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It was business as usual yesterday in Montreal when the Canadiens kicked off their new season’s activity with their traditional golf tournament. Both of Quebec’s specialized sports channels ran a show covering the event and as always, I tuned in to the RDS because, generally, I find that their coverage is better and more insightful. Unfortunately for me though, former Canadiens’ goalie coach Stephane Waite and former NHL player Gaston Therrien were the pundits on duty for the 4-hour show.
Brendan Gallagher commande un salaire de 6,5 M$ jusqu'à la fin de la saison 2026-2027! pic.twitter.com/NerYKk58r7
— RDS (@RDSca) September 11, 2023
At one stage, talking about the Canadiens’ leadership, Waite made quite a controversial declaration, saying that every team has bad contracts, but that Gallagher’s one wasn’t that big of a deal since he’s the team’s real captain. Honestly, I find this statement completely unacceptable. Stephane Waite used to have access to the Canadiens’ locker-room, but he was fired over two years ago now and he would do well to remember this.
I believed he made this claim thinking about how things were when he was still in the Canadiens’ employ. Back then in the winter of 2021, Marc Bergevin was still at the helm of the team, Nick Suzuki was in the second season of his NHL career and Brendan Gallagher had been wearing the Sainte-Flanelle for 9 years.
There was a stage at which Brendan Gallagher should have been given the captain’s “C… but that was when Shea Weber was appointed as such. Now, Brendan Gallagher is no longer the impact player he was back then and even though his work ethics is still admirable, he’s no longer the incontestable leader of the team and the guy the players want to follow in battle. What Gallager does with the team is simply accomplishing his alternate captain role with pride and devotion.
Would he have deserved to wear the C at one stage? Definitely, but unfortunately, his window has now shut. The team really is “Nick’s team… as Gallagher said himself at last year’s golf tourney when the young center was introduced as the team’s captain.
Some believe that Waite said what he said to provoke a reaction and it worked. Perhaps he did, but he would do well to remember that creating shockwaves with a solid opinion and analysis of a situation is one thing, but just trying get noticed with random declarations will likely cost him his credibility.