Canadiens: Geoff Molson Met With Patrick Roy More Than Once

The Canadiens are never short of a few interesting bits of news to ignite the fan base regardless of the time of the year. Something will always creep out of nowhere as there are literally thousands of sleuths and reporters constantly digging for the latest piece of news regarding Montreal’s historic franchise.

Well look no further as the rumor mill is churning harder than ever. With General Manager Marc Bergevin’s status with the team up in the air as he enters the final year of his contract, the name of Patrick Roy has resurfaced as the potential replacement for the big seat at the Bell Center.

Danny Gélinas, a reporter for “La Voix de l’Est”, a French newspaper based out of Granby, Quebec, has reported that Marc Bergevin’s time in Montreal is indeed over and that Patrick Roy is the favorite to take on the role of General Manager.

The article talks about how when you have a bad off-season, the actual season ends up being just as bad. Gélinas states the obvious: Losing Weber and Price, losing Danault to LA, losing Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet, the injuries, etc. All things that have been discussed ad nauseum.

Where things get interested however, is when Gélinas claims to have contacts within the organization confirming him that Bergevin won’t return with the Canadiens in 2022-23 regardless of the outcome. Gélinas also lambasted Bergevin for his press conference about Carey Price where he broke down crying, calling the scene “pathetic”.

Regarding Patrick Roy, people have reported having spotted him and Geoff Molson together on more than one occasion. One of those occasions was at the Hilton Hotel in Quebec City where both men were seen walking in together last spring. The other spotting is said to have been as early as a month ago in Montreal. Remember, Roy hired Neil Glasberg last spring as his new agent in order to find a new coaching or management job in the NHL. So the timing of the reports make sense.

To add even more fuel to the fire, Larry Brooks of the New York Post published an article claiming that Marc Bergevin will be joining the LA Kings organization as of next season.

This isn’t the first time Bergevin and the Kings have been linked together. Kings President Luc Robitaille is a close friend of Bergevin and has tried more than once to lure the Canadiens GM to the west coast. WIth Bergevin’s children living in the US and of course the much “healthier” pressure in a market like the Kings versus the Canadiens, it’s almost a no-brainer for Bergevin to go work with his friends in sunny California. That being said, current Kings GM Rob Blake is also in the final year of his contract. Either Bergevin takes the helm of the Kings or he will seat in between Blake and Robitaille in a Vice President of Hockey Operations role, something that has been created by many organizations in order to bring in more hockey minds into the mold.

Unless everyone is completely wrong in this story and suddenly Bergevin does sign a contract extension to remain in Montreal, it seems almost inevitable that he will be leaving La Belle Province once the season is over, or if the team goes on a downward spiral and everyone gets fired like in 1995.

The question remains, who replaces him? Patrick Roy who’s upper management experience is limited to General Manager of the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL and Vice President of Hockey Operations while he was also coach of the Colorado Avalanche, a position he abruptly quit after arguments and disagreements about the way the team is run under his old friend Joe Sakic? Mathieu Darche, the current Director of Hockey Operations with the Tampa Bay Lightning? Roberto Luongo? Martin Brodeur? All individuals who are currently carving their managerial careers in their own way.

Or what if they just stick internally? What if Trevor Timmins finally takes the reigns of a team after being offered the position more than once by opposing teams? Or Scott Mellanby or Martin Lapointe gets a promotion?

Whatever happens, the soap opera that is a Montreal Canadiens season will continue to have more plot twists than ever.