This time they found a logical work-around. They hired a "Senior VP of Hockey Operations" that does not spreak French (in Jeff Gorton) that per Jeff Molson will work as a pair with the new GM. It is pretty obvious that he will be the senior member of the pair, and whether expressed by Molson or not will be in the power position. The GM (and assistant GM) they find will be less experienced. Yes some of the french media questioned what the new powers the GM will have but Molson addressed those fairly well.
I don't fully agree with the GM and coach needing to be bilingual , but after listening to Molson I understand. The Canadiens are a business -- any team, especially in any hockey craved market -- needs to have a Coach and GM that talks to the media frequently -- it is what it is. The ability to speak to those fans is inherently one of the abilities of the new coach/GM that has to be considered per Molson. Personally I would view at as a strong positive rather than a requirement.
Many people thought Marc Bergevin was a great hire -- he was hotly pursued by many organizations 10 years ago. Too bad he stank (and should have been fired 3 years ago), but whether Montreal hired him or not, he was getting hired very shortly. The problem they ran into that time was he may not have accepted to come in under a person like Jeff Gorton if it existed at the time. But that is really what he needed -- a second voice.
I will say the requirement for a French GM have caused much more issues than that for coaches. Retreads and more misses have happened there then coaching -- Serge Savard was a great GM, but after guys like Houle, Page, Gainey (who could speak French passably), Bergevin have all been very bad -- and all were probably allowed to last on longer then they should have. That being said Gainey + Bergeving seemed like good hires at the time.
Regarding the requirements for a French Coach, consider the coaches that Montreal has added since they have went all french, and compare them to the more questionable list the Leafs had over that time.
THis is the coaches they had between 1984-2006. I'm not sure if any team in the NHL had as much quality as this, although some like Vigneault and Julien were young at the time. Although it was not all with Montreal, 6 of the 8 coaches were Stanley Cup winning coaches, and the other Vigneault is considered one of the best in hockey (and then there is Mario Tremblay who is in a "class" of his own
Jacques Lemaire
Jean Perron
Pat Burns
Jacques Demers
Mario Tremblay (100% Disaster)
Alain Vigneault
Claude Julien
Michel Therrien
It's feel a little off track since then, with Carbonneau, Martin, Therrien, Julien, Ducharme.
- Carbonneau and Julien were deemed very good hires regardless of language.
- Martin was very questionable as the expiry date had past.
- Therrien was strange, but he did turn around the franchise for a few years, but imploded as usual.
= Ducharme was an interim hire. Not sure if the intention was to keep him from the beginning, but the Cup run saved him.
The GM's of the team have been a bigger limitation during the time.
