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Bob Gainey: Proud Canadien, Proud Montrealer, Leader for Better or Worse

May 9, 2008, 12:47 PM ET [ Comments]
Habs Talk
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What do you think of Bob Gainey now? It’s amazing how many people can doubt someone with as much integrity, and hockey-knowledge as Bob Gainey possesses. Moreover, it’s amazing how people doubt someone who’s proven that all his decisions are methodically considered, and unwavering under colossal pressure. He built a team that no one thought would contend for the playoffs, let alone the Stanley Cup, and yet there are still some morons out there who don’t understand the value of his decisions—decisions that gave our fair city the best hockey season we’ve witnessed in two decades.

It wasn’t long ago, when everyone was outraged that Sheldon Souray wasn’t dealt at the trade deadline, because it appeared imminent that he would leave in the summer. “Why would they opt to keep him, and then lose him for nothing?” At the time, Souray was putting up a career year while the Canadiens were fighting for a playoff spot, and his value to the team was undeniable given his dominance on the powerplay. Why was it so hard for certain people to understand that if the Canadiens hoped to make the playoffs, they were going to need their league-leading powerplay operating at full-tilt?

By sharp contrast Cristobal Huet is set to become a UFA on July 1. He wasn’t the best player on the Canadiens this year, nor was he even the best goalie on the Canadiens. Though he was never a problem in Montreal, he never proved himself to be an essential key to winning. Naturally, if you’re going to win hockey games you need your goaltender to perform to the best of his ability. It’s no secret that when the pressure was on Cristobal Huet he never seemed to come through.

It’s also no secret that the Canadiens and Cristobal Huet weren’t going to come to terms on a contract this summer. Huet had played some of his best hockey over the last couple of years, and given his age, this summer is his opportunity to get a good long-term contract in place where he’s guaranteed a starting role. He wasn’t going to sign a two-year deal that would have him in a mentorship role with Carey Price, while the kid took his spot, and he was relegated to becoming a second goalie coach. This is all logical reasoning for why Huet was shipped to Washington at the deadline, but we still haven’t hit the nail on the head.

Huet was traded because Carey Price is better. Huet was traded because Carey Price will be the starter next year, and for many years beyond that. When Huet was traded Carey Price gave Montreal fans a reason to believe, providing the best goaltending the team had seen all season. As far as Bob Gainey’s thinking was concerned, I can’t tell you I’ve personally asked him about it, but the one thing we can all admire and respect is his accountability for the whole situation.

He started by saying “we”, and ended by saying “I, made this decision.” As in, I made the decision to give our best goaltender an opportunity to take his learning experience to the next level. As in, I wanted to see if I made the right choice when we elected to draft Carey Price over Anze Kopitar. As in, I wanted Carey to have this experience now, so when we are a team that actually is expected to contend for a Stanley Cup (next season), I won’t have any questions as to how Price will handle that type of pressure.

And so the same people who vehemently demanded that Sheldon Souray be traded from town still complain about Cristobal Huet being shipped off, before Price was ready to handle the load.

Was Carey Price unable to handle the pressure of the playoffs? No! Carey Price handled immense pressure from day 1 of his professional career, beginning in Hamilton last season. By Carey Price’s own admission, by Guy Carbonneau’s admission, Carey was mentally and physically tired by the end of the playoffs. Some people believe that’s a ridiculous excuse for a twenty-year old.

Let’s get things straight. When you play a year of junior hockey, including some playoffs, a World Junior Tournament where you play the maximum amount of games, 24 games in the AHL, finishing in June, and then come to rookie camp weeks later, and training camp in September, and move on to play your first year in the NHL as the marquis player for most of it…you’re going to be tired! Not to mention that he didn’t just play all that hockey… he was named the top goalie in the CHL, WHL, a first team all-star in the CHL, a Calder Cup MVP, a Calder Cup champion, and of course a World Junior MVP and champion. For those of you who don’t follow, in the last two years he played the most hockey of his career, and on top of all the pressure, and learning, he played the best hockey of his career. If you can imagine the level of concentration, and dedication it takes to achieve what Price achieved last year it’s not so hard to understand why he burnt out in the second round of the playoffs, after putting up two shutouts in the first round including one under the most pressure he’s faced in his career—Game 7 against Boston, in Montreal.

