11:17AM: Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said on Monday that Jeff Gorton’s deal to become Executive VP or Hockey Operations is “long-term.”
The announcement of Gorton was buried within Montreal’s press release announcing the firing of GM Marc Bergevin. It was below the paragraph indicating that the next GM for Montreal will be bilingual.
The press release also noted that Montreal had “retained the services” of Gorton.
Adam Rotter: In every report about Gorton and Montreal I believed that it was either a temporary thing or something not as high profile because of the belief that Montreal only wanted bilingual people at the top. I was wrong and Gorton will be the top hockey person for Montreal and, along with the next GM, shape how the Habs look moving forward. It’s surprising that Gorton will need a translator when he answers questions, but it’s also a sign that Montreal was looking for the best person available, language aside.