Tuesday 23 September 2014

TVA Sports talk show barker Dave Morissette hosts Canadiens General Manager Marc Bergevin

Man, I’m trying to watch Dave Morissette’s interview of Marc Bergevin, and it’s awful. I tried to enter the program with an open mind, but after reading comments and reviews, it's hard. I definitely watched for the guest rather than the host or the format with all the cutesy games and other nonsense.  Mr. Morissette is acting all chummy and relaxed, but he’s nervous as hell, all these little chuckles and asides.

Compared to this, “L’Antichambre” is “The McNeil-Lehrer Report”.

He asked the GM if he’d like a re-do for one of his decisions, and the response was “There was a trade I didn’t do that I should have done.” Which is succulent enough on its own, and even though you know you’re not going to get specifics, you’d still want him to probe further. Was it a player you were looking to unload? A buy-low candidate who exploded and you now wish you had in your organization? Was it moving up at the draft in June 2013 to nab Anthony Mantha?

Instead, Dave Morrissette interrupted him with an outburst of laughter, which was misplaced and odd, he was laughing at what he thought he heard, what he thought he was about to hear, and then went on that he “had a couple in mind he was thinking of…”

Uh? You have a couple of Marc Bergevin’s trades he never pulled off in mind?

Obviously, he had his own answer in mind already and was commenting on that, he didn’t listen to the actual response from his guest. Which is the best trait of an interviewer or investigator, is saying as little as possible, letting the guest speak, and listening to what he’s saying. It’s certainly not to crowd him out with your own patter and jokes that fall flat.

I managed to get through it. They asked him about losing Josh Gorges' leadership and experience on defence, and he repeated that he didn’t mind the proverbial ‘small step back’ to groom some youngsters.

When the host asked him of Greg Pateryn, Jarred Tinordi or Nathan Beaulieu, who would make the team, who was his favourite, he said he didn’t have any favourites, and he insisted on including Magnus Nygren in that group.

The downside is that he said “on October 7, probably one of those four will make the team, but it’s too soon to say”.

Only one? I hope he misspoke.  I hope at least two of them make it, if not more.  It's time for these guys to get NHL ice time.

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