Straight from the start, Molson decided to nip in the bud the rumour which was started by Rejean Tremblay last week about the fact that Vincent Damphousse could be hired as president of hockey operations. Molson says that he's still young, in good health and that his biggest dream remains to bring a 25th Stanley cup to Montreal. While most agreed that it would probably be a good idea to have another hockey mind in the organisation, Molson still thinks that the personnel in place can get it done. He says that Marc Bergevin is now one of the most experienced and respected general manager in the league and that he is well surrounded by knowledgeable hockey guys such as Scott Mellanby and Martin Lapointe. Even when a journalist mentioned that had it not been for the pandemic, the team would have missed the playoffs for a third year running, Molson says that he still believes that the current plan is a good one.
For him, the team exceeded expectations in the first year of its reset last season and while he is not satisfied with the setback experienced this year, he mentions that the injuries didn't help. He then said that he didn't want to use that as an excuse but adds in the same breath that perhaps, the team wasn't deep enough to withstand the injuries and that would need to be addressed. He's confident that professional scouts can fin ways to plug the holes, be it in the AHL, in Europe or even in the NHL. Molson believes that he's got a good core of veterans that will be able to lead the up and coming youngsters and that it will provide exciting hockey in Montreal in the years to come.
Geoff Molson explains his reasons for optimism moving forward.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/oQcOsgimWv
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) June 10, 2020
On the current situation, he spoke of the financial implications of the pandemic on Groupe CH but stated that it would not have an impact on the money that would be available to Marc Bergevin to improve his team and sign the players. Speaking of the players, he's also very happy for the older guys on the team that they will, against all odds have a chance to compete for the Stanley cup this year when action resumes in the NHL. Right now, he adds, there are only 3 players in Montreal as phase 2 is voluntary and the fact that the Canadian government still imposes a 14 days quarantine on anyone who enters the country. Therefore, it makes more sense for the players to stay where they are and carry on working out in the facilities which they have than to come back and sit around for 14 days. The ice is now ready in Brossard and the 3 players in town will come to train on Monday (while he did not name the players, we know that Drouin and Byron didn't leave town and as for the 3rd one, I'd imagine that Philip Danault has come back from his summer residence in Quebec). Even if all the players were here, it would be impossible to hold proper team practices with the current restrictions which provide that only 6 players can train at once. Regardless though, he's confident that the Habs will be as ready as any other team when action resumes. He's hoping that the government will agree to waive the 14 days quarantine rule for the players if they are tested daily when they return and they are currently in the process of shopping around to get the best test kits possible.
On the topics of Black Lives Matters and racial discrimination in hockey, he said that those were important issues and that the team would encourage and take part in any initiative. He stopped short however of saying what kind of initiatives these could be. The owner also stated that it looks like a cause that is dear to the players' hearts mentioning the statements of team captain Sean Weber and assistant captain Brendan Gallagher.
Finally, even if it has been 27 years since the Tricolore won the Cup, he says that the standards for this team were never and never will be lowered it is still all about winning. Giving the lack of results though, I think it's kind of hard to believe that... Especially since the goal once was to win the Cup while now, what we hear is that it is to make the playoffs because anything can happen once you are in.
On another note, the NHL announced that phase 3 of the return to play plan, the actual camps, would open on July 10th and that the camps would last 3 weeks. If they stick to that schedule, we could see some very meaningful hockey being played in August. While it will be great to see some playoffs action I can't help but think that it might have been better to just wait and start next season in October like it normally does. The play-in and the playoffs tournament will go on for a few months and that no doubts means a very late start to next season. Once a champion is crowned, the draft will need to be held and the free agency period will open as well. For now though, having a start date means that the league and the NHLPA have until the end of the month to work out the remaining issues that are far from minor. For now, the wait continues but we've at least got a target date...