Does anybody think that Price’s experiences this year in the NHL are going to bring him down? Is there anyone who has trouble believing that he will bounce back better than ever? The Montreal Canadiens were picked by most “experts” to finish 13th or 14th in the East. At best, the most optimistic of them all had the Canadiens slated to finish 6th. Who doubts Carey Price’s role in the Canadiens finishing first in the conference? Next year the Canadiens will be expected to finish in one of the top 5 spots in the conference. If Bob Gainey makes a couple of significant moves this summer, next year the Canadiens will be expected to contend for the Stanley Cup. Next year Carey Price will come back refreshed, and give the Canadiens a better chance at making a Stanley Cup appearance, than Cristobal Huet ever could. Just as he did with Price, Gainey gave a number of young players their first opportunities to learn in the NHL playoffs as well; something the team will be better for come ’08-09, and onwards.

It wasn’t just Price, Bob Gainey added four players to the roster that no one believed would have an impact. Tom Kosto “f-bomb”poulos... “Who is that guy?” He’s a fan favorite; that’s who he is. Kostopoulos brings the very same energy as Steve Begin and proved his worth in the playoffs. What more could you ask from a fourth line grinder? He came up with timely scoring for the Canadiens, and without him they might not have made it through the first round of the playoffs.

Speaking of guys they wouldn’t have made it through the first round without, how about Roman Hamrlik? Everyone complained about the size of his contract, and his ability to be a stable, good, defensive defenseman. Hamrlik may prove to be overpaid by the time the fourth year of his contract rolls around, but at a time where the Canadiens had no choice but to offer extra incentive for a UFA to sign with them, thank goodness it was Hamrlik who took the opportunity. He was a force on the blueline for the Canadiens. He played injured, and stabilized the entire backend no matter whom he was paired up with.

Bryan Smolinski had everyone scratching their heads last summer. In fact for most of the season he had everyone scratching their heads. But all of a sudden the stretch of the season came about, and there was Smolinski showing everyone why he was acquired in the first place. Bryan’s play throughout the playoffs was hugely significant for the Canadiens. We don’t know what the future has in store for Smolinski who becomes a UFA on July 1, but we do know he was valuable to the Canadiens when they needed him to be.

And then there’s Patrice Brisebois, who even the most optimistic fans were skeptical about. Patrice earned his keep this year with the Canadiens, and his presence in the locker room and on the ice were a huge help to the younger players on the team. He never complained, he came back to a city that previously vilified him, and in the end he made an impact in the playoffs, with 6 points in 10 games.

Beyond UFA, and trade market decisions, Bob Gainey hired Guy Carbonneau who will likely be named the recipient of this year’s Jack Adams trophy. Bob Gainey gave Trevor Timmins, and staff, full authority to draft the best players available to the Canadiens, a job that has been carried out better than most others have done throughout the league. And the one time the spotlight was on Bob Gainey this year, he gave Canadiens fans a thrill by skating out onto the ice in full gear for one last time. He took a night that was meant to glorify his career, and deflected attention to his wonderful family, and to the men he has chosen to continue going to war with, in Guy Carbonneau and Doug Jarvis. He spoke briefly of the muckers and grinders he had assembled for the occasion, to show his current staff that Stanley Cups are won by entire teams, not just by stars and superstars. And last, he spoke of his pride to be a Montrealer; one who is more than accepting and appreciative of Quebec’s unique and distinct culture and society; as someone who practices and lives as a true Quebecois.

Gainey made your team better this year. He took a team that finished outside the playoff picture to #1 in the East, despite all the doubt and dissent. Through all the bad and the good, he’s been accountable. And when the Canadiens are eventually worthy of a Stanley Cup (a day that may come sooner than we imagine), Bob Gainey will be the one to deliver it, as he’s done a few times before. So as we get into this summer, and decisions are made, think, before you jump to conclusions. Bob hasn’t given us much reason to doubt.
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