Bergevin fails to take responsibility for failures
GM’s ‘embarrassment’ of an exit interview avoided any semblance of responsibility
If anyone wants to write a book on the Art of the Exit Interview, we can point to three prime examples of how it’s done (and not done) from last week’s “How the Titanic Went Down” interviews in Buffalo and Montreal.
First, following the worst season of his career, a season in which he became a favourite whipping boy for frustrated fans, Canadiens sniper Max Pacioretty opened his heart and talked about his love for this city and its fans. Props to the captain for his honesty, for being open enough to learn to love a place that is so very different from the U.S., for his willingness to share his feelings.
After an even worse season for his team, veteran Buffalo Sabres centre Ryan O’Reilly offered a rare, candid peek at what really goes through a player’s head as his team sleepwalks through a terrible campaign.
Finally, given a chance to step up and take the blame for a disastrous season that was mostly of his own making, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin did the exact opposite: he pointed his finger squarely at the players, repeating over and over again his team had an “attitude” problem.
Let’s start with O’Reilly, who went to a place where players rarely go before, during or after their careers. The Sabres, he said, had adopted a mindset where they were “OK with losing.
“It’s crept into all our games,” O’Reilly said. “Yeah, it’s disappointing. It’s sad. I feel throughout the year I’ve lost the love of the game multiple times and just need to get it back because it’s eating myself up and eating the other guys up, too.”
Some of the usual bottom-feeding radio jocks and commentstring mouth-breathers went off on O’Reilly, but in truth he was only saying what you already know if you stop to think: no player can go through a 50-loss season and take every loss to heart. After a while, the losing leaves you numb. (We should also note O’Reilly was being hard on himself after a 24-goal, 37-assist season that would have led the Canadiens in scoring.)
Pacioretty, who has always worn his heart on his sleeve, admitted he was in a tough position at season’s end: “I think as you get older, you get a little bit more emotional. I never expected that. I’m prepared for anything, but this is special. It might be my last time doing an interview in this locker-room, so yeah, it is a little bit emotional.
“I love it here. We’re just so comfortable with the way people live their lives here . ... This is a special place and it’s more of a European lifestyle … but I’ve fallen in love with this city.”
Then it was Bergevin’s turn. Maybe he should have stuck with the clichés, because what he trotted out for the cameras was an embarrassment.
“It was a disappointing season from start to finish and that is unacceptable,” Bergevin said, a statement with which no one could disagree.
“The overall attitude needs to change. I think an attitude changes a lot of things. Of course good players make things better, but if you have good players with the right attitude. … I could bring anyone in here, but if the attitude is not better, we’re going to be in the same spot.”
So who was responsible for putting together this team full of players with rotten attitudes? Don Cherry? Fonzie? Drake? Minnie Mouse?
Call me crazy, but I could swear Bergevin has been GM of the Canadiens for six seasons now. If there is a bad attitude in the room, surely he is responsible? What good does it do to shift the burden to the players, when you selected those players?
One of Bergevin’s real accomplishments when he came here was to change the culture left by outgoing GM Pierre (The Ghost) Gauthier. Gauthier was on a virtual war footing with his players after his shabby treatment of a couple of traded players (notably Mike Cammalleri). Gauthier was so tense he could make coffee nervous and it rubbed off on the entire organization.
Enter Bergevin, a guy you could have a beer with, a prankster with a sense of humour, a man who could get everyone to loosen up. Six years on, however, Bergevin is beginning to seem more and more like Gauthier. Next thing you know, we’ll be hearing the players were forced to eat a vegan meal on the plane following a bad game on the West Coast.
Really, what Bergevin needed to say was achingly simple: “I blew it. We needed Andrei Markov and Alexander Radulov, we needed them badly, and I went about it all wrong. It was too little, too late. I should have been out in front with both of them and locked them up early and I didn’t and that set the tone for this entire disaster.
“It’s on me, ladies and gentlemen. I’m the GM, I’m the one who messed up.”
But like his team’s season, the GM’s exit interview was a disappointment from start to finish.
Six years on, however, (Marc) Bergevin is beginning to seem more and more like (Pierre) Gauthier.