The NHL Trade Deadline Is Gone…And Pierre Gauthier Missed The Memo…

SAINT-LAZARE, QC — It was a day Canadiens’ fans waited for with great anticipation. It was the day we would potentially show the rest of the Eastern Conference that this organization wanted to be a contender. While the other 15 teams in the conference made themselves just a little bit better, all Montreal Canadiens’ General Manager Pierre Gautheir did was watch TSN TradeCentre and think, “What was it I was supposed to do today?”

It’s been apparent to everyone in the NHL Universe that two of the primary needs on this team are another top six forward and a solid two-way defenseman. We have all, the media and the fans, said it for the better part of four years. It was an obvious hole that was there when Bob Gainey took over, and it remained when he passed the torch over to the aforementioned Mr. Gauthier.

One could assume that some effort was made to make a deal or two, but you know what they say about assumptions. The fact is that with the wholesale changes that were made to the scouting department of the Habs, some could see the writing was on the wall about today’s lack of activity. It remains that as long as Pierre Gauthier does not hire a director of professional scouting to take over his duties, there won’t be much in the way of trades anytime soon for the Canadiens organization.

By his own admission, Gauthier doesn’t think too highly of the trade deadline, and neither do other teams. The lack of transactions today proves that. However, in the days leading to today, there were a plethora of teams who traded assets back and forth to improve themselves respectively. It’s true that there wasn’t much that the Canadiens have that would possibly entice another team to deal with them. Short of trading Carey Price, Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty or P.K. Subban, there isn’t much at all.

And why did the Canadiens’ brass suddenly pull Ryan White off the ice in Atlanta, just to send him to Hamilton? There’s an insult to our intelligence if there ever was one. Of course, this day couldn’t go by without the use of Twitter by some degenerate pretending to be a Sportsnet analyst, in an attempt to get bloggers like us to bite. (Funny how some mainstream media in Montreal did, but we, the experienced bloggers of the world, were smarter than that.)

Like his younger brother, most of us wanted to see Andrei Kostitsyn go to another team, while others dreamt of the possibility, however unlikely, that the albatross known as Scott Gomez would be dealt away. Sorry to say, but with their lack of productivity this season, they wouldn’t be going anywhere for more than a dozen sticks and a few rolls of hockey tape. Don’t misunderstand me. I only lay partial blame on these players for their inability to do things this year. The majority of the blame, in my opinion, is attributed to the “system”, or lack thereof. If they were traded, I’m sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, they would flourish with another team, whose coaches and administrators recognize their players’ strength and use them to the best of their abilities.

So, with the exception of the acquisition of goaltender Drew McIntyre from the Atlanta Thrashers for defenseman Brett Festerling, nothing was done. If you remember, Festerling was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in the deal that sent Max Lapierre to the West Coast.

I’m not a big fan of deadline day. As a Habs’ fan, it’s always been anticlimactic. As frustrated as we are, Canadiens Nation, and as disappointed as is humanly possible, there is only one bleak option we can hope for to rectify this situation. If we want competitiveness, we need a coach who is willing to change his ways and use his players in situations where they can flourish. A coach who can rewrite his playbook, and focus on offense more than defense. After all, they say the best defense is a strong offense. We also need a general manager who, unlike Gauthier, isn’t worried about putting his hind parts on the line to better his team. A GM who thinks outside the box, and recognizes that in today’s fast paced game, size does matter. And finally, we need an owner who can remember his childhood, and recognize that once ever-powerful “family toy” has become the gum people wipe off their shoes.

As painful as it is, we need to MISS the playoff. Mr. Gauthier, take a memo…

(Photo by: RYAN REMIORZ/THE CANADIAN PRESS)