Poll of the Week

[BigTed3]

Who do you think should be be the GM next season? Should PG stay? If he goes, should it be the best francophone candidate or is there an anglophone candidate who blows out the competition?

And yes, I've deliberately left candidates like Vincent Damphousse (no experience) and Pierre McGuire (a color man for too long) off the list. Please feel free to make other suggestions though.

[Guest]

I believe Molson will cave and hire a French GM if he let's PG go. After the RC fiasco,, i doubt he wants to go there again. From what i've heard of the guy,,,,i think Brisebois is high on that list. I don't know enough about him to declare he's the man. Hopefully some of our members can provide some insight. Looking forward to the comments.

[jennifer_rocket]

I have no idea.

[GreekHockeyCoach]

I would stay with PG, I feel he's done a great job under the circumstances. It's never easy to make all the right moves when you're constantly under a microscope. I feel he's done more good than harm to this team. The only moves I question is Kaberle and then dealing Cammy way too early instead of waiting for the highest bidder at the trade deadline. If Kaberle can get back to playing hockey the way he did in Toronto, then I wouldn't question this trade anymore.

[BeanCountingHab]

I'd love to see someone fresh like Jim Nill, but don't know how likely that is given he isn't French.

I actually think it might end up being Larry Carriere. For better or worse, we seem to like a level of continuity in our management. And if I'm not mistaken, he's one of the few guys that was actually brought in by the Molsons and not simply a carry over from the existing Gainey regime.

[weepingminotaur]

Briefly, who are Nill, Fenton, and Loiselle?

[BeanCountingHab]

Briefly, who are Nill, Fenton, and Loiselle?

Nill is VP and Assistant GM for the Wings. He's been with the organization for a while (including all their cups from '97 onward). He broke in as a scout and I think he actually drects their amateur scouting and plays a pretty big role in the draft and overseeing development of players in the minors.

Loiselle is the Leaf's assistant GM I believe, don't know much more about him or Fenton.

[weepingminotaur]

Nill is VP and Assistant GM for the Wings. He's been with the organization for a while (including all their cups from '97 onward). He broke in as a scout and I think he actually drects their amateur scouting and plays a pretty big role in the draft and overseeing development of players in the minors.

Loiselle is the Leaf's assistant GM I believe, don't know much more about him or Fenton.

Thanks, Bean.

[BigTed3]

To finish the answer to Weep's question, Paul Fenton is the assistant GM with the Preds and another guy who many pundits feel could be ready to take on the role of GM next season. I don't believe he speaks french, but neither does Nill, who is probably the guy with the best credentials to take on the GM job. It's also possible that Fenton might have an inside track on Suter and/or Weber if Nashville can't re-sign them and deals away their rights.

To answer the original question, I don't believe there is a guy who speaks french who can do a better job than Gauthier. I also believe Gauthier has done a decent job. Like GHC, I was disappointed with the return on the Cammy trade, and I will say the same about the AK deal. But he got a nice package for Gill, so that can go both ways. I don't fault PG for the Kabs deal, as that seemed like a good deal at the time and still has the potential to work out in the future. There have been a number of reasons why the D was not well-coached this season, and those could have affected kaberle's performance, but in any case, he's helped the PP and put up points at a decent rate. And if we're able to deal him next season for any kind of a return, then the trade turns out to be a win, given that we gave up nothing but a bad contract in return to begin with. So I'll stick with PG, although if I had to choose a new guy, Nill would be my first choice among the other candidates.

[Guest habs1952]

Jim Nill:

After he retired as an active player he joined the scouting staff of the Ottawa Senators as Amateur scout. He was promoted to professional scout after only 2 years. He joined the Red Wings front office in the summer of 1994 following his 3 year stint with the Ottawa Senators.

Jim Nill's duties include directing Detroit's amateur scouting and selections at the annual NHL Entry Draft. He had also served as the general manager of the Adirondack Red Wings.

Nill continues to oversee the development of the Red Wings' prospects that are currently assigned to Detroit's main affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League, as well as those in the Canadian junior and European leagues.

