Bob Gainey Will Be Missed By Some

I will miss Bob Gainey.

I will miss his candor and his professionalism.

I will miss his ability to make his presence felt at a press conference or in any interview that he takes part of.

I will, most importantly, miss his skills as one of the great general managers in the NHL.

Bob Gainey wearing the colours that he loves (Jason Hitelman)

There will be many that will disagree with me I’m sure. So many times, fans and media have called for his head. They would say, “How can he let the free-agents walk and trade for an overpaid player like Scott Gomez?”

I’m pretty sure that the rumours about attempting to re-sign Kovalev were true.

I’m also positive that Scotty Gomez is a much better player than Christopher Higgins. Yes, he is overpaid, but he is undeniably exciting to watch and incredibly skilled.

But these were only recent occurrences. It’s difficult for some fans to remember the struggles of the Montreal Canadiens before Gainey took the helm. Remember Karl Dykhuis? Patrick Traverse? Joe Juneau?

Remember finishing on top of the Eastern Conference? That was Gainey’s team.

But, alas, no Stanley Cup.

And so Mr. Gainey decided it was time to blow up the team that he put together–time to start fresh and hope to make a playoff run.

Unfortunately, in this town, the playoffs are just not good enough. In the eyes of the fans and of the people that sway their opinions, the Montreal Canadiens should be a consistently dominant force in the league just like in the days of yore.

Days when there were six teams. Or maybe days when there were 12.

Not today.

In a 30 team NHL, there are very few dominant teams.

Well, the San Jose Sharks have been on the top of the standings since the trade that brought Joe Thornton to Silicon Valley, but how many Cups have they won?

In my opinion, it would be a great success–and great for this team in the near future–if the Montreal Canadiens made the playoffs, in this, their first year playing together.

They have suffered devastating injury after devastating injury and yet are still in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Not good enough for some people who need immediate answers about goaltending, impact centremen, and the salary cap.

“Bring me Bob Gainey’s head!”

I don’t blame Mr. Gainey for having enough. Too much scrutiny, not enough acclaim. Expectations are too high, not realistic.

In Montreal, we need more, more, more.

I guess Bob Gainey has given the team and the city that he loves all that he can give.

I will miss Bob Gainey.

Posted by Jason Hitelman on Feb 11 2010. Filed under Eastern Conference, Montreal Canadiens, Northeast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.