Montreal Canadiens: Do Marc Bergevin and Claude Julien get a pass now?
By Omar L
At the same time, minds have discussed this being the same reality for the general manager. Bergevin has held the title for eight years, becoming GM in 2012 after previously being part of the Chicago Blackhawks organization. The “five-year” plan hasn’t gone as hoped, seeing the Canadiens make the playoffs four out of the eight years of Bergevin’s tenure (including this one, ignoring the eventual team extension).
Coaches are the easiest position on a team to replace when things aren’t going well, and it isn’t difficult to see a change happening there if next season doesn’t go well. I’m not sure if Bergevin can justify and therefore survive another year like this one.
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Which brings us to the 24-team format. The Montreal Canadiens make it if that’s the decision the league goes to, and it’ll be the first instance of playoff hockey for the team since 2017. That begs the question: does “making” the playoffs this season give Julien and Bergevin an extra year?
The fact that ‘making’ is in quotation marks is pretty telling. The league is making it seem as if the extension is solely to make things fair. However, the incentive of having more teams qualify, including big hockey markets in Montreal and Chicago, are ways to generate more hockey-related revenue that the NHL has had to pass on due to the pause.
The circumstances that have caused the discussion of the team-extension could be applied to teams who are below the Montreal Canadiens. For example, whether it’s based on overall points or points percentage, the Habs make it as the 24th seed.
The New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres are three points back of Montreal with two games in hand. So based on the 24-team format, fans of the Devils and Sabres could argue it’s not fair that efforts are being made to give the Panthers, Islanders and Rangers an opportunity to play and not them.