Game #65Habs Take Round-About Way To Secure Rare 2 Points

Details

Date: 01/03/2012
Opponent: Wild
Location: Montreal

Win: 5-4 (SO)

Habs Goalie: Price (W)
Opposition Goalie: Backstrom, Harding (L)

Habs goalscorers: Subban, Eller, Pacioretty, Desharnais (1, SO)
Opposition goalscorers: Kassian (2), Heatley, Setoguchi

Play of the game

The play we have been waiting for all year, the play that may have made us a playoff-bound team came out tonight. It was, of course, PK's PP goal. Last year ended with a reminder of the kid's shot and a warning to the PK units of 2011-2012 to watch out. Well, no one has had anything to worry about all year. If they were worried at this point of the season it would have been because Subban had been blasting shots, like the one he took tonight, by everyone.

Dome hockey team

The 6 players we're playing in a no changes, do or die contest in the dome

Forwards

David Desharnais - Game Puck
3 points on the night give him an astonishing 50 on the season. He also scored the lone shootout goal and gave the Habs two points that they so desperately needed and wanted...right? David has to be the biggest surprise of the year, doesn't he? We talk about Emelin and Cole and Pacioretty, but we always had hopes for those three, did anyone ever expect this kid to be leading an NHL team in scoring in March?

Max Pacioretty
Max also had a multiple point night as he picked up goal 26 and points 47 and 48. As good as his line has been and as exciting as it has been to watch these are really numbers of second-line (ideally) players. Max has had to rise up to be a top-2 winger and top-3 forward thanks to the play of Plekanec, Kostitsyn, Gomez, Gionta and Cammalleri. Those are the players that cost us this season, not Gauthier, not Markov and not Martin.

Erik Cole
At -3 and no points I didn't want to put Erik in, I even considered Geoffrion for the single reason of being a Geoffrion, but in the end I had to go with #72. Cole was strong tonight and was better than all the other forwards who, surprisingly in a 5-4 win, didn't really contribute that much at all.

Defencemen

Tomas Kaberle
He is in here mostly for his offensive play as he wasn't too hot in his own end, but, then again, who really was?. He was a big reason why we scored 3 PP goals tonight as he brought a calming presence and manages to find players in space. He now has 2o points (2 tonight) in 36 games since joining the Habs (a 46-point pace) and is the type of player that a team needs and we'd need if he wasn't here. Just think of how bad the PP would be if he never arrived; believe it or not, I think it would probably be worse.

PK Subban
I loved the hits and I loved the moves. Desh robbed PK of the game puck tonight as I felt that this was one on Subban's better games. Defensively he wasn't at his best, but I have to look past that as I feel no one on the team really was. His goal was a rocket that I wish we saw more of as it really seems unstoppable when he connects.

Goaltender

Carey Price
I didn't like the clearing attempt (was he going for goal) right up the middle along the ice late in the third. That no-no of a play was picked off and translated into a goal just a few seconds later. I also wasn't a huge fan of 4 goals on 30 shots (.867) and 3 in the last 4 minutes. Had we lost I probably would have gone with Budaj and heading into a shootout I expected a loss (thanks to our inability, this season, to score and to not get scored on). Carey, however, surprised me with a solid shootout and saved his dome and bagged himself a win.

Comments

The Habs have 17 games left and it is becoming hard to know what to hope for at this point because I like to win, but logic says lose. Up until 2 weeks ago I had one thought and that was playoffs. I knew that it would be tough, near impossible really, but I still wanted to get in. Yes, it is good to worry about the future, but worrying about the future hasn't done a whole lot of teams any good in the past, so I worry more about the present. Then came the string of losses and the Kostitsyn trade and I seemed to have all of the hope sucked out of me. Chasing teams like Florida, Toronto and Winnipeg made me think that, as bad as we are, we'll still make it because, boy are they bad teams. Then we went and lost to Florida and Tampa and I realized that we are worse than some bad teams, it had really sunken in. So, now I can see the value in coming bottom 5 (or better yet, bottom 2) as coming 9-12 is more a Toronto kind of thing.

