In an unexpected move Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey today announced he was stepping down from the position, handing the job over on an interim basis to assistant GM Pierre Gauthier and would remain with the team in an advisory role.
The move, as TSN's Bob McKenzie noted, raises questions over the timing of Gainey's decision, coming so soon to the Olympic break, but as Gainey pointed out in his press conference he felt he's done his best during his tenure and feels it's time to pass the torch.
It'll be speculated Gainey was pushed out of the role rather than left of his own accord but McKenzie believed Gainey lost his appetite for the job and probably felt he wouldn't be returning after this season anyway.
Gainey leaves the Canadiens slightly better than he found them when he took over as general manager in June 2003. Back then the Canadiens have gone through a very dark period, missing the playoffs in four of the five season prior to his taking over the role.
The Habs did make some improvement during Gainey's tenure, making the playoffs in four of the last five active seasons (not counting the lockout), advancing to the second round of the playoffs twice, and topping the Eastern Conference standings in 2008.
That however isn't considered success for a franchise as storied as the Montreal Canadiens, where expecations for a championship are extremely, even unrealistically, high.
Gainey in his first seasons as general manager hoped to rebuild the struggling Habs via the draft, and by 2008 it appeared as though his efforts and those of his scouting staff were paying dividends.
Young players who came up through the Canadiens system - goaltender Carey Price, defenseman Mike Komisarek and forwards Christopher Higgins, Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn, Mark Streit, Guillaume Latendresse and Maxime Lapierre - played key roles in the Canadiens improvement in 2007-08 under the guidance of Gainey's hand-picked head coach Guy Carbonneau.
Veterans acquired by Gainey - like Alex Kovalev and Roman Hamrlik - were also significant factors that season.
His free agent signings in the summer of 2008 - Alex Tanguay, Robert Lang and Georges Laraque - had Canadiens fans dreaming of a Stanley Cup run in 2009, the 100th anniversary of the club's founding.
The early promise of 2008-09 rapidly turned into a nightmare as the club fell apart in the second half of the season.
Lang, Tanguay and Laraque were sidelined by injuries, Kovalev and team captain Saku Koivu slumped, Streit had been lost to free agency while most of the promising youngsters struggled under the weight of heightened expectations amidst rumors they were enjoying the Montreal nightlife too much.
Gainey replaced Carbonneau behind the bench late in the season but couldn't do anything to stop the bleeding. The Habs barely made the 2009 playoffs and were swept in the first round by the Boston Bruins.
Gainey defended several of his players following that series -including Price, who played terribly - and promised to address the club's problems in the summer of 2009.
He cut loose long-time Habs Kovalev, Koivu and Komisarek to free agency, passed on re-signing Tanguay and Lang, and went on the biggest spending spree in team history.
Higgins and prospects were shipped to the NY Rangers for expensive playmaker Scott Gomez, while unrestricted free agent forwards Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Travis Moen plus veteran blueliners Jaroslav Spacek, Hal Gill and Paul Mara were signed, some to expensive contracts.
Gainey also found an experienced replacement for Carbonneau, hiring former NHL coach of the year Jacques Martin as his new bench boss.
The moves were seen by critics as Gainey rolling the dice, hoping these big moves would significantly improve the Canadiens roster and in turn keep him employed as general manager.
This season's results thus far have been mixed as the Habs were sitting sixth overall in a very tight Eastern Conference playoff race heading into this week.
Injuries have been a factor as well as the difficulty of players adjusting to new teammates and a new head coach, but the bottom line is this year's Canadiens are considered a marginal playoff club and not a serious Stanley Cup contender.
Perhaps looking at his club's performance Gainey saw the writing on the wall and opted to move of his own accord rather than await the ax to fall at season's end.
The most obvious question now is what this move means for the Canadiens in the immediate future.
Gauthier is a very experienced hockey man, having previous management tenures in Anaheim and Ottawa as well as in the scouting department, so it wouldn't be surprising if the Canadiens ownership removes the "interim" from his title last this summer.
He addressed the issue of trade speculation surrounding goaltenders Price and Jaroslav Halak, suggesting he'd likely retain both for the remainder of the season. They're restricted free agents this summer and it's believed one of them could be traded.
Gauthier also said he's had talks with the agent for center Tomas Plekanec, who's an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Whether Gauthier pulls the trigger on a major move before either the two-week Olympic trade freeze beginning this coming Saturday or by the March 3rd trade deadline is anyone's guess but barring a monumental deal there's little he can do at this time to vault the Habs into Cup contention this season.
The Canadiens have some genuine established talent as well as some promising youth but they were unable to take the next step under Gainey's tenure toward becoming Stanley Cup contenders.
It remains to be seen if his replacement will have better luck.