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Marc Bergevin had already decided to leave Montreal in 2022

 Charles-Alexis Brisebois
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Marc Bergevin had already decided to leave Montreal in 2022
Credit: The end of his reign was not a logical continuation of his beginnings.
On November 28, 2021, three years ago to the day, the Canadiens made the decision to fire Marc Bergevin, Trevor Timmins and Paul Wilson. Geoff Molson made a decision that would transform the Canadiens.

Jeff Gorton arrived in Montreal (with a mandate to rebuild Geoff Molson’s club) and hired Kent Hughes as GM. Since then, much water has flowed under the bridge.

But since then, Marc Bergevin had never given a single interview to talk about his years in Montreal. That’s why I was surprised to see Pierre LeBrun publish an article on the subject this morning.

The Athletic’s journalist has pulled off a major coup, as Bergevin is well behind the scenes. If he had wanted to talk and be in the spotlight, he would have been.

What’s particularly interesting is Bergevin’s statement that he had made the decision not to return to Montreal after the 2021-2022 season. Remember that 2021-2022 was the last year of his contract.

There have been many rumours about a potential new contract and the price to pay to keep the architect of the 2021 Stanley Cup finalist team. And from what he says, Geoff Molson approached him in the summer of 2021 about keeping him on for the longer term. At the time, he was a year away from the end of his contract.

But he didn’t want to stay. And he made that clear to his owner.

I said to him: Geoff, I’m going to finish the last year of my contract and I’m going to move on. He understood. – Marc Bergevin

History will have taught us that he didn’t finish the last year of his contract because he was fired on the heels of his team’s ugly start to the season. Hiring Jeff Gorton was the right thing to do for the owner.

But the fact remains that Marc Bergevin has nothing ugly to say about Geoff Molson.

One aspect that made Marc Bergevin want to move on was the COVID-19. The situation wasn’t easy for him (he didn’t see his children for almost a year, as they were in the U.S.) and it hit him hard.

That weighed in the balance.

When Geoff made me the offer [of a contract], I felt there was no light at the end of the tunnel. – Marc Bergevin

What’s fascinating in all this is that rumours of contract negotiations for Bergevin were raging several months after the Canadiens had reached the finals.

Was everyone wrong? Did the former GM choose to rewrite history? Or are we simply wrong about when Bergevin told Geoff Molson he was moving on?

Ultimately, no matter how it was done, it was just as well to make the change. Bergevin has been able to get back into a calmer rhythm of life, and the Habs have nothing to complain about with their new management. Bergevin wishes them the best of luck.

I invite you to read Pierre LeBrun’s article again, as Bergevin touched on a number of other subjects.


Overtime

– What do you think?

– 8:24 of playing time for Ivan Demidov today. [KHL]

– Now there’s a goalie who’s pulling out all the stops.

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byu/Frederick_C_Kruegerincanucks

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