Babies With Bath Water: Habs Page Turning Often Hurts

Today comes the news that Andrei Kostitsyn signs a one-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL.

Perhaps he's the first of many to sign come tomorrow, but his signing represents a little disappointment for the Habs organization.

Canadiens As Canadians Olympic Hockey History

When Steve Yzerman chose to take Patrice Bergeron over Mike Cammalleri, the Canadiens missed a chance to send a player to the Olympics for Canada for the third straight time. There's not even a single former Habs player on the team either, though I'd layoff Ribeiro and Robidas too.

It hasn't always been this way. Thought the Canadiens representation on Team Canada over the years hasn't been vast, there have still been 21 players associated withe the organization to don the Maple Leaf under the Olympic rings. I've found some of them for you:


2010, 2006, 2002

Current Habs: None
One-time Habs: None
Future Habs: None


1998

Current Habs: Mark Recchi, Shayne Corson
One-time Habs: Eric Desjardins, Patrick Roy
Future Habs: Trevor Linden


For Olympics 1994 and earlier, only amateur players were eligible, therefore current Habs were not eligible to compete.


1994

Habs Prospects: Brian Savage
Future Habs: None


1992

One-time Habs: (Patrick Lebeau*)
Habs Prospects: Patrick Lebeau*
Future Habs: Joe Juneau, (Jason Woolley – training camp only)

* Had played 2 games for the Canadiens in 1990-91, but was seen as a prospect.


1988

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: Zarley Zalapski, Andy Moog


1984

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: Russ Courtnall, Kirk Muller, JJ Daigneault


1980

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: None


1976, 1972

Canadian Boycott


1968

Habs Prospects: Fran Huck
Future Habs: None


1964

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: None


1960

Habs Prospects: Bobby Rousseau, (Harry Sinden – never signed pro)
Future Habs: Cliff Pennington


1956, 1952, 1948

Habs Prospects: None
Future Habs: None


1936

Future Habs: James (Jim) Haggarty


1932, 1928

Future Habs: None


1924

Future Habs: Duncan (Dunc) Munro, Bert McCaffrey



Canadiens Canada Hockey Medals

Gold: 2
Duncan (Dunc) Munro & Bert McCaffrey (1924)

Silver: 6
James (Jim) Haggarty (1936), Bobby Rousseau & Cliff Pennington (1960), Patrick Lebeau & Joe Juneau (1992); Brian Savage (1994)

Bronze: 1
Fran Huck (1968)


[Check out Eyes On The Prize for a good look at some artefacts from the Chamonix Winter Olympics – the inaugural winter games]

Top 100 Habs By Decade: 9. 1989-1999

In recognition of the Canadiens Centennial next Friday, 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. You should expect a few each day for the next few days.

Though this celebration has inevitably lost some steam due to relentless marketing and pre-game ceremonies for all of living memory, it would be a shame to let it pass unnoticed just because Mr. Gillett wanted to cash in before he cashed out.

1989-1999

An objective look reveals what we all fear – that we became fans of this team just as its fortunes began to turn. From a Cup final to end the decade previous, these ten years took the team to its lowest in 1999.

There were good years, of course, and a Stanley Cup. But after that amazing run of 1993, the years were not kind to the Canadiens, as they went from perennial contender for league and playoff crowns to being just one of 24 odd teams.

Thanks to the early years, there were good players on the team and good players to trade for other good players. One trade chain (the Richer chain) provided 4 players for our top 10 from the 1990s.

[Note: Each player only appears in one decade's top 10 – so Brisebois fans, hold on to your hats]


10. Shayne Corson (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1985-2000	662	168	255	423	+70	26	AS
Decade best (Season)	1989-90	76	31	44	75	+33	6	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	2002-06	90	28	35	63	+16	7
Decade best (Playoffs)	1990-91	13	9	6	15	+5	3

A good solid player from the 1980s who had his best offensive seasons with Richer. Came back for a stint where he was captain and all-star again.


9. Eric Desjardins (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1988-95	405	43	136	179	+55	7	AS
Decade best (Season)	1992-93	82	13	32	45	+20	1
Habs career (Playoffs)	2002-06	71	9	20	29	+6	1	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1992-93	20	4	10	14	+2	1	SC

A player who would have held his own in the dynasty years, I bet. He saved his best year for when it counted, and his 1 playoff GWG, well we all know that...


8. Denis Savard (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1990-93	210	72	107	179	+6	7	AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1991-92	77	28	42	70	+6	5	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1990-93	38	5	25	30	-3	0	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1991-92	11	3	9	12	+1	0

Came to Montreal under immense pressure to be THE star. Wasn't the dominant force, but still a big contributor over his 3 seasons in town.


