I'll repeat what I said in another thread but I have to think Gainey's announcement today that he is stepping down as Canadiens GM is his decision and his alone. As a Minnesotan, I appreciated his steady hand as he took the 1991-1992 North Star squad to the Cup finals against Mario and the Pens that season, less than a year after the Gund brothers stripped the Stars of half their talent in a goofy draft dispersal that created the San Jose Sharks.
The next fall, I went to the Twin Cities to run the Twin Cities Marathon. Night before, I go to the game. Things under the new owner, Norm Green, are not right. Neal Broten, who had been playing in Germany during a contract dispute, is on the bench in street clothes. Meanwhile, the team comes out in black jerseys (this when the home team is supposed to wear white, and when the North Stars are supposed to have green and gold as their prominent colors). Worse, the famous N-star is missing from the jerseys, replaced simply by "Stars." Green was already setting up his move to Texas.
