John Aiken: Pulled From The Crowd To Be A Habs Goalie

Nearly 14,000 fans at Boston Garden heard 26 year old John Aiken being called up to the NHL on March 13, 1958.

"Your attention please," announced Frank Fallon urgently, interrupting John Kiley’s organ music. "John Aiken, report to the Montreal Canadiens locker room. Immediately."
Seated in the second row with his father, Jud, the twenty-six-year-old Terrier alumni hurried to the locker room to replace the injured Jacques Plante, arguably the greatest goalie of all time.

Aiken thus became not only the first of 51 Boston University athletes to play in the NHL, but also hockey’s Walter Mitty - a spectator putting on skates and goaltender’s pads to face the potent offense of the 1958 Boston Bruins.

"I’ve bumped into so many people who claim they were there that night," says the retired mathematician at his home in Billerica, Massachusetts.

"And each one says the same thing: ‘Johnny Aiken? Hey, I remember you. I was at the Garden the night you made an ass of yourself. ’"

Aiken skated a curious route to his date with destiny that March night.

In 1958, NHL teams carried but one goaltender, and hired a spare to mind the other net during practices and attend home games as a replacement if either team’s goalie were injured and unable to continue. The Bruins paid Aiken $25 a game to be at the ready.

Which he was, almost, when early in the second period, Montreal’s Doug Harvey, the NHL’s best defenseman, cross-checked Bruin Vic Stasiuk in front of the goal, driving him heavily into Plante, who cracked his skull and back on the crossbar and was carried from the ice with what the Boston Globe reported as a "brain concussion and possible spinal injury."

"Then it hit me," Aiken recalls. "I didn’t have my equipment. The Bruins practiced at both the Garden and the Boston Arena. I also was playing semipro with the Arlington Arcadians, so depending on my schedule, I sometimes kept my equipment in my car. While I headed for the dressing room, my father ran out of the Garden, down Causeway Street, and onto Nashua, where we had parked. And he sprinted back carrying all the heavy pads and gear."











Aiken looked around the locker room and saw the Hockey Hall of Fame come to life.

Maurice and Henri Richard. Jean Beliveau. Doug Harvey. Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion. Dickie Moore. Tom Johnson. Coach Toe Blake was hollering at his first-place Flying Frenchmen in French, of course. "I didn’t understand the words," Aiken says with a laugh, "but I certainly got the idea."

When his equipment arrived, Aiken dressed hurriedly. "I don’t recall anyone talking to me," he says. "Everyone was concerned about Plante, who was waiting for the ambulance."

When the Canadiens marched single-file down the runway to the Garden ice to resume play, leading the parade was John Aiken.

"When I reached the gate and looked up, it felt unreal," Aiken recalls. "I saw that sellout crowd looking down, buzzing and yelling. I couldn’t breathe. And when I hit the ice, I asked myself, what am I doing here? I was nervous, too nervous."
Bellowing from the upper balcony, a gallery god welcomed the rookie of all rookies: "You’ll be sorry!"

Awaiting were Aiken’s Bruins practice mates, already leading, 1-0, and ready to pounce.

The Canadiens peppered Aiken with warmup shots, and he remembers barely feeling the pucks bouncing off him.

"By then," he says, "I was pretty much numb."

And, about to get a lot number.

Four shots eluded Aiken in his first seven minutes and nineteen seconds. Bucyk countered a Montreal goal by adding another just before period’s end to stretch Boston’s lead to 6-1.

"I was disgusted with myself," Aiken says, "because I knew I could play a lot better and was competent enough to play in that company."

Four shots eluded Aiken in his first seven minutes and nineteen seconds. Bucyk countered a Montreal goal by adding another just before period’s end to stretch Boston’s lead to 6-1.

"I was disgusted with myself," Aiken says, "because I knew I could play a lot better and was competent enough to play in that company."

As the teams skated off at intermission, Montreal defenseman Tom Johnson placed an encouraging glove on Aiken’s shoulder. "Hang in there," he said. "You’ll be okay."
And when he returned for the third period, he was, settling down to make eight saves while allowing a single goal in the 7-3 Bruins victory.

At the final bell, a number of Habs ruffled his hair and swatted his pads in appreciation of his game effort.

In his thirty-three-minute, forty-five-second NHL career, Aiken made twelve saves and permitted six goals. "A .667 save percentage is pretty good for a shooter, but not for a goaltender," says Aiken. "So I was down in the dumps afterwards, the last guy out of the locker room. My dad was waiting, and he was very sensitive about everything. It’s only a few miles from the Garden to Arlington, but it was a long ride home."

