On the Montreal Canadiens …
Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette: Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin believes their attitude needs to change.
“It was a disappointing season from start to finish and that was unacceptable,” Bergevin said. “The overall attitude of our team needs to change. We will do a complete assessment of the hockey operations and as a general manager I take my share of responsibilities for the season. But we’re all in this together.
“I think an attitude changes a lot of things. Of course, players make things better. But if you have good players with the right attitude … I could bring anybody here, but if the attitude is not better we’re going to be in the same spot. And that’s my job to address that and I started today. We had meetings throughout the season, but now the real work starts.”
All the “attitude” talk leads to believe that captain Max Pacioretty won’t be back.
GM Bergevin will back. He added that changing their attitude won’t be enough.
Owner Geoff Molson said that though “attitude” is part of it, they weren’t good enough and changes are coming.
The Canadiens were $8 million under the salary cap this past season, but you don’t spend the extra money just for the sake of spending it.
Stu Cownan of the Montreal Gazette: Max Pacioretty has a year left on his deal before becoming an unrestricted free agent. Pacioretty said there haven’t been any contract extension talks and he knows he could be dealt this offseason.
“Hockey was below par this year for our team, for myself,” Pacioretty said. “And when that happens, everyone has to look for answers. I have to look for answers, the team has to look for answers. Whether that’s changing players or making other moves, I can’t control that. But … I’m still playing hockey in the NHL, so for me to get caught up in worrying and not focusing on what’s important in life, I think that would be unfair to my family.”