The Molson family buys the Montreal Canadiens: Over fifty years of history.

George Gillett has sold the Montreal Canadiens to the Molson family a few days ago. The legendary hockey club is once again the property of the famous Molsons from Montreal.

In 2001, the Molson brewery has sold 80.1% of their shares of the Montreal Canadiens and the Molson centre to George Gillett for about 275 Millions of dollars. At that time, the brewery's intention was to re-organize itself and concentrate on what they do best: brewing and selling beer. The arena later on changed it's name to the Bell centre as Gillett and BCE agreed on a 20-year contract to rename the arena.

Then, a simple request from Gillett has launched a vast sale rumor during the month of April. George Gillett asked the Bank of Montreal's financial advisors to evaluate the current value of the club and the Bell centre. The rumor of the sale of the club made headlines all over the Province of Quebec. A race was on to buy the most famous hockey club on earth.

Many local groups were interested and were on the starting line. Pierre-Karl Peladeau of Quebecor, Serge Savard and his group, BCE, Joey Saputo, René Angélil, Stephen Bronfman and later on, the Molsons. At the end of the process last week, many of those investors pulled back and only two offers were interesting enough for Gillett.

Gillett decided to take the offer of the Molson family a couple of days ago. An estimated 550 millions of dollars represents a great value and great profit for the American businessman.

The Montreal Canadiens are once again tied to the Molson family. Since 1957 we can trace the ties between the Molsons and the Montreal Canadiens hockey club. That year, the famous Senator Hartland Molson and his brother Thomas bought the Montreal Canadiens and the Canadian Arena Company. The senator has been seen on television for years in his seat, sitting and holding his cane, watching over just behind the Canadiens' bench.

In 1964, David, William and Peter Molson who were cousins with the senator and his brother bought the club for about 5 millions dollars.

The Molson brothers sold the club and the Canadian Arena Company in 1971 to the Bronfman family from Montreal. 15 millions dollars. But the Bronfman family sold the club to the Molson brewery this time only seven years later. The Molson family was once again tied to the club.

The brewery owned the Canadiens for thirty years from 1971 to 2001. During that time, the club moved from the legendary Montreal Forum to the modern Molson centre. George Gillett bought 80.1% of the package in 2001.

I am delighted to see the Molsons back in control. Their passion for the sport and the club is genuine and it can only translate into better results on the ice as time will go by.

As for head coach Jacques Martin, General Manager Bob Gainey and the club President Pierre Boivin, they will keep their jobs for the 2009 NHL entry draft that will be hosted by Montreal at the end of this week. There is no reason in my opinion to name a new administration right now. But I expect changes with the Molsons back in control.

Will the club's winning tradition come back with the Molsons?

(Picture: Getty Images.)

2009 Stanley Cup final: New champions!

Tonight, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the defending champions, the Detroit Red Wings, on their home ice by the score of 2-1 to clinch the 2009 Stanley Cup championship.

An upset for some, and a consecration for others, this is how I can describe this 2009 Stanley Cup final. The Penguins bowed in front of the champions last season but regrouped and vanquished their opponents this year.

The game-winning goal was registered during the second period in this final game of the season. In fact, the Penguins scored twice during the middle frame. Maxime Talbot scored both goals and is one of the heroes of the night.

Talbot took advantage of a turnover and appeared in front of goaltender Chris Osgood who kneeled down. The Penguins forward slid the puck under one of Osgood's leg as he was attempting to get up on his feets. Talbot's second goal was scored with a swift wrist shot over Osgood's glove.

The Wings did score a goal with just over six minutes to go in the third period but it was too little too late. Jonathan Ericsson beated Marc-Andre Fleury with wild a high shot form the blue line.

Marc-Andre Fleury was spectacular tonight in net for the Penguins. He is a big reason for this Stanley Cup conquest. The young french-canadian goaltender kept his best save of the game when in a final attempt from the Wings who were pressing for the tying goal. With only a handful of seconds to play, Fleury made a good pad save and moved to his right side to block the second shot from the Wings forward. A spectacular way to clinch the championship.

I will continue this piece with a nudge to Marian Hossa who refused to re-sign with the Penguins to join the Red Wings this season. (and missed the whole bandwagon.) When asked before the final about the reasons of his contract signing with the Red Wings, Hossa mentionned that he ''wanted to learn how to win''.

Hockey is a team sport and bonding in a group is important in order to win a championship in the NHL. The Penguins were a promising group of guys last season and they conformed it this year by defeating the defending champions AND Marian Hossa.

I hope you are starting to learn Marian...

Renaud Lavoie from RDS asked Sidney Crosby's impressions on the ice immediatly after the victory. Among his statements, Crosby mentioned about ''how he was fortunate and glad to play with a great group of guys''. In other words: I did not leave and kept fighting.

Take that Marian.

Finally, I am very proud of the french-canadians on the roster with the Penguins. They contributed and were an important part in this victory. Marc-Andre Fleury, Maxime Talbot, Philippe Boucher, Pascal Dupuis and Christopher Letang.

Final score: Pittsburgh Penguins 2 - Detroit Red Wings 1 (Pittsburgh wins the series by 4-3.)

Congratulation to the 2009 Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

(Picture: Sidney Crosby, Getty Images.)

2009 Stanley Cup final: Pittsburgh extend the series to game seven.

The epic battle between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings resumed yesterday in Pittsburgh.

