Marc Bergevin on Michel Therrien: He's not going anywhere
Even in the Montreal Canadiens' complete downfall, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin is remaining loyal to his coaching staff.
In a press conference in the early afternoon on Thursday, Bergevin let everyone know that head coach Michel Therrien's job was safe, at least for the remainder of the season.
That loyalty may end up being the downfall of Bergevin in Montreal. Hired as the general manager in 2012 (and signed to a contract extension this past offseason), Bergevin has been an extremely aggressive general manager, but his team hasn't been able to get to that next level.
Since December, the Montreal Canadiens went from the top team in the NHL with 39 points, to 16th in the League with 50 points. That means over the last month and 20 days, Montreal has a 5-16-1 record.
Part of the reason why the Canadiens have struggled so badly is because of the absence of Carey Price. Price has been limited to just 12 games this season due to a lower body injury. Montreal's record when Price is in the lineup? 10-2-0.
But the team itself can't rely entirely on Price to succeed, and Bergevin recognizes that.
"We have to find a way to win without Carey Price. That's a fact." - GM Marc Bergevin #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 21, 2016
Ideally, something has to be done. The problem is, how can you shake the very core of this team to turn their season a full 180 degrees?
The best way to do that is to bring in new players. The problem is, Bergevin doesn't want to do that. Because in order to bring in players to fix the current situation now, you generally have to sacrifice the future.
"I'm not ready to sacrifice the future of the team for success in the short-term." - GM Marc Bergevin #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 21, 2016
And is the Canadiens current situation worth that kind of effort? Can a few players here and there turn this team into a bonafide playoff contender once Price returns to the lineup, which could be three or four weeks away?
Probably not.
Bergevin is in an awkward situation. There's no clear-cut answer to this team's problems. He doesn't really have any certainty on when his franchise goaltender will return. He's not certain that when Price does return, his team will magically turn things around. He doesn't want to blame his coaching staff, and he doesn't necessarily want to blame his players or bring in new ones to fix the problems. So that leaves one person left to blame.
And what does that say about Bergevin's future?
Tommy Chalk writes about the NHL and NFL for FOX Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @Tommy_Chalk
