A new book by former Montreal Canadiens equipment manager Pierre Gervais is causing quite a stir in Habs land.
Au Coeur du Vestiaire, which translates to “In the heart of the locker room,” is a recounting of Gervais’ 35-year-long journey with the team by journalist Mathias Brunet. The 292-page book includes countless anecdotes about current and former players and staff members.
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ā Mathias Brunet (@mathiasbrunet) November 15, 2022
Since hitting shelves on Monday, controversial excerpts from the book have been circling around social media. While there were kind words for the likes of Saku Koivu, Brendan Gallagher, Nick Suzuki, and Martin St. Louis, Gervais held no punches discussing his less-than-favourable experiences with the likes of Max Pacioretty, Marc Bergevin, and Dominique Ducharme among others.
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The following paragraphs are translated excerpts from three of the book’s chapters:
Max Pacioretty
NHL / Twitter
In the book’s 24th chapter entitled “Un mauvais capitaine,” Gervais says former team captain Max Pacioretty was a “very self-centred guy,” who “rarely smiled” and didn’t often “mingle with others.” The former equipment manager explains that if the Canadiens won a game 10-0, Pacioretty would sulk if he hadn’t scored.
“There werenāt many candidates at the time, I understand that, but in my opinion it would have been better not to have a captain than to appoint a bad one,” writes Gervais. “Looking back, I believe that Marc [Bergevin] and Michael [Therrien] would not have let the players choose if they had suspected the result of the vote.”
Gervais also confirms rumours that the captain had problems with teammate PK Subban, saying the two “often argued with one another.” Finally, Gervais reveals that the negative sentiments were shared among most members of the locker room. “Everyone knew what kind of individual he was. No one was more important than him. He didnāt get much respect from the guys.”
Marc Bergevin
Montreal Canadiens
In Chapter 22, aptly named “Les hauts et les bas de Marc Bergevin,” Gervais begins with a summary of the former general manager’s temperament. “Marc could be very pleasant, but he was moody,” Gervais writes. “He could arrive in the morning and you would wonder if he had just been through a family crisis.”
The chapter also credits Bergevin for his successes while acknowledging his shortcoming. “He did great things but did great damage as well (…) He needed a mentor to learn how to manage staff, budgets, talk to people and deal with his own fame as well.”
He also acknowledges Bergevin’s youthful style, drawing comparisons to other front office members. “Marc acted like he was still playing. He would dress how the players would dress. he could arrive in shorts, in sandals, in jeans, however (…) We would never see Serge Savard arriving at the Forum in shorts and sandals. He wouldn’t have had the same credibility.”
The chapter concludes on a bittersweet note, with Gervais acknowledging Bergevin’s immaturity in a backhanded compliment. “Marc was a teenager,” he writes “He had a good tenure in Montreal, but a change was needed, for him and the organization.”
Dominique Ducharme
Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Although the head coach’s tenure with the Canadiens was short-lived, Gervais had plenty to say in “L’ĆØre de Dominique Ducharme,” the book’s second chapter.
Gervais begins by explaining how Ducharme’s promotion to head coach after Claude Julien was fired took everyone by surprise, calling him someone who “inspired nothing bad, but nothing grandiose either. He was just there.”
He goes on to share anecdotes about how the coach would overwork the team, even calling for practices on the players’ scheduled days off.Ā “Dominique did not gain the confidence of the players,” explains Gervais. “One could see it in the manner he addressed the group.”
Among the many examples cited is one that details how Cole Caufield, realizing that his name was not on the locker room board, learned right before a game that he would be scratched. “I observed and read the deception on his face,” says Gervais, who was surprised by the action. “It doesn’t happen, these things.”
Gervais also credits much of the Canadiens’ success in the 2021 playoffs to former assistant coach Luke Richardson. “When I hear people say that he [Ducharme] had lost the room in the end, he didn’t lose it because he never really had it,” he says, adding that “Luke had the room. The guys worked for him.”
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