Down 2-3 in the series, Pittsburgh was facing elimination before yesterday's game. Game six was intense and kept us on the edge of our seats.

Pittsburgh scored first in this one as Jordan Staal picked up a rebound given by Chris Osgood who was excellent despite the loss. Tyler Kennedy doubled Pittsburgh's lead when he pounced on a rebound to put his team ahead by two goals.

Kris Draper replied with a goal of his own to bring back the Red Wings within a single goal during the third period. But Marc-Andre Fleury made the important saves to keep his team ahead and force the presentation of a seventh game.

Final score: Pittsburgh Penguins 2 - Detroit Red Wings 1 (The series is tied at 3-3.)

Game seven is scheduled for Thursday. Don't miss the final chapter of this great encounter.

(Picture: Marc-Andre Fleury and Sidney Crosby, Canadian Press.)

Mercedes-Benz Canada launches new microsite.

Mercedes-Benz Canada recently launched a new microsite featuring their brand new 2010 GLK model. For those of you not aware of the brand, the Mercedes GLK is a premium quality SUV from Mercedes-Benz.

Recently, a press release was given in Toronto this year to launch, promote and give more details about their new website. Mark Forsyth, Manager of Interactive Marketing and CRM at Mercedes-Benz Canada, mentioned that the GLK was the edgiest vehicle they ever made. Helped by the stylish design of the vehicle, Mercedes wants to create an emotional link with the people.

Using the question ''Where do you see yourself?'' to spark the user's interest, Mercedes wants to reach the consumer as much as possible with this great campaign. The GLK is a SUV that has the power to attract and such a campaign is necessary in order to spark interest and present the GLK to more and more consumers.

At your first visit, a personalized, fully downloadable image of the new GLK will be available for you to download depending on your very own style. A short series of questions will give you a personalized view of your 2010 GLK.

The site also contains a large amount of pictures, videos and documents about this SUV. Every part, curve and corner of the GLK is covered and can be seen out here.

For those of you interested by this vehicle, you can customize your brand new GLK directly on the Mercedes-Benz main site from a easy to follow link from the microsite. I invite you to visit their cool website today.

2009 Stanley Cup final: Series tied.

Game four of the 2009 Stanley Cup final was disputed yesterday once again at the Mellon arena in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Penguins were once again in a must-win situation as they were trailing the Detroit Red Wings by 1-2 before yesterday's game.

The Penguins got some contribution from their top players as Evgeni Malkin scored the first goal for Pittsburgh while collecting an assist on Sidney Crosby's first goal of this final. Marc-Andre Fleury was also very efficient in net for the Penguins as he blocked 37 of the 39 shots he faced.

Things were a bit more complicated at the other end of the rink. Not only Chris Osgood was not as sharp as the other games but the whole defensive unit of the Red Wings looked very bad. Brian Rafalski for one had a horrible game while Nicklas Lidstrom was committing turnovers in his own end. Something we are not used to see from the Swede.

Pittsburgh capitalized on this opportunity and tied the series at two games a piece. This final is now reduced to a best of three with two games to be played in Detroit.

Final score: Pittsburgh Penguins 4 - Detroit Red Wings 2 (The series is tied 2-2.)

Game five of the series will be played tomorrow.

(Picture: Sidney Crosby, Canadian Press.)

2009 Stanley Cup final: Pittsburgh wins at home.

Game three of the 2009 Stanley Cup final was disputed yesterday at the Mellon arena in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were in a must-win situation as they were trailing the Detroit Red Wings by 0-2 in the series.

Outside the outstanding performance by Maxime Talbot who scored two goals during the game,this game will be remembered for the awful work of the referees.

With the score tied at 2 during the third period, the referees called a doubtful penalty on Jonathan Ericsson. That penalty resulted in the game-winning goal from Sergei Gonchar. Then only a few minutes later, an obvious call on a check from behind from a Pittsburgh defensemen went uncalled.

Such lack of consistence from the refs is unacceptable during the Stanley Cup final. As much as I wish the Penguins win this final, I hate to see controversy caused by refereeing. In this third game, the referees tipped the balance in favor of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Final score: Pittsburgh Penguins 4 - Detroit Red Wings 2 (Detroit leads the series by 2-1.)

Game four of the series will be disputed tomorrow evening.

(Picture: Marc-Andre Fleury and Maxime Talbot, Canadian Press.)

Montreal Canadiens hire Jacques Martin.

The Montreal Canadiens General Manager, Bob Gainey, has hired Jacques Martin yesterday to relieve himself from the coaching position he assumed after the firing of Guy Carbonneau.

Martin has been coaching on various levels for the last twenty years and more recently in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators and the Florida Panthers where he was still the General Manager with a two year contract in hand.

Martin has always been good for young players. It seems that many of the promising players he managed and coached reached their promised potential.

As for his own comments during the press conference, the usual pride, honor, dream and priviledge speech was delivered. But the fact that Bob Gainey actually hired a coach in June could give us a hint on what's coming up. Gainey would stay at the GM position despite a wave of unpopularity due to last season's nightmare ending.

So the Gainey-Martin era begins. I wish Jacques Martin the best of luck in this challenging rebuilding phase. A lot of moves are to be made with the club this summer as over ten players have no contract for next season.

(Picture: Jacques Martin and Bob Gainey, Canadian Press.)