Who is the worst GM in the Montreal Canadiens history?

[Laurentide]

Funny thing is : The guy everybody would rank #1, Serge Savard, is the one who traded Chelios in return of Denis Savard, and Leclair+Desjardins+Dionne for Recchi. These 2 trades are arguably worse than anything that Bergevin did so far. We would forgive MB very quick if he suddenly managed to bring a cup to Montreal.

Chelios, like Galchenyuk, had some off-ice "issues" that Ronald Corey wanted to make go away. And despite the fact that Denis Savard was past his prime he still had enough left in the tank to be among the team leaders in scoring for the time he was a Hab and he won a Cup. Chelios in Chicago, like Langway in Washington, won the Norris but their teams never won squat. If you win the Cup you win the trade, IMO.

The LeClair for Recchi trade was not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. LeClair had yet to truly blossom and he wound up playing next to pre-concussion, MVP Lindros, a player of a caliber he would never have enjoyed in Montreal. Recchi did what it said on the tin. He was a good player for us. Why they traded him later on I'll never know. Desjardins was (IMO) a hugely overrated defenseman who didn't intimidate anyone in an era when defencemen needed to be able to hit and punish. And Gilbert Dionne was no Marcel.

 

[Pickles]

Corey was definitely pulling the strings, Houle was the puppet

Yep that's the reason why I gave him a pass. Looking back on it now it's obvious that Houle was a guy loyal to the organization hired to do a job he just wasn't qualified for.

 

[MasterMatt25]

Rejean Houle and it's not even close

 

[jaffy27]

"Radulov left for Dallas for the same contract....that’s fact!!"

All that push-back just to low key agree with me anyways....?

I like your style....still need to work on your opinions though.

We'll make a man outta you.

I’m looking forward too it.....can’t wait for a lesson from an HF poster, I’m so nervous.....

Gotta go now, gotta captain a wide body aircraft trans Atlantic to Germany.....maybe you can teach me that lesson after I come back from Kuwait next month.....

 

[drewjenks]

I’m looking forward too it.....can’t wait for a lesson from an HF poster, I’m so nervous.....

Gotta go now, gotta captain a wide body aircraft trans Atlantic to Germany.....maybe you can teach me that lesson after I come back from Kuwait next month.....

WOW my bad...I didn't realize you had such a respectable profession !

I take back everything I said - you can say whatever you'd like on the internet without criticism !

 

[Habaneros]

I’m looking forward too it.....can’t wait for a lesson from an HF poster, I’m so nervous.....

Gotta go now, gotta captain a wide body aircraft trans Atlantic to Germany.....maybe you can teach me that lesson after I come back from Kuwait next month.....

Jaffy27 awesome job....

Many years ago now....I actually got to be in the cockpit during mid flight 737 Air Canada ..asked the stewardess and sure enough she took us up...we stayed in there talking to both pilots for a good 20 minutes ...going over Greenbay Wisconsin when we was in there..that was back in the days when they would allow passengers to go talk to the pilots....now a days different story.

 

[Darkstorm]

Worst GM in Habs history;

1- Réjean Houle
2- Marc Bergevin
3- Pierre Gauthier
4- Bob Gainey

 

[Habaneros]

Worst GM in Habs history;

1- Réjean Houle
2- Marc Bergevin
3- Pierre Gauthier
4- Bob Gainey

Bergevin is still not done..lol

 

[BPD Habs Fan]

I am going with Bergevin. I was a fan during the Houle years but IMO he is just a puppet following his masters orders while Bergevin is doing all of this stuff with eyes wide open. I definitely see them as a 1a, 1b type ranking though. And sadly we don't know when the nightmare of Bergevin will end, so much time left so who knows what damage he will do before he is done.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

1. S. Savard - the last guy who actually won something.
2. Gainey - was doing okay until his daughter died.
3. A. Savard - neither pleased nor offended; had little to work with or to spend. Didn't do anything drastic.
4. Bergevin - gets worse with each passing day that Molson doesn't fire him.
5. Gauthier - not even sure that he likes hockey, let alone knows anything about it.
6. Corey/Houle - a self-centered wannabe and a beer saleseman meat puppet. What could go wrong?

