Former Montreal Canadiens equipment manager Pierre Gervais has a new book out, and certain chapters have piqued the curiosity of Habs fans.
Translated from French to English, In Overtime is the second recounting of Gervais’ 35-year-long journey with the Canadiens by journalist Mathias Brunet. The 270-page memoir includes anecdotes about current and former players and staff members.
One brief story involves an ex-player vandalizing his equipment. While Gervais doesn’t name him directly, he leaves plenty of clues for readers to put together
“There was this player that I won’t name because he’d look too bad, whose three-season experience in Montreal wasn’t a success and had cost the team dearly. He had this habit of disdainfully ripping off Canada logos from his equipment, jerseys or gloves,” the book reads.
“It ticked me off royally. The first time, I was wondering what he was trying to pull off, until I saw a little Canada logo at the bottom of the garbage can.”
Upset, Gervais explains that he confronted the American player, who shrugged off the disrespectful action.
The author then provides a few more indicators of who it might be.
“This player falls into the category of the few bad apples I’ve come across over the decades. But he never reached the levels of a [Michael] Cammalleri or a [Janne] Niinimaa,” In Overtime continues. “He wasn’t very friendly, but at least he treated us with respect.”
Before moving on, Gervais really narrows it down by explaining how the mystery player was acquired.
“He most likely won’t be remembered in Canadiens history… even though it cost us the services of a talented young defenceman to sign him.”
Many fans have speculated about the identity of the player, but the most common conclusion, by far, is that Gervais is referring to Scott Gomez.
Scott Gomez easily lol young dman talking about mcdounagh probably
— Michael (@Mhockey2121) December 30, 2023
Scott Gomez…
— Jean-Charles Lajoie (@JiCLajoie) December 30, 2023
— simon cartier (@simoncartier6) December 30, 2023
The Anchorage, Alaska, native spent three seasons with the Canadiens from 2009 to 2012 and was famously unproductive throughout his Montreal tenure.
As for the talented young defenceman Gervais refers to, that could very well be Ryan McDonaugh, who was drafted by the Canadiens in 2007 and later and traded to the New York Rangers in a package for Gomez.
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