The Ghosts of Habs teams past and the fans turn to Goffie to turn the Habs around

[CaptainCrunch]

The Hockey Reporter (AP)


Even though the Montreal Canadians moved into the Bell Center in 1996, its clear that the ghosts of the Montreal greats moved to the new address from the old Forum. There is no more pressure packed job then meeting fan expectations in Montreal. Its history goes back to the NHA in 1909, and in that time they have established themselves as the greatest hockey franchise in history and frankly its not even close.


The Canadians have won 24 cups, in their history, and the fans are hungry to see a return to glory. With that we sat down with the Hab’s GM Goffie to discuss his personal link to hockey and his viewpoints on the current Canadians.


While still a relatively young GM, Goffie tracks back his first hockey memory to what would have been a disappointing moment in the Canadians’ history.
“I have followed hockey since around 1986. My first real memory is 1989 when Lanny McDonald scoring the clinching goal to beat the Habs for the cup. I was 10. I cried. It’s how I knew I was really a fan. “


His fandom was only accelerated by one of the classic rivalries in NHL history.
“My favourite hockey rivalry is Habs and Bruins. The Leafs were out west and then a non factor for many years while I was growing my hatred of the Bruins.”
Goffie didn’t grow up playing organized hockey, he instead to play road hockey and later played in ball hockey in University and after he graduated.
When he was asked about his career highlight in terms of playing the game, he went back to his university days.


“The career highlight was playing ice hockey in the OPL in university. I can’t tell you what OPL stands for because I would have to kill you. I won the cup every year I played in that league. We pretty well split our group of friends into two teams and played all winter long and then had a “playoff series”. Things got pretty rough in the playoffs sometimes. You would not have thought it was a group of buddies playing against each other. “


While Goffie never had that organized hockey track, he was a high level athlete but hockey still stuck out as his favorite sport, and it effected his life.
“Hockey had a different type of impact in my life. However it was huge impact in my life. I was a high level athlete and competed nationally multiple times in both wrestling and soccer. However I was super fan for hockey. It was always my outlet and still is. I grew up having to watch the Habs on RDS a lot of the time. But I got to see all 82 games every season. I even picked up a bit of French along the way. “


Even now when he goes back and looks at his favorite or most effected hockey moments and what his best or worst fan moment was, it turned out that it led to property damage and a fine.


“The fan moment I would like to take back happened in 2004. Kovalev got slashed and over sold the play, bumped into Souray and then Glen Murray went in to score and give the Bruins a 3-1 series lead. I was so pissed I ran into the hallway and punched a hole in the wall. Unfortunately for me that was the day I was set to move out of my university house and back home. So that punch cost me $400 of a damage deposit. At least the Habs came back to win the series. “
At the same time one of the favorite things on his mantle stands out to this day.
“My favourite piece of memorabilia that I have is a brick from the foundation of the original Montreal forum. It is signed by my favourite player Patrick Roy. It is a rare piece and an eye catcher. “


Goffie has been a long time executive in the CPHL where he was originally hired by the Penquins as their inaugural GM , walking into a rebuilding situation and after successfully rebuilding the Pens he took on a new challenge by moving onto the Habs.


I don’t remember the exact year I joined. I think it was 2014. But it was a long time ago.



“I came on as GM of the Pens when they were the last place team and the previous GM dealt the “Crosby” pick right before I started. The team sucked. It had no assets. I was the GM of that team until a few months ago. I would like to think I built up a pretty solid asset base. I won one cup and the sim had a love hate relationship with the Pens. Mostly Hate. I was looking for a new challenge so I took on the Habs this off-season. They had a solid roster. But nothing like I left behind in Pittsburgh.

I like the stamp I’ve put on the Habs. But I don’t expect to contend yet. The team is young and should grow into a stronger team within the next couple of seasons. I think the biggest weakness right now is lack of a true #1 D. I expect that to be solved before the end of the summer or at least before the season ends. ”


In terms of his personal philosophy, he has a simple end game.
“My GM philosophy is definitely a builder. I love the draft and love drafting. That is a hinderance to my results as the sim loves the vets. I just can’t find the mix of vets and youth to win. “
When he was asked about the trades he was most proud of and the one that backfired on him.


“The trades I am most proud of was when I was able to bring in both Spezza and Kovalchuk in my early days. They were both hitting their stride. It was a huge day in the development of the Pens into a legit contender.
The trade I most regret is trading away Patty Kane about 6 years ago. I had him for the majority of his career and when I traded him away it was a stupid deal. Bobby Ryan and a pick or something dumb. It took about 5 teams and over a year to get him back. And he stayed a Pen to the day I left for Montreal. “

At the same time he’s admitted that there is a learning curb to being a GM in the CPHL.


“Star players always let me down. Similar to Jiri I have acquired the best players in the league multiple times only to have them fail when played together. “


A couple of weeks ago Jiri named Goffie as his biggest rival and when asked the same question he listed multiple teams and GM’s.


“I do see Jiri as a rival as at times are teams a similar on paper. So I do find myself looking at the standings and wondering why he is winning and I’m losing. Or when it is vice versa I wonder what is causing the success. I have come to realize that the sim sucks.



I also viewed philly and jersey as rivals. They were in my division and had two top GMs so it was fun competing against them. I think 3rhirty has the sim figured out. But Duke has worse playoff luck than the Pens did no matter how stacked he was. It is also fun to beat my good buddy in SAN Jose when our teams play no matter what the game means in the standings it is a fun one to win. “


As it came down to the end of this interview and my inevitable drive back to the airport, I asked Goffie to tell me about his goals for the year and what he is most excited about in terms of the future.


“My goals this year is playoffs. I think the team is a few years away from contending. So if I can make playoffs along the way that would be great!
The prospect I am most excited about is the #1 pick. That’s a huge addition to this squad. Of my current group it is probably Romanov. I am excited to see if he can be successful in the NHL and if that translates to the CPHL. “
While in the short term its likely that Montreal fans will have to wait a bit longer to return to the glory days of the 20th century teams, its up to Goffie to be a powerful steward of the Canadians and work to guide them back to the light.

[CaptainCrunch]

Thanks to Goffie for being a good sport about this and taking the time to work with me on it.

[TheScorpion]

Nobody lists the Islanders as their rivals because they know we're just too good for them.

[MJK]

I can tell people what OPL stands for, I wont kill you’ll...it will just cost you $99.95.

[Cheese]

awesome Cap!

[JonDuke]

This was a great read. Well done.
I picture a $400 hole in the wall happening like this...

[Goffie]

More like this.

[SportsJunky]

Had I known I was dealing with such a high-level athlete I would have treated Goffie with more respect. Apologies Goffie.

[Goffie]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

Had I known I was dealing with such a high-level athlete I would have treated Goffie with more respect. Apologies Goffie.

High level athlete/low level GM so it cancels each other out.

[MJK]

I think we are being pretty lose with the term "High Level Athlete"...