Molson: New GM Hughes is 'full package'

MONTREAL -- Newly appointed general manager Kent Hughes was accompanied by Jeff Gorton and Geoff Molson for his introductory press conference at the Bell Centre on Wednesday.

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Before the group fielded questions from reporters, Molson confirmed that Hughes was among 11 candidates for the coveted role in the Canadiens' front office.
The pool was eventually narrowed down to three by the selection committee, and after a second round of interviews, Hughes was chosen for the job.
Here are a few quotes from Gorton and Molson on Hughes' hiring:
Gorton on his relationship with Hughes:
I've come to know Kent going back to the entry-level deal for Patrice Bergeron. I was impressed. We stayed in touch. We talked on the phone a few times a week for probably 20 years. I know people speculate that we socialize, but I've never socialized with Kent. I know he lived in Boston. He's raising his family there. He's got some impressive hockey players and a nice daughter, and I know Deena. I've met his wife once or twice. Best friend? No. I've just admired him as a hockey person and as a person. We had a relationship when I was an assistant GM, then GM, and I was scouting, too. I would always talk to him about what was happening on his side of the world. I trusted his opinion, and that's how we built somewhat of a professional relationship over the years. That's where we're at.

Gorton on selecting Hughes and working collaboratively together moving forward:
When we set out, ultimately our committee wanted somebody that was a really good hockey person that would complement my skills as best we could. I think that's what we've done. I'm really confident in that. I know that he was an agent, but I think of Kent as a hockey person first. I've spent a lot of time with him in the last two weeks talking about hockey and team-building, and I like his outside-the-box thinking. Ultimately, it came down to a good feel with Kent. I just liked his overall philosophies on where this team needs to go and what we have to do, and I look forward to the next several weeks to lay out the plan as far as where we need to go.
Molson on possibly hiring more people from the pool of GM candidates to fill other roles within the organization:
We did meet some very interesting candidates with all kinds of different backgrounds. Ultimately, some of them were not the candidates for general manager, but they have other skills. From my perspective, it's Jeff and Kent that are going to figure out who they want to bring into the organization. They're in charge of hockey operations. But, it was a very interesting process, and we met some very highly-qualified people.
Gorton on Hughes being one of his top GM candidates from the start:
When we set out to do this and look for the next general manager, of course Kent came to mind. I honestly didn't know if he would ever consider it. I asked him if he would ever consider it, and he said he would give it some thought, but to please go out and do what needed to be done. There was a lot there for him to unravel, running a sports agency. He's an extremely loyal person to the people that work there. That came out right away. There were a number of names out there that I thought, and we all thought inside the committee, were really good, and it proved to be true. It was a really good experience. There were some really unique candidates, but eventually when I went back to Kent and spoke with him and asked him to consider again, he was becoming more and more open to the idea. Being the next general manager of the Montreal Canadiens is something that he was dreaming about and thinking about, but it was a lot for somebody that had another job and was doing what he was doing. It really was a matter of me leaving him alone and letting him come back to me. It wasn't like we set this out a long time ago and Kent was the lead dog. He was somebody that I thought a lot of and I wanted to talk more about. Once I got the chance to dive in with him, and the committee was able to dive in with him, we liked him more and more, and here he is today.

Molson on being impressed by Hughes as a person:
That's probably one of the most important parts of my role in the interview process, to get to know the person. To be honest, Kent and I didn't know each other until we met for the first time in the interview. We're just about the same age, and I do have a lot of friends from the West Island that played hockey with him, and I know a lot of people that know him. My version of doing character checks is to make sure that I do talk to people that know him, and all those boxes were ticked as well. When I ask him questions about what his priorities are, I listen to the human answer. Jeff Gorton is much more on the hockey side. Between the two of us, I think we were able to evaluate the full package, and that's what we got in Kent.