Bob Gainey will be part of the committee that will advise the Canadian on the hiring of the next general manager, learned Press.
According to our information, Geoff Molson approached the former captain, head coach and general manager of the Habs, who accepted the mandate.
The Canadian’s new vice-president of hockey operations, Jeff Gorton, revealed on Saturday, in an interview with TVA Sports, that he would set up such a committee.
Gainey, who turns 68 next week, has not had a known NHL job since being named adviser to the St. Louis Blues in 2014. Prior to that, he had held the same title at the Dallas Stars, a term that spanned from 2012 to 2014 according to benchmark site Elite Prospects.
Bilingual
The next GM of the Canadian, let us remember, will have to be able to “communicate with the supporters in French and in English”.
We can guess Gainey sensitive to this criterion, he who learned French during his playing career in Montreal. As DG, he could therefore hold his press briefings in both languages.
Like Savard
In 2012, Geoff Molson enlisted the services of Serge Savard to search for a candidate for the post of CEO left vacant following the dismissal of Pierre Gauthier.
Marc Bergevin was then selected. Savard remained bitter afterwards, however, saying he was never consulted by Bergevin for subsequent decisions.
It is unclear whether Gainey’s current tenure will be limited to hiring a CEO, or whether he will subsequently be retained as an advisor.
The CH therefore turns again to one of its former DGs for this research. Gainey served as the Canadiens’ general manager from June 2003 to February 2010. Under his leadership, the team reached the second round of the playoffs twice, as well as the association finals in the spring of 2010, a few months after his resignation.
The native of Peterborough, Ont., Made two head coach hires during his reign in Montreal: Guy Carbonneau and Jacques Martin. It was he who also fired Carbonneau in 2009, and he was no longer in post when Martin was fired. Also in 2009, he also entrusted the post of head coach of the Canadian school club, then based in Hamilton, to Guy Boucher, for whom it was a first experience among professionals.
Gainey has pulled off a few good shots over the years: the acquisition of Alex Kovalev, the transaction of Craig Rivet (which earned him Josh Gorges and a first-round pick who became Max Pacioretty). On the other hand, he was also the one who traded Mike Ribeiro for Janne Niinimaa, and who completed the trade that sent Ryan McDonagh to Rangers.
Carey Price was drafted under Gainey in 2005 and the fabulous 2007 draft (McDonagh, Pacioretty, PK Subban) took place with Gainey as GM.
Prior to his stint in Montreal, Gainey was general manager of the Dallas Stars for a decade, and led the team to the Stanley Cup in 1999.
A trophy in his honor
Gainey returned to the Canadiens last spring, during the playoffs. Between the second round series against Winnipeg and the third round against Vegas, the former number 23 was addressed to the players of the Canadian.
“He took a few examples from his career, as a player, coach or manager. His presence, his calm, his intelligence… It did not take very long, but it was the bearer of where we are now and the way we want to do things, ”Dominique Ducharme said on June 10 at the the day after his visit to Brossard.
It was later revealed that the team had named a trophy in his honor, the “Gritty Bob”.
“We have something internally that measures our work habits, playing the right way, our style of play, had revealed Ducharme, in his end-of-season assessment. We have a way of calculating each action related to that. It gives a percentage and we have a winner every game. The trophy that we built, it became a kind of internal competition, which also brings pleasure to the players, was linked to Bob Gainey. In the way he played, in the things that we measured, he was someone difficult to face, who had good habits, etc. ”