SERGE SAVARD - FOREVER CANADIAN - BOOK - ( PARTIAL PRESS REVIEW) by Rosemonde Communications - Rosemonde Gingras

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SERGE SAVARD: FOREVER CANADIEN

The biography of the former Montreal Canadiens player and general manager to be released in English on October 21st, 2020. Montreal, 15 September, 2020 — KO Éditions is proud to announce the release of Serge Savard: Forever Canadien after the huge success of the French version, Serge Savard: Canadien jusqu’au bout, which has already sold over 30,000 copies in Quebec. Written by Quebec sports journalist Philippe Cantin, this riveting story looks back at Serge Savard’s professional career against a backdrop of Canadian politics and sports. Cantin skillfully captures the key moments of Savard’s journey, the ups as well as the downs, that shaped him as a hockey player— from his apprenticeship as a rookie to his retirement from the Canadiens, the 1972 Summit Series and his years with the Winnipeg Jets—and, later, as the Canadians general manager. This captivating and carefully documented book details the rich history of our country's beloved sport through the life of a man who has experienced it like none other. Since his first games played on a makeshift ice rink in Landrienne, Abitibi, Quebec, where he spent his childhood, Serge Savard has been guided by one thing: His love of hockey. In this biographical account, the athlete and businessman, who played for the infamous red, white and blue organization for 33-years and competed in 10 Stanley Cups playoffs, takes us behind the scenes of a larger-than-life career. Through these pages, and under the skillful writing of Philippe Cantin, discover a man whose values have guided each and every decision, even the most crucial ones. ABOUT THE AUTHOR A fixture in the pages of the daily newspaper La Presse for over 30 years, Philippe Cantin now covers the sports scene for various media outlets. Serge Savard: Forever Canadien is his third book about the Quebec hockey world, and the first to be translated to English. À PROPOS DE KO ÉDITIONS KO Éditions is an entity of Groupe KO. The Group KO is made up of Productions KOTV, Productions KO Scène, KO 24, KO Média and KO Éditions. Run by the screenwriter-humourist-comedian-producer Louis Morissette, the group is motivated by the desire to tell stories that captivate the public, and to do so by mastering each creative aspect that goes into doing that. Whether it’s television shows, performances, films or magazines, the mission of the group is very simple: conquer the world, and then entertain them. In an industry full of possibilities, the KO Group sees opportunities and takes them.

Author: Philippe Cantin Translator: Christopher Korchin ISBN: 978-2-924965-34-4 Price: $29.95 Publication date: October 21, 2020 Number of pages: 504 pages Format: 6 X 9 inches Source: KO Éditions -30MEDIAS: ROSEMONDE COMMUNICATIONS Rosemonde Gingras / 514 458-8355 / rosemonde@rosemondecommunications.com

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SERGE SAVARD : FOREVER CANADIEN

La biographie de Serge Savard, Canadien jusqu’au bout, est publiée en anglais Parution : 21 octobre 2020 Montréal, le 16 septembre 2020 — Après l’immense succès de la biographie de Serge Savard, Canadien jusqu’au bout, publiée il y a un an, KO Éditions est fière d’annoncer la parution de Forever Canadien le 21 octobre. Écrite par le journaliste Philipe Cantin, l’ouvrage revient sur le parcours professionnel de l’ancien joueur, capitaine et directeur général du Canadien de Montréal sur fond d’histoire politique et sportive québécoise. La biographie qui s’est déjà écoulée à plus de 30 000 copies au Québec, a su gagner le cœur des Québécois et des médias, et ce, même au-delà des tribunes sportives, comme en témoignent ces extraits critiques aussi diversifiés qu’élogieux. Parions que Forever Canadien captivera les Canadiens anglais en les replongeant – entre autres – dans les moments enlevants de la série du siècle de 1972 et la conquête de nombreuses Coupe Stanley. Traduit du français par Christopher Korchin.

« J’ai parcouru ça comme un roman. » - René Dumais Beaudoin, ICI Radio-Canada

« C’est une œuvre importante. » - Martin Leclerc, C’est samedi et rien d’autre, Ici Radio-Canada

« À travers la plume du journaliste Philippe Cantin, Serge Savard nous parle de sa vie et de son parcours. Ce maître du hockey est généreux dans ce livre comme il l’est avec ses amis. » - Luc Lavoie, Les Libraires

« Un livre remarquable. Passionnant. Incontournable. Serge Savard s’y dévoile comme jamais avant. » - Alexandre Pratt, La Presse « … très intéressant à lire et, si vous manquez d’idées pour vos cadeaux de Noël, en voilà une ! » - Michel Bergeron, Le Journal de Montréal

« Un livre formidable ! » - Paul Houde, 98,5 fm « Le journaliste Philippe Cantin parvient à bien rendre toutes les facettes du grand numéro 18 dans une biographie qui se lit d’un trait. » - Benoit V Nadeau, Le journal Métro « C’est savoureux. C’est rempli d’anecdotes. » - Denis Lévesque, TVA

« …une biographie franchement intéressante… » - Claude Bernatchez, Ici Radio-Canada Québec « …c’est un bon livre Serge Savard, vous pouvez être fier… » - Marie-Louise Arseneault, Ici Radio-Canada « … une brique de presque 500 pages que j’ai dévorée. J’ai adoré ! » - Guy A Lepage, Tout le monde en parle, Ici Radio-Canada

À PROPOS DE L’AUTEUR Présent dans les pages de La Presse depuis plus de 30 ans, Philippe Cantin commente aujourd’hui l’actualité sportive dans plusieurs médias et est l’auteur des livres Le Colisée contre le Forum et 50 matchs de hockey qui ont marqué le Québec. À PROPOS DE KO ÉDITIONS KO Éditions est une division du Groupe KO qui réunit également les entités Productions KOTV, Productions KO Scène, KO 24 et KO Média. Dirigées par le scénariste-humoriste-comédien-producteur-entrepreneur Louis Morissette, elles sont mues par le désir de raconter des histoires qui captivent le public, et ce, en maîtrisant chaque aspect de la création. Qu’il s’agisse d’émissions de télévision, de spectacles, de films, de magazines ou de livres, la mission du groupe est fort simple: conquérir le monde pour ensuite le divertir. Dans une industrie qui foisonne de possibilités, le Groupe KO voit des occasions et les saisit.

Auteur : Philippe Cantin Traduit du français par : Christopher Korchin Prix : 29,95$ Nombre de pages : 504 pages ISBN : 978-2-924965-34-4 Date de parution : 21 octobre 2020 Format : 6 x 9 po -30MÉDIAS : ROSEMONDE COMMUNICATIONS Rosemonde Gingras / 514 458-8355 / rosemonde@rosemondecommunications.com

SERGE SAVARD National Hockey League Team Trophies Player 1967-68

Prince of Wales Trophy - NHL Regular season champion

1967-68

Stanley Cup

1968-69

Prince of Wales Trophy - NHL Regular season champion

1968-69

Stanley Cup

1970-71

Stanley Cup

1972-73

Prince of Wales Trophy - NHL Regular season champion

1972-73

Stanley Cup

1975-76

Prince of Wales Trophy - NHL Regular season champion

1975-76

Stanley Cup

1976-77

Prince of Wales Trophy - NHL Regular season champion

1976-77

Stanley Cup

1977-78

Prince of Wales Trophy - NHL Regular season champion

1977-78

Stanley Cup

1978-79

Prince of Wales Trophy - NHL Regular season champion

1978-79

Stanley Cup

1980-81

Prince of Wales Trophy - NHL Regular season champion

General Manager 1985-86

Prince of Wales Trophy - Playoff conference champion

1985-86

Stanley Cup

1988-89

Prince of Wales Trophy - Playoff conference champion

1992-93

Prince of Wales Trophy - Playoff conference champion

1992-93

Stanley Cup

International Hockey Participation Player 1965

Three Exhibition Games against the Soviet and Swedish National Teams

1972

Summit Series - Canada vs. U.S.S.R.

1975

Super Series - Red Army

1976

Canada Cup

1978

Super Series â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Moscow Spartak

1979

Challenge Cup

1980

Super Series - Red Army

General Manager 1986

Super Series - Red Army

1987

Rendez-Vous 87

1987

Canada Cup

1990

Super Series - Soviet Wings

1990

Friendship Tour - U.S.S.R.

1991

Super Series - Voskresensk Khimik

1991

Canada Cup

1992

Exhibition games in London, England

Awards and Distinctions 1965

Elected Captain of the Montreal Junior Canadiens

1967

Ken McKenzie Trophy - CPHL Rookie of the Year

1969

Conn Smythe Trophy - NHL Playoff Most Valuable Player

1979

Bill Masterton Trophy - NHL Player Who Best Exemplifies Perseverance, Sportsmanship and Dedication to Hockey

1979

Elected Captain of the Montreal Canadiens

1982

NHL Milestone award for 1,000 games played

1983

Grand Montréalais de l’avenir - Catégorie Sport

1985

Honorary Doctorate from Moncton University, N.B.

1986

Hockey Hall of Fame

1994

Officer of the Order of Canada

1997

Quebec Sports Pantheon

1998

Top 100 players in NHL history - Hockey News magazine

2004

Knight of the National Order of Quebec

2005

Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame

2006

Hockey Hall of Fame AHL All-Star Classic Honoree

2006

Montreal Canadiens Jersey Retirement

2009

Selected the 12th best player in Canadiens history by fan vote

2015

Honorary Doctorate, honoris causa – University of Sherbrooke

2015

Order of hockey in Canada

2015

Medal of Honour of the National Assembly of Quebec

2017 2017

Voted 12th best player in Canadiens history - Hockey News magazine Voted 9th best player in Canadiens history - Journal de Montréal

2017

Selected in the NHL’s Top 100 players in league history

It's a book bonanza for hockey fans Lance Hornby The Toronto Sun Dec 17, 2020 • Last Updated 16 hours ago • 7 minute read Well, at least there’s plenty of time at home this Christmas to read. The pandemic certainly didn’t slow a slew of hockey books, led by highprofile media with lots to get off their chests. The Sun’s annual list will help you stickhandle through the shelves or on-line shopping. And, remember, books make ideal stocking stuffers. Serge Savard: Forever Canadien Phillippe Cantin KO Editions, 479 pages $29.95 One of this holiday season’s thicker tomes, but you can’t shrink Savard, who was such a dominant figure in the last championship era of the Canadiens. It’s also about being on the hot seat as GM, with fickle Hab fans and skating the often-tricky French-English divide. There’s lots on Savard’s humble beginnings, Team Canada ‘72, his business dealings and adjustment to retiring. La Presse columnist Cantin sold 30,000 copies of the original French text.

Serge Savard: Forever Canadien Phillippe Cantin KO Editions, 479 pages $29.95 One of this holiday season’s thicker tomes, but you can’t shrink Savard, who was such a dominant figure in the last championship era of the Canadiens. It’s also about being on the hot seat as GM, with fickle Hab fans and skating the often-tricky French-English divide. There’s lots on Savard’s humble beginnings, Team Canada ‘72, his business dealings and adjustment to retiring. La Presse columnist Cantin sold 30,000 copies of the original French text.

Well, at least there’s plenty of time at home this Christmas to read. The pandemic certainly didn’t slow a slew of hockey books, led by high-profile media with lots to get off their chests. The Sun’s annual list will help you stickhandle through the shelves or on-line shopping. And, remember, books make ideal stocking stuffers. Serge Savard: Forever Canadien Phillippe Cantin KO Editions, 479 pages $29.95 One of this holiday season’s thicker tomes, but you can’t shrink Savard, who was such a dominant figure in the last championship era of the Canadiens. It’s also about being on the hot seat as GM, with fickle Hab fans and skating the often-tricky French-English divide. There’s lots on Savard’s humble beginnings, Team Canada ‘72, his business dealings and adjustment to retiring. La Presse columnist Cantin sold 30,000 copies of the original French text.

fans and skating the often-tricky French-English divide. There’s lots on Savard’s humble beginnings, Team Canada ‘72, his business dealings and adjustment to retiring. La Presse columnist Cantin sold 30,000 copies of the original French text.

Puck pages: Postmedia's Christmas hockey book review Lance Hornby, Postmedia News (lhornby@postmedia.com) Published: Dec 15 at 7:25 p.m. Well, at least there’s plenty of time at home this Christmas to read. The pandemic certainly didn’t slow a slew of hockey books, led by high-profile media with lots to get off their chests. The Sun’s annual list will help you stickhandle through the shelves or on-line shopping. And, remember, books make ideal stocking stuffers. Serge Savard: Forever Canadien Phillippe Cantin KO Editions, 479 pages $29.95 One of this holiday season’s thicker tomes, but you can’t shrink Savard, who was such a dominant figure in the last championship era of the Canadiens. It’s also about being on the hot seat as GM, with fickle Hab fans and skating the often-tricky French-English divide. There’s lots on Savard’s humble beginnings, Team Canada ‘72, his business dealings and adjustment to retiring. La Presse columnist Cantin sold 30,000 copies of the original French text.

What the Puck: Canadiens' decline began with ousting of Serge Savard General manager's firing by Ronald Corey in 1995 set the stage for the storied franchise's 25-year run of mediocrity. Brendan Kelly • Montreal Gazette Dec 11, 2020 • Last Updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read

Former Montreal Canadiens Bobby Smith, left, and Serge Savard have a conversation at Savard's annual

golf tournament at Islesmere Golf Club in Laval on Aug. 19, 2019. Savard was Canadiens general manager when Smith played for the team. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette

It is often said that the decline of the Canadiens began with what is considered to be the worst trade in the history of the franchise. That would be the 1995 deal that sent Patrick Roy and captain Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. But I believe the real beginning of the 25-year slide into mediocrity was the firing of general manager Serge Savard just four games into the 1995-96 season. By tossing Savard overboard and bringing in Réjean Houle as his replacement, Canadiens president Ronald Corey set the tone for the following quarter-century in the Habs’ executive suites. It became all about managing in a panic and continually lowering expectations. Savard was the last Canadiens GM to set the bar at winning the Stanley Cup and nothing less. He also happens to be the last GM to have brought the Cup home to Montreal, twice. Sadly, all these years later, the modern-day Canadiens are satisfied with so much less.

This week, La Presse columnist Mathias Brunet had a thought provoking column with the headline: La meilleure équipe du CH en 25 ans? (The best Habs team in 25 years?). Brunet concludes by saying that on paper it looks like this current edition of the Canadiens is probably the best in 25 years though he quite reasonably adds the caveat that “we’ll know more in a few weeks.”

It is indeed possibly the best lineup in a quarter-century, but that’s mostly because the lineups have not exactly been so stellar since Savard left the building. Look at the roster that won that last Cup in 1993. Now that’s a hockey team. People say it was all Roy, but he had some pretty solid support staff in Kirk Muller, Guy Carbonneau, John LeClair, Vincent Damphousse, Brian Bellows, Éric Desjardins, Lyle Odelein and Keane.

Name a roster that even comes close since Corey fired Savard. Exactly. There isn’t one.

New Canadiens GM Réjean Houle, from left, new head coach Mario Tremblay, team president Ronald Corey and new assistant coach Yvan Cournoyer during news conference at the Bell Centre on Oct. 21, 1995. Montreal Gazette

The strange thing is no one really knows why Corey axed Savard. We all know why Roy left town. There was an apocalyptic conflict between the legendary goalie and his head coach and former teammate Mario Tremblay and Corey sided with the coach. But why did the president take the unprecedented step of giving the pink slip to Savard after just four games of the season? In the Philippe Cantin book Serge Savard Forever Canadien, Savard says that he had his friend Marc Lalonde, a former federal Liberal cabinet minister, ask Mickey Cohen, who was president of Canadiens owner Molson at the time of the firing, to find out why he was tossed out. In the book, Savard recounts that Cohen said Corey told him Savard had to go because he was spending more time on his personal business than on running the Habs.

In a conversation with Savard several weeks back, he told me he still can’t figure out why Corey did it. “I thought it was unfair,” Savard said from his home in Hilton Head Island, S.C. “I won the Cup a year-and-a-half before … my record was pretty good. Three weeks before, I told him I might be a player away from the Stanley Cup.” One theory is that Corey was worried that if he didn’t get rid of Savard, the GM might end up taking Corey’s job, a reasonable concept given

Savard’s stature both in the hockey and business communities. But another key factor is the departure earlier in 1995 of the Quebec Nordiques to Denver. Savard says in the book: “If the Nordiques hadn’t moved, I would never have been kicked out of the organization. Ronald would have feared that I would become general manager in Quebec City.” Take the thought process one step further. If the Nords hadn’t lefttown, how different would the past 25 years of Habs history have looked? Maybe Savard stays and maybe he’s right and they win at least one more Stanley Cup. But he also makes clear in the biography that the presence of the Nordiques put constant pressure on Habs management to strive for excellence. Since the death of the Nords, there hasn’t been any such pressure. You have 25 years of middling results at best and yet the team, as Forbes reported this week, remains the third-most valuable NHL franchise, at US $1.34 billion. Where is the pressure to raise the bar? When there was a team in Quebec City, the owners had to worry that fickle Quebec Habs fans could dump the CH jersey in favour of the fleur-de-lis sweater. bkelly@postmedia.com twitter.com/brendanshowbiz

Serge Savard: Forever Canadien Philippe Cantin KO Editions 2020, 487 pages ISBN: 9782924965344 Serge Savard: Forever Canadien is one of the better hockey biographies that I’ve read. Many biographies spend considerable time following a player’s career year by year and providing how many points he got, describing each playoff series etc. while this biography looks at Savard’s many accomplishments both inside and outside of hockey. His reasons for making decisions, how he got along with various players and management is also covered. Savard’s candid comments throughout the book are both refreshing and insightful. And Philippe Cantin’s book is written in an entertaining, informative and interesting way. In Serge Savard: Forever Canadien you will learn of Savard’s young life growing up in the small town of Landrienne in Quebec’s Abitibi region as well as his early hockey career leading to his first NHL game in January 1967. Savard won two Stanley Cups and the Conn Smythe Trophy in his first two seasons!