This weekend, however, I will cheer hard for the win. I love the fact that Toronto hasn't made the playoffs in 8 years and hope that the Habs can be a big part of why they won't make it again. Seeing them be as bad as they have been for the past 45 years always bring a smile to my face.

An interesting little piece of trivia that I came across today was the fact that Blake Geoffrion actually had a family member 4 generations back play for the Habs too. That player was Billy Coutu who was a previous captain, won a Stanley Cup in 1924 with the Habs and is considered, by the Hockey News, as one of the 100 best Habs ever. There is no blood relation to speak of (maybe why no one has mentioned it), but Billy was Blake's Great, Great, Great Uncle or Boom-Boom's Great Uncle. This is where it may get complicated. Coutu was married to Howie Morenz's Wife's Mother's Sister, so was an Uncle-in-law to the great #7. In fact, the two played together. Coutu is also known for being the only player ever to be banned for life by the NHL, that happened in 1927 when he attacked an official.

Belated Trade Thoughts

People have been asking me what I thought of the Gill for Geoffrion trade. Being busy, I didn't have time to post. But with a free minute, thought I'd save future questions by providing my answer here.

What to think?

I liked the trade.

What the Canadiens gave up in Hal Gill was little. And, let's be clear, Gill was no longer of great use the team. When he arrived, Gill was a new leader who could be used for a team in pressure games and pressure situations to deliver some impressive defensive minutes.

With his contract expiring, and the Canadiens unlikely to face a game of the magnitude of those from Gill's first season for quite some time, the team gave up a solid penalty killer.

And the timing was good. Because Gill can still be that valuable specialist that he was for the Canadiens for someone else, for a team where one PK makes the difference between winning and losing something important.


The return

I also liked the trade because of the return. I think prior to the trade it would have been sensible to suggest that Gill might land a second round pick plus something else. He did, but then somehow the Canadiens also pried Blake Geoffrion from the Nashville organization.

I think all of us who recently watched the year of ceremonies probably felt a moment or two of nostalgic romance when we heard this trade. Son of a player, grandson and namesake of an all-time hero, great-grandson of one of the first superstars of the game.

Of course, Blake Gefrrion is a player in his own right too. A Hobey Baker award as captain of the Badgers attests to that. It is foolhardy to think he's here to put the Morenz-Geoffrion treatment on the current Habs, yet his play suggest that he could easily make the lineup of the current team.

That's something. And quite something for Hal Gill to return in a trade.


Yes, overall, a good trade. Not the trade that spells massive overhaul, but one of those nice incremental moves that when accumulated show a move in the right direction.


I came across this piece yesetrday on Geoffrion. Many of you will probably enjoy giving it a quick read.

Top 100 Montreal Canadiens Players of All Time

Happy Birthday Montreal Canadiens!

As you know, we've been putting out some decade-by-decade lists of the Montreal Canadiens players from the last 100 years. The list I have for you today is the integrated version of the list, the list where you see whether I like Lafleur or Richard, Plante or Dryden, Malone or Gagnon.

I'm sure you'll all have some fun perusing the list. I encourage all to do it and come back to us with their own amendments, as the discussion today could not be about anything more than the history of the Habs – and with last night's debacle, the more distant, the better.

Just a quick note on how we came to this list. All the editorial team and some friends of Lions in Winter submitted a list and basically we averaged the picks. It was a very democratic process, and I think it shows. As a result, I think we've come up with a pretty good list. Having looked through the history in depth, i can tell you one thing – there have been more than 100 good players on this team, and picking between all of them is a sport in itself.