7. Mathieu Schneider (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1987-2009	383	68	148	216	+36	13
Decade best (Season)	1993-94	75	20	32	52	+15	4
Habs career (Playoffs)	1990-2009	46	5	16	21	+5	0	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1990-91	13	2	7	9	+2	0

Learned to play offense from the back in Montreal. Was a pretty good option for D as well.


6. Pierre Turgeon (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1994-96	104	50	77	127	+35	8	AS
Decade best (Season)	1995-96	80	38	58	96	+19	6	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1995-96	6	2	4	6	+1	0
Decade best (Playoffs)	1995-96	6	2	4	6	+1	0

The best season from a Canadiens player since Naslund, and it still stands.


5. Mark Recchi (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1994-99	346	120	202	322	+23	18	AS
Decade best (Season)	1995-96	82	28	50	78	+20	6
Habs career (Playoffs)	1996-98	21	11	13	24	+5	2
Decade best (Playoffs)	1997-98	10	4	8	12	+2	2

Like clockwork, both in being healthy for games and scoring.


4. Kirk Muller (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1991-95	267	104	143	247	+1	15	AS
Decade best (Season)	1992-93	80	37	57	94	+8	4	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1992-94	38	20	12	32	+3	6	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1992-93	20	10	7	17	+4	3	SC

Could find a new gear in important games and was pivotal in helping the whole team to do just that in several consecutive OTs.


3. Stephane Richer (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1984-98	490	225	196	421	+65	36	AS
Decade best (Season)	1989-90	75	51	40	91	+35	8
Habs career (Playoffs)	1986-97	77	36	21	57	+1	9	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1990-91	13	9	5	14	E	1

The last 50-goal season from a Canadiens player, a link to Lafleur. Richer was a serious threat in the first few years of the decade.


2. Vincent Damphousse (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	GWG	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1992-99	519	184	314	498	+26	35
Decade best (Season)	1992-93	84	39	58	97	+5	8
Habs career (Playoffs)	1993-98	48	19	24	43	E	5	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1992-93	20	11	12	23	+8	3	SC

The most unheralded scoring machine, captain, cup-winning, hometown hero you could imagine. Going out on a low note shouldn't eclipse what he managed in the mid-90s.


1. Patrick Roy (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	W	L	T	GAA	S%	SO	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1984-2005	551	289	175	66	2.78	0.904	29	3 V, 4 WJ, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1991-92	67	36	22	8	2.36	0.914	5	V, WJ, AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1986-94	114	70	42	0	2.46	0.914	5	2 SC, 2 CS
Decade best (Playoffs)	1992-93	20	16	4	0	2.13	0.929	0	SC, CS

He finds himself in the 1990s, but could head the 1980s list. Patrick was the source of most success in this decade – winning most individual honours and taking the team for a nice ride to LA to receive the silverware.


* Awards: V = Vezina trophy; WJ = William Jennings trophy (GA); AS= All-star; HOF = Hall of Fame; SC = Stanley Cup; CS = Conn Smythe.

Habs LeafsGuest Preview

One of the wonderful benefits that the Score Sports Federation provides us with is a natural set of bloggers to argue and share thoughts with about hockey and the NHL in Canada. Ahead of only the second all-Canadian meeting for the Habs since LIW joined the Federation, I spoke with Sean of Down Goes Brown about the Leafs, our rivalry and the game tonight.

I put a few questions to Sean about some obvious topics and some that hopefully are not so obvious. Read on to see his responses.

Sean also put some very creative and cleverly worded questions to me, you can see my answers on his site now.

Q1) We look at your team a foreign fans and think Kaberle, Toskala and Antropov... Can you tell us from a Leafs perspective who the players to look for tonight will be?

Sean: Nik Hagman is just a solid, smart player who can skate and score and play defense. He's been the best of Fletcher's acquisitions. Jonas Frogren is a crazy Nordic viking on the blueline who doesn't score much, but is the sort of guy who likes to block shots with his face. Dominic Moore is having a career year on the checking line - he's got great wheels, and will continue to contribute until he's dealt at the deadline for a second round pick.

Also, this Grabovski kid isn't bad. You've probably never heard of him.


Q2) By the same token, who are the players you as Leafs key on when you think of a match up with the 2008-09 Canadiens (if you recognize anyone on our roster anymore)?

Sean: Well, the main guy we'll be keying on is Tom Kostopoulos. He's going down. You do not want to get into a "hitting-from-behind" battle with a team that employs Ryan Hollweg. Kostopoulos better hope that whichever purse he steals this week has a gun in it.