If you think Gauthier was worse than the guy who gave up a blue chip 1st pairing dman for the worst contract in the league that had to be bought out you really have nothing of value to add to a hockey conversation. The fact Gainey is so high on this list makes me laugh, the media did a great job protecting that turd of a GM. He had to beg his way into consulting for another team he was so bad.

 

[Darkstorm]

Genuinely curious what those reasons are? Is this another French/English debate? Because I’m pretty sure Mark Bergevinski would be universally hated just as much as Marc Bergevin is now. Gainey isnt perfect but he inherited a team thst had been in the dumps for a decade, and continued andre savards work of getting the habs back to respectability. Gomez and Ribero trades along with him being responsible for gauthier are huge blemishes, but his revamped core got us further in the playoffs than we’d been since 93. He also essentially built the team that again went to the eastern finals a few years later. The more MB dismantles the team gainey built the worse we seem to get, so again when it comes to worst Habs GM’s Gainey isnt in the running

When Gainey first came in 2003, he got us Kovalev. His draft record wasn’t perfect, I mean a lot of GMs passed on the same players. It all comes down to how lucky you are. Gainey tried to reshape the Habs in the summer of 2009, by getting Gionta, Cammalleri, Spacek, Mara, Gill. The Habs went to the EC the following season for the first time since 93. The guy lost both his wife and his daughter, he clearly didn’t have it in him anymore.

 

[Istvan]

Bergevin's big 3 blunders put him in the running for worst gm. Subjectively, he is my #1 because I dislike his patronizing, arrogant demeanor , apparent disdain for the fan base and absence of any inkling of an actual plan. At least Houle was a very good player and a likable guy who was out of his depth but who seemed to care about the CH, unlike MB who seems to care about MB and keeping his job.

Next trade; Pacioretty for any non center over 35 with character and other intangibles.

Hope does not spring eternal.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Worst GM in Habs history;

1- Réjean Houle
2- Marc Bergevin
3- Pierre Gauthier
4- Bob Gainey

Bob Gainey does not belong in that group. Don't confuse "mixed bag" with "atrocious." Those are two different things.

 

[FormerLurker]

Houle was absolute garbage, but he at least made one major positive deal when he got sheldon souray who was an absolute stud for us. Can bargainbin brag about winning any big trades?

Houle can't take credit for that trade. Lemaire was working for the Habs as a consultant at the time of this trade. Lemaire had previously coached Souray in NJ, and insisted that Souray be part of the package for Malakhov.

 

[ImNeverWrong]

Houle can't take credit for that trade. Lemaire was working for the Habs as a consultant at the time of this trade. Lemaire had previously coached Souray in NJ, and insisted that Souray be part of the package for Malakhov.

So Houle took advice from someone else, how is this not different from a GM listening to a scout about who to pick or who to trade for? The man was awful, but give credit where it's due. I'll give bargainbin credit for getting the better of peter "just as bad" chiarelli many times.

 

[Kimota]

We forgot Irvin Grundman. A lot of people in the press have talked about him but I never played attention to what he did. But it is said he was a disaster.

About those I know, Houde first. Then for whatever reasons, even if Bergevin made blunders, I still hate Pierre Gauthier more. There was just something about him that represented everything I hate about people. He was just weird. He was trying to be some sort of recluse in a hockey crazy market like Montreal. It just didn't fit. Even guys from other organizations were wondering what Gauthier was doing there.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

For me its Bergin because Houle did not really ask to go there

Bergevin is destroying this team day by day and the only one that dont see it its the Owner itself and the VP hockey also.
Everyone else is shitting on him and hates him

Meanwhile the only person in the world to fire him is blinded.
Its like looking at 10000$ burning in front of a locked glass and u cant do anything to save it

f***ing unreal

 

[kgboomer]

I was a fan for over 50 years and that's the 1st time I don't care anymore. Yeah, the Bergebin did it. He's the worst.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

One thing people should consider is that Houle didn't get to his 5th anniversary as G.M, although he got close. Houle was chucked pretty quickly as far as G.M.s are concerned. Andre Savard pretty quickly started to turn the organization around.