And while you will read about Savard’s illustrious career – both as a player and manager – you will also read about some of his struggles including suffering two broken legs early in his career. I enjoyed reading about Savard’s thoughts on various topics including his strong opposition to violence in hockey. The chapter on The Summit Series in 1972 was particularly good. In this series Savard fractured his ankle between games three and four but managed to return playing in five of the games where Canada’s record with Savard in the lineup was 4-0-1. And with his many awards and accomplishments according to Savard his most satisfying was winning The Summit Series. If you enjoy a good hockey biography spend the holidays reading Serge Savard: Forever Canadien.

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13/12/2020

HABS' WORST TRADE EVER Hopes left with Roy: Todd Montreal Gazette · 7 déc. 2020 · NP6 · JACK TODD jacktodd46@yahoo.com Twitter.com/jacktodd46

This is the nal chapter in our series looking back at the ve worst trades in Canadiens history.

When Patrick Roy left the Canadiens, greatness walked out the door. A quarter-century later, it hasn't returned. Roy was it. The last in that long line of players stretching back from Guy La eur, Jean Béliveau and Rocket Richard to Howie Morenz and Newsy Lalonde, athletes who possessed both great skill and that inde nable something that made it possible for one man to put a team on his back and drive it all the way to a Stanley Cup. To know how great Roy really was, you need only to have watched him play. With Roy, the only numbers that matter are these: Four Stanley Cups, two with the Canadiens. Ten straight overtime wins during that miracle run in 1993, a record that will never be broken. And nine goals — the number he let in the night of Dec. 2, 1995, when head coach Mario Tremblay deliberately chose to humiliate his superstar in an 11-1 loss to the Red Wings at the Forum. You know the rest. Roy striding to team president Ron Corey behind the Canadiens' bench to say he had played his last game for the Canadiens. And four days later, rookie general manager Réjean Houle pulling the string on the worst trade the Canadiens ever made, sending Roy and captain Mike Keane to Colorado for 20-year-old goalie Jocelyn Thibault and wingers Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. Of the group the Habs acquired, only Rucinsky would really pay dividends, and not nearly enough to make up for the loss of Roy and Keane.

Twenty- ve years on and you could still start a pub ght by siding with or against Patrick Roy. With him, we're always dealing with extremes. The Canadiens never had a bigger prima donna, a worse hothead, a more ery competitor, a more spectacular talent between the pipes or a goalie more capable of closing out a playo series. Roy could be a prince of a fella and a total jerk, sometimes in one sentence. He was (and is) all things. He contained multitudes. He inspired love and hatred to almost equal degrees. I loved the man. He was great copy, a quality that would endear him to any ink-stained wretch. He was quick-witted and funny in both o cial languages. He was meteoric and unpredictable, but he was never dull. In hockey dressing rooms, where clichés are more plentiful than toe fungus, Roy always had something to say. People blame Houle for the trade, but it was Mario Tremblay's incendiary temper that lit re to the gunpowder stored in the Forum basement, and Corey who failed to cut the fuse before it exploded. It was Corey who had panicked four games into the 1995-96 season and red GM Serge Savard and coach Jacques Demers in order to hire the utterly inexperienced duo of Houle and Tremblay. And it was Corey who failed to exercise the necessary leadership by telling Roy to calm down and ful l his contract and Tremblay to apologize for leaving his superstar goaltender in to endure that withering barrage from the Red Wings. Corey was not alone. With the exception of Demers, the Canadiens brass appear not to have understood what they had in Roy — or how to handle him. “Patrick was the best player in Montreal since Guy La eur,” Demers said at the time. “Your best athletes, not your fourthliners, win Stanley Cups for you. Roy is the guy who won 10 straight games in overtime to get us the Cup in 1993.” Savard has said that he was close to dealing Roy to the Nordiques prior to that fateful season in exchange for goalie Stéphane Fiset and power forward Owen Nolan. Could the Canadiens have won a Stanley Cup with Fiset? Of course not. Savard's rationale doesn't cover it. “Patrick had gotten too big for the team,” Savard said in his book, Serge Savard Forever Canadien. “He took up too much space in the locker room, and he had too much in uence on the coach. In previous years, I'd had to deal with him with kid gloves. I still admired him just as much as I had during our Stanley Cup runs in 1986 and 1993 … but a change had become necessary. The team revolved far too much around him.” But did it? Go back to the basic question: Were the Canadiens of that era capable of winning a Stanley Cup without Roy? The answer is no, meaning the team did not revolve too much around the guy they called St. Patrick. When he's the guy who can win you the Cup and the only player who can, how much is too much? Roy's departure was typical of the entire jittery Ronald Corey era, when maintaining the image meant more than winning championships. Chris Chelios was dealt to Chicago for Denis Savard amid rumours of crude o -ice behaviour. Guy Carbonneau, the Patrice Bergeron of his time, was traded for the eminently forgettable Jim Montgomery after he ipped the bird at a

Journal de Montréal photographer on the golf course. Keane was thrown into the Roy deal after he said he didn't think it was necessary to speak French to be captain of the Canadiens. They all hurt, the Chelios trade in particular, but the Roy deal was the killer. After Roy's rst game with Colorado, Gazette colleague Mike Farber and I shared a hotel shuttle with Keane to the airport, where we were hopping the Avalanche charter to Ottawa for their next game. On the long ride to Denver International Airport, Keane vented his frustrations with the trade. The shuttle dropped us on the tarmac for the short walk to the plane, which bore the logos of the Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets. Keane was still complaining about the deal when he glanced up and saw the aircraft. “Hey,” he said, “this might not be so bad after all.” Six months and an Avalanche Stanley Cup later, Keane's words were prophetic. The Canadiens? Twenty- ve years on, they're still waiting.

Jack Todd: Patrick Roy trade remains seminal moment in Canadiens history A quarter-century ago, Mario Tremblay lit the fuse on the worst deal in the club's storied history, one that still polarizes Cup-starved Habs fans. Jack Todd • Special to Montreal Gazette Dec 06, 2020 • Last Updated 22 hours ago • 5 minute read

Patrick Roy holds the Stanley Cup aloft after the Canadiens defeated the L.A. Kings to win the Stanley Cup

on June 9, 1993. Photo by JOHN MAHONEY /The Gazette

This is the final chapter in our series looking back at the five worst trades in Canadiens history. When Patrick Roy left the Canadiens, greatness walked out the door. A quarter-century later, it hasn’t returned. Roy was it. The last in that long line of players stretching back from Guy Lafleur and Jean Béliveau and Rocket Richard to Howie Morenz and Newsy Lalonde, athletes who possessed both great skill and that indefinable something that made it possible for one man to put a team on his back and drive it all the way to a Stanley Cup. To know how great Roy really was, you need only to have watched him play. With Roy, the only numbers that matter are these: Four Stanley Cups, two with the Canadiens. Ten straight overtime wins during that miracle run in 1993, a record that will never be broken. And nine goals — the number he let in the night of Dec. 2, 1995, when head coach Mario Tremblay deliberately chose to humiliate his superstar in an 11-1 loss to the Red Wings at the Forum.

You know the rest. Roy striding to team president Ron Corey behind the Canadiens’ bench to say he had played his last game for the Canadiens. And four days later, rookie general manager Réjean Houle pulling the string on the worst trade the Canadiens ever made, sending Roy and captain Mike Keane to Colorado for 20-year-old goalie Jocelyn Thibault and wingers Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. Of the group the Habs acquired, only Rucinsky would really pay dividends, not

nearly enough to make up for the loss of Roy and Keane.

Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers and goaltender Patrick Roy on the first day of the training camp at the Forum on Sept. 11, 1995. Photo by John Mahoney /GAZETTE

Twenty-five years on and you could still start a pub fight by siding with or against Patrick Roy. With him, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re always dealing with extremes. The Canadiens never had a bigger prima donna, a worse hothead, a more fiery competitor, a more spectacular talent between the pipes or a goalie more capable of closing out a playoff series.

Roy could be a prince of a fella and a total jerk, sometimes in one

sentence. He was (and is) all things. He contained multitudes. He inspired love and hatred to almost equal degrees. I loved the man. He was great copy, a quality that would endear him to any ink-stained wretch. He was quick-witted and funny in both official languages. He was meteoric and unpredictable, but he was never dull. In hockey dressing rooms, where clichés are more plentiful than toe fungus, Roy always had something to say. People blame Houle for the trade, but it was Mario Tremblay’s incendiary temper that lit fire to the gunpowder stored in the Forum basement — and Corey who failed to cut the fuse before it exploded. It was Corey who had panicked four games into the 1995-96 season and fired GM Serge Savard and coach Jacques Demers in order to hire the utterly inexperienced duo of Houle and Tremblay.

And it was Corey who failed to exercise the necessary leadership by telling Roy to calm down and fulfil his contract and Tremblay to apologize for leaving his superstar goaltender in to endure that withering barrage from the Red Wings.

Canadiens’ Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy on May 9, 1986. Photo by John Mahoney /MONTREAL GAZETTE

Corey was not alone. With the exception of Demers, the Canadiens brass appear not to have understood what they had in Roy — or how to handle him. “Patrick was the best player in Montreal since Guy Lafleur,” Demers said at the time. “Your best athletes — not your fourth-liners — win Stanley Cups for you. Roy is the guy who won 10 straight games in overtime to get us the Cup in 1993.” Savard has said that he was close to dealing Roy to the Nordiques prior to that fateful season in exchange for goalie Stéphane Fiset and power forward Owen Nolan. Could the Canadiens have won a Stanley Cup with Fiset? Of course not.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Savard’s rationale doesn’t cover it. “Patrick had gotten too big for the team,” Savard said in his book, Serge Savard Forever Canadien. “He took up too much space in the locker room, and he had too much influence on the coach. In previous years, I’d had to deal with him with kid gloves. I still admired him just as much as I had during our Stanley Cup runs in 1986 and 1993 … but a change had become necessary. The team revolved far too much around him.” But did it? Go back to the basic question: Were the Canadiens of that era capable of winning a Stanley Cup without Roy? The answer is no, meaning the team did not revolve too much around the guy they called St. Patrick. When he’s the guy who can win you the Cup and the only player who can, how much is too much?

Roy’s departure was typical of the entire jittery Ronald Corey era, when maintaining the image meant more than winning championships. Chris Chelios was dealt to Chicago for Denis Savard amid rumours of crude off-ice behaviour. Guy Carbonneau, the Patrice Bergeron of his time, was traded for the eminently forgettable Jim Montgomery after he flipped the bird at a Journal de Montréal photographer on the golf course. Keane was thrown into the Roy deal after he said he didn’t think it was necessary to speak French to be captain of the Canadiens.

Patrick Roy and Carey Price share a moment before the Canadiens retired Royâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No. 33 prior to a game against the Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre on Nov. 22, 2008. Photo by Dave Sidaway /THE GAZETTE

They all hurt, the Chelios trade in particular, but the Roy deal was the killer. After Royâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first game with Colorado, Gazette colleague Mike Farber and I shared a hotel shuttle with Keane to the airport, where we were hopping the Avalanche charter to Ottawa for their next game.

On the long ride to Denver International Airport, Keane vented his frustrations with the trade. The shuttle dropped us on the tarmac for

the short walk to the plane, which bore the logos of the Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets. Keane was still complaining about the deal when he glanced up and saw the aircraft. “Hey,” he said, “this might not be so bad after all.” Six months and an Avalanche Stanley Cup later, Keane’s words were prophetic. The Canadiens? Twenty-five years on, they’re still waiting. jacktodd46@yahoo.com twitter.com/jacktodd46 Five worst trades in Canadiens history No. 2: Chelios deal haunts Serge Savard No. 3: Leadership lost as Carbonneau exits No. 4: Damphousse deal a disaster for CH No. 5: McDonagh and Sergachev slip away

Patrick Roy holds the Stanley Cup aloft after the Canadiens defeated the L.A. Kings to win the Stanley Cup

on June 9, 1993. Photo by JOHN MAHONEY /The Gazette

nearly enough to make up for the loss of Roy and Keane.

Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers and goaltender Patrick Roy on the first day of the training camp at the Forum on Sept. 11, 1995. Photo by John Mahoney /GAZETTE

Roy could be a prince of a fella and a total jerk, sometimes in one

Canadiens’ Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy on May 9, 1986. Photo by John Mahoney /MONTREAL GAZETTE

On the long ride to Denver International Airport, Keane vented his frustrations with the trade. The shuttle dropped us on the tarmac for

Patrick Roy holds the Stanley Cup aloft after the Canadiens defeated the L.A. Kings to win the Stanley Cup

on June 9, 1993. Photo by JOHN MAHONEY /The Gazette

nearly enough to make up for the loss of Roy and Keane.

Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers and goaltender Patrick Roy on the first day of the training camp at the Forum on Sept. 11, 1995. Photo by John Mahoney /GAZETTE

Roy could be a prince of a fella and a total jerk, sometimes in one

Canadiens’ Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy on May 9, 1986. Photo by John Mahoney /MONTREAL GAZETTE

On the long ride to Denver International Airport, Keane vented his frustrations with the trade. The shuttle dropped us on the tarmac for

Patrick Roy holds the Stanley Cup aloft after the Canadiens defeated the L.A. Kings to win the Stanley Cup

on June 9, 1993. Photo by JOHN MAHONEY /The Gazette

nearly enough to make up for the loss of Roy and Keane.

Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers and goaltender Patrick Roy on the first day of the training camp at the Forum on Sept. 11, 1995. Photo by John Mahoney /GAZETTE

Roy could be a prince of a fella and a total jerk, sometimes in one

Canadiens’ Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy on May 9, 1986. Photo by John Mahoney /MONTREAL GAZETTE

On the long ride to Denver International Airport, Keane vented his frustrations with the trade. The shuttle dropped us on the tarmac for

Patrick Roy holds the Stanley Cup aloft after the Canadiens defeated the L.A. Kings to win the Stanley Cup

on June 9, 1993. Photo by JOHN MAHONEY /The Gazette

nearly enough to make up for the loss of Roy and Keane.

Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers and goaltender Patrick Roy on the first day of the training camp at the Forum on Sept. 11, 1995. Photo by John Mahoney /GAZETTE

Roy could be a prince of a fella and a total jerk, sometimes in one

Canadiens’ Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy on May 9, 1986. Photo by John Mahoney /MONTREAL GAZETTE

On the long ride to Denver International Airport, Keane vented his frustrations with the trade. The shuttle dropped us on the tarmac for

Patrick Roy holds the Stanley Cup aloft after the Canadiens defeated the L.A. Kings to win the Stanley Cup

on June 9, 1993. Photo by JOHN MAHONEY /The Gazette

nearly enough to make up for the loss of Roy and Keane.

Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers and goaltender Patrick Roy on the first day of the training camp at the Forum on Sept. 11, 1995. Photo by John Mahoney /GAZETTE

Roy could be a prince of a fella and a total jerk, sometimes in one

Canadiens’ Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy on May 9, 1986. Photo by John Mahoney /MONTREAL GAZETTE

On the long ride to Denver International Airport, Keane vented his frustrations with the trade. The shuttle dropped us on the tarmac for

Patrick Roy holds the Stanley Cup aloft after the Canadiens defeated the L.A. Kings to win the Stanley Cup

on June 9, 1993. Photo by JOHN MAHONEY /The Gazette

nearly enough to make up for the loss of Roy and Keane.

Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers and goaltender Patrick Roy on the first day of the training camp at the Forum on Sept. 11, 1995. Photo by John Mahoney /GAZETTE

Roy could be a prince of a fella and a total jerk, sometimes in one

Canadiens’ Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy on May 9, 1986. Photo by John Mahoney /MONTREAL GAZETTE

On the long ride to Denver International Airport, Keane vented his frustrations with the trade. The shuttle dropped us on the tarmac for

Patrick Roy holds the Stanley Cup aloft after the Canadiens defeated the L.A. Kings to win the Stanley Cup

on June 9, 1993. Photo by JOHN MAHONEY /The Gazette

nearly enough to make up for the loss of Roy and Keane.