Not long after Aiken’s NHL debut -- and finale -- he received a letter from Canadiens general manager Frank Selke. It contained a check for $100 (Canadian, then worth $107 u.s.) and an invitation to Aiken and his wife for an all-expense-paid trip to Montreal.

"No matter what the results were," Selke wrote graciously, "we admired your courage and keen desire to help us win."

"We never made the trip," Aiken says, "and unfortunately I cashed the check. It would have been a nice keepsake. But I kept the letter, my only memento from my experience of a lifetime."

Aiken began as a star goalie for Arlington Massachusetts High School’s 1949 state hockey champions. Aiken was appointed to West Point in 1950. Army coach Jack Riley rated him as the Cadets’ best goalie ever, and the sophomore showed why one night when he made "fifty or sixty" saves during a 4-0 loss to a BU sextet headed for the NCAA tourney.

When BU coach Harry Cleverly congratulated him on his performance, Aiken confided that he would probably be leaving West Point to marry his high school sweetheart, which was against cadet rules.

If he did, Cleverly said, he’d be welcome at BU.

Aiken became a Terrier that fall. But he had to sit out the standard year required of transferring athletes by the NCAA.

That’s when the Bruins stepped in with their job offer. He continued with Boston even after becoming eligible to guard BU’s nets as a senior. He was skating on thin ice around NCAA rules, "but no coaches complained," he recalls, adding with a grin, "perhaps because BU was so bad anyway."

Terrier hockey had plunged to its lowest ebb the year Aiken sat out, after an academic sweep decimated both the varsity and frosh sextets. Overnight, BU went from three Frozen Four appearances in four years to 4-15-1 in the 1953-54 season.

After Aiken reported for BU duty the next fall, the Terriers fared even worse, winning only four (including one over his old Army mates), while losing nineteen.

Aiken survived the avalanche of pucks that season, but left school four courses short of graduation. Some of his West Point courses were not accepted toward his major, and when an opportunity came along to work with the Air Force as a civilian mathematician and engineer, he took it, and remained until retiring in 1987 as chief of software development for air defense systems at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts.

"I had intended to go back and finish up the BU degree, but between the job, the Bruins, and starting a family, I never got to it," says Aiken, who continued as the Bruins’ spare netminder through the mid-sixties, when NHL teams went to a two-goalie system.

What Mad Max And Rhino Burn Can And Cannot Do

Could the recall, long expected and overdue, of forward Maxim Lapierre and defenseman Ryan O'Byrne be spark that ignites the Habs back to a respectable level of consistecy and competitiveness?

It is doubtfull, in and of itself.

Neither player - news flash - is a game breaker by any definition or means.

In Montreal, where mecca and media get mentioned almost simultaneously, this seemingly sidenote story gets from page space. Unfortunately, in the disproportionate unreality that is the Montreal Canadiens soap opera skid, these two players will earn savior like attention - for a whole 48 hours.

Not to downplay their potential contributions, but saviours neither are.

What the callups of Lapierre and O'Byrne represent and could possibly mean, are not headline material.

While I had both these players pencilled into the Habs starting lineup on opening night, both are no more than pieces to the puzzle of a team the Canadiens are seeking to put together.

Neither will make Montreal into an offensive powerhouse or a defensive wall of brick.


























What these two callups could contribute to, in the highest of expectations, is to solidify a team character based on size, teeth, attitude, grit, balls, youth, and speed.

Again, it's not that these two players bring all of these attributes, but it is a step in the right direction.

The current slumping Habs are not easily analysed at present.

They boast a stallion of young guns, a few studs, some seasoned vets, and some question marks - basically, the makeup of two thirds of the league.

Of late, the Canadiens have amounted to nothing more than a pop gun offense and a Pillsbury Dough Boy defense.

The callups of the irritating Mad Max and the tower that is Rhino Burn will do will not show up on a scoresheet summary. These sandpaper and wreckingball type players may offer a dimension that compliments building a team in a different way.

In team chemistry speak - it's all about glue and nails.


























Among the missing elements to Canadiens games of late, it can be said that a certain level of comfort has set in. Max and Rhino will do more to upset that complacency that Mikhail Grabs the Pressbox ever could.

If there were two Hamilton Bulldogs that Bob Gainey could summon to wake the team - these pointing elbows of disruption may just be the right ones to bring the required fire needed to reignite a passion within the team.

In time, and it shouldn't take long, Max and Rhino might just make complacency vanish.

