Can someone answer me this - Why does Bergevin still have a job?

[BigBadBruins7708]

A couple of the main things that are on Bergevin:
-Inability to find top 6 centres. Everyone wants prime age centres, they don't grow on trees and nobody is giving them away, but it's the GM's job to fill this glaring hole in the Habs' lineup and it hasn't happened so he gets blame there.
-Alzner signing wasn't so hot, wanted a vet D-man to replace losing Emelin, but I think Alzner is better than what he showed so it wouldn't look so it could look better. Injuries didn't help forcing him to take on more responsibility.

Overall though there is kind of a stupid, unreasonable pile-on from the usual hysterical fans. Fans in Montreal are not very reasonable.

This season was doomed no matter what with Price getting poisoned by his naturopath then concussed, and then Weber getting his ankle smashed. Add in a lot of other injuries, Habs had by far the most in the NHL this year, no contest, and the team cannot realistically compete. Blaming all that misfortune on Bergevin is just stupid but here he is, the frustration of all these fans' grievances with the world.

The injury situation was somewhat out of his hands, but the big pressure on Bergevin will be to find a solution at centre this summer and if he can't then I assume he'll probably fired for accountability purposes.

you forgot:

Subban for Weber
Sergachev for Drouin
awful drafting resulting in no young NHL'ers and a non existent prospect pool
handcuffing any rebuild efforts paying a goalie 10.5 a year from ages 32 to 40

 

[tony d]

Don't know, the guy's a terrble GM. Surprised he hasn't gotten fired yet.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Not that I would want to see him leave Anaheim at all, but if the Habs were searching for a new GM and knowing their requisite criteria, I think Martin Madden Jr would be a top candidate. He has outstanding track record as the Ducks director of scouting, and deep roots in the Quebec hockey scene.

 

[TOGuy14]

There would need to be a better french speaking option available, and I am not sure there are any unless I am missing someone?

 

[Burke the Legend]

you forgot:

Subban for Weber
Sergachev for Drouin
awful drafting resulting in no young NHL'ers and a non existent prospect pool
handcuffing any rebuild efforts paying a goalie 10.5 a year from ages 32 to 40

Well pointless to discuss the Subban trade, it was political and not a hockey trade and it will just crap up this discussion.

Sergachev for Drouin, jury's still out but the idea was to add some offensive talent. We'll see how good Sergachev ends up being (as well as Drouin...) but the Habs still have young D talent that has had a chance to get NHL play this year and looks promising (Mete, Juulsen, Reilly) so it's still an area of some prospect depth.

Drafting has been OK the past 3-4 years but these guys are still prospects. There's 7 guys now from Montreal's 2013-2016 drafts who have played NHL games with the club this year. No one has emerged with all-star potential which would be pretty helpful but a lot of teams could use a young all-star player surprise from a late 1st or 2nd round pick. Every team needs to do well in the draft to prosper, Habs have a lot of picks this year and need to find talent but in the short term Bergevin can't really be judged on this draft because we won't know for 3-4 years how the 2018 draft is panning out, at which point he'd be gone anyway if the team is just treading water in the NHL basement.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

He is going to beat Mike Milbury and Don Sweeney in the category of awful moves by a former mediocre defenseman.

 

[sandysan]

People stop going to the games, they'll change the product on the ice. People come to the games and spend money, there is no incentive really to change (from a business standpoint).

This isnt glendale. Starve the beast won't work.

 

[sandysan]

Answer too the OP = " in da foxhole with the owner"

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

I don’t get it, either. They used to be such a proud organization, now it’s been reduced to utter rubble over the past few decades.

But apparently nowadays talent has nothing to do with it, as long as you’re French Canadian, you’re welcome to work for the Habs organization!

That said, I hope he’s the Habs GM until the earth collides with the sun.

 

[DatSnipeMatthews]

Well pointless to discuss the Subban trade, it was political and not a hockey trade and it will just crap up this discussion.

Sergachev for Drouin, jury's still out but the idea was to add some offensive talent. We'll see how good Sergachev ends up being (as well as Drouin...) but the Habs still have young D talent that has had a chance to get NHL play this year and looks promising (Mete, Juulsen, Reilly) so it's still an area of some prospect depth.

The jury is not out. Drouin is 23 and a forward whereas Sergachev is a D and is 19. Drouin the 4-year veteran forward had 46 points whereas Sergachev the rookie D had 40 points.

Bergevin and the Habs got fleeced.

 

[Flair Hay]

Lol at "speaks french"... If you want a real answer you should ask Jeoff Molson himself. I believe the guy is just clueless and doesn't know what he wants. Bergevin sold him a dream and a goal, he's just a good sellsman. That's why he still has a job.

You never know either, maybe if he'd had a decent 1C to start his tenure it would be different?

I think the guy was doing well up until this past off season where he made panic moves that I don't think the organization truly thought through.

Trading Subban instead of firing the mediocre coach wasn't the worst decision in the world if the team is going to be greater than any star. But he fired the coach anyway...

Trading away Sergachev for Drouin in a vacuum was not a terrible move. What was bad was dealing him in the Habs case, having no 1C...

Radulov 2 summers ago was a great move in a vacuum. But all it did was give a shot of adrenaline to a team for a season and they were back to where they were without him right after.

Bergevin or not the Habs need to commit to retooling and nailing each and every first rounder next couple years.

 

[Andy]

He's still here because he's signed for another few years.

As for his work...

The centre depth is worse than when he arrived, and it wasn't the greatest when he got here.

