A deafening silence

I haven't weighed in on all this talk of George Gillett possibly selling the Habs yet because I wasn't convinced it was an actual option.

But after making a statement Tuesday addressing his decision to re-evaluate his empire and how that pertains to his 50 per cent stake in Liverpool FC, Gillett has decided not to do the same regarding his 80.1 per cent share of the Canadiens.

Gillett is at the Bell Centre watching his team play the Atlanta Thrashers, and I can see his son Foster sitting in his seat, but a team spokesman says he's chosen not to speak to the media about the potential of a sale.

I may be reading too much into it, but that appears to me to be an admission of sorts that the sale of the Canadiens is a more likely scenario than selling off his share of Liverpool. I personally don't feel like having Gillett as an owner is a vital ingredient to the Canadiens success (I think that much is obvious at this point), but there is the very real possibility that a new owner would be an impediment, so in that sense it should be of some concern to fans.

Gillett has been a good steward of this public trust because he hasn't interfered in hockey-related matters and has never deprived he team of the funds necessary to go after high-end players. It's not his fault if those players had no interest in playing here.

Regardless, Gillett had an opportunity to reassure his client base tonight, and he chose not to. That doesn't mean the Canadiens are necessarily for sale, but it does nothing to quell that idea either.