Canadiens head coach Jacques Demers and goaltender Patrick Roy on the first day of the training camp at the Forum on Sept. 11, 1995. Photo by John Mahoney /GAZETTE

Roy could be a prince of a fella and a total jerk, sometimes in one

Canadiens’ Guy Carbonneau and Patrick Roy on May 9, 1986. Photo by John Mahoney /MONTREAL GAZETTE

On the long ride to Denver International Airport, Keane vented his frustrations with the trade. The shuttle dropped us on the tarmac for

Twenty-five years ago tonight, the Montreal Canadiens suffered their most lopsided defeat in franchise history. The 11-1 drubbing at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings, Slava Kozlov had four goals, Sergei Fedorov five points. Mike Keane was minus-5 on the night. And Patrick Roy, who allowed nine goals on 26 shots, played his last game for the Canadiens. We all know what followed. Roy, who had told Canadiens president Ronald Corey that he had just played his last game for the team after being pulled, accused former teammate and Canadiens coach Mario Tremblay of keeping him in the net to humiliate him. Four days after the game, Roy was the centerpiece of a deal to the Colorado Avalanche along with Mike Keane in exchange for goalie Jocelyn Thibault and forwards Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. The Canadiens havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t had many dark days in their franchise history, but this would rank as one of them. But perhaps it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to turn out as badly as it did for the Canadiens. According to Forever Canadien, the biography of former Canadiens GM Serge Savard written by Philippe Cantin, Savard had a deal with Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix to trade Roy to the Colorado in exchange for Owen Nolan and goalie Stephane Fiset. But after the Canadiens lost their first four games of the 1995-96 season and were

outscored by a combined 20-4, the Canadiens fired both Savard and coach Jacques Demers and replaced them with Rejean Houle and Tremblay. The interesting thing, according to Savard’s book, is that Roy would have been dealt out of Montreal, and likely to the Avalanche, regardless of whether he or Houle was the GM. “Patrick had gotten too big for the team,” Savard says in the book. “He took up too much space in the locker room and he had too much influence on the coach. In previous years, I’d had to deal with him with kid gloves. I still admired him just as much as I had during our Stanley Cup runs in 1986 and 1993, where he played an instrumental role. But a change of scenery had become necessary. The team revolved far too much around him. For everyone’s sake, he needed a change of scenery.” Savard said he had been speaking with Lacroix about the Roy-forNolan-and-Fiset deal, but was fired by the Canadiens on Oct. 17, 1995. Nine days later, Lacroix dealt Nolan to the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh. “In 1994, when the Nordiques put Mats Sundin on the market, I was interested in acquiring him,” Savard goes on to say. “Would they have demanded Patrick Roy in return? Maybe. I don’t know if I would have agreed. At that point, I wasn’t thinking of trading him. So serious talks never took place. A trade as big as that between our two organizations would have been almost unthinkable. But now that the Nordiques had become the Avalanche, there was nothing to get in the way.” (I’d love to corroborate all of this with the principals involved, but none of them seems to be in the mood to talk about it. I reached out to Roy through the Quebec Remparts and was told Roy is not doing interviews. Same with Lacroix. Tremblay did not return a phone call or text

message.) So the question is, would the Canadiens have been better off with Nolan and Fiset rather than Rucinsky, Kovalenko and Thibault? Probably. But the goaltenders were probably a wash. Both turned out to be good, not great goalies at the NHL level. And in terms of production, Rucinsky was actually pretty good for Montreal. As for Kovalenko, he played only that season with the Canadiens, scoring 17 goals and 34 points in 51 games before being dealt to the Edmonton Oilers for Scott Thornton. From 1995-96 through 2000-01, Rucinsky scored 136 goals and 304 points in 434 games for the Canadiens before being dealt to the Dallas Stars early in the 2001-02 season. In the same period of time, Nolan scored 165 goals and 351 points in 441 games. But while the difference in offensive output wasn’t as bad as it might seem, the reality is that during those years, Nolan was establishing himself as one of the league’s most feared power forwards. He also had far more productive years than Rucinsky after 2000-01. But who knows how he would have reacted to the pressure of playing in Montreal? He may very well have thrived, but it’s not a situation that everyone can handle. In San Jose, he was able to play in relative anonymity. Assuming Nolan would have been able to perform as well in Montreal as he did in San Jose, the Canadiens would have done much better with Nolan. But even more, they would not have had to part with Keane, who was a heart-and-soul player who would have been able to help the Canadiens players chart the choppy waters that were ahead of them. When the Roy trade was made, the Canadiens were two seasons removed from winning a Stanley Cup, although they missed the playoffs in Roy’s last season as a Canadien. After Roy left, the

Canadiens could not advance past the second round of the playoffs for three seasons, then followed that up by missing the playoffs entirely in four of the next five. For his part, Savard says he thought he was better positioned to trade Roy than Houle was. “I thought my credibility among the fans was enough for the deal to be accepted,” Savard says in the book. “Patrick would have left the Canadiens quietly. And with Fiset and Nolan, we would have been very well positioned for the future.”

What if the Habs Had Received Owen Nolan in the Patrick Roy Deal? Ken Campbell Dec 2, 2020 Twenty-five years ago tonight, the Montreal Canadiens suffered their most lopsided defeat in franchise history. The 11-1 drubbing at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings, Slava Kozlov had four goals, Sergei Fedorov five points. Mike Keane was minus-5 on the night. And Patrick Roy, who allowed nine goals on 26 shots, played his last game for the Canadiens. We all know what followed. Roy, who had told Canadiens president Ronald Corey that he had just played his last game for the team after being pulled, accused former teammate and Canadiens coach Mario Tremblay of keeping him in the net to humiliate him. Four days after the game, Roy was the centerpiece of a deal to the Colorado Avalanche along with Mike Keane in exchange for goalie Jocelyn Thibault and forwards Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. The Canadiens havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t had many dark days in their franchise history, but this would rank as one of them. But perhaps it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to turn out as badly as it did for the Canadiens. According to Forever Canadien, the biography of former Canadiens GM Serge Savard written by Philippe Cantin, Savard had a deal with Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix to trade Roy to the Colorado in exchange for Owen Nolan and goalie Stephane Fiset. But after the Canadiens lost their first four games of the 1995-96 season and were

(I’d love to corroborate all of this with the principals involved, but none of them seems to be in the mood to talk about it. I reached out to Roy through the Quebec Remparts and was told Roy is not doing interviews. Same with Lacroix. Tremblay did not return a phone call or text

Assuming Nolan would have been able to perform as well in Montreal as he did in San Jose, the Canadiens would have done much better with Nolan. But even more, they would not have had to part with Keane, who was a heart-and-soul player who would have been able to help the Canadiens players chart the choppy waters that were ahead of them. When the Roy trade was made, the Canadiens were two seasons removed from winning a Stanley Cup, although they missed the playoffs in Roy’s last season as a Canadien. After Roy left, the

Canadiens could not advance past the second round of the playoffs for three seasons, then followed that up by missing the playoffs entirely in four of the next five.

For his part, Savard says he thought he was better positioned to trade Roy than Houle was. “I thought my credibility among the fans was enough for the deal to be accepted,” Savard says in the book. “Patrick would have left the Canadiens quietly. And with Fiset and Nolan, we would have been very well positioned for the future.”

Cliquez ici pour ĂŠcouter l'entrevue December 1, 2020

www.sihrhockey.org Serge Savard triumphs again Two Minutes for Reading so Good Serge Savard triumphs again Posted November 16, 2020

Having heard the same thing for years and years, Serge Savard caved, gave in, but it turned out okay—in two languages. “Every publisher came to me, 'You should publish your story, you should publish your story.' I don't know, maybe I was too lazy. It was a lot of work,” chuckled Savard on the phone from his winter home/golfing haven in South Carolina. “I have everything in a box, all the stuff of my career. At one point in time, my son told me, Marc told me, 'If you don't do it, I'll do it sometime.' I guess that's when I decided then, I might as well do it.” Veteran journalist Philippe Cantin signed on for the job, and the result was 2019's Serge Savard, canadien jusqu'au bout, which has reportedly sold 30,000 copies in Quebec. (Cantin's two previous hockey books are 2015's 50 matchs de hockey qui ont marqué le Québec and 2012's Le Colisée contre le forum : mon histoire du hockey.) An English-language version came out in October 2020, Serge Savard: Forever Candien. It is written as a biography instead of an autobiography, meaning that Cantin can bring in other voices, whether quotes from a newspaper, or insight from Savard's wife, Paulette.

“That's what we decided right at the beginning, to do the story it will be Phillipe that talks, not me,” said Savard. “I must have had 115 hours of tape with him. Two, three times a week, we did that for three hours, four hours in a day. Phillipe did a hell of a lot of work, he worked so hard, and he double-checked everything.”

But ultimately, it's about Serge Savard, #18 on the Canadiens (and briefly, the Winnipeg Jets), who succeeded as a defenceman, captain, and a general manager with the storied franchise in Montreal, and played for Team Canada too, including at the Summit Series. (You know there are plenty of accomplishments when the publicist has to create a separate sheet with them all.) “Your first question, why did it take so long? I didn't really want to hurt anybody, didn't really want to say something that somebody mentioned was either not true or different than the thing I've seen. So I decided to write the book. I say, 'Well, I'm not going to mention people, other books or anything. I'm just going to say things the way they happened, and I'm going to tell the truth.' It was not that hard,” he said. “I published the French version last year and I published the English version last Wednesday [October 21]. I didn't have one person that came to me, or said it publicly, 'That's not true. That's not true what happened.'” At no point does the narrative over its 504 pages get bogged down by minutiae, details of games, particular goals he scored, or prevented. In part, that's because Savard doesn't seem to dwell on the past as some players often do. “The part that I had more fun was probably my youth, between six and 10, and when I grew up in Abitibi, in my small village,” he recalled of the writing process. “Then we went through the four Stanley Cups in a row in the 1970s, and I didn't know what to say. [Philippe] says, 'Tell me stories. Tell me this. Tell me that.' It was tough.”

Detailing some of the other things going on in the country and the

province, there's an historical aspect too, said Savard. “I was told by a couple of people, very knowledgeable people that read my book, and they say it's more than a book, 'Your book will be seen as a reference book for somebody, a reference for the 1970s.'” Like Savard, there's no bitterness; he doesn't seem angry at anybody or trying to settle any scores, not even with Canadiens President Ron Corey, who hired and fired him as GM. He lays that out right at the start. “There's no vengeance in this book, I'm telling things the way they happened.... I was hired by Mr. Corey, I don't think I was tough on Mr. Corey in my book. I give him credit on good things he did.” Savard offers some intriguing insight into what it was like to be a general manager. To this reader, his respect for the media was evident, even if it was tough in the competitive Montreal media landscape, in two languages. “I always made sure that I was fair with everybody, and even the one that criticized me at times because, in Montreal, for a period of time, you were either, even amongst the press and the fans, you were either a Nordiques fan or a Montreal Canadiens fan, and a couple of them were tough. But me, I was fair with everybody,” he said. That included stopping the occasional scoop, in pre-social media days. “At times, I knew somebody was going to come out with the scoop early, and I didn't wait to the next day, I did the press conference right away, to make sure everybody had the news at the same time.”

There was one small shot taken during the conversation. Savard wishes the two editions came out simultaneously, as happens with, say, his old

teammate Ken Dryden's books. “I played in Montreal, and Montreal is bilingual. I played in Winnipeg. I played with Team Canada. I feel I was fairly well-known across Canada, not as Orr or Gretzky, but I was known. I think my publisher made a mistake by not publishing the book in English at the same time.” It's a lesson worth noting by the publisher, KO Éditions, if Savard's musing about a second book comes to pass. “I was thinking, Bobby Orr, he published a second book that was basically pictures, and he was writing about the pictures. I really don't know if he did well with that book, probably, but I don't know exactly. I've got so many other things, pictures with politicians, pictures with Putin, I've got pictures with George Bush, the father, Mulroney. ... I don't know if it's worth doing that, but I just thought about it a little bit.”

630 CHED (EDMONTON)

Cliquez ici pour écouter l'entrevue à 18:57

12 of the week’s best long reads from the Star, Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, 2020

From a Ontario’s new COVID-19 restrictions to the roller coaster ride of the U.S. election, we’ve selected some of the best long reads of the week on thestar.com. Want to dive into more long features? Sign up for the Weekend Long Reads newsletter to get them delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. 1. Ontario already had a losing strategy in fighting the pandemic. Doug Ford just made it a lot worse At least you’ll remember when Ontario gave up. Or maybe not, since it was timed for the day of the attention-sucking American election, writes Star columnist Bruce Arthur. Maybe that was a coincidence: the province set the new bar for COVID-19 restrictions sky-high. But sources indicate this plan was weeks in the making, so probably

Then, her beloved grandmother was assaulted during the COVID-19 pandemic. So Tran, a Carleton University student, unleashed her long bottled-up anger and frustration with a blog post, which became the talk of Pembroke, her small city of 15,000 northwest of Ottawa. “It’s shocking that a town that marches for Black Lives Matter still breeds hate toward people of colour,” she wrote back in August, before describing the attack by a group of young teenagers on her 80-yearold grandmother, Thi Nga Doan. 11. Forever Frank: Former Habs great Serge Savard doesn’t sugar-coat things in ‘Forever Canadien’ When the Montreal Canadiens’ Serge Savard became the first NHL defenceman to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1969, he remembers being given two options to commemorate the honour, writes Star sports columnist Dave Feschuk. He could accept a plaque declaring him the award’s winner. Or he could order a custom-built miniature version of the grand trophy, a gleaming replica of iconic Maple Leaf Gardens. There was a catch, of course, and it spoke to the way players were once treated by tight-fisted NHL owners. The plaque was free. But the replica trophy would cost the playoff MVP $1,500. Considering Savard, at the time, was earning $14,500 as a second-year defenceman, it was a particularly hefty sum. “Ten per cent of my salary,” he said in a recent interview.

12. Ontario is introducing a new electricity pricing plan — if you work

www.winnipegfreepress.com Serge Savard's life on and off the ice chronicled in comprehensive bio Reviewed by: Neil Besner Posted: 11/7/2020 3:00 AM | Last Modified: 11/8/2020 11:36 AM | Updates In Canada, books about our hockey greats — about players and coaches, and about the history of the game itself — occupy a special place in our imagination. They are cultural histories: we read our stars’ personalities as transparencies laid over their times. No Montreal Canadiens fan remembers the Richard riots of the 1950s without thinking, immediately, of Clarence Campbell, of les maudits Anglais, of the old Montreal Forum on Atwater and its sacred chiens chauds.

KEN GIGLIOTTI / FREE PRESS FILES

Similarly, no Habs fan can conjure the great years of Les Glorieux in the 1970s and their six Stanley Cups — the teams of Ken Dryden, Guy Lapointe, Jacques Laperierre, Larry Robinson, Henri Richard, Yvan Cournoyer, Jacques Lemaire, Guy Lafleur, Bob Gainey, Pete and Frank Mahovlich, et al — without hearing Danny

Savard spent his last two seasons on the ice with the

Gallivan’s inimitable voice arise, invoking "Savaaard," with general manager following his retirement as a player in 1983. Savard’s patented spinorama move, and seeing in the mind’s eye that tall, imposing figure, the statesman of Montreal’s defence, striding up ice and negotiating a pass, as Gallivan had it. Winnipeg Jets before returning to the Canadiens as

In Philippe Cantin’s welcome biography, ably translated by Christopher Korchin, we now have the first full account of Savard’s life, a rounded insider’s account: Cantin spent countless hours interviewing Savard, and brings his 30-plus years’ experience as a journalist with La Presse to this work, to rich effect. Cantin gives us a detailed portrait of Savard’s early years in Landrienne, in the Abitibi region of Western Quebec, where he grew up in a loving family that he has remained close to for life, and where his lifelong commitment to the French Canadian community was first nurtured by his father. At 15, the talented young teenager moved to Montreal to play hockey, and Cantin shows us the struggles of those early years in the big city. Canton skillfully documents how Savard’s commitment to French Canada imbued his later desire to fashion the Canadiens, not only as Quebec’s team — and the impassioned rival of the Nordiques during their time in Quebec City — but as the team that would, under his tutelage, become an embodiment of French Canada. Savard himself became the first French Canadian general manager of the Habs and a symbol, on and off the ice, of the resurgent French fact, in the businesses he successfully acquired and managed over the years, in his political affiliations, as an entrepreneur.

Affable and articulate, always known as a general manager who knew the players and who managed as a former player himself, Savard became the consummate insider. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have his battles: Cantin relates Savard’s tensions with figures such as the brilliant but irascible coach of the Habs, Scotty Bowman, or with the premier hockey mind of his time, his boss Sam Pollock — or, surprisingly, with Dryden (still the author of Canada’s best book about hockey to date, The Game, and of last year’s biography of Scotty Bowman.) Cantin also gives us an insider’s view of Savard’s inevitable fall from grace when he was fired by Ron Corey, president of the club during the Molson family’s reign, and provides us with a clear window into Savard’s disappointment over his treatment, a feeling Savard harbours to this day. Most revealing, finally, are the stories of the innumerable personal connections Savard has nurtured over a lifetime in hockey — with teammates, coaches, general managers, with agents and owners — and beyond hockey, in the business community, at the race track, and of course during his storied sojourn in Winnipeg, where he played his

final two seasons in the NHL with the Jets before his retirement as a player in 1983. No one who saw Savard on the ice can forget his passion for the game. Thanks to Cantin, we now know more fully just what an outsized presence, on and off the ice, inhabited that big sweater, number 18. Neil Besner, former vice president, academic at the University of Winnipeg, treasures having watched Savard wheeling down the ice.

Arne Glassbourg / The Canadian Press files In this 1979 photo, Montreal Canadiens captain Serge Savard carries the Stanley Cup around the ice after the team beat the New York Rangers to win their fourth consecutive championship. Savard saw the Habs as Quebecâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team and the embodiment of French Canada.

Jeff Blair O @SNJeff Blair â&#x20AC;˘ 6 nov. Throughly enjoying Serge Savard: Forever Canadien by the terrifie La

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Presse writer @philippecantin ... Lots of hockey but also a very deft analysis of Quebec political and social tension. Exceptionally paced book .

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000 T O T i m e s l+I @totimesnews . 3 nov. #Arts #Books Book Review: SERGE SAVARD FOREVER CANADIEN by Phillippe Cantin

Book Review: SERGE SAVARD FOREVER CANADI... After a wildly successful book lau ch i Quebec -,,'-', , with over 30,000 copies sold, Serge Savard, ... & totimes.ca

Book Review: SERGE SAVARD FOREVER CANADIEN by Phillippe Cantin

/ / Book Review: SERGE SAVARD FOREVER CANADIEN by Phillippe Cantin After a wildly successful book launch in Quebec with over 30,000 copies sold, Serge Savard, Forever Canadien by Phillippe Cantin has been translated from French and the English version is now available in bookstores.

