A presser to remember by Bergevin: 

Reading between the lines and looking ahead with an objective calm head

So, here were, nearly a week after the Habs were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of their second round series. As with all playoff defeats, this one led to some disappointment, to some sadness and in my case to an odd sense of satisfaction that this team is still heading in the right direction. I am a lifelong fan of the Habs, I watch nearly every game and in the past 3 years have been better than the past 15 by a long, long country mile. Sure my Habs had spurts of good play under the Gainey regime (midway through and before Mr. Gainey lost is daughter) but it was never sustainable progress. This time the upswing is led by youth who form the core of the team.This team the Habs have a solid management team from GM down to coach who stick to their plan. This is how long term contenders are built folks and at the very least the GM and his staff are trying to do just that. Of course, this being Montreal, the fanbase and media make doing this very hard. thankfully this GM and this coach are able to ignore the worse of the idiocy that comes from some fans and the agenda pushed by some media. This to me is a pre-requisite to do well in the Montreal market! 

Now on to this blog, I will tackle a few issues-points I feel are interesting and or amusing  and also try my hand a bit of off-season forecasting. One thing is for sure, if you are a sensitive soul who cannot handle a bit of sarcasm and dark humor, you might want to stop reading now...

The fans

The Habs fan base is for the most part passionate and fun. I am part of that fan base and until the advent of massive social media was, like most of you, shielded from most of the dementia and low-brow attacks-tantrums that some of the fans throw after games, during games, between games....That kind of behavior was the purview of that lone guy at the bar who had drunk too much. Now, its in your face via twitter and while it is for the most part amusing, it can get a bit depressing at times when some of the fans go beyond the pale or start to think they are GMs, Coaches or even journalists who know hockey like Red Fisher did. I am not one of those, I consider myself as having decent hockey knowledge, no more. I do not pretend to be a journalist (hint: a media pass does not make you a journalist), just an interesting observer. 

So, this presser by Bergevin was something I actually ENJOYED. As someone whom I highly respect on twitter said, Bergevin sure dished out some cold harsh truths in this presser about his team. I agree this was well overdue and deserved, He also (finally) responded to the mud-slinging campaign that has been going on about his coach. While I think Therrien has flaws, I also thinks he wins more than he loses and that he took a team with little offense to 2 consecutive 100pts seasons and two playoff runs that were decent. Sadly, when discussing Therrien, balance is out the window and virtiol is the name of the game. Sadly, the language issue is also there like an ugly pile of stinking refuse, being used maliciously by some fans with an agenda that goes well beyond hockey. So, Bergevin was right to take the media and by extension the fans to task on this Therrien crap. It was reminiscent of Gainey coming out to defend Brisebois years ago. That too was a warranted move by the GM. 

Bergevin laid it out for media and fans and if one can calm down and read between the lines, he said very many interesting things. I will try and tackle them here:

1- The #1 Centre

The GM said TRUE #1 centres with size and skill are almost never acquired via trade and that it is extremely hard to do. Fans and some media went bonkers at this. To them the translation was: Bergevin will not even try. This is where that handy skill of reading between the lines or seeing the second degree comes in rather handy! Could it possibly be that the GM would NOT wish to reveal is exact strategy to fans and media in a public presser? GASP! SHOCK! This could not possibly be, especially from a GM most would qualify as stealthy when it comes to transactions. No that seemed to sophisticated for the more angry portion of fans, to them, the GM said he would make no moves in the summer and that the team was doomed. As you can see, the divide is pretty wide between rationality and irrationality! 

My take: the GM is WELL AWARE of team needs at Centre and will try to fix them over the summer by trading 1 or 2 of his current centres. He does NOT have to acquire a top 1C with size and all the bells and whistles, all he has to do is acquire a solid big centre that can play a 1A-1B role, thus shielding whomever becomes the #2 centre next year. Yes I know such logic is scary because it means the GM is not updating you every day personally and telling you all he will do in exact detail.

2- Galchenyuk

Bergevin said chucky may not play centre. When that happened, that rabid portion of the fan base lost their minds (again). I assume they would be tired by now having expended so much emotional energy by then but twitter proved me wrong and gave me (and others) a real chuckle! Chucky is 21 years of age. He is still developing, As the same person whom I highly respect said, lots of centres make it to the NHL as Wingers and go on to thrive. I personally think Bergevin was also sending out a message to his extremely talented 21 year old player. The message was: this organization has a plan and we decide where players play, unless they force us to do so otherwise. Chucky has tons of talent, he also has a bit of a pouting attitude at times, which is normal as he is a 21 YEAR OLD. I will not spontaneously combust and call the Habs a failure if chucky ends up as a winger. I expect they try him at centre at camp and see what he can bring. It will then be up to HIM to grab the brass ring, much like Subban, Beaulieu, Pacioretty, Gallagher and other young guns did. They listened and they adapted and now they are all thriving and improving....think about that one for second as you sharpen your anti-therrien pitchfork and warm up your tub of tar. 

3- The coach

Bergevin did what a good GM does: he defended his coach. This sadly played right into the hands of the more unstable portion of the fan base who hate Therrien and everything he does. Heck, I assume they even hate the brand of cereal he eats in the morning, especially if it is a cereal with a french name....So Bergevin set the record straight as far as he he concerned. This does not mean Therrien is impervious to being fired, it means firing him now has no foundation or logic at all because he wins. 

Now the coach needs to be fired narrative is hilarious onto itself because most of the firetherrien crowd use contradicting arguments that discredit their own points. Heck, no need to argue back, just let them rant and after a while they are so busy shooting themselves in the feet with a rock salt shotgun or tossing live grenades down their own pants that it becomes hilarious. Lets examine a few of the more amusing self-defeating arguments...

