Team could use Serge Savard’s peopleskills C10
Former general manager’ s people skills are something that is lacking these days
When Canadiens owner Geoff Molson went looking for a new general manager six years ago, he asked Serge Savard to help him conduct the search.
It was a good move by Molson, since Savard was a Hall of Fame defenceman with the Canadiens and won eight Stanley Cups as a player before becoming the team’ s general manager and building Montreal’ s last two championship teams in 1986 and 1993.
After a month-long search, M olson was them an to rebuild the Canadiens after they had finished the 2011-12 season with the thirdworst record in the NHL (31-3516).
Six years later, the Canadiens rank 26th out of 31 NHL teams with a 22-27-7 record following Saturday’ s 3-2 shoot out loss to the Nashville Predators.
With the Feb. 26 NHL trade deadline approaching and Bergevin still in charge, it certainly looks like he’s going to keep his job and work on another five-year plan after his first one failed. When Savard was interviewed by Chris Nilan Thursday on the former Hab’s Off the Cuff show on TSN Radio 690, he said Molson has a plan for the future, although the owner hasn’t stated publicly what it is.
“I trust him that he has a plan,” Savard said.
If that plan includes keeping Bergevin, Molson should reach out to Savard for help once again and offer him the role of director of hockey operations.
One of the areas in which Bergevin has failed badly is his ability to manage people — whether it be P.K. Subban, Alex Galchenyuk, Nathan Be au lieu, Alexander Ra du lov, Andre i Markov or John Scott in that travesty of a trade that had the lovable tough guy banished to St. John’ s in what seemed like a favour to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman — and that’s something Savard is very good at.
“I’ve been saying that about Subban,” Savard said when Nilan asked him about managing people. “When you see a coach (Michel Therrien) that blasts his players in the newspapers, that’s not the way it works in this game. If Chris Nil an did anything wrong with me, I would call Chris Nil an, have a coffee with me. I didn’t do that very often, but I did it once in a while. What really helped me as a manager is I was always a player and I put myself into the skates of the players. I was a player and it really, really helped me and I defended my players. If I would have blasted you or my best players in the papers, you think he would work for me?”
Savard recalled a time early in the 1987-88 season when he was frustrated with the play of a young Stéphane Richer, who wasn’ t scoring and, worse, wasn’t getting involved in the play. Savard went to assistant GM Jacques Le mai re and said :“What are we going to do with this guy?”
“Jacques says: ‘Serge, leave it to me. I know the guy, I know what he can give me. Let’s leave him alone. Tomorrow, he’ll probably score three for me,’ ” Savard recalled. “I said OK. But that’s the way he handled Stéphane Richer, and Stéphane Richer at the end of the year he scored 50 goals. But we didn’ t start to whip him and put his name in the paper saying we’ re not happy. I did the opposite. I called Stép hane Richer in my office and I had a coffee and I poured only the positive things about him and we had a player.”
Can a di ens fans can only imagine what the team would look like now if S av a rd could have taken Sub ban, Radulov and Markov for a cup of coffee and maybe worked out some problems. You have to think a cup of coffee with Savard could help young players like Gal chen yuk and Jonathan Drou in moving forward, and a cup of coffee—or-two—with S ava rd wouldn’ t hurt Berg ev in, either.
S av a rd told Nil an he gets stopped on the street by Canadiens fans who are upset and, worse, losing interest in the team he called a group of underachievers. Savard has noticed the empty seats at the Bell Centre — saying “that’s dangerous” — and added Canadiens fans need something to be proud to cheer for again.
Savard is 72, but that’s three years younger than Toronto Maple Leafs GM Lou Lam oriel lo, who has done a pretty good job helping rebuild that team.
S av a rd’ s people skills and hockey knowledge — even though he has been out of the game — could certainly help Bergevin as a sounding board if Molson gives the GM another chance. Bergevin, known for his stubbornness, would have to be willing to listen.
“When (Molson) asked me to help him six years ago, I did not hesitate, and if he asks me again, if the occasion comes, why not?” S av a rd told Nil an when asked if he would be interested in being director of hockey operations .“But I’m not looking for a full-time job or anything like that. But if they need any help, they know where to reach me.”
What really helped me as a manager is I was always a player and I put myself into the skates of the players.