If Serge Savard was proud and happy to have brought together on Tuesday in Terrebonne 14 members who won the Stanley Cup four times in a row from 1976 to 1979 at the Le Mirage Golf Club, the former defenseman and general manager will never pray give his opinion on the current edition of the Montreal Canadiens.

• Read also – A former Swiss player flies 24 hours to his former teammates: Serge Savard has accomplished a feat

“If I’m a little afraid of the Canadian, it’s my observation that we have to get bigger physically as the years go by,” said Mr. Savard. This is the model presented by the Florida Panthers [récents vainqueurs de la Coupe Stanley, NDLR]last season. We are moving towards that, but at the moment the size is still a bit small. A player like [Juraj] Slafkovsky brings another dimension.”

The former CH defender also admits to being excited by attacker Cole Caufield’s debut with the Montreal club, but was somewhat disillusioned, although he admitted that the right shoulder surgery the little number 22 underwent in 2023 did not help his cause.

“There was one that really excited me two years ago, but this year it’s been a little less so,” he said of Caufield. When he arrived with the Canadian, I found him dangerous every time he touched the puck, but last season I found him less dangerous. A guy like Caufield really needs to take up space on the power play.”

“In the end it will pay off.”

According to Mr. Savard, the future of CH will depend heavily on the decisions made in the draft. He also shows some confidence in the work of General Manager Kent Hughes.

“I think we’ve done a good job the last two drafts, but it’s the years that will prove it to us,” added the former Habs defenseman. It will pay off down the line. The draft is important and I think we’re on the right track.

“We have been saying for about ten years that it is coming and that we have good young people,” said Mr Savard, somewhat disillusioned. Now I think that we have been better structured organizationally for a few years now.”

• The 5^e The edition of the Serge Savard Invitation, under the honorary presidency of former head coach Scotty Bowman, aims to raise funds to support student-athletes at the University of Sherbrooke.

In cooperation with our partners