Bob Gainey Steps Down
Monday saw Bob Gainey step down as the GM of the Montreal Canadiens. It was a move that took a lot of people by surprise, it seems.
Gainey will stay on with the team in some type of advisory role. The main post now goes to assistant GM Pierre Gauthier on an interim basis.
The timing of the decision is puzzling and there’s a considerable amount of speculation that Gainey was being pushed out of his position in Montreal. But there’s also speculation that the move was simply a matter of Gainey not feeling the passion for the Canadiens in the same way. Gainey wasn’t expected to return to the Habs as GM after this season anyway, but a lot of analysts did think he’s finish out the year.
Gainey has left things better than when he arrived, that’s for sure, but the Canadiens are still a team that has experienced limited success. They’ve struggled in the post-season despite posting good numbers in the regular season and this has got to be troublesome for Habs fans.
Still, Gainey leaves behind an impressive 241-176-46-7 during the regular season in Montreal. His Habs never made it past the second round of the playoffs, though, going a disappointing 11-22.
Looking at the team Gainey’s leaving behind is impressive. He managed to put together a pretty good squad, with a lot of exciting players and an upbeat style of play. The summer of 2009 saw Gainey picking up the pieces from a disappointing previous year. He generated some significant moves and oversaw the departure of Habs mainstays like Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev. And he brought Jacques Martin in as coach.
So now the Gauthier era begins in Montreal - at least for a while. There’s already a goaltending situation to figure out, although Gauthier has claimed a desire to keep both Halak and Price in the fold for now. There is a belief that one will be traded before the summer, however, and it’ll be telling to see who Gauthier goes with.
For now, it looks like all Habs fans can do is wait for Gauthier to prove himself as a worthy replacement for Bob Gainey.
Posted by Jordan Richardson.
