CBC-Sports

Gainey in "Cone of Silence" mode

April 20, 2009 04:13 PM | Posted by   Elliotte Friedman  

Just wanted to give everyone a little insight into the atmosphere around the Bell Centre today: Bob Gainey is going into "Cone of Silence" mode.

(Please understand: the following is not a complaint in any way, shape or form. I totally understand why he is doing it. I just thought all of you might be interested in what's going on.)

A regular game day for the coach of the Montreal Canadiens consists of two separate media availabilities. The first comes after the team skates, and is open to everyone. Gainey sits behind a table and answers questions in both English and French. Sometimes, it takes more than 20 minutes, with two languages, close to 50 reporters and plenty of interest.

According to another journalist, today's lasted 3:09 - which has to be some kind of record. He wouldn't reveal his starting goalie, wouldn't talk about his lineup. He told everyone to "watch the warmup" - which comes 30 minutes before puck drop.

The second briefing is for rights holders only, about two hours before game time. It's a longer process for the coach of the Canadiens than anyone else in the league. First, you do RDS, the French TV broadcaster. I'm not sure what happens behind that door, but there are about 400 people in the room with him.

Then, it's back-to-back tapings with CKAC (French radio) and CJAD (English radio). After that, we usually get a couple of minutes to chat.

None of that is going to happen today.

Again, this is not a complaint. During those same conversations prior to Game 2, Gainey willingly unveiled his roster changes and rationale. Today is the first time since he's taken over that he's asked to have a day off, and I never saw Guy Carbonneau do it.

What does it mean? If I had to guess, I'd say it means that Gainey is really wrestling with his decisions, aside from who's playing in goal.

It would be extremely unusual for a starter in that position to be unaware two hours before the game. For what it's worth, Carey Price stood in the "starter's net" during the morning skate, and left the ice before Jaroslav Halak. That would indicate he's the guy, but there's no confirmation. Halak told one reporter neither of them had been told a thing.

That's happened before at morning skates (Randy Carlyle did it during the 2006 West Final), but it's possible the Slovak was told not to say anything.

The rest of the lineup? You can certainly understand why Gainey might be struggling with it. After a tight Game 1 loss, the Canadiens started very well in Game 2. But Sergei Kostitsyn took a horrible penalty at 8:45, Marc Savard scored on the powerplay, and it really wasn't close afterwards.

Since the All-Star break, few players have been anywhere close to their potential, and Gainey's attempt to shake up the lineup on Saturday failed. Kostitsyn's penalty was ill-timed to say the least and Yannick Weber was overwhelmed. Rushing back Robert Lang, who skated in full equipment this morning, and/or Andrei Markov might be less attractive since his Francis Bouillon gamble lasted one period.

We all know what's at stake for Montreal tonight. Shortly before he was fired, Guy Carbonneau said before one game that "there weren't 20 players who deserved to be in the lineup."

What's Gainey going to do? I honestly have no clue. But, I'm guessing he understands what Carbonneau meant.

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