Whether or not you are a hockey fan, this biography about one of the most famous Montreal Canadiens (and General Manager) is a good read about how a boy from smalltown Quebec becomes a hockey hero. The inspiring biography is penned by Phillippe Cantin, who was a 30year veteran sportswriter for Montrealâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s La Presse who is now a freelance sportswriter. This is his third book on the Quebec hockey world.

SERGE SAVARD FOREVER CANADIEN, by Phillippe Cantin, translated from the French original by Christopher Korchin. Published by KO Editions

Savard was a star defenseman with the Montreal Canadiens in the 70s, winning 23 awards and distinctions, a mittful of Stanley Cups for the Habs, became team captain then general manager. Plus, there was that unforgettable Summit Series with the Soviet Union in 1972 when just about every TV was tuned in from coast to coast in Canada.

Serge Savard with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, photo from Personal collection of Serge Savard

Right from the get go in this “authorized biography”, Serge Savard comes off as a good guy who makes it clear he is not going to “ruffle any feathers,” but he did want to “set the record straight.” While it looked like this book was going to be another example of idolatry of a sports hero, it proved to be so much more. Yes, this book is about the making of a champion, but it also delves into the highs and lows of a long career and the lessons learned along the way.

Serge Savard Montreal Candiens GM with coach Jacques Demers, photo from personal collection of Serge Savard

Predictably, the book starts off with young Serge growing up in a small Quebec town, Landrienne. At home, the living room wall had pictures of the Pope, the Premier and, Maurice “The Rocket” Richard. You know which picture Serge admired the most. He absolutely loved the game. He would play for hours on a makeshift

rink on a flooded concrete pad. Serge would not even take his skates off as he wolfed down lunch, so he could get back on the ice quicker. This guy was made for hockey: 6’3”, 200 plus pounds and he turned out to be the fastest skater on the Canadiens. That helped him become the ideal defenseman: able to backcheck and carry the puck down the ice on offense. While there aren’t any jaw dropping tidbits in this part of the book, it is interesting to read his candid comments on teammates like Ken Dryden, Frank Mahovolich, Larry Robinson and Guy Lafleur. I also had no idea of his business acumen – from real estate to lottery kiosks, the stock market, horse racing, even ownership of one of Quebec’s most storied hotels, the Chateau Champlain. The same traits that made him a great player – the ability to remain calm and in control, to focus on the moment, to know when to take a risk – allowed him to make more in business than he did playing hockey. The more you read…the better the story gets.

Serge Savard scores against St. Louis Blues, ÂŠYves Beauchamp, La Presse; personal collection of Serge Savard.

It was his time as GM of the Canadiens (he got the gig at age 37) that is most fascinating. He admits to making mistakes, takes responsibility for bad decisions, and learns how to deal with negative criticism from the media. His tenure as the Canadiens GM lasted 12 years during which time the team picked up two Stanley Cups and two conference championships.

Serge Savard: So nice to see the good guy finish first. Serge Savard, Forever Canadien by Phillippe Cantin, translated from the French original by Christopher Korchin. Published by KO Editions. lead photo ÂŠPaul-Henri Talbot, La Presse by Laurie Wallace-Lynch 2019 Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) Certificate of Excellence Third Place Best Food and Drink Feature

Habs Headlines: Brendan Gallagher’s importance goes way beyond the scoresheet Andrea Nov 2, 2020, 4:00am EST

Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images

Montreal Canadiens News and Notes Marc Bergevin made a lot of big moves this offseason, but no move was more significant than his decision to sign Brendan Gallagher to a six-year contract extension. [The Hockey Writers] Mattias Norlinder is a rising star in Montreal’s prospect pool. [EOTP] In Andrew Zadarnowski’s return to the Weekend Game Plan, he discusses Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s and Jesse Ylönen’s play in Finland and the Habs’ defensive picture. [TSN 690] Serge Savard tells it like it is in his newly translated memoire “ Serge Savard: Forever Canadien”. [The Star]

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The Guardian (Charlottetown, PE)

Sports, Saturday, October 31, 2020 1088 mots, p. B2

OPINION

Charlottetown Islanders are for real P.E.I. boys playing key roles for upstart Titan in QMJHL regular season FRED MACDONALD FIDDLER’S FACTS Granted, it’s less than a month into the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) season, but trends are starting to take shape and the Charlottetown Islanders appear to be the team to beat in the Maritimes Division. Charlottetown travels to Bathurst, N.B., today to meet the upstart Acadie-Bathurst Titan, which should tell us if the Titan are for real or not. Islanders’ speedsters Thomas Casey and Cédric Desruisseaux entered the week among the top ve in scoring. Goaltender Colten Ellis, a Cape Bretoner, is already a favourite here and is among the leaders in goals-against average and save percentage. Island natives Chad Arsenault, Bennett MacArthur, Cole Larkin and Zach Bigger continue to perform beyond expectations with the Titan.

page b2

Arsenault entered the week tied with Ellis in wins with ve while MacArthur already has six goals. Defenceman Larkin led the league with a plus-12 while Bigger has drawn the attention of NHL’s Central Scouting. BOOK Serge Savard has a new book out called Forever Canadien. In it, Serge outlines the background and role he played in the hiring of Montreal GM Marc Bergevin. Ever respective of Savard’s reputation and opinion, owner Geoff Molson asked Serge to approve the hire and he did after a long dinner involving the three individuals. Molson missed the boat in not retaining Savard to plot Montreal’s future and the organization has paid the price. The Habs would have missed the playoffs last year had it not been for the playin series implemented due to the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic. It would have been the fourth time in the last ve seasons the Canadiens have not quali ed for the post-season. Their key players Carey Price and Shea Weber are 33 and 35, respectively, and maybe their best years are in the past. BASEBALL Head coaches and general managers of professional sports teams should now realize that seeing with one’s own eyes is a far more reliable in decision-making than depending on the computer or analytics. Never was that statement more evident than in the recently-completed World Series. Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash should have been able to understand his pitcher, Blake Snell, had the L.A. Dodgers hitters eating out of his hands and that staying with him after 73 pitches was the proper course of action. Instead, Cash opted to change pitchers going with a reliever.who Dodgers hitters had rouged up throughout this series. Taking Snell out cost the Rays Game 6 and maybe the World Series and it was the most glaring blunder in recent World Series history. It was also the most damaging in a long string of analytics-related decisions that should force coaches and managers to minimize their value in professional sports. /

THETELEGRAM.COM

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2020

Sports COLUMN

Serge Savard celebrates the Montreal Canadiens’ 1979 Stanley Cup championship with (from left) Doug Risebrough, Brian Engblom, Jacques Lemaire, Rejean Houle, Pierre Mondou and Steve Shutt on Montreal Forum ice after beating the New York Rangers. CONTRIBUTED

Perhaps Habs’ hierarchy should worry about what happens on the ice Canadiens’ alumni seen as a ‘distraction,’ says former Montreal great Savard SPORTS SCENE

ROBIN SHORT robin.short@thetelegram.com 't# @telyrobinshort

Some time back in the mid- to late-1970s, a lifetime ago to Canadiens fans, then-Mon-treal mayor Jean Drapeau made the infamous pro-nouncement that the Stanley Cup parade would follow its “usual” route downtown. In that era of Lafleur, Dryden and the Big Three, these parades were an annual event, although Drapeau’s declaration was seen as perhaps a bit pompous. “It’s funny,” recalls Serge Savard, the Canadiens’ captain and leader of the Big Three defence in those days. “We used to get asked the question a lot, ‘You gonna win the Stanley Cup this year?’ “Now it’s, ‘Are (the Canadiens) going to make the playoffs?’ “Big difference,” “The Sena- tor” chuckles over the phone line from Hilton Head Island, S.C., where he spends the fall and spring every year. Savard is talking a lot about

the Canadiens these days, with the recent English release of his new book, “Serge Savard: Forever Canadien,” written by La Presse sports writer Philippe Cantin. A delightful read and look into one of hockey’s all-time greats (Savard’s a 10-time Stanley Cup winner, Hall of Famer, and voted by The Hockey News as one of the top 100 players in NHL history), the book was published in French last year and initially sold close to 40,000 copies. When The Senator speaks, people listen. Savard was E.F. Hutton before there was E.F. Hutton. Maybe so, but, well, things change, and not always for the better. As a young Montreal prospect fresh from the Junior Canadiens system and later the Central Pro league in the late 1960s, Savard recalls the thrill of seeing the Montreal Canadiens’ aura before his very eyes in the Habs’ dressing room. They were kids then — Savard, Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer, Rogie Vachon. “We enjoyed having (fourtime Stanley Cup champion) Marcel Bonin and (two-time NHL scoring champ and Hall of Famer) Dickie Moore and those guys around, and coming through the dressing

ROBIN SHORT TELEGRAM SPORTS EDITOR

Hall of Fame. In 1976, however, they

They were known as ‘The Big Three’ — Serge Savard, Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe. They were stars on the

tournaments, featuring beston-best play between Canada, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, Finland and the United States.

SERGE SAVARD HIGHLIGHTS

room.” Today, former Canadiens don’t appear to be welcomed with the same open arms. Remembering the past and upholding the tradition and values of those who wore the CH before them don’t seem to be priorities for current Canadiens management. CONTINUED ON B8

iconic goal. The Canadian squad that year is widely touted as the best hockey team put together, with 18 eventual Hall of Famers on the roster. Included was a five-man defence not seen before or since — Savard, Robinson and Lapointe. And fellow Hall of Famers Bobby Orr and Denis Potvin, top three all-time defencemen on most lists. “What a team, hey?” Sa vard says today. “It was the

“Serge Savard: Forever Canadien,” written by La Presse sports writer Philippe Cantin, was recently released in Eng- lish. It’s a delightful read and look into one of hockey’s all-time greats, says Robin Short. CONTRIBUTED

best team we’ve ever assemdergo on his ravaged left bled. We had Bobby Hull, knee. who we didn’t have in ’72 (in “I dressed next to him,” the Summit Series against Savard said, “and I saw him the Russians), and Bobby with ice on his knee every Orr, who we didn’t have in day. The preparation before ’72 because of injuries. and after every game … it “That was the best team, was unbelievable how he the best team that ever could go play. performed, certainly in my “He was so sore, he didn’t time.” practice with us. He just If Orr’s not the best who played, and he was player of ever played the game, he’s 1A the tournament on one leg. with Wayne Gretzky. What he accomplished in Hull often tells stories that month (September of of the pre- and post-game ’76) was something amaztreatment Orr would uning.”

SPORTS • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2020

THETELEGRAM.COM

‘I think they see us as a distraction’ FROM B7 PERHAPS “I’m not sure if it’s (owner Geoff) Molson or (GMMarc) Bergevin,”Savardsaid.“Butit seems like they don’t want to see the alumni around. The alumni was always so important to the Montreal Canadiens organization. “They don’t say this officially, but I think they see us as a distraction. “Anyhow,” he sighs, “what can I say?” Savard was an eight-time winner of the Stanley Cup as a player. After closing out his playing career with the Winnipeg Jets, playing for his friend and former teammate John Fer-guson, Savard joined hockey’s front office ranks in 1983. A week or 10 days after the Jets were swept from the ’83 playoffs by Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers (a usual recurrence back then), Savard was approached by Canadiens president Ron Corey about - taking over as the team’s gen eral manager. Not sure if he was going to play the following season, Sa-vard jumped at the offer. And it didn’t take long before Corey’s move paid off. The Canadiens won the 1986 and 1993 Stanley Cups. Montreal has not won a championship since. Perhaps instead of monitor- ing former players coming and going through the team’s locker room, Bergevin may wish to focus energy and attention to his team’s playoff performances. Since taking over as GM on 2012, the Habs have missed the playoffs three times on Bergevin’s watch, or have been ousted in the first round twice. Savard won’t carve Bergevin, however, noting it’s a different time (in other words, a salary cap era) than when he occupied the general manager’s office. “When (Bergevin) arrived,”

Hall of Famer Serge Savard won eight Stanley Cups as a player with the Montreal Canadiens. CONTRIBUTED

said Savard, who played a big role in Bergevin l anding the Canadiens’ job, “ he said the y had to build from the base. But when you look at the (recent) playoffs, there were only a handful of guys they drafted in the last seven drafts. “They really built the team with trades, and they didn’t produce that many which is why they have problems. Because they didn’t produce their own players. “When we won the cup in 1986, that was my third year as GM. We had nine players from my first two drafts (including Patrick Roy, Stephane Richer and Claude Lemieux), and a couple of free agents like (Brian) Skrudland (an un- drafted free agent).” Savard does like a couple of moves Bergevin pulled off this past summer. The team, Savar , has got gger wi th tdhesaaid dditi ons otfen fobi rwa rd Josh Anderson and winger Joel Edmundson. Serge Savard, lining up next to teammate Danny Gare, was part of the great 1976 Team Canada squad in the first Canada Cup tournament. CONTRIBUTED

Robin Short is The Telegram’s Sports Editor.

scoreboard FOOTBALL NFL National Football League All times Atlantic AFC East W L T Pct F A Buffalo 5 2 0 .714 174 178 Miami 3 3 0 .500 160 113 New England 2 4 0 .333 115 143 N.Y. Jets 0 7 0 .000 85 203 South W L T Pct F A Tennessee 5 1 0 .833 188 153 Indianapolis 4 2 0 .667 157 115 Jacksonville 1 6 0 .143 154 220 Houston 1 6 0 .143 166 217 North W L T Pct F A Pittsburgh 6 0 0 1.000 183 118 Baltimore 5 1 0 .833 179 104 Cleveland 5 2 0 .714 200 221 Cincinnati 1 5 1 .214 163 194 West W L T Pct F A Kansas City 6 1 0 .857 218 143 Las Vegas 3 3 0 .500 171 197 L.A. Chargers 2 4 0 .333 149 154 Denver 2 4 0 .333 116 153 NFC East

Thursday Atlanta 25, Carolina 17 Sunday New England at Buffalo, 2 p.m. Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 2 p.m. Tennessee at Cincinnati, 2 p.m. Las Vegas at Cleveland, 2 p.m. Indianapolis at Detroit, 2 p.m. Minnesota at Green Bay, 2 p.m. N.Y. Jets at Kansas City, 2 p.m. L.A. Rams at Miami, 2 p.m. L.A. Chargers at Denver, 5:05 p.m. New Orleans at Chicago, 5:25 p.m. San Francisco atSeattle, 5:25 p.m. Dallas at Philadelphia, 9:20 p.m. Monday Tampa Bay at N.Y. Giants, 9:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5 Green Bay at San Francisco, 9:20 p.m.

SOCCER MLS

Major League Soccer All times Atlantic Eastern Conference W L T P F A Philadelphia 13 3 5 44 41 18 Toronto 12 4 5 41 30 23 Columbus 10 5 5 35 31 17 Orlando 9 3 8 35 35 21 New York City FC 10 8 3 33 28 20 New York Red Bulls 8 8 5 29 25 25 W L T Pct F A New England 7 6 8 29 22 20 Philadelphia 2 4 1 .357 163 196 Montreal 7 12 2 23 30 40 Washington 2 5 0 .286 133 165 Miami 6 12 3 21 22 32 Dallas 2 5 0 .286 176 243 Chicago 5 9 6 21 27 32 N.Y. Giants 1 6 0 .143 122 174 D.C. United 5 10 6 21 20 34 South Atlanta 5 12 4 19 20 28 W L T Pct F A Cincinnati 4 13 4 16 11 32 Tampa Bay 5 2 0 .714 222 142 Western Conference New Orleans 4 2 0 .667 180 174 W L T P F A Carolina 3 5 0 .375 179 193 11 6 3 36 36 25 Kansas City Atlanta 2 6 0 .250 209 224 Seattle 10 4 5 35 38 18 North Portland 10 5 5 35 44 33 W L T Pct F A Los Angeles FC 9 7 4 31 44 35 Green Bay 5 1 0 .833 197 159 Minnesota 8 5 6 30 31 24 Chicago 5 2 0 .714 138 140 Detroit 3 3 0 .500 156 165 Dallas 7 5 7 28 24 21 Nashville 7 6 7 28 20 18 Minnesota 1 5 0 .167 155 192 West 7 8 6 27 31 45 San Jose 8 13 0 24 24 43 Vancouver W L T Pct F A Salt Lake 5 8 7 22 24 31 Seattle 5 1 0 .833 203 172 Arizona 5 2 0 .714 203 146 Houston 4 8 9 21 29 35 5 6 4 19 26 26 L.A. Rams 5 2 0 .714 176 124 San Colorado Francisco 4 3 0 .571 181 136 LA Galaxy 5 11 3 18 24 41

Wednesday New York Red Bulls 1, New England 0 New York City FC 1, Toronto 0 Kansas City 1, Cincinnati 0 Philadelphia 2, Chicago 1 Orlando 4, Atlanta 1 D.C. United 1, Columbus 0 Minnesota 2, Colorado 1 Dallas 2, Miami 1 Portland 5, LA Galaxy 2 San Jose 2, Salt Lake 0 Los Angeles FC 2, Houston 1 Saturday Houston at Dallas, 4:30 p.m. Chicago at Nashville, 9:30 p.m. Sunday Philadelphia at Columbus, 4:30 p.m. Cincinnati at Atlanta, 8 p.m. New York Red Bulls at New York City FC, 8 p.m. Miami at Toronto, 8:30 p.m.

D.C. United at New England, 8:30 p.m. Orlando at Montreal, 8:30 p.m. Minnesota at Kansas City, 8:30 p.m. Seattle at Colorado, 10 p.m. Vancouver at Portland, 11 p.m. Salt Lake at LA Galaxy, 11:30 p.m. Los Angeles FC at San Jose, 11:30 p.m.

