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Montreal Canadiens: Gorton’s Reported Contract Length, Roy Interested In GM Role

Published

3 years ago

5 minute read

Jeff Gorton’s Contract Reportedly For Five Years

Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson made sweeping changes amid an extremely frustrating season over the weekend, bringing in Jeff Gorton to serve as the executive vice
president of hockey operations after firing GM Marc Bergevin. Longtime assistant GM Trevor Timmins and senior VP of public affairs and communications Paul Wilson were also let go by Molson.

In his latest 32 Thoughts column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Gorton’s deal “is believed to be a five-year contract”. Gorton was general manager of the New York Rangers from 2015 to 2021. James Dolan’s decision to fire Gorton was largely surprising as the latter did an excellent job in steering the team’s rebuild.

Gorton, renowned for his scouting and drafting talents, built a Rangers team that has surpassed expectations in the early going (13-4-3 entering December). He’s now tasked with fixing up a struggling 6-16-2 team that fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final just five months ago.

With the season slipping away rapidly, the Canadiens share the second-lowest Stanley Cup odds in Ontario online sports betting with the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks.

Patrick Roy Interested Habs’ GM Position

To say that the Canadiens franchise hasn’t been the same since the ill-fated Patrick Roy trade in 1995 would be a massive understatement. In a way, it would only be fitting if Roy returned to save the franchise that last won the Stanley Cup in 1993 — when he was the man between the pipes.

Speaking to Le Journal de Québec, Roy talked about his interest in taking over the Canadiens’ vacant general manager position. Roy asked what the Habs “have to lose by giving me the chance to see what I can do with this club?” The Hockey Hall of Famer admitted, however, that he may “not be the guy for” Molson.

Roy coached the Colorado Avalanche from 2013-14 to 2015-16, before stepping down after three seasons. The four-time Stanley Cup champion emphasized that his lack of input on team personnel decisions factored in the decision to resign.

Molson announced that the hockey operations will be led by two people going forward, Gorton and the new GM. There is no timeline yet on when the Canadiens may announce their GM.

Max Pacioretty: ‘Everybody Has A Shelf Life’ In Montreal

Vegas Golden Knights star forward and former Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty — who spent his first 10 NHL seasons with Montreal — looked back on his time with the franchise during an appearance on the “Agent Provocateur” podcast (h/t Brandon Maron of theScore). “Montreal is an amazing place, and I’m so proud of what I accomplished there, but I just feel like everybody has a shelf life there,” Pacioretty said. “Everyone told me it – ex-players, current players, fans.”

The 33-year-old also admitted that the pressure of playing in Montreal can become overwhelming, and that he doesn’t feel it as much in Sin City. “There just seems to be so much less pressure, and whether you admit it or not, you just go about your everyday life in such an easier manner that it really (takes) so much less of a toll on you,” Pacioretty said. “Whether you’re a leader or a young guy, there’s no media here. Even if you don’t read the media in Montreal, you know what’s being said.”

Pacioretty was traded to the Golden Knights in a 2018 blockbuster as the Habs began a minor rebuilding phase. Needless to say, the trade has done wonders for both teams.
Montreal received forwards Tomas Tatar and Nick Suzuki plus a 2019-second round pick. Tatar crossed the 20-goal and 50-point marks twice as a Hab, and Suzuki has notched back-to-back 41-point seasons. Suzuki turned his game up in the 2021 postseason, notching seven goals and 16 assists in 22 games. Pacioretty has hit the 20-goal mark in each of his first three seasons with Vegas, leading them to the Conference Finals in 2020 and 2021.

In his 10 seasons with the Canadiens, Pacioretty scored 226 goals and 448 points in 626 games. He led Montreal to the Eastern Conference Final in 2014 (where they fell to the New York Rangers) and guided the franchise to division titles in the 2012-13, 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons.

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The bizarre story of Taro Tsujimoto

Published on March 28, 2025

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The National Hockey League (NHL) has seen its fair share of strange moments, but few compare to the bizarre and hilarious tale of Taro Tsujimoto, a player who never existed. His “selection” in the 1974 NHL Draft remains one of the most legendary pranks in hockey history. If you want to wager on actual players, making the 1xBet app download is definitely a great idea.

In the 1970s, the NHL Draft was a much less glamorous event than today. It was a tedious process conducted over the phone, with teams calling in their picks. The 3 biggest highlights of what happened during that year’s draft were:

  • the draft dragged on for hours;
  • there were multiple rounds and teams selecting unknown prospects from obscure leagues;
  • frustrated with the monotony, Buffalo Sabres general manager Punch Imlach decided to have a little fun.

As the 11th round approached, Imlach instructed his team’s representative to draft Taro Tsujimoto, a supposed forward from the Tokyo Katanas of the Japan Ice Hockey League. The name sounded authentic enough. The league officials, unfamiliar with Japanese hockey, accepted the pick without question. By downloading the 1xBet app you will also be able to wager on great NHL teams too.

