The History Of The General Manager Position With The Canadiens
By Jim Lynch
The Montreal Canadiens made a big move a week ago naming Kent Hughes as the new general manager of their team after leaving the role vacant for almost two months after letting Marc Bergevin go on November 28th, 2021.
Kent Hughes steps in as the 18th general manager in Canadiens history, and he definitely does have a lot to do as his new team has gone from the Stanley Cup final to the bottom of the standings in less than a year.
Today, let’s go over the history book of general managers with the Montreal Canadiens. There have now been 18, can you name them all? If you can, quickly scroll past the rest of the article and comment as many as you can name.
A few facts on the Montreal Canadiens general managers of the past.
Five of the GMs have been elected into the hockey hall of fame.
Seven of the 18 have won at least one Stanley Cup in their position.
Two of the 18 have failed to get their teams into the playoffs during their time.
Now let’s go over the entire list of general managers with the Montreal Canadiens:
Joseph Cattarinich 1909 – 1910
Jack Laviolette 1910 – 1921
Leo Dandurand 1921 – 1935
Ernest Savard 1935 – 1936
Cecil Hart 1936 – 1939
Jules Dugal 1939 – 1940
Tommy Gorman 1940 – 1946
Frank J. Selke 1946 – 1964
Sam Pollock 1964 – 1978
Irving Grundman 1978 – 1983
Serge Savard 1983 – 1995
Rejean Houle 1995 – 2000
Andre Savard 2000 – 2003
Bob Gainey 2003 – 2010
Pierre Gauthier 2010 – 2012
Marc Bergevin 2012 – 2021
Kent Hughes 2022
That is a pretty long list with a lot of great names. Guys like Frank J. Selke and Sam Pollock are known for their winning ways and successful tenures with the Canadiens. Maybe Kent Hughes can lead the Canadiens to a new era of success. The Canadiens have not won a Stanley Cup since Serge Savard was general manager, since then they have had six different people in the role including Hughes so they are due for a turnaround.
Kent Hughes is going to have a busy season and offseason as he tries to get the Canadiens on the right track for the future. Hopefully, we all have a lot of fun watching him rebuild this team for a successful run in the near future!