Hello fellow Hab addicts, my name is Bryan Willey and it has been almost 2 months since my last confession... errrrr blog.
I apologize for the delay. Quite frankly though, this season has been a complete write-off for me.
I am fan through and through just like the rest of you. But my complete and utter lack of confidence in Pierre Gauthier — and especially Bob Gainey — made me nauseous to the point where I found myself hating the game and the team that I grew up loving.
100 years of class and pride was almost completely erased because of a complete mismanagement of assets, a complete lack of respect for the fan base and, especially, a complete lack of respect for the CH itself.
I, like many of you out there, have been preaching for change for many, many years but those wishes often went by the wayside. Ownership simply did not want to hear, nor admit, that there was a problem.
As such, the organization continued to spiral out of control, seeing only occasional periods of success — namely the 2010 playoff run. The arena was full, sweaters were selling and the coffers were full of the hard earned money of the average fan. But then it happened. President and owner Geoff Molson stepped from the shadows and did the unthinkable.
A confession was made. A confession of guilt and wrong doing. A confession that something was in fact wrong with the management of the team and that change was needed.
Shhhhhhhh, be quiet for a second and listen hard. Can you hear that?
“My name is Geoff Molson, and I have a problem.”
And, just like that, Molson begun his much needed 12 step journey to recovery.
I apologize if I offend anyone because addiction is no laughing matter. Frankly, I have nothing but respect towards anyone who takes the leap to battle their demons. However, if you know me well enough, then you certainly know that I try to find humour in everything.
It's my coping mechanism for an otherwise sheltered and difficult life. O.K, not really.
Think about this for a second though. Do you not see the correlation between the 12 steps of enlightenment for AA and the path to enlightenment that Geoff Molson now embarks on?
Right off the top, before one can even begin the journey to recovery one must find a mentor. A person to serve as a guide through the difficult times. A person who has been there and has succeeded.
Enter Serge Savard.
Once that mentor has been found, it is time to cleanse.
Step 1: Admit to being powerless over the situation. Essentially admitting there is a problem.
Mr. Molson not only acknowledged there was a problem but sought immediate means to part with that problem by firing Pierre Gauthier and Bob Gainey.
Step 2: Come to belief that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Remember the words of Mr. Molson himself who publicly cited that he is not a hockey man and, as such, will leave the hockey decisions in the hands of someone more qualified.
Step 3: Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of someone who understands.
Although that person has not yet been determined, Mr. Molson vows to have someone in place in the very near future. This person will be a qualified hockey mind who’ll reform the current image of the
Bleu Blanc Rouge. I've recently heard that the search has been narrowed to Marc Bergevin, Claude Loiselle, Julien Brisebois and Pierre McGuire.
Step 4: Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of the situation.
Although the moral inventory started with Pierre Gauthier, it is widely admitted that this team is small, the coaching is questionable, the farm team lacks the depth to compete and the organization has gone more than 10 years in search of the proverbial big powerful center. Now it is a matter of ending the discussion and acting.
Step 5: Admit to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs.
Exact nature of our wrongs? Are you kidding me? The nature of our wrongs became the entire Gainey Era. If it was not for the superb work of Trevor Timmins to fill this roster with NHL calibre players then we would be a heck of a lot worse off. This organization has continued to be set back by poor personnel and pro scouting errors.
Step 6: We are entirely ready to remove all these defects of character.
Straight from the horses mouth, Mr. Molson is prepared to do whatever it takes. Whether that means burying a $7.4 million per season mistake in the AHL or hiring the most expensive Manager-Coach tandem in the NHL. All errors will be remedied in order to achieve betterment.
Step 7: Humbly asked to remove our shortcomings.
Do you not remember the year in review press conference? A public apology and a formal printed apology in the newspaper for the 2011-12 fiasco ensued.
Step 8: Make a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
To the 21,273 fans in the Bell Centre every game and the millions at home watching. To Mike Cammalleri for parting ways with like a piece of yesterdays trash. Without having the testicular fortitude to treat him with respect when he was traded from this organization. To Saku Koivu who gave all that he could to a city and to a franchise but who in reciprocation did not even get a phone call to tell him his services were no longer required.
Step 9: Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
What can be done to remedy all the wrongs that have been made. We have been stripped of Blue Chip prospects like Ryan McDonaugh and of strong players like Matt D’Agostini, Guillaume Latendresse, Mike Ribeiro, Michael Ryder, Sheldon Souray, Jaroslav Halak, Matt Carkner, Sergei Kostitsyn, Mikhail Grabovski, Mark Streit, Maxim Lapierre, Chris Higgins and Ron Hainsey.
So much wrong. So much pain.
Step 10: Continued to take inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
Yes, Mr. Gainey and Mr. Gauthier, you were wrong in trading for Scott Gomez and Tomas Kaberle. Yes you were wrong signing Mike Cammalleri and a bunch of other “more durable” players. Yes you were wrong in drafting David Fischer ahead of, say, Claude Giroux. You were wrong in letting Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu and the remainder of that team depart via Free Agency without getting any assets in return.
Step 11: Sought through a long withstanding search under every rock and cranny to improve our conscious contact with the hockey world, praying only for knowledge of whom to hire with the power and ability to make us succeed.
No, a replacement to Gauthier has not been found, but there have been close to ten phone interviews and at least four face-to-face interviews to date. Geoff Molson and Serge Savard, at least in the public forum, appear to be searching for the most qualified individual to fill the void. Every rock and cranny — you know, with French speaking ability — will be analysed.
Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to Habs fans, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
The wheels are in motion, the promises have been made. It is now time to turn all Habs fans into believers.
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Bryan is a Marketer by day, writer for HabsAddict.com by night and full time fan of the game. Follow me on twitter @BryanWilley78 but don't bother looking for me on Facebook, I'm just too old for that now!
(Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)
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