Canadiens Officially Announce Hiring of Dudley

The Montreal Canadiens let another of the hockey world's worst-kept secrets out of the bag today as the club officially announced that Rick Dudley would become an Assistant General Manager with the club.  You can read a bio of Dudley - a very well respected hockey man and a phenomenal talent evaluator - in the official announcement here: http://canadiens.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=632679&navid=DL|MTL|home

Bergevin also remained true to his word regarding Larry Carriere, announcing that his contract had been extended and that he would stay on under his old title of Assistant GM.  So yes, that means both men carry the same title, though it is still unclear how the tasks may be divided between the two.  Having Carriere on board - a guy who spent part of last season on the bench with the current players as an Assistant Coach - will certainly help introduce Bergevin to the roster he is taking over.  It isn't unthinkable that Carriere's main responsibility, once things settle down, is one of GM of the Hamilton Bulldogs.  As for Dudley, per his release from the Toronto Maple Leafs, he is unable to work this year's Entry Draft for the Habs.  But you wouuld have to imagine the amateur side will remain Trevor Timmins's show anyway, while Dudley focuses on Pro Scouting and Player Personnel.  If we take the press release at face value, it is also interesting to note that Bergevin says he is thrilled to have both Dudley and Carriere with him for several seasons, meaning they are likely multi-year deals in both cases.  This seems like a natural decision for an organization that has preached wanting stability.

After hiring a new scout in Bobby Kinsella yesterday (who, by the way, you can follow on Twitter here: @DFS_BobbyK), Bergevin continues to round out his "cabinet" if you will.  I take this as a positive for Habs fans, as the team has the resources to bring in the right hockey guys to build a large and strong front office, but has opted not to for many years.  As ex-Hab Jaroslav Spacek said, "It was only Pierre's (Gauthier) way."  All of these new perspectives bring a breath of fresh air to the organization, and fans should be excited to see where it goes.  The team still has room and need for a capologist (role currently filled by Patrick Boivin), additional scouts (at least one for Quebec, but hopefully also at least one more in Europe), and of course a new coaching staff, so the announcements are far from over.  This is the one area where I fully embrace adopting a Toronto Maple Leafs model of bringing in as many talented and knowledgeable hockey people with specific roles as the team can.

Bergevin and Dudley will address the media by means of conference call at 1:30 PM, and we'll have updates for you via our Twitter feed here: @DailyCanadiens.