No matter how much of a foregone conclusion it seems to be, you can't squelch the fears of those convinced that management of the Canadiens won't be overhauled.
Obviously, the removal of Pierre Gauthier as General Manager of the team is paramount to shifting all the negative perception of the team's future to something positive, and the move itself has to be seen as the catalyst to the Canadiens making up for the miserable campaign of 2011-12.
Despite Tony Marinaro's insistence that Gauthier was relegated to the sidelines weeks ago, Martin Leclerc's story on Patrick Roy's imminent future with the team, and the reassuring opinions of other reporters (in or outside of Montreal), it's unimaginable to most that the Canadiens haven't pulled the trigger yet.
Doesn't mean they won't. Red Fisher all but
spells it out for you this morning in his column, and you can trust his sources, even if he doesn't name them, nor does he specifically detail that the whole management team will in fact be restructured.
Randy Cunneyworth: Collateral Damage or Deserving of a Demotion?
Obviously, the former. A lame-duck from day 1.
But you know what?
One thing you can't take away from Cunney is that he's provided a blueprint for how this team should be approaching several dimensions of their game moving forward. He's made them as competitive as they can be (albeit, without the motivation of the playoffs, in addition to crippling injuries, that challenge has clearly not been consistently met).
Cunneyworth has made certain players accountable, and under his tutelage, the improvements for players like Lars Eller and P.K. Subban have been noticeable. Both seem much more at ease with the notion that they aren't going to play mistake-free hockey. Both have found a comfort level in their roles that was unapparent under the previous bench-boss.
Don't know if you'd credit Cunneyworth with Alexei Emelin's rapid improvement over the season, but it's been a rather steady progression for the young Russian throughout the campaign.
Speaking of competitive:
Friday's game wasn't just special because Erik Cole popped the fastest hat-trick from the start of a game, in Canadiens history. It was special because the team proved to itself, much in the same way it's been doing sporadically-- in this hopeless second half of hockey--that they will defend one another.
It wasn't just Staubitz and White. It was Blunden too. And every other guy who helped the Canadiens have five guys in every after the whistle scrum.
And it carried over to Philadelphia as well, with Josh Gorges chucking the mitts with Pavel Kubina.
Blunden and White are pending RFAs, and Staubitz is a UFA. At this point, the Canadiens should heavily consider having all three on their roster come next season. That would be a real fourth line. The comments from every other player in the room acknowledge the truth we know: It takes a lot of fear out of their game.
If the plan is to keep Darche and Moen, they can certainly help complete a third line. That would enable Louis Leblanc to continue to develop in Hamilton, where for the time being, he belongs. If he can work on that skating stride over the summer and gain some mass, he can begin to build great confidence in the AHL. The kid has good instincts and a sense for where to be on the ice. His deficiencies--at this stage of his NHL career--are physical, and can be improved upon greatly.
It would also be good for Leblanc to play with some of the upcoming prospects that are likely to make Hamilton a much better team next season, like Danny Kristo and Brendan Gallagher.
Outside of managerial decisions that loom large, the team has to have an active strategy on building a line for Tomas Plekanec to play on.
They have Brian Gionta and Rene Bourque, but if anyone believes that's going to cut it, it just isn't.
Both wingers would have to come back with lofty goals in place, because both have a lot to prove. Gionta wasn't exactly excellent before suffering that terrible injury. And Bourque--well, not much needs to be said there.
If the Canadiens can't find a way to make that line significantly better on the wing, they have to find a way to get much, much stronger up the middle.
If they can't upgrade on Plekanec without dealing him, they need to seriously consider moving Eller, and pushing Plekanec down the lineup.
They could hire whoever they want as GM or coach, but if they go into another season with Plekanec, Desharnais and Eller up the middle, they don't stand a chance of being much better.
As I mentioned over the last couple of weeks, there are really pressing needs on the blue line. And though some have dreamed up a scenario where Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi arrive as the cavalry would, those two are not ready for the bright lights of the NHL.
Do Yannick Weber and Raphael Diaz have futures with this team?
Do Chris Campoli and Tomas Kaberle have futures with this team?
If the answers to those questions are yes, the Canadiens will remain as one of the softest teams in the league. And to hold onto players like these to round out a blue line that already includes Gorges, Subban, Markov and Emelin, would not be the right message to send to the franchise goaltender that's on the verge of signing a very long contract extension.
There's a draft to plan--one in which the Canadiens will be in the highest position they've been in since taking Price fifth overall in 2005. And there's unrestricted free agency to deal with.
There's entirely too much work to do to have the guy who screwed it all up making the decisions.
With six games left on the schedule, the countdown to the draft lottery isn't the only one people are focused on. We won't have to wait much longer to see which direction this team is taking from a managerial standpoint.
Continue to mull over that list of candidates...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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