Without further ado, the 100:

LIW Ranking	Name	Position	Years
100	Ray Getliffe	C	1939-45
99	Billy Couture	D	1916-20, 1921-26
98	Craig Ludwig	D	1982-90
97	Brian Bellows	LW	1992-95
96	Gilles Tremblay	LW	1960-69
95	Ken Mosdell	C	1954-56, 1957-59
94	Shayne Corson	LW	1985-92, 1996-2000
93	Bill Reay	C	1946-53
92	Petr Svoboda	D	1984-92
91	Howard McNamara	D	1915-16, 1919-20
90	Floyd Curry	RW	1947-58
89	Marcel Bonin	LW	1957-62
88	Mark Napier	RW	1978-84
87	Claude Lemieux	LW	1983-90
86	Phil Goyette	C	1957-63
85	Eric Desjardins	D	1988-95
84	Jimmy Gardner	LW	1913-15
83	Doug Jarvis	C	1975-82
82	Pierre Bouchard	D	1970-78
81	Jim Roberts	D	1963-77
80	Denis Savard	C	1990-93
79	Mathieu Schneider	D	1987-95, 2009
78	Alfred Lepine	C	1925-38
77	Johnny Gagnon	RW	1930-40
76	Rejean Houle	LW	1969-83
75	Pierre Mondou	C	1976-85
74	Doug Risebrough	C	1974-82
73	Pierre Turgeon	C	1994-96
72	Albert Leduc	D	1925-33, 1934-35
71	Billy Boucher	RW	1921-27
70	Terry Harper	D	1962-72
69	Rod Langway	D	1978-82
68	Pierre Larouche	C	1977-82
67	John Ferguson	LW	1963-71
66	Yvon Lambert	LW	1972-81
65	Bobby Rousseau	RW	1960-70
64	Alexei Kovalev	RW	2004-09
63	Mario Tremblay	RW	1974-86
62	Andrei Markov	D	2000- (Active)
61	Charlie Hodge	G	1954-55, 1957-61, 1963-67
60	Jean-Guy Talbot	D	1954-67
59	Mark Recchi	RW	1994-99
58	Odie Cleghorn	RW	1918-25
57	Kirk Muller	LW	1991-95
56	Dick Duff	LW	1964-70
55	Jose Theodore	G	1995-2006
54	Michel Larocque	G	1973-81
53	Albert Siebert	D (LW)	1936-39
52	Georges Mantha	D	1928-41
51	Herb Gardiner	D	1926-29
50	Ken Reardon	D	1940-42, 1945-50
49	Stephane Richer	RW	1984-91, 1996-98
48	Rogatien Vachon	G	1966-72
47	Bobby Smith	C	1983-90
46	Bud O'Connor	C	1941-47
45	Ralph Backstrom	C	1956-71
44	Bert Olmstead	LW	1950-58
43	Pete Mahovlich	C	1969-78
42	Joe Malone	C	1917-19, 1922-24
41	Chris Chelios	D	1983-90
40	Claude Provost	RW	1955-70
39	Jean-Claude Tremblay	D	1959-72
38	Frank Mahovlich	LW	1970-74
37	Sprague Cleghorn	D	1921-25
36	Jack Laviollette	D	1909-18
35	Vincent Damphousse	C	1992-99
34	Tom Johnson	D	1947-63
33	Mats Naslund	LW	1982-90
32	Lorne Worsley	G	1963-70
31	Guy Carbonneau	C	1980-94
30	Jacques Laperriere	D	1962-74
29	Steve Shutt	LW	1972-85
28	Saku Koivu	C	1995-2009
27	Georges Vezina	G	1910-26
26	Guy Lapointe	D	1968-82
25	Didier Pitre	RW	1909-13, 1914-23
24	Sylvio Mantha	D	1923-36
23	Emile Bouchard	D	1941-56
22	Jacques Lemaire	C	1967-79
21	Bill Durnan	G	1943-50
20	Aurele Joliat	LW	1922-38
19	Elmer Lach	C	1940-54
18	Dickie Moore	LW	1951-63
17	Yvan Cournoyer	RW	1963-79
16	Bob Gainey	LW	1973-89
15	George Hainsworth	G	1926-37
14	Henri Richard	C	1955-75
13	Bernard Geoffrion	RW	1950-64
12	Serge Savard	D	1966-81
11	Hector Blake	LW	1935-48
10	Patrick Roy	G	1984-95
9	Ken Dryden	G	1970-79
8	Edouard Lalonde	C	1909-11, 1912-22
7	Jacques Plante	G	1952-63
6	Doug Harvey	D	1947-61
5	Larry Robinson	D	1972-89
4	Howie Morenz	C	1923-37
3	Guy Lafleur	RW	1971-85
2	Maurice Richard	RW	1942-60
1	Jean Beliveau	C	1950-71

Hope you enjoyed that. Do let us know where you stand, and include your top 10s if you can...

