Recipe for success:
BERGEVIN: "Obviously, you need great players. But hockey is a sport and you have to have a team concept. It's not as easy as people think, but today there are 31 general managers and they're all smart people and they work very hard. Our job is difficult, but it's fun. At the end of the day, we all want to win a Stanley Cup [and that's how] success is measured. That's our goal."
How do you put aside your experience as a former player?
BERGEVIN: "It's hard. At some point, you become close to your players. As a former player, we respect them and we know what they're going through. When you trade a player, you're also trading a family and it's not easy. There's always a respect aspect of it. At the end of the day, we have a job to do. Players are pretty good, they do understand, but it doesn't make it easy."
On pressure from the market:
DALE TALLON: "When you get to be my age, you forget. There's a perk! Marc and I go back to since he was 19 years old. We started working together. He's so qualified and so wonderful at his job. There's a lot of stress in this marketplace. Some nights, you have more media here [in Montreal] than we have fans! I only have to deal with one or two of those guys and some of them don't know a puck from a football. To be in this market, it takes a special guy.
"I really believe strongly in Marc. He called me when he first retired, and I had just gotten the job in Chicago. He called me 'Jean Talon' and he said, 'Jean, it's Berg. I'm looking for a job. Right now, I'm making a list of guys I would work for. Guess what? You made the list.' He was looking in San Diego. I told him to get on a plane, he flew over the next day and I hired him on the spot because he's creative and a wonderful human being. He's going to get the job done."