Stu Cowan: Canadiens win big by hiring Chantal Machabée away from RDS

Article content

Chantal Machabée developed her passion for hockey as a young girl growing up in Laval.

Article content

Her father was not interested in sports and she had no siblings, so she was alone in her passion, but she fell in love with Canadians and began to adore Guy Lafleur.

That young woman could never have dreamed that she would grow up to become the Canadiens’ vice president of communications, but that’s what happened Wednesday.

After 32 years at RDS, Machabée leaves television and her job covering the Canadiens to work on the team. One of his main goals will be to improve Canadians’ relationship with the media, which has seriously deteriorated over the past three years with Paul Wilson as senior vice president in charge of public affairs and communications. Wilson was fired in November, along with general manager Marc Bergevin.

Article content

I can’t think of a better person than Maccabeus for the job. She understands the demands of the media and I think that everyone who covers the team loves and respects her as I have never heard anyone say a bad word about her. She is an intelligent, thoughtful woman with great communication skills. Players and coaches know her well too.

Article content

I think it will be honest and fair, and as a member of the media that is all we ask.

Machabée said he wants the players to be more available because he wants the fans to know them better.

“This city needs heroes,” Machabée said Wednesday on RDS. Why are we attached to Guy Lafleur, Patrick Roy, Mario Tremblay, Yvon Lambert? Because we follow them, because we know their life, we know their family, we know their ups and downs, because they are accessible. We find it less and less and I want to improve it ”.

It seems like she wants fans to fall in love with players in the same way that she fell in love with Lafleur.

Smart strategy.

On November 30, two days after Wilson and Bergevin were fired, Machabée was approached for the first time by France Margaret Bélanger, Groupe CH president of sports and entertainment. It was unexpected and Machabée was not looking to change jobs, hoping to finish her RDS career. But two more calls convinced Macabée to change careers and she called Bélanger on Monday and accepted his offer.

Article content

The only people Macabée told him were his two sons, ages 27 and 26, making them swear to keep it a secret. Congratulations on preventing your first news leak before you even started work.

Machabée began her hockey career as a statistician with QMJHL’s Laval Voisins and Mario Lemieux kept her busy during the 1983-84 season when she posted 133-149-282 totals in 70 games. He also attended the Escuela Promedia TV-Radio and one of his teachers was Pierre Houde.

Machabée and Houde would be among the first people hired by RDS when the network launched in 1989. Machabée was only 24 at the time and now hopes to become a grandmother in June.

Article content

“It’s a long road for her that has been very successful,” said longtime RDS host Houde on Wednesday. “The key ingredients were passion, hard work, listening to others, and being a kind and generous person. All this I can attest to even before RDS.

“I strongly believe in passion,” added Houde. “I am 64 years old and why am I still going full throttle? My daily ingredient is passion. I think Chantal is a very passionate person about hockey. Now he has the opportunity to live up to his own standards that he has been able to create throughout his career in a new environment every day. “

Over the years, Machabée has been both an inspiration and a role model for young women seeking to enter the sports media business. She was a trailblazer in Quebec when it comes down to it.

Article content

“Even though I’m English and she’s in the French media, she’s someone everyone in Quebec knows and one of the most trusted reporters when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens and how to handle themselves,” said Jessica Rusnak, a radio sports reporter. on CBC Daybreak and a regular panelist on the Montreal Gazette’s Hockey / Inside Out Show.

“I remember when I started covering the Canadiens and seeing her there, I was so in awe of her. I walked over and introduced myself to her and she was the best person ever. She told me: ‘If you need anything, I will gladly help you.’ I think there is a lot of times the misconception that people like to say that women don’t want to help other women, but that is not the case in real life and Chantal Machabée is a perfect example of that. She is someone who has helped all the women who have entered this business. She is always there to listen, to help and she always talked about having to do that extra work. “

Congratulations, Chantal.

[email protected]

twitter.com/StuCowan1