Molson promises more transparency
Canadiens owner/president Geoff Molson had a message for fans at the beginning of Monday’s postmortem news conference in Brossard after his team missed the playoffs for the second time in three years, finishing with a 2940-13 record.
“It goes without saying that I am — we are all extremely disappointed with our season,” Molson said. “When things go badly we have a legitimate opportunity to re-evaluate everything we do with the objective of starting next season better and building for a more promising future. The status quo is not acceptable. We are the NHL’s most storied franchise and we owe it to our fans to achieve a standard of excellence that they expect. We need to bring back the winning culture that we did not see this season. If I could leave our fans with one message today it is that we will get better on and off the ice.
“On the ice, changes will be required and we intend to look at all areas with a view to improve. Off the ice, we’ll be improving our communications for the fans across all areas of the organization. And also when you come to the Bell Centre next season your fan experience will be different and improved in several key areas. Last, but not least, I’d like to thank our fans. Thank you for sticking with your Canadiens and showing your support throughout a very difficult season. Thank you.”
The Canadiens have never been known for being transparent with their fans and the media, but that’s something Molson said will change.
“I think it’s an understanding that we can communicate better and bring in a fresh way of us communicating with our fans that they’re going to appreciate,” he said.
“Sometimes, every once in a while, I’ll listen to the radio, the talk shows, and people talking about things that happened. The full story’s not understood and I wish I could just pick up the phone and say: ‘You missed something here.’ So when we do make decisions, I want to be in a position to give as much information as we possibly can so that the debates that people have about our organization are as legitimate as possible. And I’m not accusing anyone. I’m just saying the more we give and the more transparent we can be the better off, the happier our fans will be.”