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THE REGULAR SEASON

There was no shortage of changes in 2009-10, with everything from the players, the coaching staff, the front office and the ownership undergoing major overhauls over the course of the season as the team prepared to celebrate its 100th birthday.
 
First off, as the Canadiens went into the offseason that summer, George N. Gillett, the team’s owner since 2001, decided to put the storied franchise up for sale. Just before the puck dropped to open the 2009-10 season, Gillett reached an agreement with a group led by Geoff Molson, sending the team back into the hands of the Molson family once again. On December 1, 2009, just three days before the historic Centennial anniversary of the Canadiens that the deal was finalized and Molson and his group took control of the club.
 
Winds of change also blew through the team’s front office a few months later. On February 8, 2010, after seven years at the helm, general manager Bob Gainey announced that he would be stepping down from his post. Pierre Gauthier, Gainey’s assistant GM at the time, was named the 16th general manager in franchise history that same day.
 
As the free agent market opened in July 2009, the team began a phase of rebuilding. The extreme makeover began with a blockbuster trade on June 30, highlighted by Christopher Higgins heading to the New York Rangers in return for All-Star center, Scott Gomez. That move set the stage for stars like Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Hal Gill and Jaroslav Spacek to sign with the team on Day 1 of free agency. A few days later, Travis Moen and Paul Mara were also under contract. As new players made their way into the Canadiens dressing room, the team parted ways with all of its unrestricted free agents, including captain Saku Koivu, Alex Kovalev, Alex Tanguay, Patrice Brisebois, Mathieu Dandenault, Tom Kostopoulos, Robert Lang, Francis Bouillon and Mathieu Schneider.
 
With new players also came a new coaching staff, as head coach Jacques Martin and Perry Pearn joined existing assistant coach Kirk Muller behind the Habs’ bench. In the opening game of the season in Toronto, defensive pillar and All-Star blue-liner Andrei Markov sliced a tendon in his foot, shelving him for the next four months of the year. Markov wasn’t the only player plagued by injury in 2009-10, with Brian Gionta, Michael Cammalleri, Ryan O’Byrne and Andrei Kostitsyn all missing significant time with injuries that season. With so many key players out of the lineup, call-ups from Hamilton were able to make their Canadiens debuts, including P.K. Subban, Tom Pyatt and Mathieu Darche.
 
Despite mounting injuries and emergency call-ups from the farm in Hamilton, the Canadiens managed to not only survive but thrive. Thanks in large part to their late-season surge in March which saw the Habs win eight games including six-straight victories, Jacques Martin’s troops qualified for the playoffs. While the Canadiens may have nabbed the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference by only a single point, they were determined to make the most it.