Savard To Pursue Other Interests

The day after he was fired by the Montreal Canadiens as general manager, Serge Savard said it isn’t his nature to lash out.

“My personal feeling is that it is unfair because I was convinced I could find way to turn things around, because I’ve done it before,” Savard told a news conference Wednesday. “But I understand, too, that the team wanted to make a change.”

The Canadiens, who missed the playoffs last year and started with an 0-4 record this season, fired Savard on Tuesday, along with his assistant Andre Boudrias and head coach Jacques Demers, who remains in the organization in an unspecified capacity.

Savard thanked the three fired employees for their loyalty and also thanked team president Ronald Corey, the man who decided to dismiss him.

“He’s also the one who hired me 13 years ago and gave me the chance to be a general manager in the National Hockey League,” said Savard, who played on eight Stanley Cup champions in his 14 seasons with the Canadiens.

Savard, nicknamed “The Senator” for his interest in politics and his conservative leanings, is already wealthy from a number of investments. He is part of a syndicate that bought 50 percent of the downtown Chateau Champlain Hotel, where Wednesday’s news conference was held.

“When a situation like this (a firing) arises, you become a lot closer to your family,” Savard said. “They’ve supported me all my life.

“I’m going to be 50 in a couple of months and it seems like I’ve been travelling all my life. It’s going to be a privilege to be able to spend time with my family.”

The firings pushed the looming Quebec referendum aside in all the Montreal and Quebec City newspapers.

Le Journal de Montreal devoted 10 of its sports pages to the purge,

xxxx

The published story ended in mid-sentence.