TBC: Tales From The Dressing Room

If you know anything about the weather that Winnipeg seems to always get on this May long weekend, it's that the weather is usually cold with intermittent spells of rain. Not surprisingly, this weekend has followed that trend, but that has allowed me to crack the spine on another book that I've been wanting to read. In saying that, Teebz's Book Club is proud to review Pierre Gervais: Tales From The Dressing Room, written by Mathais Brunet and published by Ovation Medias. Mathias spoke with the Montreal Canadiens' former equipment manager about everything he saw and experienced while working for the Canadiens, compiling them into this book. If you're looking for a unique perspective on a hockey club's culture, front office, and players, Tales From The Dressing Room is a book you want to read!

From the cover of Tales From The Dressing Room, "After a 35-year career in the Canadiens’ dressing room, Pierre Gervais has seen first-hand many moments that punctuated the history of the Habs. From his beginnings alongside Eddy Palchak to the Stanley Cup victories of 1986 and 1993, not to mention his participation in the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 Olympic Games, Pierre Gervais has had the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with several NHL stars and executives in the course of his career. But beyond all that, he has developed special relationships with many of them and allows us, through these pages, to get to know the inner workings of the National Hockey League by giving us unpublished and unexpected stories from behind the scenes of professional hockey." Gervais retired on on April 29, 2022.

Also from Tales From The Dressing Room, "Mathias Brunet has been a journalist at La Presse since 1994. This is his thirteenth book, ten of which are about the world of hockey. He has also written a dozen documentaries, two of which were nominated for the Gémeaux awards. He is also a collaborator at BPM 91.9 Sports since 2015." He continues to cover hockey for La Presse after covering the Montreal Canadiens for ten years, and has a podcast with Simon Boisvert called Mathias and the Serpent. He has also written hockey books about Michel Bergeron, Dave Morissette, Mario Tremblay, and a year behind the scenes with the Canadiens.

Tales From The Dressing Room isn't going to be a tell-all of things that the Montreal Canadiens never wanted published, but Pierre Gervais does have moments where he shares his opinion on certain players and people involved with the Montreal Canadiens. A lot of what was written isn't going to shock or surprise anyone, but he did provide a few facts about the team and certain players that may not be known.

I found Gervais' perspectives in Tales From The Dressing Room to be rather unique because it was almost entirely through his equipment manager lens. His interactions with other teams and players, specifically when working with Team Canada, were almost exclusively through other equipment managers rather than with the players. It was neat to see how these equipment managers trade information about players in order to ensure everything goes smoothly!

One of the things that one will discover in reading Tales From The Dressing Room is that Pierre Gervais is an educated wine connoisseur! He and a handful of Canadiens players became very interested in wine during their careers, and Gervais became the person that many players consulted when it came to wine. In one passage, he writes,

"The guys would look to me to make their choices. José (Théodore) would even call me when he was at the restaurant. He'd read the wine list and ask me which one to choose! I helped him build his cellar. When the 2000 Bordeaux - a great vintage - came out, I had found some for him as far away as Vancouver."

Who would have guessed that the guy in charge of order sticks, jerseys, and supplies for the Montreal Canadiens was also ordering wine for players like Théodore, Saku Koivu, and Mark Recchi, helping them build their wine cellars? That's one of the interesting things you'll learn about Pierre Gervais in Tales From The Dressing Room!

I will say that the release of Tales From The Dressing Room caused a bit of an uproar with the Montreal Canadiens as they tried to walk back some of the statements made by Pierre Gervais in the book after it was released. I want to be clear that not everything he stated may be true, but it is a retelling of his perceptions and interactions with various people involved with Montreal Canadiens over his years as an equipment manager. One can argue that how he framed certain people may not be accurate, but these are his experiences.

Overall, I found Tales From The Dressing Room an interesting read that gave some insight into a job that I always thought I could do. Pierre Gervais has 35 years of experience with the Canadiens and 45 years of experience in total, so he certainly is a subject matter expert. His experiences with personnel who worked and played for the Montreal Canadiens and Team Canada was interesting to read, and the short chapters curated by Mathias Brunet made Tales From The Dressing Room easy to read. Because of Gervais' stories and experiences and Brunet's writing, Pierre Gervais: Tales From The Dressing Room deserves the Teebz's Book Club Seal of Approval!

Tales From The Dressing Room was first printed in French and released on November 11, 2022 before being translated to English by the start of 2023. In saying this, copies of the book in either or both languages may be available at libraries and local bookstores. The book is easy to read without crass language for parents of younger hockey fans to consider, but there are references to alcohol. In saying that, Pierre Gervais: Tales From The Dressing Room is recommended reading for all hockey fans, especially Montreal Canadiens fans!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!