Canadiens: Serge Savard’s Warning to Marc Bergevin

When the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup with Serge Savard at the helm, there were a lot of Quebecers in the lineup. On the 1986 roster, there were 10 players born in “La Belle Province”: Guy Carbonneau, Mario Tremblay, Stephane Richer, Lucien Deblois, Gaston Gingras, Serge Boisvert, Sergio Momesso, Claude Lemieux, Steve Penney and, of course, Conn Smythe Trophy winner Patrick Roy.

When captain Carbonneau hoisted the Cup seven years later, 13 Quebecers on top of the aforementioned center played at least a game in the Spring dance: Vincent Damphousse, Stephan Lebeau, Denis Savard, Gilbert Dionne, Eric Desjardins, Patrice Brisebois, Benoit Brunet, Jean-Jacques Daigneault, Mario Roberge, Jesse Belanger, Donald Dufresne, Andre Racicot and winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy for the second time goaltender Roy.

Related: Canadiens: Trade Him He Has a Bad Knee

It’s no secret that Savard, nicknamed “The Senator,” believes the Canadiens must have a French speaking coach and plenty of players who hail from Québec, but what I didn’t know however was the warning he gave Marc Bergevin when he became the Habs’ GM. On La Poche Bleue’s X account last night, a 30-second clip of Savard revealed said warning:

The Québec People

In the clip, Savard says he told Bergevin the Québec people would let him win in English but they wouldn’t let him lose. That was the former number 18’s way of saying do not neglect the Quebec market.

While Savard was the architect of the last two Canadiens Stanley Cups and proved he could build a winner, I think it’s a bit tricky to make that kind of statement. The people of Québec are not all separatist who have the French language as their leitmotiv. The Partie Québécois held two referendums and twice, the people of Québec said no to parting with the rest of Canada.

There are a good chunk of Quebecers who want to finally see their team win in whichever language. That’s understandable, plenty of the Canadiens’ fans have not seen their team lift Lord Stanley’s mug in their lifetime.

The media have often criticized the Canadiens for not drafting enough Quebecers, but are the teams picking them in droves doing any better? Martin Madden jr. may be drafting them by the bucket for the Anaheim Ducks, but are they better off than the Canadiens? Maxime Comtois, a winger who they once hoped would be an impact player for them, has just signed a contract in the KHL. Would the Canadiens win more if they drafted more Quebecers? There’s no proof that they would. Drafting is for winning, not for pleasing.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating that the Canadiens shouldn’t draft Quebecers at all, but I’m saying they need to draft the best players available no matter what language they speak, or where they were born.

Times Have Changed

Nowadays, hockey is not as popular as it used to be with young Quebecers, meaning there are less Quebec-born players for NHL teams to pick from. That’s only part of the reason why there are not as many as there used to be wearing the Sainte-Flanelle.

Teams now have scouts working all over the world and it’s now common practice for them to draft European players every year. The NHL’s doors are wide opened to foreign players and they have been for quite a while, but there are also very few Eastern European countries left who want to prevent their athletes from playing overseas. Today, the Stastny brothers could have come over from Slovakia as easily as Jesperi Kotkaniemi pocketed his $20 bonus and walked into the Carolina sunset (well, there have been some thunderstorms since then, but that’s a story for another day).

If Savard had wanted to draft Petr Svoboda today, the defensemen wouldn’t have to defect from former Czechoslovakia and the draft floor wouldn’t be astonished to see the young man show up at the Montreal Forum. Rejean Tremblay couldn’t write about Sergei Kulikov’s defection in his popular TV Series Lance et Compte, Russians are now able to come to North America. Just recently, the Flyers were able to bring Matvei Michkov over two years early after reaching a deal to end his contract with SKA St. Petersburg.

Back then, the Canadiens wouldn’t have picked a Russian player with their fifth-overall pick, but it’s now possible to do so. Even though Ivan Demidov still has a year left on his contract with the team who recently released Michkov, Montreal is not worried. The Habs’ brass has even been able to speak with the Russian outfit about a joint development plan for their prized prospect.

Related: Canadiens: The Line of Communication Is Open With SKA St. Pertersburg

Playing for the Jersey

Many will say that if you get a player who dreamed about playing for the Canadiens all their life, they will be ready to give their all for the jersey. I can understand that, but how is that exclusive to those born in the province? P.K. Subban’s dad was born in Jamaica, emigrated to Canada in 1970 and became a Montreal fan. Unsurprisingly, when the future Habs’ blueliner was a kid, he rooted for his dad’s team and said being drafted by the franchise was a dream come true. Say what you will about Subban’s off-ice activities and the building of his brand, but when he was on the ice, he played for the logo on the front of the jersey.

When Canadiens GMs manage to sign free agents, yes, it did happen and will happen again in the not so distant future, the first thing the new signees say is how much of an honor it is to play for the storied franchise. They all have the same reaction when they set foot in the team’s locker room, they are taken aback by the history and the tradition that’s on display.

In his return to the Bell Centre with the New Jersey Devils, Tyler Toffoli was quoted in The Gazette saying

“It’s definitely one of the most-storied franchises; a team you want to play for. […] You want to do well in a market like this, I embraced it as much as I could. I had a lot of fun with it. For my wife, she really enjoyed it, too. The experience in general was great.”

Please do not tell me the francophones are the only ones able to give everything for the jersey. Speaking a language doesn’t make you a winner, it doesn’t make you passionate. Having character and dedication is what makes you play for the jersey. Toe Blake played for the jersey, Doug Harvey played for the jersey, Larry Robinson played for the jersey and the list goes on. Would you say that Louis Leblanc played for the jersey? What about Jonathan Drouin?

Of the 18 numbers that have been sent to the rafters by the team, eight were worn by anglophone players who did give their all for the jersey. It’s not just anglophones either. Would anyone dare say Saku Koivu lacked dedication? Is that why he received a nine-minute ovation after beating cancer? What about the little viking Mats Naslund? The Tricolore is a way of life for people all across Canada and it’s only by using the best players that it will go back to its former glory. Until then, lack of Quebecers or not, I don’t see many fans complaining about the losses suffered in this rebuild, they know it’s for the greater good.