Instilling a winning culture

BROSSARD - As Geoff Molson joined Marc Bergevin for the 2017-18 end-of-season press conference at the Bell Sports Complex, the Habs owner was clear in his assessment of the team's season.

"It goes without saying that I am - we are - all extremely disappointed with our season. When things go badly, we have a legitimate opportunity to re-evaluate everything we do with the objective of starting next season better and building for a more promising future," Molson declared of the Canadiens' 29-40-13 record to a room full of reporters. "The status quo is not acceptable. We are the NHL's most storied franchise, and we owe it to our fans to achieve the standards of excellence that they expect."

As part of their evaluation, both Molson and the Habs' GM identified the lack of a winning attitude as the starting point for the club's return to success, with Bergevin pointing out several times that a similar result was likely even with different players if this season's mindset remained.
But there will be much more to do.
"I think attitude is certainly a part of it, but the real message is, we weren't good enough, we have to get better, and changes are coming so that we can get better. Our best players weren't at their best this year," added Molson, whose team finished third-last in the Eastern Conference with 71 points in the standings. "Whether it's that they don't fit anymore, or they fit and they can be better, or if a change of attitude is required… all of these things are part of the equation, but everyone needs to be better next year. It's not just the players; it's everyone in the whole organization. Marc and I are completely aligned in this. The time is now, and we have to get better."
As Bergevin reflected back, he acknowledged the problems manifested themselves early on, and getting back on track to salvage the campaign was, in retrospect, insurmountable.
"From the start of the season, from game one, if you talk about the regular season, we were never in the playoff race or position," he said of a Canadiens squad that lost six-straight games after winning their opening contest in October. "We were never in sync. I believe an attitude changes a lot of things. Of course, players make things better. But if you have good players without the right attitude, I can bring anybody here and if the attitude isn't better, we're going to be in the same spot. That's my job to address that. I've started today. We had meetings throughout the season, but now the real work starts."
That work starts with a realignment of the team's approach to the game, but will also involve a re-examination of how it connects to the fans.
"Sometimes, when we communicate, we just communicate that we've done something, but we don't give a little more color to it to make sure everyone really understands why we did it. Why did we call up a player? Why did we send him down the next morning? Why did we make the kind of decision we might have made? I think we have an opportunity to be a little bit more transparent there and to provide more information so our fans have a better understanding of why we're doing things," outlined Molson. "Overall, I think members of our executive hockey team can be more accessible and spend more time with you all discussing our season and whatever is wanted to be discussed."

In keeping with that decision, both owner and GM shed some light on why the team didn't spend up to the NHL's $75 million US salary ceiling, with Molson pointing out that after Alexander Radulov and Andrei Markov left as free agents, the team did not want to spend for the sake of spending, but was absolutely willing to if the right opportunity presented itself.
"For me, to talk to my fans, they've got my commitment that I'm going to spend every dollar possible to win," stressed Molson. "That's the way we operate in this business. [That's the way respected hockey franchises across the league operate…] No stone is left unturned. No dollar is left unspent that's going to make us a better hockey team."

And with a high first-round pick and a plethora of selections to make in the upcoming NHL Draft in Dallas this June, the owner's willingness to max out his cap space isn't the only factor explaining why he feels optimistic about the near future.
"On top of that, we accumulated a lot of draft picks this year, and that gives me hope. As well, we had a chance this year, because of our results, to see our young players play and they performed well, too," he concluded. "There are a lot of reasons why I believe this will be a better team next year, and it starts with the team that's here right now."