It was recently suggested by Martin Leclerc that the Montreal Canadiens’ executive vice-president of hockey operations, Jeff Gorton, has grown a little bored of his role. Leclerc opined that there is a possibility that Gorton could be lured away from Montreal for a general management role, an idea that was later refuted by Renaud Lavoie.
But as of this morning, it seems that the rumour may have had a little more veracity than previously believed, as the Habs are apparently engaged in preliminary talks with their preferred replacement for Gorton, Pierre McGuire.
McGuire is of course best known for his broadcasting career, but recently held the position of senior vice-president of player development with the Ottawa Senators. He lasted less than a calendar year in that role, another entry in his list of short-lived NHL roles that didn’t involve standing in front of a microphone.
Putting aside why Gorton feels unfulfilled in his current role, and would want to leave the team well before completing the rebuild he helped to start, McGuire is simply a bizarre candidate. There is no body of work from which we could deduce that he has the capacity to help this team’s rebuild, and in fact, his recent work history suggests he could do more damage than good.
This could end up being a massive blow to the rebuild. With the team poised to have a top-five pick, plus at least one additional pick in the first round, this is a crucial time for the Tricolore. The last thing they need is to hire a broadcaster, let alone one with an NHL resume that clearly indicates a lack of capacity to make a positive contribution to the rebuild.
Most will recall the last time that the Canadiens picked fifth overall, when they selected Carey Price back in 2005. What was McGuire up to at that time? Well, he was on the broadcast, deriding the pick as “off the reservation,” a comment he later had to apologize to Price, a prominent Aboriginal athlete, for making.
What will he do if the team is again picking fifth overall? Will they end up getting their Gilbert Brulé, the player McGuire had been advocating as their pick, and watch another team get a franchise cornerstone the very next pick?
It is a preposterous development. It makes about as much sense as announcing the team’s rebuild being complete without any evidence to support that claim. Luckily, if you made it this far, you’ll be happy to know that something so preposterous could only be, and is in fact, a complete fabrication on my part for this blessed day of April 1.
POISSON D’AVRIL.