Top 100 Habs By Decade: 6. 1929-1939

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.

1929-1939

Fans from the 1990s and beyond can take some comfort from knowing that the Canadiens weren't always a win away from the Cup. The decade from 1929-39 started like 89-99, full of promise and trophies, but by mid-decade the Canadiens were in up-and-down form and had not yet found their killer instinct that was to com in later years.

There were good finishes like the back-to-back Stanley Cups and some top of the table efforts in the regular season, but this decade finds itself in sixth due to the stiff competition put forward by decades previous and following. On many other teams (Maroons, Rangers) this would have been franchise making results.

Once again, we've selected 10 players from our voting to fit the decade they best represent (no repeats). With 5 decades to come, the star power of the 1930s gives a feel of what awaits.

[Note: Each player only appears in one decade's top 10 – sorry Brisebois fans]


10. Wilf Cude (Not ranked in top 100, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	W	L	T	GAA	SO	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1933-41	220	82	100	38	2.65	18	AS
Decade best (Season)	1936-37	44	22	17	5	2.18	5	AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1935-38	10	3	6	1	2.71	0
Decade best (Playoffs)	1936-37	5	2	3	0	2.22	0

Never blessed with a very good team in front of him, Cude made the best of a tough situation – putting up a couple of very solid seasons in the 1930s.


9. Wildor Larochelle (Not ranked in top 100, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1925-36	404	81	63	144	197
Decade best (Season)	1931-32	44	18	8	26	16
Habs career (Playoffs)	1927-35	32	6	4	10	24	2 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1930-31	10	1	2	3	8	SC

A member of the productive second wave of offense from the earliest Habs dynasty.


8. Alfred "Pit" Lepine (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1925-38	526	143	98	241	392
Decade best (Season)	1929-30	44	24	9	33	47
Habs career (Playoffs)	1927-38	41	7	5	12	26	2 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1930-31	10	4	2	6	6	SC

A talented local boy who helped greatly in winning the Stanley Cups of 1930 and 1931.


7. Johnny "Black Cat" Gagnon (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1930-40	406	115	137	252	286
Decade best (Season)	1936-37	48	20	16	36	38
Habs career (Playoffs)	1931-39	31	11	12	23	37	SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1930-31	10	6	2	8	8	SC

From rookie riding the coat-tails of Morenz and Joliat to Habs leading scorer in 1936-37 after Morenz's injury.


6. Albert "Babe" Siebert (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1936-39	125	25	38	63	130	H, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1936-37	44	8	20	28	38	H, AS
Habs career (Playoffs)	1937-39	11	2	3	5	2
Decade best (Playoffs)	1936-37	5	1	2	3	2

A converted forward, the Maroons player found new legs and talent at his new position, winning another Hart trophy and a recovery to top tier of the league for the Canadiens.


5. Georges Mantha (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1928-41	488	89	102	191	148
Decade best (Season)	1937-38	47	23	19	42	12
Habs career (Playoffs)	1929-39	36	6	2	8	24	2 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1930-31	10	5	1	6	4	SC

Versatile, mostly defensive player, deployed either up front or on D. Noted for his clean and intelligent play (which really stood out in the 1930s).


4. Sylvio Mantha (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1923-36	538	63	78	141	669	AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1929-30	44	13	11	24	108
Habs career (Playoffs)	1924-35	39	5	5	10	64	3 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1929-30	6	2	1	3	18	SC

Lynch-pin of the Canadiens defence for the early 1930s Cup dynasty years. Cup-winning captain and coach, Sylvio did it all with the Habs. His 3 Cups (tied with Joliat and Morenz) were a team record until those 1950s came along.


3. Aurele "The Might Atom" Joliat (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1922-38	655	270	190	460	771	H, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1933-34	48	22	15	37	27	H
Habs career (Playoffs)	1923-37	46	9	13	22	66	3 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1929-30	6	0	2	2	6	SC

Brought in via trade for Newsy Lalonde. A complete player with a good nose for the net. He formed a dynamic duo with Morenz for most of his career.


