Canadiens Notes: Practice Facility, Bergevin, Team President

Canadiens owner and team president Geoff Molson spoke with reporters on a 90-minute call on Wednesday to speak about several things going on with the team.  Here are some of the key points, via Postmedia’s Stu Cowan and a partial transcript from the team’s website.

• The team is in the midst of getting their practice facility ready for players to resume workouts in advance of the anticipated training camps opening in mid-July. It’s expected to be available for use on Monday but with the self-quarantining rules in place, the team has recommended to the majority of its players that aren’t currently in the area to stay where they are and train rather than coming to Montreal and having to isolate for two weeks.  They are hoping that the 14-day restriction could be waved with a commitment to testing players daily.
• Molson gave a vote of confidence to GM Marc Bergevin despite the fact that the team could miss the playoffs for the fourth time in his eight-year tenure if they don’t beat Pittsburgh in the upcoming play-in round.   He believes in the team’s current reset plan, one that saw them nearly make the playoffs unexpectedly last season but they took a big step back this year.  Montreal also has 14 draft picks for the upcoming draft, one they are no longer hosting due to the pandemic so there is likely to be some movement with some of those picks.  Bergevin has two years left on his deal with Molson calling him one of the “most respected” GMs in the league.
• Molson also indicated that he has no intention of bringing in someone else to serve as a president of hockey operations, a role that he has held since 2011. There had been recent speculation that a move like that could be made to insert someone between Molson and Bergevin on the organizational hierarchy.