ENGLAND Premier League All times Atlantic W T L F A P Everton 4 1 1 14 9 13 Liverpool 4 1 1 15 14 13 Aston Villa 4 0 1 12 5 12 Leicester City 4 0 2 13 8 12 Tottenham 3 2 1 16 8 11 Leeds United 3 1 2 12 9 10 Southampton 3 1 2 10 9 10 Crystal Palace 3 1 2 8 9 10 Wolverhampton 3 1 2 6 8 10 Arsenal 3 9 8 79 9 20 3 31 13 Chelsea Manchester City 2 2 1 8 8 8 West Ham United 2 2 2 12 8 8 Newcastle 2 2 2 8 10 8 Manchester United 2 1 2 9 12 7 Brighton-Hove 1 2 3 10 12 4 West Bromwich 0 3 3 6 14 3 Burnley 0 1 Sheffield United 0 1 54 33 99 1 Fulham 0 1 5 5 14 1 Friday Crystal Palace at Wolverhampton.

Saturday Manchester City at Sheffield United, 9:30 a.m. Chelsea at Burnley, noon West Ham United at Liverpool, 2:30 p.m. Sunday Southampton at Aston Villa, 8 a.m. Everton at Newcastle, 10 a.m. Arsenal at Manchester United, 12:30 p.m. Brighton and Hove Albion at Tottenham, 3:15 p.m.

HOCKEY QMJHL Quebec Major Junior Hockey League All times Atlantic Maritimes Division W L O S F A P Bathurst 7 0 0 1 36 18 15 Charlottetown 6 1 0 0 31 17 12 Halifax 3 5 1 0 36 37 7 Cape Breton 3 5 0 0 27 44 6 Moncton 2 4 0 0 13 16 4 Saint John 1 3 1 1 18 26 4 East Division W L O S F A P Victoriaville 4 0 0 0 18 9 8 Shawinigan 3 1 0 0 15 13 6 Chicoutimi 2 1 0 1 13 12 5 1 0 1 0 6 53 Quebec Baie-Comeau 1 3 0 0 10 15 2 Rimouski 0 3 0 1 7 15 1 West Division W L O S F A P Drummondville 3 0 1 0 15 10 7 Gatineau 3 1 0 0 13 12 6 Bl.-Boisbriand 2 0 0 0 12 7 4 Val-d’Or 1 1 1 1 8 11 4 Rouyn-Noranda 1 3 0 0 14 17 2 Sherbrooke 0 2 0 0 7 12 0 Thursday Moncton 4, Halifax 3 Friday Moncton at Bathurst Halifax at Charlottetown Cape Breton at Saint John, Shawinigan at Quebec, Rimouski at Baie-Comeau Chicoutimi at Victoriaville Rouyn-Noranda at Val-d’Or Saturday Cape Breton at Saint John, 3 p.m. Quebec at Chicoutimi, 4 p.m. Charlottetown at Bathurst, 4 p.m.

Rimouski at Baie-Comeau, 5 p.m. Shawinigan at Victoriaville, 5 p.m. Val-d’Or at Rouyn-Noranda, 5 p.m.

MHL Maritime Junior Hockey League South Division Mini-Division 1 W L O S F A P South Shore 0 0 0 0 0 00 Valley 0 0 0 0 0 00 Yarmouth 0 0 0 0 0 00 Mini-Division 2 W L O S F A P Amherst 0 0 0 0 0 00 Pictou County 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Truro 0 0 0 0 0 00 North Division Mini-Division 1 W L O S F A P Edmundston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Fredericton 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 00 Grand Falls Mini-Division 2 W L O S F A P Campbellton 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Miramichi 0 0 0 0 0 00 Summerside 0 0 0 0 0 00 Friday Edmundston at Fredericton, Grand Falls at Miramichi, Pictou County at Valley, Yarmouth at South Shore, Saturday South Shore at Yarmouth, 7:30 p.m. Sunday Miramichi at Edmundston, 3 p.m. Fredericton at Grand Falls, 3 p.m. Valley at Truro, 7 p.m.

MOVES TRANSACTIONS Baseball American League Baltimore Orioles - Outrighted RHP Branden Kline, RHP David Hess, RHP Kohl Stewart, and SS Andrew Velazquez to Norfolk (IL). Signed CF Stevie Wilkerson to a minor league contract. Chicago White Sox - Named Tony La Russa manager. Oakland Athletics - Activated LHP A.J. Puk

and RHP Burch Smith from the 45-day IL. Seattle Mariners - Re-signed SP Kendall Graveman to a one-year, $1.25 million contract. National League Miami Marlins - Outrighted LHP Brandon Leibrandt, LHP Pat Venditte, RHP Josh A. Smith, and RHP Mike Morin to Wichita (PCL). New York Mets - Outrighted RF Ryan Cordell to Syracuse (IL). Football National Football League Atlanta Falcons - Activated LB Edmond Robinson from the practice squad. Buffalo Bills - Added LB Deon Lacey to the practice squad. Carolina Panthers - Activated G Mike Horton, DB Natrell Jamerson, and WR Marken Michel from the practice squad. Detroit Lions - Added RB Dalyn Dawkins to the practice squad. Removed DT Albert Huggins from the practice squad. Waived LB Elijah Lee. Las Vegas Raiders - Removed DB D.J. White from the practice squad. Los Angeles Chargers - Placed G Ryan Groy on IR/COVID-19 list. Placed TE Virgil Green on IR. New York Giants - Placed G Will Hernandez on IR/COVID-19 list. Seattle Seahawks - Acquired DE Carlos Dunlap from the Cincinnati Bengals for C B.J. Finney and a 2021 seventh-round draft pick. Basketball Hockey National Hockey League Arizona Coyotes - Announced the organization has renounced the draft rights of D Mitchell Miller. Buffalo Sabres - Re-signed LW Victor Olofsson to a two-year, $6.1 million contract. Chicago Blackhawks - Assigned C Kirby Dach to Team Canada (WJC). Columbus Blue Jackets - Signed RW Ryan MacInnis to a one-year, two-way contract extension worth $700,000. Dallas Stars - Promoted interim head coach Rick Bowness to head coach. New Jersey Devils - Signed D Colton White to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700,000. Tampa Bay Lightning - Re-signed D Luke Schenn to a one-year, $800,000 contract. Re-signed LW Pat Maroon to a two-year, $1.8 million contract.

Forever Frank: Former Habs great Serge Savard doesn’t sugar-coat things in ‘Forever Canadien’

When the Montreal Canadiens’ Serge Savard became the first NHL defenceman to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1969, he remembers being given two options to commemorate the honour. He could accept a plaque declaring him the award’s winner. Or he could order a custom-built miniature version of the grand trophy, a gleaming replica of iconic Maple Leaf Gardens. There was a catch, of course, and it spoke to the way players were once treated by tight-fisted NHL owners. The plaque was free. But the replica trophy would cost the

playoff MVP $1,500. Considering Savard, at the time, was earning $14,500 as a second-year defenceman, it was a particularly hefty sum. “Ten per cent of my salary,” he said in a recent interview. If the same policy applied today, by way of comparison — if the Conn Smythe Trophy would have cost its most recent recipient, Victor Hedman, about 10 per cent of his salary — the 2020 price tag for the trophy would have been $787,500. “I said, ‘Give me the plaque,’ ” Savard said. “That’s the way it was. There was no money then. There were no sponsors. There were no ads on the boards or anywhere. You had to be smart.” Over his Hall of Fame career as a player, Savard, now 74, was the model of the street-smart pro. Best known as one of Montreal’s famed Big Three defencemen, alongside Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe, he won eight Stanley Cups as a player. As a member of Canada’s victorious Summit Series team in 1972, he was a linchpin presence. Though he played in just five of the eight games due to injury, Canada never lost with him in the lineup, winning four and tying one. And as the general manager in charge of the Montreal teams that won the Stanley Cup in 1986 and 1993, his reign as the last executive to repatriate Lord Stanley’s mug to Canada hasn’t found itself under serious threat often enough.

Still, in a lot of ways, even reeling off that impressive resumé doesn’t quite do justice to his stature in his home province. You come to realize this turning the pages of Savard’s memoir “Serge Savard: Forever Canadien,” newly translated to English by journalist Phillippe Cantin. When he was growing up in tiny Abitibi, Que., the living-room walls of

the Savard family home were adorned with pictures of three powerful men: the pope, the premier and Rocket Richard. Religion, politics and hockey. In his book Savard calls it “the other Holy Trinity” of Quebec life. Certainly all three often found themselves intertwined. On the day in 1995 when Savard was fired as Canadiens GM along with coach Jacques Demers, Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau proclaimed the bloodletting “a cataclysm.” Former premier Robert Bourassa called Savard at home to commiserate. In other words, Savard has lived a more varied and rich existence than your typical shutdown defenceman. He parlayed his stature into a career as a successful businessman, building a real-estate portfolio, owning a newspaper and heading a group that once owned Montreal’s distinctive Chateau Champlain hotel. And he’s certainly not shy about voicing his displeasure with the current management of the once-vaunted Canadiens. Though he hasn’t officially worked for the Canadiens since that fateful day in 1995, Savard was a member of the committee that hired current Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin in 2012, around which time, Savard recently told the Montreal Gazette, Canadiens owner Geoff Molson offered him a job that never materialized. Savard, while accusing the organization of forgetting its past, has cast Bergevin as ungrateful. “I didn’t hire him, but I can tell you if I was against him, he would never have got that job,” he told the Gazette. If Savard can come off as bitter, he’s had a history of finding himself on the right side of history. A flip through “Forever Canadien” suggests

there are still ill feelings between Savard and the members of the 1970s Philadelphia Flyers, the Broad Street Bullies who won the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975, and whom the Canadiens defeated in 1976 to begin a string of four straight titles. As those ruffian Flyers were savaging the NHL, Savard was campaigning against the senselessness of such goonery when such pacifist views were far from a mainstream. “People didn’t want to hear that, because everyone said fighting was part of the game,” Savard said over the phone from his home in Hilton Head, S.C. In his book, he calls behaviour like Bobby Clarke’s ankle-breaking slash on Soviet star Valeri Kharlamov “a stain” on the sport. He calls Canada’s “absurdly ferocious conduct” in Summit Series exhibition games in Sweden “a disgrace.” And he calls Montreal’s win over the Philadelphia thugs “the most satisfying” of his Cups, both as a player and a GM. “It put an end to those two years when brute force won out,” Savard writes. “Bobby Clarke hates it when I say this, but the Flyers stole two Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975 because the National Hockey League let them get away with their intimidation tactics.” Savard doesn’t sugar-coat his mistakes in his memoir. He calls his trade of a 28-year-old Chris Chelios for Dénis Savard his worst move. While he alludes to Chelios’s involvement in “dubious” incidents that possibly “tarnished” the team’s image — including a breaking of playoff curfew that coincided with a wee-hours car accident in which Chelios played a part — Savard insists he made the deal because he was convinced by

medical staff that Chelios’s injured knee would only last another season or two. Chelios, as it turned out, played 19 more seasons until age 48. Denis Savard, meanwhile “had already lost a step and we hadn’t taken notice,” Savard says in the book. “It was one of the biggest blunders of my career.” Even when he didn’t necessarily make a mistake, Savard had a reputation for making things right. After he traded Montreal tough guy Chris Nilan to the Rangers — after Nilan openly challenged coach Jean Perron’s authority in front of the team — Savard invited Nilan to an offseason meeting. Knowing that Nilan had gifted his 1986 Stanley Cup ring to his father, Savard presented him with a replacement. “It was a nice gesture,” Nilan, now a Montreal sports-radio host, said in an interview. “Outside of that one fateful day when he traded me, Serge was always good to me. I put him in a bad position, so I’ll give him a mulligan on that one.”

Unvarnished candour is hardly standard fare in many reconstructions of hockey history. But Savard shares plenty in the pages of “Forever Canadien.” He tells of a dressing-room tête-à-tête with Henri Richard, brother of the Rocket, in which Savard slapped Richard in the face over a disagreement about a leaked story in the media. (They promptly made peace). He tells of late-night escapades of an unnamed teammate who drunkenly punched a fire hydrant to the detriment of his hand’s game-readiness, only to have teammates stage a fake injury at the next morning’s practice to cover for the stupidity. He tells of addressing rumours of Chelios’s drug use by challenging Chelios to submit to regular voluntary random tests — tests, Savard says, Chelios always passed.

“We were a family,” Savard said of his teams. “And when you’ve got four, five, six kids in a family, there’s always drama somehow. On the ice, with Savard shoring up the back end, things were less eventful. Scotty Bowman, the legendary coach of five of those Montreal Cup teams, has long considered Savard an irreplaceable piece of that dynasty’s bedrock, the defensive conscience that allowed the likes of Larry Robinson to freelance at will. “(Bobby Orr) was an offensive machine,” Bowman has said. “But at the other end of the rink, Serge Savard was everybody’s dream as a hockey player.” That dream of a hockey player was also a realist of a spender. Speaking of his Conn Smythe Trophy, Savard said he eventually forked over the money for a replica model. That was about a decade after he had won the trophy, and only after his earnings as a businessman had far exceeded his salary, which by then was about $150,000 a year. “It took me about a decade,” he said, “but I finally had one made.”

Saltwire - Annapolis Valley (NS) (web site)

FIDDLER'S FACTS: Charlottetown Islanders are for real Book Serge Savard has a new book out called Forever Canadien. In it, Serge outlines the background and role he played in the hiring of Montreal GM Marc Bergevin. Ever respective of Savardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reputation and opinion, owner Geoff Molson asked Serge to approve the hire and he did after a long dinner involving the three individuals. Molson missed the boat in not retaining Savard to plot Montrealâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future and the organization has paid the price. The Habs would have missed the playoffs last year had it not been for the play-in series implemented due to the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic. It would have been the fourth time in the last five seasons the Canadiens have not qualified for the post-season. Their key players Carey Price and Shea Weber are 33 and 35, respectively, and maybe their best years are in the past.

Saltwire - Corner Brook (NL) (web site)

FIDDLER'S FACTS: Charlottetown Islanders are for real

Book Serge Savard has a new book out called Forever Canadien. In it, Serge outlines the background and role he played in the hiring of Montreal GM Marc Bergevin. Ever respective of Savardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reputation and opinion, owner Geoff Molson asked Serge to approve the hire and he did after a long dinner involving the three individuals. Molson missed the boat in not retaining Savard to plot Montrealâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future and the organization has paid the price. The Habs would have missed the playoffs last year had it not been for the play-in series implemented due to the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) pandemic. It would have been the fourth time in the last five seasons the Canadiens have not qualified for the post-season. Their key players Carey Price and Shea Weber are 33 and 35, respectively, and maybe their best years are in the past.

Hockey Trade Rumors From The Past: Wayne Gretzky, Cam Neely and Patrick Roy The 2020 hockey book season is in full swing, even if the 2020-21 NHL season is not. I guess if we are forced to isolate during a global virus pandemic and can't watch hockey, reading about it is the next best thing. I have been fully enjoying two books in particular - Brian Burke's autobiography Burke's Law and Serge Savard's authorized biography Forever Canadien. Both authors were once powerful general managers on the hockey scene, and privy to more inside information than anyone. And, of course, they spill a few beans for us. Each drops bombshell trade details on trades involving the Vancouver Canucks that never happened. While the two key superstars at the center of the trade details did eventually get moved, apparently the Canucks either had or they offered alternatives to the massive trade. Let's start with Burke. Now if you may remember, there was a guy named Wayne Gretzky who was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings back in 1988, forever re-shaping hockey history in countless ways. Just to refresh your memory, the Oilers trade Gretzky, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski to the Kings in exchange for $15 million (US), three first round picks, the just-drafted-in-first-round Martin Gelinas and

Jimmy Carson. Now the Kings were headhunting Gretzky and most teams were not even in on the bidding war. But the one franchise that somehow was was the lowly Vancouver Canucks. This isn't exactly new information, as it has been long accepted that they were somehow involved. Arthur Griffiths confirmed this some time ago, even talking about how they would make Gretzky part owner. But the precise details of the proposed trade haven't come out until now with Burke's new book. Brian Burke had just arrived in Vancouver a year earlier, apprenticing under the great Pat Quinn. Burke tells us the details though he does not really get into too many details about how the talks came to be. We are left to assume that the trade talks were directly between owners Peter Pocklington and the Griffiths family, just like it was Pocklington and Bruce McNall doing all the talking involving LA. After all, ask any Edmonton Oilers fan and they will confirm that the Gretzky trade was not so much a trade but a sale. Burke tells us the Vancouver was for Wayne Gretzky only. History tells us that once things came to close Gretzky insisted his buddy McSorley was to come with him, but I don't think Vancouver ever truly got that close to closing the deal.

Vancouver's deal featured $25 million, but he does not specify if that is in US or Canadian funds. I'd actually assume it is in Canadian currency, as it was still common practice back then for Canadian teams to use the newly minted Loonie until the early 1990s, including for player payrolls. With a little bit of Google searching we can learn that $25m was a significant increase over the LA offer even with the exchange rate. $15m US in August 1988 was approximately worth $18.5m in

Canadian funds. Burke also tells us Vancouver committed three first round picks as well. LA ultimately staggered their surrendered picks to the 1989, 1991 and 1993 drafts. There is no mention of such a breakdown in the Vancouver offer. Burke also said that - like the LA offer - there were two young emerging stars included in the deal. Where LA offered Gelinas and Carson, Vancouver had Greg Adams and Kirk McLean in place. Both Adams and McLean went on to become key parts of Vancouver's success in the 1990s, but how Vancouver had a nearly accepted offer on Wayne Gretzky that did not include the recent 2nd overall draft pick by an Albertan kid named Trevor Linden, I will never know. And the inclusion of McLean was interesting given that even though he went on to a fantastic career he was still largely unproven at that point, and the Oilers had goalies named Grant Fuhr and Bill Ranford. Burke says the deal for Gretzky fell through because the money just did not make any sense. When Quinn and Burke arrived a year earlier, they inherited a team that was losing upwards of $30m annually. And the Griffiths family didn't have the deepest pockets in hockey, not like Bruce McNall, at that time anyway. In some bizarre parallel universe Wayne Gretzky lined up with Petri Skriko and Tony Tanti and a young Trevor Linden and Vancouver took the NHL by storm. But in reality, the deal probably wasn't ever as close as the Kings' deal that reshaped the hockey landscape to this very day.