2. George Hainsworth (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	W	L	T	GAA	SO	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1926-37	318	167	97	54	1.78	75	3 V, AS, HOF
Decade best (Season)	1930-31	44	26	10	8	1.95	8
Habs career (Playoffs)	1927-33	31	13	13	5	1.70	6	2 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1929-30	16	5	0	1	0.75	3	SC

Had big skates to fill and filled them ably. Won the first 3 Vezina trophies with 49 shutouts in 132 games. Amazing to think that 5-0-1 in the playoffs with 3 shutouts and a 0.75 GAA isn't the standout stat of his career.


1. Howie "The Stratford Streak" Morenz (Top 100 all-time, Profile)

	Years(s)	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	Awards*
Habs career (Season)	1923-37	460	257	160	417	499	3 H, AS
Decade best (Season)	1930-31	39	28	23	51	49	H
Habs career (Playoffs)	1924-34	37	13	9	22	58	3 SC
Decade best (Playoffs)	1929-30	6	3	0	3	10	SC

The first NHL superstar, and with good reason. He revitalised the new lower-scoring era with flashy displays of goalscoring for more than a decade. First number retired for the Habs, and anywhere.



* Awards: H = Hart trophy; V = Vezina trophy; AS= All-star; HOF = Hall of Fame; SC = Stanley Cup.

Canadiens All-Star History

I know you're all a little all-starred out by now. I was going to write a post, but I'll save it for tomorrow or another day.

Instead, if you haven't already check out the short film the excellent Canadiens history website has on the all-star game – it will enlighten you on some of the history of this whole game, no doubt; as it did me.

Enjoy the exhibition!

Go Habs Go.

Koivu Can't Buy A WingerEven TSN All-Time Habs Effort Begrudges Him A Scorer

It must be a great honour to make TSN's all-time Habs team. Kind of like making this year's all-star starting lineup.

You start to feel really proud of yourself and your career and then you look over and see Mike Komisarek beside you. It doesn't bear reason.


If you want to look at the piece (which is sure to generate more traffic for their website than had they done a serious attempt) click here. The pathetic reasoning for their choices is here. Their choices here are akin to responding Farhan Lalji when asked who the best hockey media person of all time would be – short on work, long on ignorance.

They threw all their effort into being able to write this (to hook people in):

"What, no Guy Lafleur?"

"Where's Patrick Roy?"

TSN staff watch too much Toronto hockey

Two top right wingers – impossible. 6 defencemen that can play with the puck – never been seen. A second goalie who can step in and win some games when the other gets injured – why bother?


Even their attempts to choose reliable, unspectacular players are silly. Top of that list is Mike Komisarek who can't hold a candle to Eric Desjardins, let alone Tom Johnson or Emile Bouchard. And adding the late John Ferguson would have been fine on the fourth line, but line 2. We know you liked his son, but come on – where's Aurel Joliat.


Koivu gets honoured then stiffed

It's a stretch to put Saku Koivu in as the number two centre of all time for the Habs, especially with Morenz and Lach not even scoring a place at all. But then to give him Ferguson on the left and Rousseau on the right is nothing more than a reminder of his last 8 years on the team – toiling with what he's given.

Had a Hab fan made the team (and kept Koivu), we would have at the very least endowed him with Toe Blake and Bernie Geoffrion, if not Lafleur and Joliat.


Third and fourth lines to shut down their better-thought out all time Leafs

Since when does an all-time team need 2 lines to kill time and penalties. Most decent GMs in the league now know that this strategy is for incompetents who haven't bothered to stock their minor league system for the past 9 drafts (hence, Toronto's initial instinct). I'm scrapping the "energy" line and putting in forwards that played with energy and skill (believe it or not, it's possible). Put Lemaire in there with Riseborough and Lambert for all I care, at least we'd be using some of the assets TSN left on the bench.