I- This coach cannot develop youth. 

He may have issues with SOME young players (then again find me one coach who does not) but in general terms the following players have all taken huge strides under him: Subban, Pacioretty, Gallagher, Price (with the help of Waite who is the key player here), Beaulieu. All these players have one thing in common: they listened and then they grabbed the brass ring and never let go. They each became or are becoming leaders and core players. That is on the coach in some ways but it is also on them for choosing to put in the work. the anti-coach narrative says they developed despite Therrien, or to spite him. Ok, then. 

The same fans quote the Penguins winning the cup after Therrien had been fired. That is interesting because Therrien had take the same Pens squad to the finals already. His main fault in Pit was mostly how he dealt with media and passed on messages to player through media. As you may have noticed, he almost never does this now. The other aspect is that Bylsma never even came close to sniffing a cup finals after he won with what was essentially Therrien's team. This happens all the time in pro-sports. Therrien did build and develop that team and Crosby had his best offensive season under him. So I guess he can develop young players in some way or another....yes I know this is impossible!

II- This coach stiffles offense

This is usually filed under the "system" heading. Therrien's current system (yes he can change folks...just like J. Martin changed his system in Ottawa when he had to guns up front) is defensive and that is because he has very little to work with in his top 6. This is where it gets very interesting. the rabid fans will argue that Therrien stiffles the offensively talented Habs but usually the very next sentence is that the Habs have at most 3 or 4 true top 6 forwards. Now THAT is some funny crap! So which is it: too much talent being stiffled or not enough talent? 

My take: this team has 3 true top 6 players: Patches, Galchenyuk, Gallagher (a 2nd line winger ideally) and one borderline top 6 player in Plekanec. Plekanec is a solid centre but his age and play style would make him a superb defensive 3rd line centre who can chip in offensively. Sadly he is miscast as a 1C in Montreal due to the lack of a 1C on the roster. With such an "offense" and with a superb goalie and a good defensive core, ANY competent coach would push for a defensive system. Furthermore, in another city a coach coaxing two 100+ point seasons out of this roster of forwards and 5 playoff rounds would be seen as pretty darn good. Not so in Montreal where he gets lambasted as crap. Under Therrien, the true top 6 players have thrived with Patches scoring 35+ goals each season under Therrien (or on pace to do so in lock out season) all the while becoming a complete player who plays PP and PK and a leader, Gallagher scoring more goals in the past 2 seasons, Chucky with all his ups and downs managed to score 20 goals this year and had he not hit a wall in the final 20 some games, would perhaps have scored 25 or 30. Plekanec had his best offensive season in a few years this year but yes, I know, this happened despite this horrible stifling evil coach...who speaks french (yes I am making that reference again because it is part of the narrative sadly).

So the presser covered a lot of ground and in my estimation set the record straight: this team is on the upswing but still needs some pieces. 

2- The off season

Bergevin has some work to do this off-season but he is working with a solid base. The following players will be let go: Flynn, Gonchar (Moen trade thus freeing the team from a contract that was till valid), Weaver, Allen (Bourque trade thus freeing the team from a contract that was still valid), Malhotra. 

Mitchell may be signed if the price is right (no more than 1M) and could be the teams 4C next year. 

Petry if signed will cost 5 to 5.5M, if the price goes to 6M then Bergevin will pass and wisely so. 

Galchenyuk will get a bridge-deal, that is the way Bergevin will work it. 

Beaulieu will either get a bridge deal or an intermediate length contract (2 years or perhaps 3-4 like Eller). 

I expect the team to retain DSP on a 1-2 year deal as well. 

In terms of roster, the team will look within for offense and will likely give a shot in camp at Andrigetto, Hudon, perhaps McCarron and Sherbak. If chucky cracked the line up at 19, perhaps Sherbak can too. 

I fully expect Bergevin to be active on the trade market and with UFAs. He has been active every year since hired. but wait, at the conference he said he would do NOTING! How can this be???? ;)

In my estimation, the Habs are a very good team but need help in the top 6 and perhaps on D should Petry not be signed. 

My moves would be as follows (and I am aware that they might not happen...)

Trade DD, its time, the kid has done what he can here as a stopgap player. His value is limited but he can be useful to a team. 

Trade Plekanec, this hurts badly, but its time. Trading DD and Plekanec means acquiring a veteran Centre with size who can play 1A-1B while Chucky develops as a 2C next year, well shielded. 

My Centre line would be: Thornton (or E. Staal if the price is right) - Galchenyuk - Eller (who is truly a 3C) and Mitchell or DeLarose. 

A winger would need to be acquired or signed and I would think Parenteau would be moved. PAP cannot play bottom 6 and is not a true top 6 anymore. If they keep him, then play him on the 2nd line with Chucky.

On D, sign Petry and trade Emelin to make room. Markov needs to be moved to the second pairing. At camp let Pateryn, Beaulieu and Tinordi battle it out for where they will play on depth chart but retain them all. 

To get that winger and that centre, the Habs will need to pay. In terms of chips, they have Fucale who is expendable, Plekanec, DD, PAP, Emelin and a few prospects that could attract interest. 

I personally think its time to make a big trade to get a big time winger and that the Habs can afford to pay the price now. 

I finally think that the Habs need to get an assistant coach that can truly replace Gallant and that has PP knowledge.

So, thats it, enjoy  your off-season and see you at the draft folks!

Remember stay calm and rest assured Therrien will be there in septembre ;)