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Gauthier's Legacy Emboldened by Mid-Game Trade

January 13, 2012, 9:56 AM ET [4004 Comments]
Habs Talk
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In all my years of watching, loving and eventually analyzing hockey, I've never seen a player pulled off the bench and traded.

And in all my years, I've never seen a general manager that's as two-faced as Pierre Gauthier's proven to be over his Montreal tenure. I touched on that with Terry DiMonte, on CHOM this morning.

From his indoctrinated, militant expectation that the rank of an individual be respected at all times (it's Mr. Gauthier to you), to his complete lack of respect for the customs and culture of running a professional hockey team, let alone the League's most revered institution--the Montreal Canadiens.

From his expressed non-concern over the probability of a healthy return for Andrei Markov, leading to what has to be considered the worst free agent-signing any GM has made in years, to his complete lack of accountability in making a move that blew up in the team's face. And his management of the information thereafter; his willful deceit regarding Markov's "progress" is all but a complete embarrassment for the organization.

From insisting on his commitment to Jacques Martin's brand of hockey, to his firing of Perry Pearn less than 90-minutes from the start of a crucial game. And justifying it all as change for the sake of change and "thinking outside the box".

If firing an assistant coach at random and suggesting his performance (or lack thereof) had absolutely nothing to do with the decision isn't "thinking outside the box", I don't know what is.

Firing Jacques Martin on gameday, in a complete panic-move, creating another distraction for his distracted team to deal with, thus creating chaos in an atmosphere he was trying to inject stability into is more fodder for comedy.

Hiring a unilingual anglophone coach with no experience and no chance of reversing the damage done by the incitement of deep and disturbing controversy-- this from Mr. Gauthier, delivered as a decision made in the best interest of the franchise, and then apologizing for it. What is that, if not a complete mockery?

But turning to the media, insisting this deal involving Cammalleri was long in the works with Jay Feaster and the Calgary Flames, and that its conclusion absolutely had to come in the middle of a divisional game with major implications on the Canadiens' standing of a hockey season that's only half-over is quite novel.

To insist that the timing of the deal had nothing to do with Cammalleri's comments and his general attitude towards his teammates, and his lament over his role with the team is like grabbing the microphone from the annoying Bell Centre hostess that feels compelled to yell into it every time she's got an announcement to make to the silent crowds of this season, and saying "Monsieurs et Madames, You're all idiots!". Not even a reasonable attempt at concealing this deception.

If you've had a deal in the works for a month, what's another 20 minutes of waiting before finalizing?

The Canadiens were playing a hard-fought game with their greatest rivals. Even without trying, Cammalleri could've made the difference between zero, and one or two points (heck, he's done it nine times this season).

But beyond what Cammalleri could've provided in his performance (he wasn't likely to be the difference last night with zero shots on goal, zero points, zero hits, zero blocked shots), what kind of distraction is it for the team to know a player was pulled off the bench and traded mid-game, in a league where that just never happens?

Whether the Canadiens were thinking about their now-former teammate, or thinking about the circumstances and implications (not only on their season, but on realizing that at any point, they could be removed from the equation--in the middle of an important game, no less) how could they keep it from distracting them?

When I say that Pierre Gauthier does business like no other GM in the league, that's as close to a fact as you can find in assessing his performance.

The reaction of other GMs admitting they were not made aware that Cammalleri was available tells you Gauthier had a specific target in mind.

Here's a story for you:

Everyone knew that Gauthier was going to trade Jaroslav Halak and keep Carey Price. Before he dealt with St. Louis, an unnamed GM offered two roster-players of Gauthier's choice, and despite Gauthier's disinterest, that GM insisted on being called before any deal was finalized with St. Louis.

The deal for Halak had been conceptualized well in advance, and there was never an open process on trading him. Never.

And that phone call never came.

Not to say the return on Halak (Lars Eller and Ian Schultz) was bad. It's proving to be good, bordering on fair. But there's no question it was a major disappointment on the day it was announced.

The timing was peculiar at best. The process, obviously closed, was baffling.

And when it came down to it, there wasn't a person in the know, in hockey, that didn't feel Gauthier couldn't have gotten more for Halak.

As for the return on Cammalleri, Bob McKenzie has this real well covered:

Is it conceivable Gauthier has replaced Cammalleri's goals in the Canadiens' lineup, got bigger and tougher and done so while freeing up an additional $3 million in cap space, giving the Habs the equivalent of more than $8 million worth of cap room (according to Capgeek) at the deadline?

Gauthier also got a second-round draft pick (which is not insignificant) and a decent prospect in WHL forward Patrick Holland while giving up a fifth-round pick and Finnish goalie Karri Ramo, who is currently playing in the KHL.

Amateur scouts I talked to said Holland is by no means a can't-miss prospect. None suggested he's a potential top six NHL forward but many said he does have a legitimate chance to play in the NHL as a solid third- or fourth-liner. It's hard to know if Ramo, a former Tampa Bay prospect, will ever be a factor in the NHL, but some believe he has No. 1 potential and may one day be the heir apparent to Miikka Kiprusoff in Calgary.


In the end, two struggling, enigmatic players were traded for one another. Rene Bourque has matched Cammalleri's goal production over the last three seasons (he's done marginally better, actually), but that speaks to his success as much as it does to his inconsistency.

As for the throw-ins to the deal, Holland could turn into an NHLer, maybe even a valuable one.

And the Canadiens got a second rounder, for a fifth rounder and a goaltender that was in no way part of the plans in Montreal.

We'll see how this goes, but from the onset, this deal has a much better chance of looking bad for the Habs than it does for the Flames.

Bourque is coming off a suspension and walking into an unmitigated disaster, under the pressure of having to live up to the expectation that he can provide what Cammalleri wasn't providing for far too long.

Cammalleri goes back to familiar territory, where he experienced the greatest regular-season success he's ever had.

The Canadiens add some much needed size and grit, but from a player that has displayed similar disinterest in committing to that style on a nightly basis.

The winning element of the deal for Montreal is shedding nearly $3M from the roster.

The deal for both teams is an indication that neither is willing to entertain the concept of a new-school rebuild a la Edmonton/Chicago/Pittsburgh.

As for Cammalleri and his comments, in retrospect, it's pretty clear he had a sense for what was coming. He intentionally positioned himself to be heard, speaking the truth about a situation that neither he nor the team's management was interested in being committed to for any longer.

To be pulled out of the lineup in the middle of a game had to have been a surprise, but being traded certainly was not one to Cammalleri. People who chose to "read between the lines" realized that Cammalleri knew what his immediate future was.

What a sad end to what was such a promising situation three summers ago. There was much enthusiasm over Cammalleri's signing, and what he did in his first year here was a testament to his worth.

As a model of consistency in his previous NHL experience, his inconsistency and his entitlement in Montreal became the traits he'll be most remembered for as a Canadien. What a shame...

As for Gauthier's proclamation that his team got better yesterday, perhaps it did.

How many more moves will he be permitted to make?
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