench
come next season?

Bergevin has got a lot of decisions to make.
His first job will be to find a new coach. In his press conference Bergevin said that Randy Cunneyworth will not be back as head coach next season, though he will be an assistant coach, but the new head coach will have final word on his assistants. Names like Marc Crawford, Mike Keenan, Bob Hartley, and of course Patrick Roy and others have been thrown around as possible coaching candidates. Bergevin will sort through the candidates and pick the best one that he feels fits the team.

After he sorts out the coaching problems, signing a couple of big restricted free agents will be top priority. P.K. Subban and Carey Price are both RFA's this off-season and they are both due big raises from their $875,000 (Subban) and $2.75 million (Price) salaries. Subban has become a top defenseman on the team and Price is the all-star in net that the team has to build around. Look for both to get big deals this off-season.

Canadiens' fans want Gomez out!

Then there is always the Scott Gomez situation. 3 more years at $7.357 million for a player whose production has been nowhere near what is was when he signed the contract. (Well that's a huge understatement, he scored 2 goals and 11 points this year, as opposed to the 16 goals and 70 pointsh e put up when he signed the contract). The Habs may wait until the new CBA which may have a new rule that will allow teams to not lose salary cap space for years after a buyout. So this may not be high priority, but Habs fans want this dealt with, and soon.

This is a great move for the Habs, acquiring a great hockey mind who will be more open with the media, speaks French, and has experience on a winning team (the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks). And he also isn't Pierre McGuire. So, that's a plus.

He's not McGuire. What a plus!

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