All purpose D for me

No disrespect to Mike Komisarek, but he isn't even one of the top three D on the team now. In fact, in domes at LIW he's still in 5th (even without injury, he's been far worse than the top three). I understand that the staff have to watch their own channel and thus only see what passes for hockey in Toronto. But one must cast an eye beyond blocked shots and hits – especially when those actions haven't been helping the team with defending the net by and large.

The Canadiens haven't been as well endowed with defencemen as forwards but I'd still put together this group and pick the pairings later:

Harvey, Robinson, Savard, Bouchard, Chelios and Johnson


If you want a better idea of the top team, have a look at this from a while back.


I rarely read TSN. It takes something really extraordinary for me to bother commenting on something those guys say. So I guess their mission is accomplished. I'll be watching this story with intent, but after that? Maybe a hiatus from their general shoddiness?

Even so, their tactics are interesting – I think I'll talk to Tobalev at getting Racine, Dirk, Traverse and Laflamme back in the figuring for our top 100...

Careers of Numbers: Amazing Habs Feats

This week is a rare chance for the Habs and their families to be together for an extended period over the holidays. It is rare that we don't have a game on the 23rd or 26th. That, of course, also means that these are slow times for us here at Lions in Winter as there is little going on in Habsworld.

We have, however, been conducting some research for an upcoming piece on the greatest players in team history and through that we have stumbled across some very astounding and fun stats. The following is a list of 20 achievements over the Habs career of certain players. Some you may know, some may be news to you, but I urge you, nevertheless, to take a look and remember just how good of a team we have been over the past 99 years.


Centres


Newsy Lalonde
We don't hear much about the Habs' first star, but before Morenz there was Lalonde. He only suited up for the team in a total of 218 games, but during that time he accumulated 353 points. He played in the inaugural season and went on to play in 11 of the first 12. He led the team 9 times in regular season scoring and led the league a total of 3 times.

Howie Morenz
Among Howie's major achievements are the fact that he led the Habs in both goals and points a total of 7 times each - twice he led the league. More impressive was the fact that he won an astonishing 3 Hart trophies as league MVP; more than any other Hab.

Henri Richard
The pocket-rocket was team captain for 4 years, is a hall-of-famer and is one of the very few to have his shirt hanging from the rafters. The one stat, however, that I believe he will never lose or share is the fact that he won 11 Stanley Cups. Just think of that for a second, think of Roy and his 4, Gretzky and his 4, Messier and his 6 and it just makes this that much more special.

Jacques Lemaire
Before the trap in New Jersey there was a fire-wagon in Montreal, and, don't be fooled, Jacques was definitely among the flying frenchmen. His 139 career playoff points ranks second in team history, only le Gros Bill has more.

Saku Koivu
Koivu will hopefully, if we get him signed, become the longest ever serving captain in team history. Saku's leadership, however, extends beyond the ice. In 2006 he became the only player in team history to win the league's King Clancy Award, given annually, since 1988, to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.

Right Wingers


Didier Pitre
Don't be alarmed if this name isn't familiar as I too learned it for the first time a few days ago. In 274 games alongside Lalonde on the earliest versions of the Habs (playoffs included) he managed 296 points for a point/game average of 1.08. He ranks 4th all-time on the team in points/game, of players who have played at least 250 games, behind Lafleur, Frank Mahovolich and Beliveau.

Claude Provost
Claude ranks 5th all-time in games played for the Habs and most notable has played more games in the bleu-blanc-rouge than any other right winger - notably Maurice Richard, Lafleur and Cournoyer.

Yvan Cournoyer
Of all the impressive stats that the roadrunner put up in his career one in particular stands out to me. He is the all-time leader in playoff game-winning goals with 15. I really don't know if there is more crucial stat than that at the end of the day.

Chris Nilan
When you think of Chris you think of knuckles, fighting and thus PIM. However, did you realize he leads the Habs in all-time penalty minutes by over 1000 minutes over his next closest rival; Shayne Corson. Nilan averaged over 4 minutes in the box, per game, during his Hab career.

Left Wingers


Toe Blake
The coach right? Well before the coach came the player. Did you know there are only 6 players in team history to lead the team in scoring at least 5 times? 4 of those players are now immortalized in bronze outside the Bell Centre, the others are Lalonde and Toe Blake. Blake holds the distinction of being the only LW to achieve this feat.

