St. Catherine St. Blitz
GM Savard, coach Demers lose jobs as struggling Canadiens clean house
It will be remembered for its swiftness, unexpectedness and the number of casualties in its wake. Montreal Canadiens’ president Ronald Corey dropped the guillotine on the afternoon of Oct. 17. When he was done, four heads had rolled in one of the greatest front-office purges in NHL history. Fired were GM Serge Savard, coach Jacques Demers, Savard’s assistant Andre Boudrias-who also was the Canadiens’ director of scouting and GM of their American League affiliate in Fredericton-and pro scout Carol Vadnais. Demers, with two years remaining on a contract paying $800,000 annually, will remain with the organization, likely in a scouting capacity. No successors were named when the Canadiens returned for an Oct. 20 game against the New York Islanders. The team was handled by Demers’ four assistants-Jacques Laperierre, Steve Shutt, Francois Allaire and…
The Hockey News Archive, a searchable database of every issue since 1947, is for subscribers only. Subscribe today for less than $2.50 a month to gain access to this extraordinary resource.