Molson: 'This organization needs a fresh start'

BROSSARD -- Owner, President and CEO, Geoff Molson, spoke with reporters on Monday to discuss the hockey management changes within the organization.

Over the weekend, the Canadiens relieved several staffers of their duties, including Executive Vice President and General Manager, Marc Bergevin, Assistant General Manager, Trevor Timmins, and Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, Paul Wilson.
Jeff Gorton was also hired as Executive Vice President, Hockey Operations.
Before fielding questions from the media, Molson outlined the reasoning behind some of these key changes and what the future has in store for the club's hockey operations department.
After thanking Bergevin, Timmins and Wilson for their services, Molson confirmed that parting ways with Bergevin came after a period of reflection taking into account several consecutive mediocre seasons and nearly being eliminated in the opening round of the 2021 Playoffs by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Canadiens' poor performance to begin this year only solidified his decision not to re-sign Bergevin to another long-term contract.
"Our start to the season was unacceptable for the Montreal Canadiens and something had to be done to change direction," stated Molson, who has watched the Habs compile a 6-15-2 record after 23 games. "I had no other options but to move ahead with these changes to improve the structure of our hockey operations."

The process of finding Bergevin's successor will begin immediately, with Gorton's help.
Once installed, the new general manager and Gorton will form a tightly knit unit.
"Managing the CH in our market, which is possibly the biggest hockey market in the world, is an important responsibility with many angles to cover, including a bilingual market. I think we can maximize our chances of success with a team of two hockey operations managers," explained Molson. "Both Jeff Gorton and the new general manager will play a key role in the management of our hockey operations and will lead the new start."
Molson is adamant that the Canadiens are "turning the page" with new people at the helm in hopes of becoming a franchise that effectively develops players from within and ultimately rivals some of the League's top squads year after year.
"I strongly believe that this organization needs a fresh start. At this stage, a fresh start is not so much at the team level, but rather at the management level," insisted Molson. "On the ice, we have a team that is a lot better than the results show. Many components that amazed us last summer will be back soon, but equally important, we've made 45 draft picks in the past five years since our reset, and we have 11 more coming in Montreal this year. It is essential that we structure our organization around properly developing this group of talent. The new management team will be responsible for evaluating our current team and how we can improve moving forward."

The Canadiens plan to hire someone new to replace Timmins and oversee amateur scouting, and add more diversity in hockey operations, too.
A medical performance team is also being established under the leadership of team doctors Dr. David Mulder, Dr. Dan Deckelbaum and Dr. Ed Harvey that will provide resources for players and staff throughout the organization in all areas related to athlete wellness and mental health.
"We want to establish new standards of excellence at the hockey operations level and improve the way we manage the team on the ice and off the ice," stressed Molson. "These new standards include several important organizational improvements, including being better at the Draft, being better at player development, and better supporting our players so they can have success in our market."
Molson closed his opening statement with a special message to the fans.
"I can't thank you enough for your unwavering support during these difficult and disappointing times. I'm making these significant changes to get better results," he concluded. "The passion and incredible support you showed during the Stanley Cup Final was extraordinary. I'll do everything I can to get our team back to the Stanley Cup Final in hopes of bringing a 25th Stanley Cup to Montreal."

Here are some highlights from the Q&A portion of Molson's press conference at the Bell Sports Complex:
On selecting Gorton as Executive Vice President, Hockey Operations:
"I look at the team for which he was general manager up until the spring last year, and it seems to be performing pretty well. So, there must've been some things he did right. I think, when you do your research on Jeff Gorton, you find he has a very good reputation not only as a person, but as a general manager and as somebody who can build relationships. When I met with him, I was thoroughly impressed. And when I talked to other people in my circle about him, there were nothing but positive things to say about him. I think we're all going to really like to have him here. It'll be a breath of fresh air. A fresh start is really important to me, and we're going to do that.
"He has a reputation for being a great evaluator of talent as well. I think somebody who lasts all those years as a general manager must be doing something right."
On his role as President in light of the organizational changes:
"My role as President of the Montreal Canadiens does not change. I've always operated the same way and will continue to. I always said that Marc Bergevin was responsible for hockey operations and he had to live with the decisions he made. What I learned upon much reflection is that that position demands a lot of one person in this market. I think we're better off with two people. I'm not someone who manages the team. It's going to be up to the two new people, including Jeff, to manage this team."
On bringing some diversity into the hockey operations department:
"I'm talking particularly on the hockey operations side, because in Groupe CH, we have a pretty diverse group of people and we have many diversity programs and training programs to educate our employees. I think, on the hockey side, there is quite a big opportunity to introduce different perspectives into the organization. And, that will just make us stronger; it'll make us make better decisions. I truly believe that. It's not easy to do, but it certainly is a priority. With this new management team coming into place, I think we'll be in a much better position to make that happen."
On creating two separate positions to lead the hockey operations department - Executive Vice President and General Manager:
"The important thing is that the general manager will be responsible for final decisions about the team. But, to have two people to discuss, debate, and have other perspectives in order to make good decisions, I think we're better off. These two people are in our market. One of the things we didn't have to support Marc was two people in the market to help make decisions about trades and contracts. When there are two people - and Jeff has so much experience - that can only help the GM make the right decision. The structure I'm presenting to you today is unique, but we're also in a very unique market. The Montreal Canadiens are very important to our fans. If you look at the structure of other teams around the League, in one way or another, they all have experienced advisors, executive vice-presidents. These people are well-surrounded and I structured it that way because there's so much work to do, but the others have their own structures. Everything is in place to support the general manager in making good decisions."

On what the new vision will be for the hockey operations department:
"I just hired Jeff Gorton for the long term and I'm very excited about finding the GM. It's going to be up to them to come to me and discuss what the new vision will be and what changes we'd like to accomplish. A complete re-build? A re-tool? I'm very excited to have this conversation with them, but it's too early to answer this question."
On the possibility of a rebuild:
"Regardless of what decision they want to bring to the table, I'll be supportive if it's the right thing for the Montreal Canadiens to be a great team in the long term. I'm not afraid of that word, and I think our fans wouldn't be afraid of that word either. I'm somebody who's a pretty good listener, I ask a lot of questions, and I try to make my opinions informed. If that is proposed to me, I would take everything very seriously.
"Nothing makes me afraid, but what I want is to win. Everything's possible, so I'm not afraid to make a difficult decision for the good of the organization."
On the timeline for filling the general manager position:
"There's no question this will be an exhaustive search. We're going to look everywhere to find the right person. I still believe the sooner the better, but it won't be at the expense of an extensive research, for sure. There are some great candidates out there that some of you are already talking about. I haven't asked permission of any team yet to talk to anybody, but the first step is to do the research and put together a list and we'll take it from there.
"We'll cross that bridge when it comes, but I don't think we'd rush into anything if we think a better candidate is going to be available in the offseason. We'll pick the best candidate no matter what.
"I'm going to do everything I can to try to choose the right person in the short term, because lots of things happen during the season too. We have to prepare for the Draft, we have to make decisions ahead of the trade deadline. If we have the two people in place as soon as possible, it should help us make better decisions."