I’ve been doing this job for 53 years. And even during my years teaching Latin and Greek, I never found out.
Never known, lived or suffered reconstruction of the Canadian. This is the first time in my life that the Glorious have to go through the crazy adventure of rebuilding.
If all goes well, it will take three or four years. When things get complicated, as in Detroit, Philadelphia, Long Island, Edmonton, or Toronto, rebuilding can take forever. In hockey, eternity is seven or eight years.
Worse still, what is being rebuilt is no better than before.
Do this reconstruction, it fascinates me, it fascinates me, and I hope it will result in a team that is a little reminiscent of the great dynasties of the time that we were building rather than rebuilding.
IT WAS MORE THAN TIME
In fact, it was more than enough time for Geoff Molson to take the bull by the horns and come up with the famous slogan: stop being bad at roars, start over.
In the morning I speak to FX Bénard, the producer and researcher of the morning show at BPM Sports. FX is 25 years old. He has never experienced a Stanley Cup in Montreal. In fact, I could talk to Greg Lanctôt, animator and producer, and he’d tell me his only memory from 1993 is being bullied on the school bus because he thought he was the king. He was seven years old.
All Quebecers under the age of 35 do not know what the true meaning of the word dynasty is.
And Serge Savard, Larry Robinson, Yvan Cournoyer and Co. age. It could be good for the Canadians to become a great team again before they die.
AN EXTENSIVE OPERATION
This is the challenge created by Geoff Molson. “Without the will of Geoff Molson, no reconstruction would have been possible. As the English expression means “tone at the top”. So the tone is set at the top,” emphasizes France Margaret Bélanger, President of Groupe CH.
And she adds that a rebuild like the Canadian is experiencing is a massive operation that involves much more than the hockey department in the adventure.
“Communication, advertising and marketing had to be adapted to the reality of reconstruction. Veterans like Brendan Gallagher are no longer in the limelight, but youngsters like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield or Kaiden Guhle. And our dealings with the supporters go in this direction with all decisions. It should be noted that Martin St-Louis, with his way of working and communicating, is a great help in this journey through reconstruction,” she says.
In fact, these are elements that you are already experiencing. All under 40 have only short glorious stints in 29 years. An unlikely Stanley Cup final during a pandemic year and an aces or two when Jaroslav Halak or José Théodore stole the show. But nothing that can remind what a dynasty is.
Geoff Molson and France Margaret Bélanger perfectly understood that this younger clientele had not experienced great fame. That it was now or never to sell “sought” lean years. To convince those 40 and under that while they’re losers, they might as well promise glory at the end of the tunnel. The others, those who saw Lafleur, Shutt, Damphousse, Carbo or Patrick Roy would still pay for the high-priced tickets.
And it works. At present.
GAME OF MONOPOLY
All of this can be controlled by competent leaders. The rest is largely made up of Monopoly.
Because of the salary cap, everyone has a little over $80 million to spend. Depending on the enormous taxes in Quebec, the cost of living and the quality of the social environment, the 32 general managers have to use these 80 million dollars to build their team.
When Geoff Molson fired Marc Bergevin after the carnage of recent years, he challenged his successors to outperform the competition with a hand weighed down by the insane contracts of Shea Weber, Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher.
Geoff Molson’s incredibly daring bet is to convince himself that Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes are more brilliant than Julien BriseBois in Tampa Bay, or Steve Yzerman in Detroit, or Lou Lamoriello in Long Island, or even Ron Francis in Seattle. Go to the list of directors and you will find that celery stalks are rare.
As for the big hockey decisions in Montreal, I think it’s the one with the headline and automatic access to the boss, so it has to be Jeff Gorton. He seems to have done well with Rangers, which is reassuring.
AND REVIEW?
The fans know painfully, the performance at the Canadian, Trevor Timmins’ reservation, killed the soul of this organization.
The killer question is simple. Are you convinced that Montreal’s Boy Scout leaders are better than those in Florida, Ottawa or Tampa Bay? And are you sure we’re listening to the voice of simple scouting hacks like Donald Audette, Simon Boisvert and Co.?
Returned to the big table of Canadians on the day of the Repechage, who rolls the dice to hope to get their hands on Park Avenue or the electric company map? Who goes to Go? Does Donald Audette have as much influence as Ontario Boy Scout Matt Turek?
Among the doctors, the eight English-speaking doctors must all be very good. But there was a time when Doc Kennear and Doc Clement won the cup while smoking a good cigar.
And Martin Lapointe, responsible for player development, should be better than his against the Maple Leafs or the Wild. That’s monopoly. You must have the starting $1,500, your token, and the dice in your favor. Worse after you’re better than the others at the table.
This is my first reconstruction in my life. There aren’t many certainties in life, but this will be my last.
You don’t repeat an adventure like this every ten years.