In a little over a calendar year, MB moved or let go Subban, Sergachev, Markov, Beaulieu, Emelin and Pateryn, i.e., the entire d core and it's top prospect.

He played hardball with Markov and Radulov with 0 leverage or back up plan available.

He's directly responsible for the Habs current position. If he had a year left on his contract, he'd be gone, but he's signed 'till like 2022.

 

[Maukkis]

A couple of the main things that are on Bergevin:
-Inability to find top 6 centres. Everyone wants prime age centres, they don't grow on trees and nobody is giving them away, but it's the GM's job to fill this glaring hole in the Habs' lineup and it hasn't happened so he gets blame there.
-Alzner signing wasn't so hot, wanted a vet D-man to replace losing Emelin, but I think Alzner is better than what he showed so it wouldn't look so it could look better. Injuries didn't help forcing him to take on more responsibility.

Overall though there is kind of a stupid, unreasonable pile-on from the usual hysterical fans. Fans in Montreal are not very reasonable.

This season was doomed no matter what with Price getting poisoned by his naturopath then concussed, and then Weber getting his ankle smashed. Add in a lot of other injuries, Habs had by far the most in the NHL this year, no contest, and the team cannot realistically compete. Blaming all that misfortune on Bergevin is just stupid but here he is, the frustration of all these fans' grievances with the world.

The injury situation was somewhat out of his hands, but the big pressure on Bergevin will be to find a solution at centre this summer and if he can't then I assume he'll probably fired for accountability purposes.

 

[Goodbahd]

He's still here because he's signed for another few years.

As for his work...

The centre depth is worse than when he arrived, and it wasn't the greatest when he got here.

In a little over a calendar year, MB moved or let go Subban, Sergachev, Markov, Beaulieu, Emelin and Pateryn, i.e., the entire d core and it's top prospect.

He played hardball with Markov and Radulov with 0 leverage or back up plan available.

He's directly responsible for the Habs current position.

The D core sucked before this year.

Radulov also missed the playoffs in Dallas, so who cares. And signing him for 5-6 years at his age would’ve been bad in the long term.

Beaulieu, Emelin, and Pateryn are all bad. And probably won’t be in the NHL next year or the year after.

Markov is old and wanted a two year contract, meanwhile guys at his or near his age who are much better, like Chara and Lidstrom never demanded more than 1 year contracts, both are Hall of Famers, Markov isn’t.

Sergachev played on a stacked Tampa team, he wouldn’t have same number of points with the Habs, not even close.

Subban is overrated and overpaid, he’s not even the best D on his team.

His work hasn’t been that great though, but for other reasons. Price contact is bad, and never found a centre.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Has anyone even considered the fact that Bergevin has a job because he is a yes man? Molson likes to be involved. I would not be surprised if there was an old boys club there of French speakers and everything he does is an order from the boss. Like in Edmonton, the Owner thinks owning a team is cool and he just wants to hang out with his buddies and enjoy some sports. Subban didn't get along with one of the boys (The coach) so he was shipped off.

I am 100% making this up but to me, it seems like he has become a scape goat when there is an entire front office responsible for bad drafting, bad trades, bad hiring of coaches, and bad management. Yet the end of year conference had the owner butting in to defend and protect him the whole time. I am willing to bet when he is fired the circus continues, because they will just hire someone else who speaks French and fits in and they will continue trying to relive the glory days by throwing away a good team for any chance at a French speaking franchise player.

 

[Klinton]

Because he hasn't been fired yet. Did you go to school? You seem to have very weak logic. I hope I answered your question.

 

[LordNeverLose]

He is going to beat Mike Milbury ... in the category of awful moves by a former mediocre defenseman.

 

[Mr Hockey]

I think he has to the end of next season to turn the team around.

 

[Andy]

The D core sucked before this year.

Radulov also missed the playoffs in Dallas, so who cares. And signing him for 5-6 years at his age would’ve been bad in the long term.

Beaulieu, Emelin, and Pateryn are all bad. And probably won’t be in the NHL next year or the year after.

Markov is old and wanted a two year contract, meanwhile guys at his or near his age who are much better, like Chara and Lidstrom never demanded more than 1 year contracts, both are Hall of Famers, Markov isn’t.

Sergachev played on a stacked Tampa team, he wouldn’t have same number of points with the Habs, not even close.

Subban is overrated and overpaid, he’s not even the best D on his team.

His work hasn’t been that great though, but for other reasons. Price contact is bad, and never found a centre.

I was gonna respond, but that I asked myself, why respond to someone who clearly knows nothing about what their talking about.

 

[JetsUK]

speaks french

I'd say that, like Jean Chrétien (although for different reasons), Bergevin makes no sense in either official language.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

The solution would be for the province of Quebec to become their own country and the Habs can go and form a french hockey league. It would be a real success story. No need to worry about anglophones ever again.

 

[Spirit of 67]

Maybe it's because his attitude wouldn't allow for a 40 loss season.

 

[ImNeverWrong]

Fans of opposition, don't fret. Habs will be horribly run for the rest of our lifetime. They'll constantly hire inadequate individuals as GMS as the pool of candidates that are in the running for the job are based on non hockey skillsets *cough*have to speak french*cough*

 

[therealkoho]

He is going to beat Mike Milbury and Don Sweeney in the category of awful moves by a former mediocre defenseman.

fantastic new category

 

[PKWeber]

The solution would be for the province of Quebec to become their own country and the Habs can go and form a french hockey league. It would be a real success story. No need to worry about anglophones ever again.

The NHL would fold if the habs left.