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With surprise timing, Bob Gainey stepped down on Monday as president of the Montreal Canadiens. Gainey has been replaced by his assistant Pierre Gauthier, and he will stay in the organization as a consultant."I've done my best," said Gainey. "Now it's time for me to pass the torch. I want to have more control over my own time. What I'll do with it, I don't know. Maybe I'll play the piano."
Gainey's final season has been a mixed bag. In the offseason he signed leading goal scorer Mike Cammalleri (26 goals before a recent injury). He also agreed to an out-of-touch deal where he took Scott Gomez's enormous contract off the hands of the Rangers and relinquished assets for the privilege.
The Canadiens are currently is sixth place in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 28-26-6 for 62 points.
The 56-year-old Gainey said the timing was right because the Olympic break will afford Gauthier the time to settle into the head role before the March 3 trade deadline. However, as evidenced by major deals made in the last eight days by colleagues such as Brian Burke, Lou Lamoriello, Darryl Sutter and Glen Sather, many GMs are seeing the pre-Olympic roster freeze on Friday afternoon as an even more important deadline.
Canadiens president Pierre Boivin adamantly denied suggestions in the media that Gainey's role and support had changed since the recent change in ownership to the Molson family.
"It's a great honor to be named general manager of the Montreal Canadiens," Gauthier said at his introductory press conference. "As soon as we're done here, I'm going to roll up my sleeves and get to work."
"I'm happy for Pierre," said Gainey, who will work closely with Gauthier leading up to the trade deadline, "but it's also a very good day for me. I'm leaving the team I love the most in the hands of a man I trust the most."
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