In his management role with the Detroit Red Wings he has helped the team to 4 Stanley Cup Championships in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2008.

[CANADIENS27]

As much as we need stability, a goofup such as the Martin firing might be enough to offset what he's done. As disappointed as some people are with the Cammalleri deal, wouldn't we have been forced to deal him anyway and could we have gotten a better return? I've already posted this question on the "State of the Habs" thread. For now, we need some stability in the front office.

[js2]

Since I'm not really familiar with some on the list and have even less of an idea of who else is out there that would be available, I went with Nill for his experience in Detroit.

[hatethosebruins]

I wouldnt be opposed to another season of PG, I think this season is a total fluke and we've seen him cave under pressure. Lets see how he does next season with pressure to perform right from the Get go, beginning of last season we were expected to be a playoff team. Now were a team that missed the playoffs. If pg panics again, hes gone.

[MIASUN]

Since we always hire rookie head coaches, why not try to swing for a francophone Theo Epstein (Baseball reference)?

Julien Brisebois has experience with young players in our organization, is bilingual and would bring a "new world order" to our stale front office. I think combining him with a veteran head coach like Marc Crawford for a couple more years while Patrick Roy matures is the best transition for the team.

[CANADIENS27]

Another question to ask is are the candidates listed in touch with the league as is it now? They'd have to be or they wouldn't be listed.

[Guest Regis2]

Another question to ask is are the candidates listed in touch with the league as is it now? They'd have to be or they wouldn't be listed.

PG - nope

Julien BriseBois

Assistant General Manager / General Manager, Norfolk Admirals

You would hope so - and he's bilingual - but is he a good evaluator of talent

Paul Fenton - Fenton is currently an assistant general manager with the NHL's Nashville Predators.[1] He also simultaneously serves as the General Manager of the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals

But is he bilingual

Jimm Nill

Jim Nill's duties include directing Detroit's amateur scouting and selections at the annual NHL Entry Draft. He had also served as the general manager of the Adirondack Red Wings.

Nill continues to oversee the development of the Red Wings' prospects that are currently assigned to Detroit's main affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League, as well as those in the Canadian junior and European leagues.

Is he bi lingual

P Lacroiz - nope IMO

J Martin - nope IMO

Claude L - On May 29, 2010, Loiselle agreed to terms on a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs as their assistant general manager. He will work alongside Brian Burke, the Maple Leaf's General Manager. Prior to that, he was a scout for the Anaheim Ducks.

He's bilingual

[BigTed3]

Another question to ask is are the candidates listed in touch with the league as is it now? They'd have to be or they wouldn't be listed.

Of the guys I've listed, I would say yes, with the exception of possibly Lacroix, who hasn't held down a GM/assistant GM job in a while. However, he's francophone and he has an obvious connection with Patrick Roy if the team decides it wants to go that route with the head coaching job.

[Manatee-X]

I would stay with PG, I feel he's done a great job under the circumstances. It's never easy to make all the right moves when you're constantly under a microscope. I feel he's done more good than harm to this team. The only moves I question is Kaberle and then dealing Cammy way too early instead of waiting for the highest bidder at the trade deadline. If Kaberle can get back to playing hockey the way he did in Toronto, then I wouldn't question this trade anymore.

I was going to post until I read this - now I think I'll just quote it instead because it was exactly what I was going to say . I will, however, add firing Martin as perhaps his biggest blunder to date.

I think there's also something to be said for stability. Assuming you don't think that this team is too far away from being good (and I don't) I think we're better off letting Gauthier work with what he knows than we are bringing in a new guy who will want to go and put his own stamp on the team.

I know fans always want change, especially in the midst of such a terrible season, but fans will ALWAYS want change when their team is losing. First it was Martin (how did THAT go?), now it's Gauthier. I also find it kind of funny that we've been hearing for years about how Montreal was so small and made up of smurfs and blah blah blah. Well now for the first time we've got a GM who has made a marked change in that direction and everyone's suddenly the expert again saying that he should go.