Even if the regular season champions decided not to dress many veterans, we must say that the Canadiens fans were treated to a great night at the Bell Centre.
And this night had a special cachet, because it was the last game of Pierre Gervais, equipment manager with the Canadiens for 35 years. He received a nice ovation from the spectators and as reported by my colleague Christian Matte, from Marqueur.com, he described this last day with the CH as the best of his life.
But to prove that Gervais was more than just an employee of the team, he told an anecdote proving beyond a doubt that he had the respect of his superiors.
When Marc Bergevin decided to trade P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Shea Weber on June 29, 2016, he called Gervais to find out what he thought about the trade.
In fact, since Gervais had already been around Weber in international competitions, Bergevin wanted his opinion on the individual he wanted to acquire. Gervais immediately added that it was not against Subban, a gentleman, but that Weber was something else and that he had great admiration for him.
The story doesn't say that if Gervais had spoken badly about the future captain of the team, the trade might not have happened, but it shows how much respect Bergevin had for his equipment manager and that his opinion was important for a transaction that changed the face of the organization forever.
POLL | ||
Who was the better player throughout the 6 years? | ||
Subban | 164 | 19.9 % |
Weber | 661 | 80.1 % |
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