When the Montreal Canadiens season ended after their Game 5 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final, it officially started the NHL’s off-season. We knew that the team would have work to do. Their NHL and AHL coaching staff needed new contracts, and General Manager Marc Bergevin was entering the final year of his contract, something that usually isn’t done.
Entering the playoffs, there was the chance that there would be wholesale changes but the success the team had meant that would be unlikely.
Before the team’s locker was cleaned — literally, there were still exit meetings going on — the announcement that Joël Bouchard would be leaving the organization sent shockwaves throughout the organization.