Jack Todd: Hughes did it proper with Caufield deal

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There was by no means the ghost of a whisper of an opportunity that Cole Caufield was going to finish up anyplace besides the place he’s.

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Let the hearsay mill spin. It means nothing. Kent Hughes is a superb, thorough, one-step-at-a-time basic supervisor, working in sync with Jeff Gorton and France Margaret Bélanger, who herself offered the Canadiens group with an injection of high-level skill at precisely the correct time.

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Credit score additionally to Geoff Molson, who has confirmed that he can be taught on the job.

They know what Caufield is. They see the spark he brings to this group. They know the way desperately the membership has wanted a bona fide elite sniper for many years. It doesn’t matter what you heard from Morning Mouth on the radio or learn from Joe Insider, Hughes was going to deliver this contract in with all of the finesse of “Sully” Sullenberger feathering is Airbus A320 into a delicate touchdown within the Hudson River.

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In contrast to his predecessor, Hughes doesn’t take issues personally and switch vindictive. So Caufield is signed for eight years at $7.85 million, a respectful couple of dollars under his buddy and linemate Nick Suzuki, who carries a much bigger load.

A spherical of applause, in case you please. Now Hughes can get on to different issues, like Samuel Montembeault and the draft, and the remainder of us can return to watching the playoffs. Or not.

Classes from the ’93 Cup: Talking of watching the playoffs, I spent plenty of time glued to the tv the previous month, watching not the 2023 postseason however the Canadiens’ marvellous spring to their twenty fourth Stanley Cup within the spring of 1993 — analysis for Saturday’s piece on the final time the Cup got here dwelling.

Watching 20 consecutive episodes of a decades-old Stanley Cup triumph is a head-spinning expertise. You are feeling a bit surprised on the finish, out of sync, out of time. But it surely was effectively price it, watching the 1993 Canadiens triumph unfold with 16 wins and the riot alongside the same old route.

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There have been many takeaways, however three price mentioning: First, that group was much better than you’ve been led to imagine. Second, Eric Desjardins was a premier plan defenceman, head and shoulders above the remainder of the Montreal blue-liners on the time.

Lastly, whereas it’s not true that Patrick Roy received both the 1986 or the 1993 Stanley Cups by himself, watching him take the puck between his tooth and run with it was one of many real delights of the sport.

Sadly, the reward of hindsight additionally makes it not possible to disregard that little voice in your ear that retains whispering, “what went unsuitable? How did the Canadiens change into such unhappy sacks in such a short while? Why had been so most of the heroes of 1993 gone nearly earlier than we bought an opportunity to salute them?”

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(By way of the sheer velocity of the collapse, in fact, what occurred in 1993 doesn’t rival the freefall of 2021, when Marc Bergevin and Dominique Ducharme steered the Stanley Cup finalists to the basement with all of the grace of a drunk tumbling down a flight of stairs.)

To begin with, the narrative that the Canadiens undoing was all Réjean Houle’s fault is totally false and at all times was. It was Ronald Corey who completed the job within the autumn of 1995 — but it surely was Savard, architect of the final two Canadiens Stanley Cups, who was responsible of dismantling a group he had constructed so effectively.

Between 1990 and the day in October 1995 when he was fired together with Jacques Demers, Carol Vadnais and André Boudrias, Savard dealt Chris Chelios, Petr Svoboda, Man Carbonneau, Eric Desjardins, John LeClair, Kirk Muller and Mathieu Schneider.

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Generally the return was fairly good — Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov for Muller and Schneider. Generally it wasn’t sufficient — Recchi for Desjardins and LeClair. Generally it was nonexistent — Carbo for Jim Montgomery.

Just by refraining from these offers, Savard might have had Damphousse, Muller, Carbonneau and Saku Koivu up the center. He might have had a defence with Chelios, Desjardins, Svoboda, Schneider, Patrice Brisebois, J.J. Daigneault and hard-work Lyle Odelein.

Sure, Houle would make the Roy deal below strain, and unwisely toss captain Mike Keane into what was already a nasty commerce for the Habs. Extra blame attaches to Houle for later offers when he shipped Turgeon and Craig Conroy to St. Louis for Shayne Corson and Murray Barron and to the 1999 commerce that despatched Damphousse to the Sharks for a few ineffective picks and a first-rounder that grew to become Marcel (The Unsuitable) Hossa.

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However a lot as Serge Savard deserves credit score for constructing two Stanley Cup champs, he deserves a wholesome share of the blame for undoing what he constructed.

Heroes: Cole Caufield, Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton, France Margaret Bélanger, Samuel Montembeault, Ilkay Gundogan, Elina Svitolina, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek, Eric Desjardins, John LeClair &&&& Patrick Roy — the best Habs goaltender and the best cash goalie of all time.

Zeros: The Las Vegas Golden Knights, Gary Bettman, Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Mike Babcock, Novak Djokovic, Anthony Bass, Clayton Kershaw, Claude Brochu, David Samson &&&& final however not least, Jeffrey Loria.

Now and eternally.

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