Pacioretty slams Montreal media in first return back East

In his first foray East with the Vegas Golden Knights, former Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty was in the headlines this week for all the reasons you may think. No… it has nothing to do with his play, but it’s entirely based on his relationship with the media. After all, this is the Montreal media we’re talking about. 

“The media is much different there,” Pacioretty said earlier this afternoon when comparing his new home of Vegas compared to Montreal. 

“Expectations are in every organization to win, but in a Canadian market, everybody knows you have to answer the questions about those expectations every day. That’s the biggest difference I’ve seen, and it leads to a lot of positivity.”

“Any market, when things are going well, it’s easy to say the atmosphere is great. In tough times, that’s when you really get a good test of what the atmosphere will be like, what type of people you have in the organization.”

Those two statements are just dripping with “read between the lines” sentiment. Pacioretty was more blunt in his direct comparison between the media in Vegas and the media in Montreal, though. Check out this doozy of a statement: 

“It’s a bit more realistic. You don’t sit up front every day and answer questions about how bad you are. It’s completely different in that sense…”

One more time:

“You don’t sit up front every day and answer questions about how bad you are.”

If that doesn’t hit Montreal fans like a ton of bricks… yikes.

Perhaps the least surprising thing in Pacioretty’s statements earlier today though was his characterization of Habs general manager Marc Bergevin. Pacioretty has always taken the high road and continued to do so when asked about his former GM saying that he has “no hard feelings,” toward Bergevin or the team’s management group. 

As for Saturday night’s game at The Bell Centre, “It’s going to be a big night in Montreal,” says the former Habs captain. Indeed, Max. Indeed.