Bob Gainey
Was Scotty Bowman a LW too? Apparently great hockey minds started their journeys on the left sides of ice rinks. Once called the greatest player in the world by the Soviets (at a time when they were also playing against Lafleur, Dryden, Orr, Esposito etc.), Bob has the distinction of having a trophy made for him. That trophy is the Selke; awarded annually to the best defensive forward. In all Bob won a league-record 4 of those and that doesn't include all the ones he would have won while he convincing the league he deserved such an honour.

Defencemen


Doug Harvey
Doug was regarded as the best defenceman in the world before a certain Bobby Orr came along, but still likely ranks in the top-5 of all time. In fact, many consider him the best player to ever suit up for Montreal. It, therefore, is no wonder that he has won an impressive 6 Norris trophies as the league's best defenceman - more than all other Habs combined.

Jacques Laperierre
I remember Jacques as a long time defensive coach for the Habs, but little did I know just how good of a player he had been. In all he played 779 games for the Habs and put his name on the Cup 5 times. He is the only defenceman in team history to ever win the Calder Trophy, as the league's best rookie. This trophy is usually reserved for forwards and goalies as defencemen usually take years to develop into NHL-capable blue-liners. In all the Calder has been won by 8 other defencemen, including Orr, Potvin, Bourque and Leetch.

Larry Robinson
I took an interest in the career +/- of Habs players and I found that the top-ranked player is miles apart from Sheldon Souray, whose -44 ranks as a team worst. Larry's +/- is a whopping +700! I can't even believe how that is possible as it ranks over 200 points better than any other player in team history. Robinson clearly was a lot more than a big hitter and high point-getter.

Goaltenders


Bill Durnan
Luongo isn't the only goalie to be the captain of a team. In fact, we had 2: Vezina and Durnan. Bill, however, seems to be one of those players that has got lost in the history books. Few Habs fans would put him on a top-5 of our team's all-time best goalies as few even know the name. His most impressive stat, however, could change a few minds. He played over 200 games less than Plante with the Habs, but matched his 6 Vezina trophies nonetheless.

Jacques Plante
The numbers would probably suggest Plante was the Habs' best ever goalie and he may very well be the best the league has ever seen. Despite all the accolades there was still one number that amazed me. In 646 career games he recoded 68 shutouts - more than 1 every 10 games.

Ken Dryden
He came in at the top and left even higher. In only 8 years he accomplished more than any other goalie before or since. His Stanley Cups and 5 Vezina Trophies are mind-boggling considering the length of his career. I was most taken, however, by his 0.737 winning %. In every 2 games he played he came away with about 3 points - forget losing streaks!

Jose Theodore
We all know the drama that came with Jose, but at his core there was a fantastic goalie. Rarely has that player been seen since the 2002 season, but so long as he isn't facing the Habs I hope he one day rebounds with the Capitals to the form we all know he had. In that magical season of 2002 he became the 12th Hab goalie to win the Vezina, but more impressively was just the second (Plante) to win the Hart as the league's MVP. We waited 24 years to win this trophy, our longest ever wait, let's hope the next one comes a bit sooner.

Cristobal Huet
Of all the great goalies we've had few have impressed me the way Cristo did. He was a fierce competitor and a true gentleman. But, above all he was an excellent goalie. He, in fact, is the Habs all-time leader in save % as he is the only player to stop 92% of shots he faced.

A Question

The last of the 20 pieces on numbers is something that has always bothered me. According to my NHL guide (1995-1996) the Canadiens had at that time retired 2 more numbers than they now claim to have done. Along with the 15 players we honour now, I believe there are 2 that we are forgetting. Both Aurele Joliat (4) and Elmer Lach (16) had, according to the league, their sweaters retired. These 2 players' career numbers would leave any other team calling them franchise players and even on the Habs I believe they are amongst that illustrious group. If anyone knows the story behind all of this I would love to hear it.


That is all for now. From us hear at Lions have a great Christmas and we'll be back in touch on Saturday as the Habs get back at 'er.