In the fall of 2011, expectations for the Montreal Canadiens were reasonably high. The club had made four consecutive playoff appearances, most recently losing in overtime of Game 7 in the first round against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.
General Manager Pierre Gauthier had proven to be an adequate successor to Bob Gainey by effectively keeping the train on the track after he took the reins and the team moving full steam ahead. However, things derailed quickly after the Canadiens underachieved to start the 2011-12 season and Gauthier subsequently made a series of panic moves that led to his ultimate demise.
The first sign of trouble became evident just 10 games into the schedule when Gauthier inexplicably fired assistant coach Perry Pearn and replaced him with Randy Ladouceur. It was no secret that Pearn was head coach Jacques Martin’s closest ally so the move immediately put Martin on the hot seat.
Ladouceur conversely had been the right hand man to newly minted top assistant Randy Cunneyworth, the two had worked closely together the previous year when the latter was running the bench of the Canadiens AHL affiliate in Hamilton.
The writing was on the wall.
The changes to the coaching staff did little to help the product on the ice. The Canadiens continued to struggle offensively, particularly on the man advantage. Gauthier had allowed specialist James Wisniewski to skate into unrestricted free agency and with Andrei Markov still injured, the Habs lacked a power play quarterback. As a result, Gauthier made a desperation dart throw to acquire Tomas Kaberle from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Jaroslav Spacek.
Predictably, the defensemen swap did not go well. Kaberle was visibly washed up and Spacek’s steady play on the back end was sorely missed. The nucleus of a team that had provided fans with some exhilarating playoff moments was slowly being taken apart, and the Canadiens quickly began circling the drain.
The ax eventually fell on Martin in December with the club languishing around the .500 mark after 32 games. In the wake of Martin’s firing, Gauthier made his worst decision as general manager by naming Cunneyworth as his replacement.
Gauthier grossly underestimated the public relations nightmare of hiring a unilingual Anglophone coach and neither he nor Cunneyworth were prepared for the firestorm that ensued. The language debate has always been a touchy subject in Quebec and must be handled delicately.
Gauthier failed miserably at doing so and it consequently brought an overwhelming amount of distraction and negative attention to a locker room that was already struggling to keep their head above water.
As the team sunk deeper into the abyss, Gauthier continued to tear down the once formidable core. In the months that followed, veterans Mike Cammalleri, Hal Gill and Andrei Kostitsyn were all shipped out for draft picks and prospects. A particular low was reached in Cammalleri’s case as the fan favorite was traded during the intermission between periods of a game.
Gauthier would be relieved of his duties with a week remaining in the regular season, bringing an end to what was ultimately a short and tumultuous tenure. While the Gauthier era may be remembered as nothing more than a blip on the radar, it was certainly one that shined bright for a brief moment before quickly crashing out in spectacular fashion.
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