Top 100 Habs By Decade: 1. 1969-1979

In recognition of the Canadiens Centennial tomorrow, we at Lions in Winter have been doing what we like best – making lists. As a precursor to publishing the definitive LIW top 100, we will be counting down the decades from least successful to most successful and naming our LIW top 10 players for the ten-year span.

This is the last in the series. if you want to find the other decades, you can use the archives or the link at the top of the home page.

1969-1979

The lates 1960s to late 1970s. Was there a headier time to be a sports fan in Montreal? Baseball moves in, the Olympics come to town (nearly twice if you consider Lake Placid is a 2-hour drive) and the Montreal Canadiens laid most of their competition to waste. The decade I define here has 6 Cups. It was nice to come into the decade on a run of 4 Cups in 5 years as well. 10 Cups in 15 years – it boggles the mind (are we sure they don't mean first-round appearances?).

The players to represent this elite time are all the toast of the Canadiens, with Hall-of-Fame in all of their email sign-offs. No other decade had so many Hall of Famers, no other decade would bump a two-time 100-point man to the bench. These are the final 10 names in this series.

[Note: Each player only appears in one decade's top 10 – cross-decade stars like Laperriere have been given their dues, as you know]



10. Frank "The Big M" Mahovlich (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1970-74	263	129	181	310	+104	14	AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1971-72	76	43	53	96	+42	4	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1971-74	49	27	31	58		0	2 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1970-71	20	14	13	27		0	SC

A ready-made all star with a Hall of Fame nod already in the bag, Frank was brought in late in his career to bolster the Habs who were about to lose their top 2 centres.


9. Steve Shutt (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1972-85	871	408	368	776	+409	50	AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1976-77	80	60	45	105	+88	9	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1973-84	96	50	48	98	(+5)	5	5 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1976-77	14	8	10	18		3	SC

On any other team, he might be the all-time goalscoring hero. 60 goals in 80 games led the league. For Latendresse fans, Shutt put the 14-goal man to shame with 52 ES goals that year.


8. Guy "Pointu" Lapointe (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1968-82	777	166	406	572	+347	20	AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1976-77	77	25	51	76	+69	6	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	2002-06	112	25	43	68		4	6 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1972-73	17	6	7	13		1	SC

The third corner of the Big Three, he had a definite knack for scoring goals, and important ones too.


7. Jacques "Coco" Lemaire (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1967-79	853	366	469	835	+349	58	AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1972-73	77	44	51	95	+59	5	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1968-79	145	61	78	139		11	8 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1978-79	16	11	12	23		2	SC

Played the way he asks everyone of his players to play, with determination and intelligence. With typical efficiency, he retired on scoring the Stanley Cup winning goal in 1979.


6. Yvan "Roadrunner" Cournoyer (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1963-79	968	428	435	863	(+272)	(68)	AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1971-72	73	47	36	83	+23	5	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1965-78	147	64	63	127		(12)	10 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1972-73	17	15	10	25		3	CS, SC

The archetypal Canadiens winger – speedy and quick-shooting goalscoring machine. His 1972-73 playoffs were magisterial.


5. Bob Gainey (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1973-89	1160	239	262	501	+196	34	4 FS, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1978-79	79	20	18	28	+11	1	FS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1974-89	182	25	48	73	(-4)	7	CS, 5 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1978-79	16	6	10	16		1	CS, SC

Famously described as "technically, the best player in the world" by Russian coach Tarasov, Gainey was certainly the best in the world at defending as a shadow. In a league of Bobby Orrs and Bobby Clarkes, his role was just as valuable to the team as those ahead of him on this list.


4. Serge Savard (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1966-81	917	100	312	412	+492	13	BM, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1974-75	80	20	40	60	+71	2
Habs career (Playoffs)	1968-81	130	19	49	68		6	CS, 8 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1975-76	13	3	6	9		2	SC

If the Canadiens brass today could dream up a defender to anchor their team for the future, it would probably be Serge Savard. He could and did do everything, including adapt to the effects that 2 broken legs had on his once-great speed.


3. Ken Dryden (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	W	L	T	GAA	SO	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1970-79	397	258	57	74	2.24	46	C, 5 V, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1976-77	56	41	6	8	2.14	10	V, AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1971-79	112	80	32	0	2.40	10	6 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1970-71	20	12	8	0	3.00	0	CS, SC

Less career losses than a Vesa Toskala season. He must also be the only starting goalie in modern history to virtually double his losses with shutouts. In his 7-and-a-bit-year turn in the NHL, he won 6 Stanley Cups, 5 Vezinas and earned a law degree.


2. Larry "Big Bird" Robinson (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1972-89	1202	197	686	883	+700	29	2 N, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1976-77	77	19	66	85	+120	3	N, AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1973-89	203	25	109	134	(+6)	3	CS, 6 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1977-78	15	4	17	21		0	CS, SC

If we had the stats and ran a Corsi on it, what do you think 1976-77 would look like for +120 Larry Robinson? Robinson was key to the Canadiens adapting to the new Philadelphia Flyers domination of the league. His gaudy offensive numbers can't show on paper what a good defender he was.


1. Guy "Flower" Lafleur (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1971-85	961	518	728	1246	+477	93	2 H, 3 AR, 3 LP, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1977-78	78	60	72	132	+73	12	H, AR, LP, AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1972-84	124	57	76	133	(-2)	14	CS, 5 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1976-77	14	9	17	26		2	CS, SC

A goal more than every other game, a game-winning goal once in ten, this guy had the knack for scoring and scoring when it was called for. No one has more silverware in their Habs trophy cases than Guy, and with good reason.



* Awards: H = Hart trophy; AR = Art Ross trophy, C = Calder trophy; FS = Frank Selke trophy; N = Norris trophy; V = Vezina trophy; LP = Lester Pearson tropby; BM= Bill Masterton trophy; AS= All-star; HOF = Hall of Fame; CS = Conn Smythe trophy; SC = Stanley Cup.