A small problem

There was a small problem with all of this, as 2 things didn’t exist: Tsujimoto and the Tokyo Katanas. Imlach had completely fabricated the player as a joke, taking advantage of the NHL’s lack of verification. When it comes to NHL wagers, there is no better platform than the 1xBet Canada site.

For weeks, the league listed Tsujimoto as an official draft pick, and even some newspapers reported on Buffalo’s mysterious new Japanese prospect. Eventually, the Sabres admitted the hoax, and the NHL was forced to retroactively erase the selection from its records.

Despite being a fictional player, Taro Tsujimoto took on a life of his own. Buffalo Sabres fans embraced the prank, and over the years, his name has become a cult legend in hockey culture. Some fans even wore jerseys with “Tsujimoto” on the back. The joke persisted so much that when EA Sports released NHL video games, players could occasionally find Tsujimoto in the game’s draft pool as a hidden Easter egg.

More than just a prank, the story of Taro Tsujimoto highlights 2 things: the quirks of old-school sports management and the creativity of one of hockey’s most colorful executives. Today, with the draft process being highly scrutinized and broadcast live, such a prank would be impossible. But Tsujimoto’s legacy lives on as one of hockey’s greatest inside jokes. What is not a joke are the great rewards that a platform like the Canadian 1xBet site can give you.

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60% of Canadians gamble each month – why the industry is going from strength to strength

Published on March 26, 2025

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When it comes to regulating gambling, Canada has a somewhat relaxed approach. The Canadian Gaming Association oversees the industry, but it’s up to individual provinces to enact and enforce any laws relating to online casino gaming, sports betting, traditional casino gaming, and other forms of gambling.

Canada’s online casino gaming laws are not totally clear, but individual provinces are starting to put this right. Ontario was the first and did so when it launched its own regulated igaming market in April 2022. Now some other provinces have followed suit, creating a safer igaming environment for players in those provinces. Below is a look at gambling in Canada compared to other parts of the world, at gaming laws in Alberta compared to other provinces, and at the future of the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries.

Canada: a forever love of gambling

Gambling in some form or other has always been popular in Canada. Way back in the 1990s, research found six in ten Canadians (60%) gambled every month. Additionally, four in ten (43%) spent between 1 and 20 Canadian dollars on gambling. Fast forward to today and the Canadian gambling market is worth 14.2 billion US dollars as of January 2024, according to data on the website of consumer and market data company Statista.

It seems Canada enjoys wagering just as much as two other countries that love a gamble: the US and the UK. Data on the Statista website shows that 49% of US adults took part in gambling activities in 2023. Fifty-six percent said their attitude towards gambling had relaxed, compared to the 50% of 2019.

The UK returned similar stats for the same year. Forty-eight percent of adults reported engaging in gambling activity. Online casinos generated the most gross gambling yield in 2023, but it was the nation’s National Lottery that people played the most.

 

Alberta: following Ontario’s lead

The regulatory developments in Ontario have triggered movement in Alberta. In May 2024, Bill 16, the Red Tape Reduction Amendment Act, made it through the process and later received Royal Assent to become law. The act removes the monopoly of gaming by a single government entity and will allow private operators, licensed by Alberta’s provincial regulator, to provide online gaming services in Alberta, meaning players will have a choice of more than one Alberta online casino to play at.

The regulation transforms Alberta into one of the more liberal provinces when it comes to online gambling, others being Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia.

Several provinces, such as Novia Scotia and Northwest Territories, have no provincially regulated online gaming sites. Some also restrict betting on horse racing and/or other types of sports betting, obliging citizens to use international betting sites for freedom from caps and betting on as many events as they wish.

What lies ahead for the Canadian, US, and UK gambling industries?

Canada’s appetite for gambling is clear, and the industry’s online sector is beginning to thrive. Ontario has enjoyed vast success by creating its own regulated market, one which, in just its first year, saw Canadians place billions in wagers and the industry itself generate more than a billion in total gaming revenue.

Canada can expect to see other provinces follow Ontario’s lead and allow private operators to provide services in the province under license. The purpose of the regulation is player protection. Any province that develops a regulated market will focus on this, so there will also be regulations around the advertising of gambling services.

The US

Gambling online is the future for the US, too, although states are slow to legalize it. As of September 2024, 38 states had legalized sports betting, following the US Supreme Court’s ruling that states could regulate sports gambling directly.

Despite allowing sports betting, some states only permit in-person betting, and only a few states allow online casino gaming. Operators believe online casino gaming is the future of gambling.

The UK

In the UK, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will get bigger and bigger. Companies have realized AI can enhance players’ experience and are embracing it more and more. For instance, sports betting websites can use it to crunch data and provide iGamers with stats and other data to make better betting decisions. They’re also understanding they can use AI to prioritize content players are likely to be interested in and to personalize their offerings and services to players’ preferences.

Canada enjoys gambling as much as America and the UK. Although laws around igaming are more of a grey area in Canada, some provinces are clearing the issue up by creating regulated markets and experiencing great success. As time goes by, more are sure to follow.

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