Speaking of bizarre parallel universes, can you imagine the ultimate Boston Bruin Cam Neely in a Montreal Canadiens uniform?

In his new book Forever Canadien, Serge Savard regretted not pulling the trigger on a trade with the Canucks back in the mid 1980s. The Canucks infamously grew inpatient with a young Neely and were shopping him around the league. At one point, according to Savard, he could have closed a deal for Neely and it would only have cost him left winger Mike McPhee. McPhee, said to be a favorite of Canucks coach Tom Watt, was a fantastic support player in Montreal. He was a really solid pro and a great teammate, the perfect third line kind of a player. But Neely went on to become one of the all time greats. Savard lamented not making the deal, saying he was just a young general manager at the time and afraid to pull the trigger on a deal which had a risk with the still unproven Neely. The Canucks of course infamously traded Neely and the third overall draft pick in 1987 to Montreal's arch rivals in Boston in exchange for Barry Pederson. At least Pederson had a high scoring background at the NHL level but was never the same after major shoulder surgery to remove a benign tumor. He was still a point a game player in Vancouver, but not the superstar he was emerging to be alongside Rick Middleton in Boston in the early 1980s. Speaking for Serge Savard and trades, he also let the cat out of the bag on another trade he was working on, but he never got to complete because he got fired by the Habs. Oddly enough, the trade would still happen later on.

Savard tells us he was shopping Patrick Roy well before the infamous Roy snapping and demanding a trade. Before that incident, no one

could have thought the Canadiens would have traded their superstar goaltender. But Savard tells us he was closing in on a deal with, of course, the Colorado Avalanche. Savard felt Roy's personality was just too big for the dressing room, and the team would be better off moving him. Roy's old agent Pierre Lacroix was now the general manager in Colorado and pushing hard to get his old pal, and, according to Savard, offered Owen Nolan and Stephane Fiset. Savard was abruptly fired after 4 games in October 1995, and the deal died. But once Roy snapped at Ronald Corey and Mario Tremblay and demanded to be traded, Lacroix and the Avalanche were quick to pick up the telephone. The actual deal saw Colorado trade Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko to Montreal for Roy AND team captain Mike Keane, who also became a real key player in Colorado. Savard said he would never, ever have traded Keane.

Ah yes, the good ol' days. Lets finish this post off by watching Mike McPhee and Cam Neely get into a disagreement about something, if Gord Kluzak would get out of the way anyway.

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Savard ranks among Habs greats — as player and exec The Beacon Herald · 28 oct. 2020 · B3 · STEVE SIMMONS ssimmons@postmedia.com Twitter.com/simmonssteve

I got into my seat at the Amalie Arena just before puck drop one night a couple of winters ago in Tampa Bay and before I noticed who was sitting beside me in the press box, I heard Scotty Bowman's voice.

“Where's Savard?” he asked me, and for an instant I had no idea what he was talking about. He didn't say hello. He didn't say `how are you?' He got right to the point. Earlier that day, killing time, I had put out a list on Twitter of the 10 best defencemen I'd ever seen play. I didn't have Serge Savard on the list. To be honest, I hadn't even thought of him. That night, I was surprised to learn Bowman was on Twitter. And even more surprised that he was bothering to follow me. So without an answer to his question I spent most of the rst period being taught a hockey lesson by the greatest coach of all time. Being schooled on the greatness of Serge Savard. And why he should be on everyone's Top 10 list. Better than Larry Robinson, Bowman said, who is on just about all Top 10 lists. Bowman went on to explain, all the attributes Savard brought to a hockey team, on the ice, o the ice, in every conceivable way. It wasn't so much a conversation as a lecture. I keep hearing Bowman's voice with clarity and depth as I'm reading Serge Savard, Forever Canadien, the recently released book by the wonderful French-canadian columnist, Phillippe Cantin. This isn't just another hockey book — there are too many of those — but a story of a complicated man of depth, and one of immense success: Savard as hockey player, hockey executive, political thinker, business giant. And the book provides a deep understanding of how and why hockey in Montreal, maybe more then than now, was di erent and so much more complicated than hockey anywhere else. Savard happened to be red as general manager four games into the 1995-96 season as general manager of the Canadiens, just days before the heated Quebec Referendum on separatism. That night, then-premier Jacques Parizeau began a campaign speech and used the word “cat-

aclysmâ&#x20AC;? in his rst sentence. He wasn't talking Referendum. He was talking of the ring of Savard and coach Jacques Demers in Montreal. The connection from Savard to politics, to player relationships, to business, to the internal workings of Montreal hockey, and how it was all intertwined with media relationships and complications make the book a fascinating time piece: It is a history unto itself, an explanation without being direct of how Montreal hockey operates. And Savard was central as player, then general manager, to so much success in his 27 years with the Canadiens. He paired with Robinson for most of those years and won eight Stanley Cups as a player in Montreal. Savard stayed home and took care of business. Robinson played the glamour role. He got the credit; just not necessarily in coach Bowman's eyes, who saw things di erently. By today's standards, it's almost impossible to quantify all the success Savard had. Aside from the eight Cups, he was the fth winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy. He played for Team Canada '72 and a little known fact: Savard was injured in the tournament and missed three games. Canada didn't lose any of the ve he dressed for. Savard played defence for Team Canada '76, alongside Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin and Robinson. If that wasn't the greatest team in Canadian history, it was the greatest defence any team has ever had. And in Savard's 12 seasons as GM, the Habs won two Stanley Cups, lost one nal to Calgary. Ten Cups in all. The last championship was in 1993. The Habs haven't won a Cup or played for a Cup since. In the 25 years since Savard was red, Montreal has missed the playo s nine times, was eliminated in the rst round eight times. Savard's teams missed the playo s only once. The next season, he was let go. Savard didn't play in the big money days but by his fth NHL season he was earning more from his business interests than he was from his hockey salary. He was a triple threat: He could play, he could manage, he knew how to invest. Not everything Savard did as a GM worked out â&#x20AC;&#x201D; although he wasn't part of the trade that sent Patrick Roy to Colorado, that happened not long after he was let go. But he was honest about his time in o ce. Maybe the worst deal he made was sending Chris Chelios to Chicago for Denis Savard. Savard hired Pat Burns to coach in Montreal and he took the Habs to the nals in his very rst season. A few years later, Savard was happy to see Burns leave for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That rst memorable season, Toronto played Los Angeles in the Conference Final, and the winner played Montreal for the Stanley Cup. That was the 10th Stanley Cup for Serge Savard. The last for the Canadiens.

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Savard a Canadiens great — as player and executive Calgary Herald · 28 oct. 2020 · NP12 · STEVE SIMMONS ssimmons@postmedia.com Twitter.com/simmonssteve

Consultez les deux pages suivantes pour lire l'article

Savard ranks among Habs greats — as player and exec Montreal Gazette · 28 oct. 2020 · NP16 · STEVE SIMMONS ssimmons@postmedia.com Twitter.com/simmonssteve

was bothering to follow me. So without an answer to his question I spent most of the rst period being taught a hockey lesson by the greatest coach of all time. Being schooled on the greatness of Serge Savard. And why he should be on everyone's Top 10 list. Better than Larry Robinson, Bowman said, who is on just about all Top 10 lists. Bowman went on to explain, all the attributes Savard brought to a hockey team, on the ice, o the ice, in every conceivable way. It wasn't so much a conversation as a lecture. I keep hearing Bowman's voice with clarity and depth as I'm reading Serge Savard, Forever Canadien, the recently released book by the wonderful French-canadian columnist, Phillippe Cantin. This isn't just another hockey book — there are too many of those — but a story of a complicated man of depth, and one of immense success: Savard as hockey player, hockey executive, political thinker, business giant. And the book provides a deep understanding of how and why hockey in Montreal, maybe more then than now, was di erent and so much more complicated than hockey anywhere else. Savard happened to be red as general manager four games into the 1995-96 season as general manager of the Canadiens, just days before the heated Quebec Referendum on separatism. That night, then-premier Jacques Parizeau began a campaign speech and used the word “cat-

workings of Montreal hockey, and how it was all intertwined with media relationships and complications make the book a fascinating time piece: It is a history unto itself, an explanation without being direct of how Montreal hockey operates. And Savard was central as player, then general manager, to so much success in his 27 years with the Canadiens. He paired with Robinson for most of those years and won eight Stanley Cups as a player in Montreal. Savard stayed home and took care of business. Robinson played the glamour role. He got the credit; just not necessarily in coach Bowman's eyes, who saw things di erently. By today's standards, it's almost impossible to quantify all the success Savard had. Aside from the eight Cups, he was the fth winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy. He played for Team Canada '72 and a little known fact: Savard was injured in the tournament and missed three games. Canada didn't lose any of the ve he dressed for. Savard played defence for Team Canada '76, alongside Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin and Robinson. If that wasn't the greatest team in Canadian history, it was the greatest defence any team has ever had. And in Savard's 12 seasons as GM, the Habs won two Stanley Cups, lost one nal to Calgary. Ten Cups in all. The last championship was in 1993. The Habs haven't won a Cup or played for a Cup since. In the 25 years since Savard was red, Montreal has missed the playo s nine times, was eliminated in the rst round eight times. Savard's teams missed the playo s only once. The next season, he was let go. Savard didn't play in the big money days but by his fth NHL season he was earning more from his business interests than he was from his hockey salary. He was a triple threat: He could play, he could manage, he knew how to invest. Not everything Savard did as a GM worked out â&#x20AC;&#x201D; although he wasn't part of the trade that sent Patrick Roy to Colorado, that happened not long after he was let go. But he was honest about his time in o ce. Maybe the worst deal he made was sending Chris Chelios to Chicago for Denis Savard. Savard hired Pat Burns to coach in Montreal and he took the Habs to the nals in his very rst season. A few years later, Savard was happy to see Burns leave for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That rst memorable season, Toronto played Los Angeles in the Conference Final, and the winner played Montreal for the Stanley Cup. That was the 10th Stanley Cup for Serge Savard. The last for the Canadiens.

National Post (Latest Edition)

LATEST EDITION

Habs see no Cups since axing Savard Player and GM a 10-time champion National Post (Latest Edition) · 28 oct. 2020 · A18 · Steve Simmons

Igot into my seat at the Amalie Arena just before puck drop one night a couple of winters ago in Tampa Bay and before I noticed who was sitting beside me in the press box, I heard Scotty Bowman’s voice.

complicated man of depth, and one of immense success: Savard as hockey player, hockey executive, political thinker, business giant. And the book provides a deep understanding of how and why hockey in Montreal, maybe more then than now, was di erent and so much more complicated than hockey anywhere else. Savard happened to be red four games into the 1995- 96 season as general manager of the Canadiens, just days before the heated Quebec Referendum on separatism. That night, Premier Jacques Parizeau began a campaign speech and used the word “cataclysm” in his rst sentence. He wasn’t talking Referendum. He was talking of the ring of Savard and coach Jacques Demers in Montreal. The connection from Savard to politics, to player relationships, to business, to the internal workings of Montreal hockey, and how all it was all intertwined with media relationships and complications make the book a fascinating time piece: It is a history unto itself, an explanation without being direct of how Montreal hockey operates. And Savard was central as player, then GM, to so much success in his 27 years with the Canadiens. He paired with Robinson for most of those years and won eight Stanley Cups as a player in Montreal. Savard stayed home and took care of business. Robinson played the glamour role. He got the credit; just not necessarily in coach Bowman’s eyes, who saw things di erently. By today’s standards, it’s almost impossible to quantify all the success Savard had. Aside from the eight Cups, he was the fth winner of the Conn Smythe. He played for Team Canada ’ 72 and a little known fact: Savard was injured in the tournament and missed three games. Canada didn’t lose any of the ve he dressed for. Savard played defence for Team Canada ’ 76, alongside Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin and Robinson. If that wasn’t the greatest team in Canadian history, it was the greatest defence any team has ever had. And in Savard’s 12 seasons as GM, the Habs won two Stanley Cups, lost one nal to Calgary. Ten Cups in all. The last championship was in 1993. The Habs haven’t won a Cup or played for a Cup since. In the 25 years since Savard was red, Montreal has missed the playo s nine times, was eliminated in the rst round eight times. Savard’s teams missed the playo s only once. The next season, he was let go. Savard didn’t play in the big money days but by his fth NHL season he was earning more from his business interests than he was from his hockey salary. He was a triple threat: He could play, he could manage, he knew how to invest. Not everything Savard did as a GM worked out — although he wasn’t part of the trade that sent Patrick Roy to Colorado, that happened not long after he was let go. But he was honest about his time in o ce. Maybe the worst deal he made was sending Chris Chelios to Chicago for Denis Savard. “When the season ended, we got a medical opinion that was very worrisome,” said Savard. “( Chelios) knee was in terrible shape and his career in professional hockey (we were told) wouldn’t last much longer. That’s why I traded Chelios. It was one of the biggest blunders of my career.”

Chelios went to play 19 more seasons. The deal he should have made but turned down: Cam Neely from Vancouver for Mike Mcphee. It was on the table. Savard said no. Neely was later traded to Boston. He didn’t regret not making the deal. “We won a Stanley Cup with Mcphee.” Oh, what might have happened had Neely turned out for Montreal the way he played for the Bruins. Savard hired Pat Burns to coach in Montreal and he took the Habs to the nals in his very rst season. A few years later, Savard was happy to see Burns leave for the Toronto Maple Leafs. “In his last season with us (1992), Pat just came undone. It was awful,” said Savard. “He couldn’t coach (our team) anymore. I was lucky I didn’t have to re him.” Burns had a choice when he decided to leave Montreal. He could have gone to Los Angeles as coach and GM. Or coach the Leafs. He chose the Toronto job. That rst memorable season, Toronto played Los Angeles in the Conference Final, and the winner played Montreal for the Stanley Cup. That was the 10th Stanley Cup for Serge Savard. The last for the Canadiens.

NATIONAL EDITION

Habs see no Cups since axing Savard Player and GM a 10-time champion National Post (National Edition) · 28 oct. 2020 · A16 · STEVE SIMMONS

Igot into my seat at the Amalie Arena just before puck drop one night a couple of winters ago in Tampa Bay and before I noticed who was sitting beside me in the press box, I heard Scotty Bowman's voice.

“Where's Savard?” he asked me, and for an instant I had no idea what he was talking about. He didn't say hello. He didn't say `how are you?' He got right to the point. Earlier that day, killing time, I had put out a list on Twitter of the 10 best defencemen I'd ever seen play. I didn't have Serge Savard on the list. To be honest, I hadn't even thought of him. That night, I was surprised to learn Bowman was on Twitter. And even more surprised that he was bothering to follow me. So without an answer to his question I spent most of the rst period being taught a hockey lesson by the greatest coach of all time. Being schooled on the greatness of Serge Savard. And why he should be on everyone's Top 10 list. Better than Larry Robinson, Bowman said, who is on just about all Top 10 lists. Bowman went on to explain, all the attributes Savard brought to a hockey team, on the ice, o the ice, in every conceivable way. It wasn't so much a conversation as a lecture. I keep hearing Bowman's voice with clarity and depth as I'm reading Serge Savard, Forever Canadien, the recently released book by the wonderful French-Canadian columnist, Phillippe Cantin. This isn't just another hockey book — there are too many of those — but a story of a complicated man of depth, and one of immense success: Savard as hockey player, hockey executive, political thinker, business giant. And the book provides a deep understanding of how and why hockey in Montreal, maybe more then than now, was di erent and so much more complicated than hockey anywhere else.

Savard happened to be red four games into the 1995-96 season as general manager of the Canadiens, just days before the heated Quebec Referendum on separatism. That night, Premier Jacques Parizeau began a campaign speech and used the word “cataclysm” in his rst sentence. He wasn't talking Referendum. He was talking of the ring of Savard and coach Jacques Demers in Montreal. The connection from Savard to politics, to player relationships, to business, to the internal workings of Montreal hockey, and how all it was all intertwined with media relationships and complications make the book a fascinating time piece: It is a history unto itself, an explanation without being direct of how Montreal hockey operates. And Savard was central as player, then GM, to so much success in his 27 years with the Canadiens. He paired with Robinson for most of those years and won eight Stanley Cups as a player in Montreal. Savard stayed home and took care of business. Robinson played the glamour role. He got the credit; just not necessarily in coach Bowman's eyes, who saw things di erently. By today's standards, it's almost impossible to quantify all the success Savard had. Aside from the eight Cups, he was the fth winner of the Conn Smythe. He played for Team Canada '72 and a little known fact: Savard was injured in the tournament and missed three games. Canada didn't lose any of the ve he dressed for. Savard played defence for Team Canada '76, alongside Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin and Robinson. If that wasn't the greatest team in Canadian history, it was the greatest defence any team has ever had. And in Savard's 12 seasons as GM, the Habs won two Stanley Cups, lost one nal to Calgary. Ten Cups in all. The last championship was in 1993. The Habs haven't won a Cup or played for a Cup since. In the 25 years since Savard was red, Montreal has missed the playo s nine times, was eliminated in the rst round eight times. Savard's teams missed the playo s only once. The next season, he was let go. Savard didn't play in the big money days but by his fth NHL season he was earning more from his business interests than he was from his hockey salary. He was a triple threat: He could play, he could manage, he knew how to invest. Not everything Savard did as a GM worked out — although he wasn't part of the trade that sent Patrick Roy to Colorado, that happened not long after he was let go. But he was honest about his time in o ce. Maybe the worst deal he made was sending Chris Chelios to Chicago for Denis Savard. “When the season ended, we got a medical opinion that was very worrisome,” said Savard. “(Chelios) knee was in terrible shape and his career in professional hockey (we were told) wouldn't last much longer. That's why I traded Chelios. It was one of the biggest blunders of my career.” Chelios went to play 19 more seasons. The deal he should have made but turned down: Cam Neely from Vancouver for Mike McPhee. It was on the table. Savard said no. Neely was later traded to Boston. He didn't regret not mak-

ing the deal. “We won a Stanley Cup with McPhee.” Oh, what might have happened had Neely turned out for Montreal the way he played for the Bruins. Savard hired Pat Burns to coach in Montreal and he took the Habs to the nals in his very rst season. A few years later, Savard was happy to see Burns leave for the Toronto Maple Leafs. “In his last season with us (1992), Pat just came undone. It was awful,” said Savard. “He couldn't coach (our team) anymore. I was lucky I didn't have to re him.” Burns had a choice when he decided to leave Montreal. He could have gone to Los Angeles as coach and GM. Or coach the Leafs. He chose the Toronto job. That rst memorable season, Toronto played Los Angeles in the Conference Final, and the winner played Montreal for the Stanley Cup. That was the 10th Stanley Cup for Serge Savard. The last for the Canadiens.

