Gainey Stepts down as Canadiens G.M

Today in Montreal the Canadiens announced that Bob Gainey has stepped down as Gm and will be replaced by the assistant Gm Pierre Gauthier."I've done my best and now it's time for me to pass the torch," Gainey said on Monday. "I believe that the general manager position requires a long-term vision and a long-term commitment. At this point, I'm not prepared to make a commitment of four or five or six more years in this position."The Habs also announced that Bob Gainey will remain apart of the Canadiens as special Advisor to the General Manager. "I'm leaving the team I love the most in the hands of the man I trust the most," said Gainey. "I look forward to assisting Pierre and the team in our pursuit of our 25th Stanley Cup."

Bob Gainey joined the Canadiens in 2003 as the Canadiens 15th GM in franchise history and helped the Canadiens improve from being a really bad team to a average team."I would say one of the happiest, nicest things has been to see the new generation of Montreal Canadiens fans," said Gainey. "The youth and the enthusiasm and the passion, the joy in the building when we play, by people who are hoping for the same experience their parents had or their grandparents had. That was a bridge that I think I was lucky enough to approach six years ago and participate with a bigger organization...for me, that's a very special thing." The Canadiens new GM Pierre Gauthier joined the Canadiens in the summer of 2003 as Director of the Canadiens Scouting and then he went up to a assistant Gm in 2006. As of today he has now been moved up to GM of the Habs.

"I like this team and I like the coaching staff," said Gauthier. "I've worked with Jacques Martin before, I'm very comfortable with this group. As soon as I leave this room today, I'm going to roll up my sleeves and get the job done." He also said that he wants to make the Canadiens a team that finishes in first year after year."That's the objective - to get to the top tier of the league and to do that consistently," said Gauthier. He was asked a question about whether or not Halak would be delt by the trade deadline and he simply said:"We believe we can go far with these two young men,.You can never say never, but that's a strong position and we would like to keep it strong." So far this season the Canadiens are in 6th place with a record of 28-26-6 this season. As you can see in the stats below the Canadiens have not past the second round under Gainey.

Season	W	L	T	OT	Place	Playoffs
2003-04	41	30	7	4	7th in East	Eliminated in 2nd round
2005-06	42	31	-	9	7th in East	Eliminated in 1st round
2006-07	42	34	-	6	10th in East	Did not qualify
2007-08	47	25	-	10	1st in East	Eliminated in 2nd round
2008-09	41	30	-	11	8th in East	Eliminated in 1st round
2009-10*	28	26	-	6	6th in East	N/A

*After 60 games

Written By Andrew Di Pardo