Why did he ban the cheese?
In 2012, if I recall correctly, Gauthier banned cheese on the Habs' flights. Normally such a small thing would be ignored, but in his case it was just an additional example of his neuroticism.
Which player(s) did Gainey lose to UFA because he refused to negotiate during the season? And please don't say the 2009 season. He didn't lose those players because he failed to negotiate during the season. He didn't sign them because he didn't want them back. End of Story. Selling half the team for Lecavalier is a myth. The trade was Plekanec, Higgins and Gorges for Vinny LeCavalier. The latter were spare parts and LeCavalier was very much an upgrade over Plekanec. He put up 19 points in 18 games in the playoffs in 2011 for TBL. Maybe Habs win the Cup in 2010 with a real #1C to lead the charge and don't end up trading McDonagh for Gomez.
How many times have players took a nosedive right after getting a fat contract? Geoff Molson jumping the gun to extend Bergevin. All he had to do was wait one more month and he would have witnessed the epic collapse. Bergevin extending Plekanec, Carey Price, etc... he signed these players when their value was at their highest and both followed up their contracts with completely abysmal seasons.
People forget that Gainey EXCELLED at every facet of his professional career. His accomplishments as a player are well known. Four consecutive Selke awards and four consecutive Stanley Cups. The last true dynasty of the modern NHL. R.I.P.
He led the Minnesota North Stars to game six of the SC finals in his very first year as Head Coach. He turned around and literally built the Dallas Stars team that ultimately won the Stanley Cup and back to back presidents trophies with his bare hands when he acquired players like Joe Nieuwendyk, Brett Hull, Ed Belfour and Sergei Zubov. He brought respectability back to the Canadiens and undertook the monumental task of building the team back up after taking over from the dark years of Rejean Houle. The team came so close and I am convinced the Habs would have won the SC by now had he been allowed to continue his work, until MB completely destroyed the team. I mean Jesus Christ you literally could not find a more accomplished person if you tried. You think that doesn't deserve respect because you disagreed with one of his idiosyncrasies which is not proven to be wrong in the first place?
Our thoughts on Gauthier are the same. He was an intelligent man that did some good things but ultimately lacked the charisma to be a true longterm leader. That and No Parlez francais.
My thoughts on Bergevin are well known. The man is a nincompoop.
That isn't any better. If he wanted no part in re-signing them, then he should have traded them.
Thanks Kriss.
I agree that teams should either trade valuable assets at the deadline, or re-sign them, unless they're competing for the Cup. St-Louis is a good example of this, in the past two years they traded away Kevin Shattenkirk and Paul Statsny at the deadlines for Erik Foley, a 1st rounder, a 4th rounder, Zach Sanford, Brad Malone, a 1st rounder, and a conditional 2nd rounder.
Gainey excelled at losing players for nothing and that was his most infuriating trade. He did trade Craig Rivet which was nice (it resulted in Pacioretty), but he did not trade Sourray and Streit at the deadlines. Sourray in particular would have fetched a gold mine. That was the era when 1st rounders were given out like candy.
The 2009 trade deadline was a catastrophe. Out of the recent GMs, Gauthier is the only one who had the wisdom to sell assets during a tank.
Gainey also discarded Francois Beauchemin, Ryan Hainsey, and Ryan McDonagh. On one of those thje discard was really dumb, he actually called a lot of the GMs and asked them to be generous and to not take the player on waivers. lol.
The idea that the Habs were going to get Lecavalier for Plekanec, Higgins, and Gorges is revisionist history. I remember the packages that were being discussed at the time and they were a lot more generous. Gainey mercifully struck out in acquiring Lecavalier, he also struck out in the extravagant contracts that he offered to Daniel Briere and Ryan Smythe.
On the other hand, the Habs might have won a cup in 2008 if they had succeeded in bringing in either Marian Hossa or Mats Sundin. The Habs offered the best package for both. The idiot GM in Atlanta preferred an inferior package from Pittsburgh. Sundin chose to not go to the Habs because he wanted to be a dick.