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What if Cam Neely had been dealt to Montreal instead of Boston? According to the authorized biography of Habs legend Serge Savard, which takes readers through a remarkable playing and managing career, that came very close to happening. Ken Campbell Oct 28, 2020

Suspend your disbelief for a moment and imagine this, if you can. While struggling mightily as a third-year NHL player with the Vancouver Canucks and on the precipice of becoming a bust, Cam Neely is dealt, not to the Boston Bruins, but to their hated rival, the Montreal Canadiens during the 1985-86 season. Just think about that for a minute and how so much would have been so different if that had

happened. Mind blown, right? Now you have to know that this is actually not just some sort of fantasy. It came very, very close to happening, according to the man who was at the center of the trade talks. In his recently released authorized biography, Serge Savard – Forever Canadien, the Habs legend detailed how he had a deal in ’85-86 with the Canucks that would have had the future Hall of Famer in a Canadiens uniform in exchange for the very workmanlike and unspectacular Mike McPhee. Savard balked on the deal and Neely was dealt to the Bruins that summer for Barry Pederson in one of the most lopsided trades in NHL history. (It turns out the McPhee traded probably would have worked out better for Vancouver, but would have been larceny nonetheless.) “I was scared to death because I was a young manager,” Savard told TheHockeyNews.com. “I went to Vancouver and Tom Watt was the coach and he was my coach in Winnipeg so I knew him very well. And (Watt) was in love with McPhee. (Neely) was a young player and he wasn’t playing well and I knew McPhee was a pretty good player who would give me character. Not a lot of goals, but I kept him because I didn’t have the guts to make that trade.”

Or how about this? According to Savard’s book, Patrick Roy’s controversial last game as a Canadien on Dec. 2, 1995, an 11-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings in which Roy told Canadiens president, “It’s my last game in Montreal,” may have been the tipping point for him to be dealt, but Savard had already made up his mind that Roy was going to be traded. In fact, he was deep into talks with Colorado GM Pierre Lacroix on a Roy trade when he was fired by the Canadiens four games into the 1995-96 season. And instead of getting fleeced on the deal, Savard was putting together a trade that would have netted the

Canadiens power forward Owen Nolan and goalie Stephane Fiset, the former of whom was dealt to San Jose by the Avalanche nine days after Savard was fired by the Canadiens. In the first pages of the book, Savard promises not to hold anything back and he doesn’t do that in the next 450-plus pages. Savard puts it all out there, literally from his birth at 14 pounds (14 pounds!) and his childhood in Landrienne in Quebec’s Abitibi region to his unlikely ascension to the NHL, the early troubles that preceded a brilliant career before going on to NHL management and all kinds of success in business. The book, written by longtime Quebec sports columnist Philippe Cantin, has already sold more than 35,000 copies in French and has recently been released in English.

There is, of course, a long list of players who have won multiple Stanley Cups. And there’s another of GMs who have done it. But the list of those who have done both is actually quite small. Since the NHL formed in 1917-18, only Jack Adams, Eddie Gerard, Lester Patrick, Milt Schmidt, Bob Gainey, Brian MacLellan and Savard have won in both roles. And as a player, nobody did it more than Savard, who won a mind-boggling eight Cups in 15 years with the Canadiens. The two he won as a GM with the Canadiens in 1986 and ’93, coincidentally, are the most recent by the storied organization. As a player, Savard almost missed out on being a Canadien, being invited to a junior camp only after the Canadiens forgot that they had not told him to bother not showing up. And as a GM, he stepped into the job just weeks after playing his last playoff game with the Winnipeg Jets. But in both his roles, he rose to the top of his profession and, when you combine his contribution to the Canadiens as a player and executive, is one of the most important figures in the history of the organization.

But it wasn’t just that he won with the Canadiens. It was also how he did it. When he took over the hockey operations in 1983, the Canadiens were in a fierce battle with the Quebec Nordiques in a rivalry that competed for the hearts and minds of Quebec hockey fans. The Nordiques never did win a Stanley Cup and ultimately left the province, while Savard led the Canadiens to the promise land twice. And he did it by ensuring the Canadiens drafted Quebec-born players, such as Roy, Stephane Richer, Claude Lemieux, Eric Desjardins, Patrice Brisebois, Benoit Brunet, Gilbert Dionne and Donald Dufresne. He supplemented that with trades for the likes of Vincent Damphousse and Jean-Jacques Daigneault and signing Quebec-born free agents such as Stephane Lebeau, Jesse Belanger and Mario Roberge. Savard said he always strived to have the Canadiens roster made up the same way it was when he played, with roughly half of it made up of Quebec players. His 1994 draft, in which he got Petr Svoboda, Shayne Corson, Richer and Roy in the first three rounds, is regarded as one of the single-best drafts in NHL history. “I wanted guys who would spend the summer in Montreal,” Savard said. “When I played and we lost in the playoffs, people would ask, ‘What happened? Are you going to win the Cup next year?’ To me, that was really important because that’s the way I grew up with the Canadiens organization.”

To be sure, Savard’s tenure with the Canadiens both as a player and executive harkens back to a better and, obviously, far more successful time for the franchise. And not only because he’s been part of the last 10 Stanley Cups the Canadiens have won. According to Savard, the Canadiens have put less of an emphasis on making their former players feel comfortable and he sometimes feels like an outcast in the

organization. Savard said an ownership group headed by him stepped aside when a consortium headed by the Molson family made clear its intention to purchase the Canadiens in 2009. When current team president Geoff Molson recruited Savard to find a new GM for the team that resulted in the hiring of Marc Bergevin, he claims in the book that Molson also offered him an unspecified job that never materialized. One of the most damning quotes comes in the final pages of the book when Savard says, “But today, and I say this with some disappointment, I sometimes get a strange feeling: that my loyalty to the Molsons was stronger than their loyalty to me.”

“That’s exactly how I feel,” Savard said. “I’m not saying that they’re enemies. I don’t really have bad feelings (toward the Molsons). They’re friends. But that hurt me a little bit. That’s why I (said) it.”

Consultez les deux pages suivantes pour lire l'article

Savard ranks among Habs greats — as player and exec The Daily Press (Timmins) · 28 oct. 2020 · B2 · Steve Simmons ssimmons@postmedia.com Twitter.com/simmonssteve

“Where’s Savard?” he asked me, and for an instant I had no idea what he was talking about. He didn’t say hello. He didn’t say ‘ how are you?’ He got right to the point. Earlier that day, killing time, I had put out a list on Twitter of the 10 best defencemen I’d ever seen play. I didn’t have Serge Savard on the list. To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of him. That night, I was surprised to learn Bowman was on Twitter. And even more surprised that he was bothering to follow me. So without an answer to his question I spent most of the rst period being taught a hockey lesson by the greatest coach of all time. Being schooled on the greatness of Serge Savard. And why he should be on everyone’s Top 10 list. Better than Larry Robinson, Bowman said, who is on just about all Top 10 lists. Bowman went on to explain, all the attributes Savard brought to a hockey team, on the ice, o the ice, in every conceivable way. It wasn’t so much a conversation as a lecture. I keep hearing Bowman’s voice with clarity and depth as I’m reading Serge Savard, Forever Canadien, the recently released book by the wonderful French-Canadian columnist, Phillippe Cantin. This isn’t just another hockey book — there are too many of those — but a story of a complicated man of depth, and one of immense success: Savard as hockey player, hockey executive, political thinker, business giant. And the book provides a deep understanding of how and why hockey in Montreal, maybe more then than now, was di erent and so much more complicated than hockey anywhere else.

Savard happened to be red as general manager four games into the 1995-96 season as general manager of the Canadiens, just days before the heated Quebec Referendum on separatism. That night, then-premier Jacques Parizeau began a campaign speech and used the word “cataclysm” in his rst sentence. He wasn’t talking Referendum. He was talking of the ring of Savard and coach Jacques Demers in Montreal. The connection from Savard to politics, to player relationships, to business, to the internal workings of Montreal hockey, and how it was all intertwined with media relationships and complications make the book a fascinating time piece: It is a history unto itself, an explanation without being direct of how Montreal hockey operates. And Savard was central as player, then general manager, to so much success in his 27 years with the Canadiens. He paired with Robinson for most of those years and won eight Stanley Cups as a player in Montreal. Savard stayed home and took care of business. Robinson played the glamour role. He got the credit; just not necessarily in coach Bowman’s eyes, who saw things di erently. By today’s standards, it’s almost impossible to quantify all the success Savard had. Aside from the eight Cups, he was the fth winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy. He played for Team Canada ’72 and a little known fact: Savard was injured in the tournament and missed three games. Canada didn’t lose any of the ve he dressed for. Savard played defence for Team Canada ’76, alongside Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin and Robinson. If that wasn’t the greatest team in Canadian history, it was the greatest defence any team has ever had. And in Savard’s 12 seasons as GM, the Habs won two Stanley Cups, lost one nal to Calgary. Ten Cups in all. The last championship was in 1993. The Habs haven’t won a Cup or played for a Cup since. In the 25 years since Savard was red, Montreal has missed the playo s nine times, was eliminated in the rst round eight times. Savard’s teams missed the playo s only once. The next season, he was let go. Savard didn’t play in the big money days but by his fth NHL season he was earning more from his business interests than he was from his hockey salary. He was a triple threat: He could play, he could manage, he knew how to invest. Not everything Savard did as a GM worked out — although he wasn’t part of the trade that sent Patrick Roy to Colorado, that happened not long after he was let go. But he was honest about his time in o ce. Maybe the worst deal he made was sending Chris Chelios to Chicago for Denis Savard. Savard hired Pat Burns to coach in Montreal and he took the Habs to the nals in his very rst season. A few years later, Savard was happy to see Burns leave for the Toronto Maple Leafs. That rst memorable season, Toronto played Los Angeles in the Conference Final, and the winner played Montreal for the Stanley Cup. That was the 10th Stanley Cup for Serge Savard. The last for the Canadiens.

Consultez les deux pages suivantes pour lire l'article

Savard ranks among Habs greats — as player and exec Vancouver Sun · 28 oct. 2020 · B7 · STEVE SIMMONS ssimmons@postmedia.com twitter.com/simmonssteve

“Where's Savard?” he asked me, and for an instant I had no idea what he was talking about. He didn't say hello. He didn't say `how are you?' He got right to the point. Earlier that day, killing time, I had put out a list on Twitter of the 10 best defencemen I'd ever seen play. I didn't have Serge Savard on the list. To be honest, I hadn't even thought of him. That night, I was surprised to learn Bowman was on Twitter. And even more surprised that he was bothering to follow me. So without an answer to his question I spent most of the rst period being taught a hockey lesson by the greatest coach of all time. Being schooled on the greatness of Serge Savard. And why he should be on everyone's Top 10 list. Better than Larry Robinson, Bowman said, who is on just about all Top 10 lists. Bowman went on to explain, all the attributes Savard brought to a hockey team, on the ice, o the ice, in every conceivable way. It wasn't so much a conversation as a lecture. I keep hearing Bowman's voice with clarity and depth as I'm reading Serge Savard, Forever Canadien, the recently released book by the wonderful French-Canadian columnist, Phillippe Cantin. This isn't just another hockey book — there are too many of those — but a story of a complicated man of depth, and one of immense success: Savard as hockey player, hockey executive, political thinker, business giant. And the book provides a deep understanding of how and why hockey in Montreal, maybe more then than now, was di erent and so much more complicated than hockey anywhere else. Savard happened to be red as general manager four games into the 1995-96 season as general manager of the Canadiens, just days before the heated Quebec Referendum on separatism. That night, then-premier Jacques Parizeau began a campaign speech and used the word “cat-

SIMMONS: 10 Stanley Cups for Savard -- none since the Habs fired him Steve Simmons, Postmedia News (ssimmons@postmedia.com) Published: Oct 27 at 12:57 p.m.

I got into my seat at the Amalie Arena just before puck drop one night a couple of winters ago in Tampa Bay and before I noticed who was sitting beside me in the press box I heard Scotty Bowman’s voice. “Where’s Savard?” he asked me, and for an instant I had no idea what he was talking about.

He didn’t say hello. He didn’t say ‘how are you?’… He got right to the point. Earlier that day, killing time, I had put out a list on Twitter of the 10 best defenceman I’d ever seen play. I didn’t have Serge Savard on the list. To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of him. That night, I was surprised to learn Bowman was on Twitter. And even more surprised that he was bothering to follow me. So without an answer to his question I spent most of the first period being taught a hockey lesson by the greatest coach of all time. Being schooled on the greatness of Serge Savard. And why he should be on everyone’s Top 10 list. Better than Larry Robinson, Bowman said, who is on just about all Top 10 lists. Bowman went on to explain, all the attributes Savard brought to a hockey team, on the ice, off the ice, in every conceivable way. It wasn’t so much a conversation as a lecture. I keep hearing Bowman’s voice with clarity and depth as I’m reading Serge Savard, Forever Canadien, the recently released book by the wonderful French-Canadian columnist, Phillippe Cantin. This isn’t just another hockey book — there are too many of those — but a story of a complicated man of depth, and one of immense success: Savard as hockey player, hockey executive, political thinker, business giant. And the book provides a deep understanding of how and why hockey in Montreal, maybe more then, than now, was different and so much more complicated than hockey anywhere else.

Savard happened to be fired as general manager four games into the 1995-96 season as general manager of the Canadiens, just days

before the heated Quebec Referendum on separatism. That night, Premier Jacques Parizeau began a campaign speech and used the word “cataclysm.” in his first sentence. He wasn’t talking Referendum. He was talking of the firing of Savard and coach Jacques Demers in Montreal. The connection from Savard to politics, to player relationships, to business, to the internal workings of Montreal hockey, and how all it was all intertwined with media relationships and complications make the book a fascinating time piece: It is a history unto itself, an explanation without being direct of how Montreal hockey operates. And Savard was central as player, then general manager, to so much success in his 27 years with the Canadiens. He paired with Robinson for most of those years and won eight Stanley Cups as a player in Montreal. Savard stayed home and took care of business. Robinson played the glamour role. He got the credit; just not necessarily in coach Bowman’s eyes, who saw things differently. By today’s standards, it’s almost impossible to quantify all the success Savard had. Aside from the eight Cups, he was the fifth winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy. He played for Team Canada ’72 and a little known fact: Savard was injured in the tournament and missed three games. Canada didn’t lose any of the five he dressed for.

Savard played defence for Team Canada ’76, alongside Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin and Robinson. If that wasn’t the greatest team in Canadian history, it was the greatest defence any team has ever had. And in Savard’s 12 seasons as GM, the Habs won two Stanley Cups, lost one final to Calgary. Ten Cups in all.

The last championship was in 1993. The Habs haven’t won a Cup or played for a Cup since. In the 25 years since Savard was fired, Montreal has missed the playoffs nine times, was eliminated in the first round eight times. Savard’s teams missed the playoffs only once. The next season, he was let go. Savard didn’t play in the big money days but by his fifth NHL season he was earning more from his business interests than he was from his hockey salary. He was a triple threat: He could play, he could manage, he knew how to invest. Not everything Savard did as a GM worked out — although he wasn’t part of the trade that sent Patrick Roy to Colorado, that happened not long after he was let go. But he was honest about his time in office. Maybe the worst deal he made was sending Chris Chelios to Chicago for Denis Savard. “When the season ended, we got a medical opinion that was very worrisome,” said Savard. “(Chelios) knee was in terrible shape and his career in professional hockey (we were told) wouldn’t last much longer. That’s why I traded Chelios. It was one of the biggest blunders of my career.” Chelios went on to play 19 more seasons.

