We just learned that Bergevin never had the same authorization as Hughes and Gorton, from Geoff Molson

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Jeff Drouin
August 14, 2022 (2:22 PM)

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During the first years of his reign at the head of the Habs, Marc Bergevin never wanted to talk about a rebuilding cycle. He wanted, year after year, to have a competitive team that could aspire to the playoffs every season.

However, his tone changed in 2018, six years after he took over, when he said that a change of direction was needed at the Montreal Canadiens. However, he still rejected the word "rebuilding" and preferred the term reset.

Based on what Tony Marinaro mentioned in his most recent podcast, it seems that it's not totally Bergevin's fault that he was never really in rebuilding mode. Orders from higher up would have prevented him from doing so.

"From what I've heard, when the Habs were having their interviews to hire a GM in 2012, a rebuild was not on the table. The Tricolore wanted to turn things around immediately and asked the question, "How are you going to turn things around as quickly as possible?" - Tony Marinaro

So the famous reset used by Marc Bergevin was perhaps the best compromise to Molson's guideline that the former general manager was able to extract from his boss.

"He [Bergevin] couldn't afford to be bad for four or five years. He had to try to make the playoffs as quickly as possible and try to win the Stanley Cup. He tried to go all in. He turned corners and that resulted in him overpaying here and there." - Tony Marinaro

It seems Geoff Molson has now changed his mind as he hired Jeff Gorton to begin the first rebuild of the club under his era. There's no doubt that the new V-P and his GM, Kent Hughes, have carte blanche on this (Bergevin never got that chance).

We will have to be patient but it will certainly be a very good thing for the future of the club.

Via GoHabsGo