All Habs Headlines: Friday May 25, 2012
On this day in hockey history… 1978 – Montreal Canadiens beat Boston 4-1 in Game Six of the Finals, to become the 1978 Stanley Cup Champions. Happy Birthday to former Habs players Rick Wamsley (53) and Ric Nattress (50)!
ALL HABS HEADLINES
►First hire: Canadiens rookie GM Marc Bergevin made his first front-office appointment on Thursday hiring Bobby Kinsella, director of scouting and assistant coach for the Dubuque Fighting Saints. Kinsella will be based in Chicago and scout the U.S. Midwest for the Canadiens, with primary responsibility for the USHL, NCAA and top-tier high schools.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me, and I’m excited about working for a first-class organization that does things the right way. When you look at the number of championships they’ve won and the number of Hall of Famers they’ve produced, you compare the Canadiens to the New York Yankees in baseball and the Boston Celtics in basketball.” — Bobby Kinsella
Since his own appointment Bergevin has pledged to upgrade the Canadiens scouting system. Kinsella will be first full-time scout hired by the Habs to appraise players from the USHL.
Saints General Manager Jim Montgomery was full of praise for Kinsella saying, “It’s a credit to our organization that he’s being recognized at the NHL level. I have no doubt he’ll be successful because of his work ethic, his organizational skills and his keen eye for talent. He won’t be outworked.”
You can follow Kinsella on Twitter: @DFS_BobbyK
►Fan power: The SportAccord International Convention is a six-day gathering of influential leaders in the world of Sport this year being held in Quebec City. On Thursday, Canadiens President and CEO, Geoff Molson participated in a SportAccord debate titled “Fan power – Are they customers or stake-holders, and who decides?” Molson pointed to social media tools like Twitter and Facebook as one way of fans leveraging their power.
“I think it’s much louder, [fans] can communicate to many more people. When I was young, you go home angry but you can’t really share it. Now they can be angry with hundreds of thousands of people. It certainly is impactful and it gives them a voice. If you respect that, they’ll respect you as well.” — Geoff Molson
Molson is a recent convert to Twitter using it to interact with Canadiens fans this past season. “Mostly, I listen,” said Molson. The Canadiens owner has gone out of his way to address fans directly in his most recent news conferences.
“They’re part of our organization, and the Montreal Canadiens are so important to people we have an obligation to listen to them, and we do. Are the fans going to hire and fire somebody? No. But their feedback’s important, and it contributes to the valuations that we do internally.” — Geoff Molson
Read more: Fans wield the most power when they’re unhappy, conference told
►Viggo shows colours: Film star Viggo Mortensen has never been shy about displaying his love for the Montreal Canadiens. Mortenson wore his Habs CH under his costume while filming The Lord of the Rings, posed alongside “A Dangerous Method” co-star Keira Knightley with a Lafleur jersey at the Toronto International Film Festival and was a featured guest at the Canadiens Centennial night ceremony.
Earlier this week, Mortenson was at the 65th Cannes film festival to promote his new movie “On the Road.” There he posed for photos with the cast of the movie and a Montreal Canadiens flag. At one point, Mortenson wrapped the flag around co-star Kirsten Dunst.
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