Serge Savard, our prospective owner, Senator, good-will ambassador and one-time GM revealed yesterday that he has one of the unhealthiest. Second only perhaps to Jacques Demers. This article from RDS gives a little insight into why Bob Gainey might have moved so uncharacteristically in haste to sign Jacques Martin up. Lest he be saddled with the RDS broadcast team as his next-in commands.
Should he have been successful in championing the BCE money in their Canadiens venture, Serge Savard in his capacity as owner's spokesperson would have liked to put forward his coach from 1993, Jacques Demers, for the now filled head coach post.
Demers had no problem revealing the rumour himself (surprise, surprise) and even went so far to comment on his prospective staff for the upcoming year:
"Je voulais avoir Benoît Brunet, sans aucun doute, et Éric Desjardins, que j’admire et respecte comme défenseur. J’aurais probablement gardé Kirk Muller aussi. Je me serais entouré d’anciens gagnants de la coupe Stanley de 1993", a déclaré Demers, dont la carrière d’entraîneur a été mise sur les blocs après une deuxième saison difficile à la barre du Lightning de Tampa Bay en 1999.
Brunet as assistant, no doubt about that (feeling nauseous); Desjardins and Muller; to be supplemented by others from 1993 (of course). Might I suggest Racicot as goaltending coach and Roberge as special consultant?
The good thing about Demers is that he would come equipped with a plan that we've all already read, which I commented on in the now hauntingly apt-again title "Sometimes You Thank Your Stars They Are Just On TV":
Wow, that was heavy. Jacques Demers, being the Don Cherry of French Canadian TV is prone to saying stupid things off the cuff. But these were some of the worst. I'm just glad he's no longer associated with the decision making for this team and that he is kept at a safe distance from the ice in the RDS press box...
His changes are here.
Koivu is out. Kovalev and Tanguay in. He'd resign Plekanec, but be willing to trade him. Latendresse and Lapierre make up two of the others in our formidable 6 remaining forwards according to Jacques. The Ds remain for the most part. He does then boot Halak to let Marc Denis reclaim NHL glory as a backup.
If his grip on the new administration stretched as far as the GM's office, he'd be pursuing loads of free agents to fill the gaps. He'd also trade the Kostitsyns, Plekanec, Gorges and Halak for Lecavalier and St. Louis (I'm surprised Tamps hasn't made this trade already!).
So we play along. We indulge, M. Savard and Demers.
Mesdames et Messieurs, vos Canadiens de 2009-2010:
Dirigeant general/General Manager, Bob Gainey
Entraineur des gardiens/Goaltending coach, Andre Racicot
Entraineur adjoint/Assistant coach, Kirk Muller
Entraineur adjoint/Assistant coach, Eric Desjardins
Entraineur adjoint/Assistant coach, Benoit Brunet
Entraineur chef/Head coach, Jacques Demers
(At this point, to the strained sounds of Queen's We Are The Champions, Demers parades a foil cup around the ice stopping to kiss it 93 times)
Numero 3/Number 3: Ryan O'Byrne
Numero 4/Number 4: Vincent Lecavalier
Numero 8/Number 8: Mike Komisarek
...
You get the point, but here's his depth chart:
Tanguay – Lecavalier – Kovalev
D’Agostini – Antropov – St-Louis
Latendresse – Lapierre - Neil
Laraque – Metropolit – Laperrière
Markov – Komisarek
Hamrlik – Beauchemin
Havelid – Leopold
Substitut : Weber, Stewart, O’Byrne
(Here's the balance sheet: +15 million over the cap)
Anyone think we chose the wrong Jacques now? Are we a bit relieved Rejean Houle never made enough money to buy this team?
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