Les “Glorieux” Once Again Becoming Glorious

Photo: Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press

The Montréal Canadiens finished 15th in the Eastern conference last season. During their horrible season, there was however, one huge glowing point. It came on March 29th 2012, the day Pierre Gauthier was fired as general manager of  Les Glorieux.

Geoff Molson, and more importantly, the fans of the Canadiens had seen more than enough of this catastrophe. Going on the twentieth season of sub-par hockey in Montreal, Molson finally cleaned the slate and began his search for the 16th General Manager in franchise history. Since the Canadiens last cup winning team in 1993, the Habs have only had a handful of legitimate competitive teams. After about a dozen mind-boggling, terrible trades made by the likes of Rejean Houle, Andre Savard, Bob Gainey and of course Pierre Gauthier, it was clear that MAJOR upgrades were needed in the press box of the Bell Centre.

The reign of these 4 clowns, made the Les Glorieux anything but glorious. The Habs were a laughing stock of the NHL for more than a few years since the team of ’93. Trading away franchise players with barely equal value became the new “norm”, and it happened more than a few times over the last 19 seasons. Roy, LeClair, Ribeiro, Richer, Cammalleri, Lumme, Damphousse, Halak, Turgeon, and Chelios all were traded away for either nothing, or certainly not equal value. Also remember that in the 2006 Entry Draft, Gainey decided to pass up on selecting Claude Giroux with his 20th overall pick and instead, decided to draft David Fischer who never played an NHL game. (the previous sentence needs no further comment)

On May 2nd 2012, Les Glorieux finally regained Glory. The Montreal Canadiens announced the hiring of their 16th General Manager in Marc Bergevin. Hired in favor over the heavily opinionated and annoying “creeper” in Pierre McGuire, it is clear now almost 9 months later, that Geoff Molson and the Montreal Canadiens made the right decision. McGuire went on record to say just days before the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, that the Habs would be better off trading PK Subban and the 3rd overall pick to the Edmonton Oilers in order to select Nail Yakupov 1st overall. Thank the Lord Jesus Christ that McGuire is NOT the GM.

Photo: Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press

Bergevin got to work quickly, and “work” he did. By re-stocking the Habs development personnel, hiring many more scouts, consultants, assistant managers and operations staff, it was clear that the previous General Manager had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Bergevin surrounded himself with very well respected and hockey smart NHL caliber staff. All of the staff he would hire came from winning traditions with tremendous success, and exceptional expertise. Glory was soon coming back to the Canadiens.

With the lockout, it brought many challenges, and halts to the organization. But it wasn’t all bad, that’s for sure. Third overall pick, Alex Galchenyuk, received time to play and thrive in the OHL and also win Gold in the 2013 World Juniors. In addition, our prospects down in Hamilton with the Bulldogs got their first taste of professional hockey. Although with a struggling injury-plagued team in the AHL which was full of locked out NHLers, the young Bulldog’s rookies fared very well.

Brandon Prust, Colby Armstrong and Francis Boullion were all terrific free agent signings by Bergevin, targeting the lack of tough, gritty players that the Habs have lacked for a very long time. Bergevin also made two huge moves in the past 2 weeks, with buying out Scott Gomez, and also by inking PK Subban to a gorgeous 2-year deal, worth $5.75 million.

I simply cannot begin to describe to you how beautiful Marc Bergevin has transformed this disgusting mess. The fact that MB doesn’t want reporters & media to even stand on the Habs logo speaks volumes to how big his heart is for Les Glorieux. The Montreal Canadiens are once again Glorious!

In Bergevin we trust.

Colton Di Stefano (28 Posts)

Jesus comes first, Les Canadiens second. I love talking about the Canadiens, but venting my opinions on facebook and twitter just weren't enough for me. I love my Habs to no end. Bleu, Blanc et ROUGE! "I vow to be faithful through good times and bad". Follow me on twitter! @Di_Stefano45