On November 28, 2021, three years ago to the day, the Canadian made the decision to fire Marc Bergevin, Trevor Timmins and Paul Wilson. Geoff Molson therefore made a decision that would transform the Canadian.
Jeff Gorton arrived in Montreal (with the mandate to rebuild Geoff Molson’s club) and hired Kent Hughes as GM. Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridges.
But since that time, Marc Bergevin had never given a single interview to talk about his years in Montreal. This is why I was surprised to see, this morning, Pierre LeBrun publish a paper on this subject.
The journalist from The Athletic has achieved a great coup since Bergevin is well in the shadows. We suspected it because if he had wanted to chat and be in the light, he would have been.
What is particularly interesting is to note that Bergevin claims that he made the decision not to return to Montreal after the 2021-2022 season. Remember that 2021-2022 was his last year of contract.
There have been many rumors about a potential new contract and the price to pay to keep the architect of the 2021 Stanley Cup finalist team. And according to what he says, Geoff Molson approached him at the summer 2021 to keep it longer term. He was then a year away from being at the end of his contract.
But he didn’t want to stay. And he clearly said it to his owner.
I told him: Geoff, I’m going to finish my last year of contract and I’m going to move on. He understood. – Marc Bergevin
History will have taught us that he did not finish the last year of his contract since he was fired on the sidelines of his team’s ugly start to the season. Hiring Jeff Gorton was the right thing to do for the owner.
But the fact remains that Marc Bergevin has nothing nasty to say against Geoff Molson.
One aspect that made Marc Bergevin want to move on was COVID-19. The situation wasn’t easy for him (he didn’t see his children for almost a year, who were in the United States) and it hit him hard.
It weighed in the balance.
When Geoff made me the offer [de contrat]I felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. – Marc Bergevin
What’s fascinating about all this is that rumors of contract negotiations for Bergevin were raging several months after the Canadian’s appearance in the final.
Was everyone wrong? Did the former CEO choose to rewrite history? Are we simply wrong about when Bergevin told Geoff Molson he was going to move on? I have the feeling that there is a question of money in all this and that it was really negotiated.
Ultimately, no matter how it happened, it was also good to make the change. Bergevin was able to find a calmer pace of life and the CH has no complaints with its new leaders. Note that Bergevin wishes them good luck, moreover.
I invite you again to read Pierre LeBrun’s paper since Bergevin addressed several other subjects.
In burst
– What do you say?
– 8:24 of playing time for Ivan Demidov today. [KHL]
– Here is a goalkeeper who is struggling.
what happened to silovs?
byu/Frederick_C_Krueger incanucks
