Bob Gainey era finally over

[Saintpatrick*]

I doubt very much that Gainey had a whole lot to do with the retirement of jersey's that was Gillette's doing. In fact I doubt any GM makes the decision to retire a jersey number. Gainey was a poor GM though.

 

[WhiskeySeven*]

Ah c'mon WhiskeySeven. It's already been mentioned that the retiring of jerseys was more about Gillett reversing the trend that retiring any more numbers was a no no. As a matter of fact, if the organization had the class to do this sooner than perhaps Geoffrion would have been alive to celebrate his retirement. That was a sad shame he missed out

What, did Gainey run over your dog or something?

Am I speaking another language? I'm not saying his jersey shouldn't have been retired, or anyone's (especially Boom Boom's!) - I'm saying that after a DECADE of being in charge, the only banners hanging are the jerseys they retired. Sure there was a ship to turn around, and a lot of foundation to settle but his tenure was ultimately a failure and drowning in hubris and 'tradition'.

The same 'tradition' that led to a number of players get chewed up and discarded by the organization, ruined a ton of euro prospects, got rid of players for 'attitude problems' instead of working with them, UFAs let go at the end of the season, etc... all these regressive tendencies were exasperated under Gainey.

And he ended it all with a UFA signing spree which he abandoned 8 months into it.

 

[Athletique_Canadien]

Bah, Gainey wasn't all that bad. He did turn out to be a lot less than I hoped for & was a disappointment. At least he wasn't as silly as present day Gillis.

I immediately liked one of his 1st moves - acquiring Dagenais led to better credibility. I believe he acquired Begin too. That might have been Savard, not sure. A move I also liked was getting Moen.

The glass can be claimed to be half full or half empty. But not totally empty!

 

[ECWHSWI]

Am I speaking another language? I'm not saying his jersey shouldn't have been retired, or anyone's (especially Boom Boom's!) - I'm saying that after a DECADE of being in charge, the only banners hanging are the jerseys they retired. Sure there was a ship to turn around, and a lot of foundation to settle but his tenure was ultimately a failure and drowning in hubris and 'tradition'.

The same 'tradition' that led to a number of players get chewed up and discarded by the organization, ruined a ton of euro prospects, got rid of players for 'attitude problems' instead of working with them, UFAs let go at the end of the season, etc... all these regressive tendencies were exasperated under Gainey.

And he ended it all with a UFA signing spree which he abandoned 8 months into it.

and yet, all you talk about is jersey retirement...

 

[Harpo]

Gainey's legacy as a GM will be forever tainted by the Gomez trade and all the UFA signings in 2009 that led to Koivu's departure. This and the Ribeiro trade.

He had homeruns with the Rivet and Kovalev trades, though. The rest was a mix of good and bad moves that any GM have on their curriculum.

 

[mikeg]

Hired the right people to draft and hired the worst people to evaluate pro talent... mixed bag really but he did have a 5 year plan, and unfortunately it was not the right plan.

 

[Athletique_Canadien]

I'm not defending Gainey when I point this out, it simply is a matter of fact. Burke was heavily interested in Gomez. That became public after the trade. There was footage of Burke asking a scout or an assistant about Gomez. I believe this ended up being a bidding war & Gainey lost out by over paying. However, it has been rumoured that Gauthier was not high on McDonogh & may have had a hand in the trade more than Gainey. I hate to bring it up, but we should remember that the trade happened when BOb was dealing with the loss of his daughter Laura. One could argue that he should have stepped aside then but would you as a person do that or would you fight?

Just sayin'? Conjecture? Speculation? Yes! But these could be factors that we might want to consider.

The Ribeiro trade I suspect (no proof) had something to do with a falling out we will never hear about publicly.

 

[Athletique_Canadien]

There are many posts about letting Saku go but I believe that Gainey let him out of Dodge. He had done enough. Too much stress, too much bull. Let us recall the abuse he had at the hands of the pure laine francophone media. I remember this as being the most bizarre nonsense my history of following the Habs. If it were an anglo Canadian I might have understood. But what's the issue with a Finnish player? Still beats me. Silly media

After the James Black knee on Koivu incident, after the sickness & after the Justin Williams stick in the eye incident it was time for Koivu to make a change & I believe Bob respected that. Since playing for the Ducks, how many catastrophes has he had? BAM!

 

[ProspectsFanatic]

There are many posts about letting Saku go but I believe that Gainey let him out of Dodge. He had done enough. Too much stress, too much bull. Let us recall the abuse he had at the hands of the pure laine francophone media. I remember this as being the most bizarre nonsense my history of following the Habs. If it were an anglo Canadian I might have understood. But what's the issue with a Finnish player? Still beats me. Silly media

After the James Black knee on Koivu incident, after the sickness & after the Justin Williams stick in the eye incident it was time for Koivu to make a change & I believe Bob respected that. Since playing for the Ducks, how many catastrophes has he had? BAM!

Are you assuming that there is a causation between the relation Koivu had with the media and his cancer?
Lol

 

[Athletique_Canadien]

Are you assuming that there is a causation between the relation Koivu had with the media and his cancer?
Lol

No, I was referring to a list of bad things happening. His getting sick had nothing at all to do with him being in Montreal. My main bottom line point is that after everything maybe/possibly he just wanted a change of scenery. I believe he wanted to stay, being the warrior & faithful man/player he is. I think Gainey sat him down & simply said, "Get out of here Saku, you've done more for the CH than anyone could ever hope for. It could take us a while to win the cup. I'll sign you if you want & agree to your terms. But you've done more than enough."

All conjecture, all conspiracy theory. I just wonder & it's what I believe occurred.