Other than that, we watch for the usual suspects: Koivu, Kovalev, Lang, and all the various other divers. And of course, we'll try to convince Carey Price it's a playoff game so that he'll completely wet the bed.


Q3) We have an interesting history between our teams. But in all honesty, is this rivalry petering out a bit? Do you hate the Canadiens as much as perhaps you used to?

Sean: The rivalry has been pretty dormant since it's been a while since both teams were good at the same time. But it's still easily the Leafs best rivalry. There have been occasional mini-rivalries like the Senators, but at the end of the day nobody cares about Ottawa. I get more excited for Habs games than any other team, by far.

All that said, here's the weird thing: I don't actually hate the Habs, or their fans. I hate plenty of other teams, but there's a grudging respect for Montreal. The Senators could fold tomorrow and no Leaf fan would care, but the Habs are different. The rivalry still feels like it means something, and I hope it heats up again soon.


Q4) Mats Sundin. Open wound, I know. Would you have taken him back if he turned down Vancouver?

Sean: Leaf fans don't agree on Sundin, but virtually nobody wanted him back. Half of us are too mad at him, and the other half know that this season is about a high draft pick and Sundin would only hurt that. If he had re-signed after the deadline, or even during the summer, we would have welcomed him back. But once he finished taking fishing trips or shilling for gambling web sites and got around to actually thinking about hockey in November, he was dead to me. I look forward to him faking an injury to get out of the Canucks/Leaf game in February.


Q5) If you're not in the playoffs, I'm assuming you hope for a lottery position. Let's say the chips fall for you: Hedman or Tavares?

Sean: After watching the World Juniors, I've been sporting a Tav-erection for two straight weeks. Besides, the Leafs have far more blue-chip defensive prospects than we do forwards. Which is to say, we currently have one blue-chip defensive prospect.


Q6) Will Justin Pogge crack it soon? How bad will the save percentages have to be to pull the trigger on that? It looks to us, the casual observers, like you have a David Aebischer situation on your hands.

Sean: Pogge should play regularly in the NHL when he's ready, and it suits his development path. That's the only criteria. Toskala has been shaky this year, and Joseph has been brutal, but that doesn't matter this year. It's about the future, so if Pogge isn't ready then he should be in the AHL. And that's especially true since he hasn't been all that sharp the past few years, and is starting to look like he may not be the blue-chip prospect we were hoping for.

And if Toskala is traded and Joseph plays so badly the rest of the year that we drop into last place overall, well, that's a risk we'll just have to take. Cough.


Finally, as with the Calgary preview, we had a look at some players, people and places that mean something to either side. I asked both Sean from Down Goes Brown and our own Tobalev to state whatever came to mind (in a word or two) when they read the following list (the answers are good):

a) Shayne Corson
Sean (Leafs): Head-kicker
Tobalev (Habs): Bar fights

b) Jonas Hoglund
Sean (Leafs): Sundin's excuse
Tobalev (Habs): How was he good on the Leafs?

c) Ken Dryden
Sean (Leafs): Stop talking
Tobalev (Habs): Could have been the best ever

d) LA Kings
Sean (Leafs): Kerry Fraser high stick gretzky scores ears bleeding can't stop cutting myself argh i hate you...
Tobalev (Habs): 1993 Finals collapse

e) Conn Smythe
Sean (Leafs): Maple Leaf Gardens
Tobalev (Habs): Patrick Roy


Never one to shy away from controversial statements, apparently. Thanks Sean for taking part. As for you dear readers, Down Goes Brown is a great blog to get the pre-game and post-game analysis from the Leaf perspective and to correct Sean about some of his wild claims regarding the Habs (or just generally mock because he had to mention Dominic Moore in an answer about best players).

Fatastic Leafs/Habs Article

Since there's no need to overdo the analysis of a simple loss, I thought I'd point you to a very cool article about players who have suited up for both the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs.


Follow this link to Robert L's bhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.giflog.

It also leads to interesting questions about players who have played for both teams in my lifetime (Habs fan memory):

Which team do you think of when you hear:

Russ Courtnall?
Vincent Damphousse?
Shayne Corson?
Darcy Tucker?
Doug Gilmour?
Jonas Hoglund?
Kirk Muller?
Mathieu Schneider?
Dave Manson?
Chad Kilger?

I get Hab, Hab, Hab, Leaf, Leaf, Leaf, Hab, Hab, Leaf, Leaf

Jacques Plante is not a Leaf...

Go Habs Go.