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NHL Insider Bob McKenzie made his 2016-17 return to the radio circuit Monday, and his first stop was the morning show on Montreal’s TSN 690.

General managers and head coaches are virtually always a hot topic in any Canadian hockey market – particularly coming off a disappointing season – and Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien are no different in Montreal.

But just how short is that proverbial leash?

“I don’t think if the Canadiens aren’t lighting it up by American Thanksgiving that Geoff Molson is going to say, ‘Okay Marc Bergevin, I gave you your chance to do things without P.K. Subban and with a different look. You’re gone.’ I couldn’t see that happening,” speculated McKenzie.

“I think you have to be careful with all of these assessments; but if Carey Price is healthy and the Montreal Canadiens are below .500 at the U.S. Thanksgiving, that’s one where any coaching staff would have to look over their shoulder a little bit.

“But again, it all depends too on how are they playing, what are the reasons for the losses. It’s so nuanced. But overall, I don’t think that Marc Bergevin’s leash is so short that there’s a chance he’s going to be gone by Christmas or anything like that.

“But when you push for something – and I have to assume that Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien pushed for this, this was something they felt the hockey club needed, and it’s a total different direction to go from P.K. Subban to Shea Weber – then you’ve got to get some results.

“Last year was a disaster, and it seems as though to some degree they want to write it off as ‘It was the Carey Price issue. He was injured. We didn’t overcome that. And with a healthy Carey Price everything is going to be okay.’ But the sidebar to that story is are they going to play different, and what are the results going to be with Shea Weber and what we would assume is a more buttoned-down defensive approach.”

How closely tied are the fates of Bergevin and Therrien?

“I think at any point between a general manager and a coach the statute of limitations can run out, but what does it take for that to happen,” began McKenzie. “It’s pretty clear – and based on public comments and the fact that Michel Therrien is still there, even though the year they had was just horrific – that Marc Bergevin is fully behind Michel Therrien. I don’t think anybody in Montreal would take that as a surprise. But where we are six months or a year or two years from now, who knows? At some point every general manager has to make the hard call on his coach. Most coaches don’t survive forever, or don’t survive exorbitantly late with their general manager. But who knows what the future holds and whether that’ll happen.

“But if you’re asking me, ‘Would Marc Bergevin never fire Michel Therrien,’ I could never say that. I couldn’t imagine Marc Bergevin could either because you’ve just got to do what’s best for your hockey club. If that’s the case, at some point this season or down the road, then I’m sure if Marc Bergevin felt that was the right move to make, then you have to do it.”

Firing up radio hamster wheel today: 8:35 ET with @mckennaconor on @TSN690 in MTL; 9:05 ET with @nielsonTSN1260 in EDM. Talking about stuff. — Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) September 12, 2016

There was some World Cup of Hockey talk in today’s hit as well, where McKenzie showed veteran mid-season analogical form.

“It’s very encouraging that the players have played as hard as they have – ridiculously hard,” said McKenzie of the early returns on the September tournament. “I mean, that’s funny too. That’s hockey. For that, I think to some degree you can thank John Tortorella because he’s put in plan a strategy of ‘We don’t just want to beat Canada, we want to kind of maul them a little bit here.’

“And in hockey, when you’re challenged like that, you either get mauled or you answer the bell. It’s like DiCaprio and the bear in The Revenant. You gotta go.”

McKenzie furthered the point.

“Anybody who plays men’s shinny, or adult hockey, at midnight you’re out there and ‘It’s fun. Just go out there for a little skate. It’s going to be good.’

“And then there’s one guy out there – just one guy – one guy does something stupid, and then suddenly it’s on. Next thing you know, you’ve got the constabularly being called in,” he laughed.

Source: TSN 690/ Transcript: Nichols

McKenzie: Leash may not be that short for Bergevin and Therrien