Bergevin has completed 6 seasons and is working on his 7th. Can a g.m come in & do what A. Savard did for this club in a reasonably short time? Doubt it.

Houle was the worst, but didn't have a lot of time. Bergevin is going to stetch this pain out.

 

[Andrei79]

Bergevin's big 3 blunders put him in the running for worst gm. Subjectively, he is my #1 because I dislike his patronizing, arrogant demeanor , apparent disdain for the fan base and absence of any inkling of an actual plan. At least Houle was a very good player and a likable guy who was out of his depth but who seemed to care about the CH, unlike MB who seems to care about MB and keeping his job.

Next trade; Pacioretty for any non center over 35 with character and other intangibles.

Hope does not spring eternal.

True.

One thing I despise about MB is how he lashes out at journalists.

It's almost like clockwork. Everytime theres any sort of PC, he'll snap and raise his voice because of the most trivial questions. He did it again after the Galchenyuk trade. Its completely unbecoming of a Canadiens GM.

He has thin skin and just cant take criticism. He's a child in that way and completely out of his element as a GM.

 

[Not The One]

Habs cast aways:

Debrincat (Never Drafted)- Galchenyuk (Never met expectations, traded for Domi) - Radulov (Acquired and lost as a UFA)
DSP (3rd liner) - Eller (3rd liner) - Andrighetto (22 points career best)

Sergachev (traded for Drouin)- P.K (traded for Weber)
Markov (39 year old) - Girard (? I don't even know who this is)
Morrow (bottom pairing D) - Pateryn (bottom pairing D)

Vs the acquired bunch:

Domi - Drouin - A.Shaw
Hemsky - Danault - Deslauriers
L.Shaw - ? - K.Rychel

Alzner - Weber
Schlemko - Benn
Streit - ?

You guys are hilarious.

OMG he gave away Andrighetto, worst GM EVAH!!!!

Taking away all the trash you listed, the net result is Galchenyuk, Sergachev, PK for Domi, Drouin, Weber. Hardly the end of the world or comparable to the Wickenheiser, Chelios, Roy, Recchi, Damphousse, Turgeon trades/drafts.

 

[Habs13]

I was thinking about this today... Bergervin wa with the Hawks at their worst - he was there when they picked Kane (1st overall) and Toews (3rd overall) ... so its a recurring thing with him, to be on sunken ships

 

[Bryson]

I was thinking about this today... Bergervin wa with the Hawks at their worst - he was there when they picked Kane (1st overall) and Toews (3rd overall) ... so its a recurring thing with him, to be on sunken ships

Of course the Hawks used Bergevin to tank and acquire Kane and Toews and then kicked his ass out to the curb when they were ready to compete. It's why Gauthier has his name on two stanley cups and Barginbin only has one.

 

[OneSharpMarble]

We forgot Irvin Grundman. A lot of people in the press have talked about him but I never played attention to what he did. But it is said he was a disaster.

About those I know, Houde first. Then for whatever reasons, even if Bergevin made blunders, I still hate Pierre Gauthier more. There was just something about him that represented everything I hate about people. He was just weird. He was trying to be some sort of recluse in a hockey crazy market like Montreal. It just didn't fit. Even guys from other organizations were wondering what Gauthier was doing there.

Congrats, you hate people for "being weird". Fans like you are the reason i'm happy Montreal hired Bergevin.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Bergevin is worse because he honestly thinks he's doing an amazing job. He thinks habs fans are clueless when in fact HE'S THE IDIOT in the room.

Bergevin is like that kid you see forcing the wrong shapes into the wrong holes and then proclaiming "I did it!!!"