The deal he should have made but turned down: Cam Neely from Vancouver for Mike McPhee. It was on the table. Savard said no. Neely was later traded to Boston. He didn’t regret not making the deal. “We won a Stanley Cup with McPhee.” Oh, what might have happened had

Neely turned out for Montreal the way he played for the Bruins. Savard hired Pat Burns to coach in Montreal and he took the Habs to the finals in his very first season. A few years later, Savard was happy to see Burns leave for the Toronto Maple Leafs. “In his last season with us (1992), Pat just came undone. It was awful,” said Savard. He couldn’t coach (our team) anymore. I was lucky I didn’t have to fire him.” Burns had a choice when he decided to leave Montreal. He could have gone to Los Angeles as coach and GM. Or coach the Leafs. He chose the Toronto job. That first memorable season, Toronto played Los Angeles in the Conference Final, and the winner played Montreal for the Stanley Cup. That was the 10th Stanley Cup for Serge Savard. The last for the Canadiens. ssimmons@postmedia.com twitter.com/simmonssteve

Stu on Sports: Canadiens owner Geoff Molson excited about next season Happy with the job Marc Bergevin has done, but doesn't want to talk about any private talks he had with upset former GM Serge Savard. Stu Cowan • Montreal Gazette Oct 27, 2020 • Last Updated 20 days ago • 8 minute read

"At the end of the season, Marc (Bergevin) told me where all the holes are on our roster and he filled every

single one of them with the new players,” Canadiens owner/president Geoff Molson says. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

When Geoff Molson hired Marc Bergevin as general manager on May 2, 2012, the Canadiens were coming off a 31-35-16 season, finishing last in the Eastern Conference and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007. “We feel we have selected an individual with the potential to lead our organization in the future,” Molson said during a news conference announcing Bergevin as the new GM. “We were looking for a candidate with very strong leadership capability, great communication skills at all levels and someone with a clear determination and commitment to winning.” The Canadiens would make the playoffs in each of their first three seasons with Bergevin as GM, losing in the first round in 2013, advancing to the conference final in 2014 and losing in the second round in 2015. Molson rewarded Bergevin on Nov. 25, 2015 with a multi-year contract extension taking him through the 2021-22 season. “I am very pleased to announce that Marc accepted a multi-year contract extension and that he will remain our general manager until the end of the 2021-22 season,” Molson said at the time. “This new agreement brings added stability for our organization and particularly for our hockey operations. It enables us to continue our efforts in giving our fans a winning team. Marc is an excellent general manager who

quickly made an impact in the league with his leadership skills and his ability to identify the needs and find the personnel to assemble a championship team. I am very pleased with his work and the results he has achieved since his appointment as general manager”. Things haven’t gone well since that day. The Canadiens haven’t won a single playoff series since 2015 and should have missed the playoffs for the third straight season and fourth time in the last five years last season. COVID-19 allowed the Canadiens to get into the expanded postseason this year as the 24th and final seed, upsetting the Pittsburgh Penguins in the qualifying round before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs. At the team golf tournament before the start of last season, Molson was asked what his expectations were for the Canadiens after they had missed the playoffs by two points the previous season. “I think last year we made a lot of progression,” Molson said. “We started the season with quite a bit of uncertainty, quite a lot of change and the players on the team showed that they are a good team and they delivered throughout the year. Obviously, it’s not enough to miss the playoffs by two points, but they sure showed that they are a team and I’m looking forward to a hungrier team, having learned from last year, and maybe a few additions. I’m hoping for a really good season.”

That didn’t happen as the Canadiens went through not one, but two eight-game losing streaks before showing some spark during their unlikely trip to the postseason. “At the end of the day, it’s unacceptable to have two eight-game losing streaks and things do need to change or be adjusted as a result,” Molson said during a 20-minute radio interview Monday with former Canadien Chris Nilan on his TSN 690 Off the Cuff show. “But that doesn’t mean that you have to change your general manager. It means that you have to perhaps put a little pressure on the strategy and ask more questions. … The easy thing is to give up on a strategy.” Since losing to the Flyers in the first round, Bergevin has been busy improving the Canadiens as he continues the “reset” he started two years ago, adding backup goalie Jake Allen, defenceman Joel Edmundson and forwards Tyler Toffoli and Josh Anderson. Molson says he is now excited about next season, as are Canadiens fans. “I, too, like all the fans … I’ve had lots of texts from my friends,” Molson told Nilan and his radio partner Sean Campbell. “We are all pretty excited about the work that Marc’s done … not only over the years getting some nice, young players, but most recently in the month of September to make our team better and I think it is. So, yeah, I’m very excited. “Right now, I think you guys were saying at the beginning (of the show) how excited you are about this team,” Molson added. “Well, it’s the first

time in three years that we’ve said that and we’re saying it and we’ve been building to get to this point and I’m pretty excited about it.”

High expectations Expectations will be high for the Canadiens heading into next season, which will put added pressure on everyone in the organization, especially coach Claude Julien. Julien and Bergevin both have two seasons remaining on their contracts. “Our fans have been patient as we go through this process and I think that what we showed this summer in the playoffs raised expectations, just then, regardless of changes that we make,” Molson told Nilan. “ And then all these additions that we’ve made. At the end of the season, Marc told me where all the holes are on our roster and he filled every single one of them with the new players. So expectations I think are pretty high. I think hope is really high and I couldn’t ask for anything better because I couldn’t have answered that question in the same way a year ago and now I can. And so I think that our fans have something to look forward to and we’ve been waiting for this moment for a long

An evolving relationship

Campbell asked Molson during the radio interview how his relationship with Bergevin has evolved over the last eight years. “It really has evolved,” Molson said. “I mean, the relationship’s always been positive. He came in having been in several roles with Chicago, but never the general manager. And so at the beginning he and I had a lot to learn and nobody’s perfect. But he sure settled into it quickly and I would say over an eight-year period we’ve been through two tough periods together. The most recent one is the reset and the trust is the most important thing for me and it keeps on getting stronger. “The easiest thing you can do is change your general manager when things aren’t going that well,” Molson added. “But if you truly believe that the person has the capability to build a winning team and you believe in the strategy. …. For the past two or three years I have to take the punches because I really believe he’s a good general manager and I trust him and he does the work that a general manager needs to do to build a winning team for Montreal fans.” When asked how much his patience has been tested by missing the playoffs so many times in recent years, Molson said: “Over the last couple of years, I mean my patience gets tested I think every morning when I pick up the paper. But I think overall my patience gets tested all the time, but I think it does with Marc as well and with the coach (Claude Julien). And that’s when you have to come together again and trust each other and decide what adjustments you want to make to get better. I’ve said this many times, if the trust was not there the first person to know that would be Marc. But it is there and that’s why we

work well together.â&#x20AC;?

The Savard saga Serge Savard played a key role in Bergevin getting the job as Canadiens GM. Molson asked Savard, who was GM the last two times the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, in 1986 and 1993, to help him find the right person to replace Pierre Gauthier, who had been fired after the disastrous 2011-12 season. In his new book, Serge Savard: Forever Canadien, the Hall of Fame defenceman who won seven Stanley Cups as a player with the Canadiens chronicles how he and Molson interviewed Bergevin for the job over a dinner in New York City. According to Savard, Molson also offered him an unspecified job that night with the Canadiens and said he would get back to him with a proposal. That never happened. Savard says he never asked for a job with the Canadiens and it was Molson who brought it up and said he wanted to make it public soon after that dinner. In his book, Savard says: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I say this with some disappointment, I sometimes get a strange feeling: that my loyalty to the Molsons was stronger than their loyalty to me.â&#x20AC;?

When asked by Nilan if he did indeed offer Savard a job, Molson said: “I think I should start off by just saying that my family has known Serge Savard for three generations of Molsons. My great uncle, Hartland, was there and was probably there when he got drafted. My father was there in the late ’70s and the ’80s and ’90s, and now I’m there. So we know Serge really well. We love Serge. We’re all very grateful for everything he’s accomplished as a player and as a general manager. And me, personally, when I asked him to help me find the next general manager it was an invaluable contribution that he made because he knew what it took to be a general manager in Montreal because he experienced it. And so the questions that he asks of all the candidates are very helpful for me. And then for him to be able to walk out of a room and say: ‘Geoff, I think you’ve found your man’ was pretty powerful, really helpful. So I appreciate that a lot and he knows that.” Molson added that he has tried to keep Savard as close to the organization as possible, adding that’s he’s on a board the Canadiens have that allocates money each year to alumni members in need. “As far as my own personal dealings with Serge in New York and conversations that we might or might not have had, I really don’t want to get into that public debate,” Molson said. “I’m a pretty confidential guy and when I have a conversation with Serge it’s between me and him and it’s not something I want to debate over on the media.”

The big question The big question now is when will the Canadiens be able to hit the ice again as the NHL remains shut down by COVID-19. “The hardest part is we just don’t know,” Molson said. “We don’t know when. But we will accomplish it. As a collective group of owners, players and the NHL, we’re going to find a way to have a season next year and it will start at some point in the early 2021, but we’ll find a way. ” scowan@postmedia.com twitter.com/StuCowan1

"At the end of the season, Marc (Bergevin) told me where all the holes are on our roster and he filled every

single one of them with the new players,” Canadiens owner/president Geoff Molson says. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

unlikely trip to the postseason. “At the end of the day, it’s unacceptable to have two eight-game losing streaks and things do need to change or be adjusted as a result,” Molson said during a 20-minute radio interview Monday with former Canadien Chris Nilan on his TSN 690 Off the Cuff show. “But that doesn’t mean that you have to change your general manager. It means that you have to perhaps put a little pressure on the strategy and ask more questions. … The easy thing is to give up on a strategy.” Since losing to the Flyers in the first round, Bergevin has been busy improving the Canadiens as he continues the “reset” he started two years ago, adding backup goalie Jake Allen, defenceman Joel Edmundson and forwards Tyler Toffoli and Josh Anderson. Molson says he is now excited about next season, as are Canadiens fans. “I, too, like all the fans … I’ve had lots of texts from my friends,” Molson told Nilan and his radio partner Sean Campbell. “We are all pretty excited about the work that Marc’s done … not only over the years getting some nice, young players, but most recently in the month of September to make our team better and I think it is. So, yeah, I’m very excited. “Right now, I think you guys were saying at the beginning (of the show) how excited you are about this team,” Molson added. “Well, it’s the first time in three years that we’ve said that and we’re saying it and we’ve been building to get to this point and I’m pretty excited about it.”

but never the general manager. And so at the beginning he and I had a lot to learn and nobody’s perfect. But he sure settled into it quickly and I would say over an eight-year period we’ve been through two tough periods together. The most recent one is the reset and the trust is the most important thing for me and it keeps on getting stronger. “The easiest thing you can do is change your general manager when things aren’t going that well,” Molson added. “But if you truly believe that the person has the capability to build a winning team and you believe in the strategy. …. For the past two or three years I have to take the punches because I really believe he’s a good general manager and I trust him and he does the work that a general manager needs to do to build a winning team for Montreal fans.” When asked how much his patience has been tested by missing the playoffs so many times in recent years, Molson said: “Over the last couple of years, I mean my patience gets tested I think every morning when I pick up the paper. But I think overall my patience gets tested all the time, but I think it does with Marc as well and with the coach (Claude Julien). And that’s when you have to come together again and trust each other and decide what adjustments you want to make to get better. I’ve said this many times, if the trust was not there the first person to know that would be Marc. But it is there and that’s why we work well together.”

The Savard saga Serge Savard played a key role in Bergevin getting the job as Canadiens

GM. Molson asked Savard, who was GM the last two times the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, in 1986 and 1993, to help him find the right person to replace Pierre Gauthier, who had been fired after the disastrous 2011-12 season. In his new book, Serge Savard: Forever Canadien, the Hall of Fame defenceman who won seven Stanley Cups as a player with the Canadiens chronicles how he and Molson interviewed Bergevin for the job over a dinner in New York City. According to Savard, Molson also offered him an unspecified job that night with the Canadiens and said he would get back to him with a proposal. That never happened. Savard says he never asked for a job with the Canadiens and it was Molson who brought it up and said he wanted to make it public soon after that dinner. In his book, Savard says: “I say this with some disappointment, I sometimes get a strange feeling: that my loyalty to the Molsons was stronger than their loyalty to me.”

took to be a general manager in Montreal because he experienced it. And so the questions that he asks of all the candidates are very helpful for me. And then for him to be able to walk out of a room and say: ‘Geoff, I think you’ve found your man’ was pretty powerful, really helpful. So I appreciate that a lot and he knows that.” Molson added that he has tried to keep Savard as close to the organization as possible, adding that’s he’s on a board the Canadiens have that allocates money each year to alumni members in need. “As far as my own personal dealings with Serge in New York and conversations that we might or might not have had, I really don’t want to get into that public debate,” Molson said. “I’m a pretty confidential guy and when I have a conversation with Serge it’s between me and him and it’s not something I want to debate over on the media.”

SIMMONS: 10 Stanley Cups for Savard -- none since the Habs fired him Steve Simmons More from Steve Simmons

Serge Savard during his playing days. Steve Banineau / NHL via Getty Images

“Where’s Savard?” he asked me, and for an instant I had no idea what he was talking about. He didn’t say hello. He didn’t say ‘how are you?’… He got right to the point. Earlier that day, killing time, I had put out a list on Twitter of the 10 best defenceman I’d ever seen play. I didn’t have Serge Savard on the list. To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of him. That night, I was surprised to learn Bowman was on Twitter. And even more surprised that he was bothering to follow me. So without an answer to his question I spent most of the first period being taught a hockey lesson by the greatest coach of all time. Being schooled on the greatness of Serge Savard. And why he should be on everyone’s Top 10 list. Better than Larry Robinson, Bowman said, who is on just about all Top 10 lists. Bowman went on to explain, all the attributes Savard brought to a hockey team, on the ice, off the ice, in every conceivable way. It wasn’t so much a conversation as a lecture.

I keep hearing Bowman’s voice with clarity and depth as I’m reading Serge Savard, Forever Canadien, the recently released book by the wonderful French-Canadian columnist, Phillippe Cantin. This isn’t just another hockey book — there are too many of those — but a story of a complicated man of depth, and one of immense success: Savard as hockey player, hockey executive, political thinker, business giant. And the book provides a deep understanding of how and why hockey in Montreal, maybe more then, than now, was different and so much more complicated than hockey anywhere else.

Savard happened to be fired as general manager four games into the 1995-96 season as general manager of the Canadiens, just days before the heated Quebec Referendum on separatism. That night, Premier Jacques Parizeau began a campaign speech and used the word “cataclysm.” in his first sentence. He wasn’t talking Referendum. He was talking of the firing of Savard and coach Jacques Demers in Montreal. The connection from Savard to politics, to player relationships, to business, to the internal workings of Montreal hockey, and how all it was all intertwined with media relationships and complications make the book a fascinating time piece: It is a history unto itself, an explanation without being direct of how Montreal hockey operates. And Savard was central as player, then general manager, to so much success in his 27 years with the Canadiens. He paired with Robinson for most of those years and won eight Stanley Cups as a player in Montreal. Savard stayed home and took care of business. Robinson played the glamour role. He got the credit; just not necessarily in coach Bowman’s eyes, who saw things differently. By today’s standards, it’s almost impossible to quantify all the success Savard had. Aside from the eight Cups, he was the fifth winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy. He played for Team Canada ’72 and a little known fact: Savard was injured in the tournament and missed three games. Canada didn’t lose any of the five he dressed for.

Savard’s 12 seasons as GM, the Habs won two Stanley Cups, lost one final to Calgary. Ten Cups in all. The last championship was in 1993. The Habs haven’t won a Cup or played for a Cup since. In the 25 years since Savard was fired, Montreal has missed the playoffs nine times, was eliminated in the first round eight times.

Serge Savard. Files

Savard’s teams missed the playoffs only once. The next season, he was let go.

Savard didn’t play in the big money days but by his fifth NHL season he was earning more from his business interests than he was from his hockey salary. He was a triple threat: He could play, he could manage, he knew how to invest. Not everything Savard did as a GM worked out — although he wasn’t part of the trade that sent Patrick Roy to Colorado, that happened not long after he was let go. But he was honest about his time in office. Maybe the worst deal he made was sending Chris Chelios to Chicago for Denis Savard. “When the season ended, we got a medical opinion that was very worrisome,” said Savard. “(Chelios) knee was in terrible shape and his career in professional hockey (we were told) wouldn’t last much longer. That’s why I traded Chelios. It was one of the biggest blunders of my career.” Chelios went on to play 19 more seasons. The deal he should have made but turned down: Cam Neely from Vancouver for Mike McPhee. It was on the table. Savard said no. Neely was later traded to Boston. He didn’t regret not making the deal. “We won a Stanley Cup with McPhee.” Oh, what might have happened had Neely turned out for Montreal the way he played for the Bruins. Savard hired Pat Burns to coach in Montreal and he took the Habs to the finals in his very first season. A few years later, Savard was happy to see Burns leave for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“In his last season with us (1992), Pat just came undone. It was awful,” said Savard. He couldn’t coach (our team) anymore. I was lucky I didn’t have to fire him.”

Burns had a choice when he decided to leave Montreal. He could have gone to Los Angeles as coach and GM. Or coach the Leafs. He chose the Toronto job. That first memorable season, Toronto played Los Angeles in the Conference Final, and the winner played Montreal for the Stanley Cup. That was the 10th Stanley Cup for Serge Savard. The last for the Canadiens. ssimmons@postmedia.com

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SIMMONS: 10 Stanley Cups for Savard -- none since the Habs fired him Steve Simmons More from Steve Simmons

Serge Savard during his playing days. Steve Banineau / NHL via Getty Images

Serge Savard. Files

Savard’s teams missed the playoffs only once. The next season, he was let go.

“In his last season with us (1992), Pat just came undone. It was awful,” said Savard. He couldn’t coach (our team) anymore. I was lucky I didn’t have to fire him.”

twitter.com/simmonssteve

Saltwire - Corner Brook (NL) (web site) SIMMONS: 10 Stanley Cups for Savard -- none since the Habs fired him Steve Simmons, Postmedia News (ssimmons@postmedia.com) Published: Oct 27 at 12:57 p.m.