Players such as Bryan Smolinski, Michael Ryder, Mark Streit and Francis Bouillon might feel them breathing down their necks, which would constitute a good thing in my eyes. Creating inner competition within a team is never a bad idea.


























This duo ought to be more threatening to roster complacency than the combo of Grabovski, Gorges, and the departed Garth Murray were.

Good teams are built and pieced together in steps, small ones sometimes, that take on a larger dimension as the pieces learn to fit.

Before the Canadiens reach desperate measures, solutions from within must take precedence - for what it's worth.

Habs Goalies - Charlie Hodge:Yesterday And Today

(Robert L Note: Of all the goalie pieces I researched last summer, the following post on Charlie Hodge is one of my favorites. Back in May of this year, Gary Kinston of the Vancouver Sun caught up with Hodge, then 73, for an excellent glimpse into the personality of a great forgotten Habs goalie. One year prior to the Sun piece, there was an equally informative Q & A with Hodge at the Coolopoulis site, that I have include here as well. His memories of teammates such as Jacques Plante and Doug Harvey are precious. As a teammate in tandem with both Plante and Gump Worsley, Hodge was rarely if ever in the spotlight - which is unfortunate, because as Kingston reveals - the man is quite the character. Kingston's interview with Hodge appears below his career encompasing bio. I hope you enjoy it.)

Charlie Hodge, a Lachine, Quebec native, caught the attention of the Montreal Canadiens scouts as a teenager and once committed to the team, he began his apprenticeship with the Junior Canadiens in 1949-50.

In 1951-52, as the undisputed starter on the junior Habs,he turned in a league low goals-against average of 2.22. The following season, Hodge won 35 of his 44 starts and led the QJHL with five shutouts. Moving on to the professional ranks in 1953-54 with the Cincinnati Mohawks of the IHL, Hodge proved spectacular, with a league high 10 shutouts and a 2.34 GAA. His goaltending was an integral part of the team's regular-season and Turner Cup championship performance.











While waiting patiently for a chance to play in the NHL on a full time basis, Hodge's minor pro tour took him through the QSHL, WHL, AHL and the EPHL. He proved to be a workhorse and a success wherever he strapped on his pads.

Four times he was placed on either the First or Second All-Star Teams of the league in which he played. Hodge thought he caught his first major break with a 19 win and four-shutout performance in 30 appearances for the Canadiens in 1960-61, but a starters role was not yet in the cards.



















Early in 1963-64, starting his third consecutive season with the AHL's Quebec Aces, the tide finally turned in his favor. Hodge was called in to replace the injured Gump Worsley as the Canadiens starter. He stepped in admirably by registering 33 wins and an NHL best 8 shutouts. His stellar work was recognized at the conclusion of the season when he was named the winner of the Vezina Trophy and selected to the NHL Second All-Star Team.

Despite being a part-time veteran of the NHL, many wondered if Hodge's success in 1963-64 was a fluke. These reservations proved inaccurate as the plucky netminder put up a 26-16-10 mark in 1964-65. His fine work contributed to the Habs' first Stanley Cup win since 1959-60.



















Hodge and Worsley worked superbly together in 1965-66. The shining duo led Montreal to a repeat Stanley Cup performance and shared the Vezina Trophy after recording the stingiest goals against average in the league.

The next year, things began to unravel for Hodge. While he appeared in 37 regular season games, he was the odd man out after young phenomenon Rogie Vachon was called up late in the schedule and played superbly.



















Hodge was left unprotected by Montreal and was claimed by the Oakland Seals in the 1967 Expansion Draft. In a matter of months, the veteran backstopper went from an elite defensive club to an inexperienced outfit that guaranteed his exposure to an enormous number of shots. Hodge fought on bravely in 1967-68 with three shutouts and 13 wins in 58 games while sharing the goaltending chores with youngster Gary Smith.

















His playing time diminished in 1968-69 and he was demoted to the Vancouver Canucks of the WHL. Hodge played a handful of games the following season before being claimed by the NHL Canucks in the 1970 Expansion Draft.


















It seemed that the black cloud of disappointment surrounding his demotion to the WHL two years earlier had a silver lining. Hodge, Dunc Wilson and George Gardner provided the NHL's newest club with solid goaltending, a factor contributing to a respectable 56-point showing for the team.



















Hodge retired after his only season in Vancouver. His NHL resume listed a number of individual and team accomplishments along with 24 career shutouts and 152 regular season victories.

Crusty Old Bird Dog Hodge Still Beating The Bushes

Former NHL goaltender Charlie Hodge with his miniature version of the Vezina Trophy, which he won in 1963-64 with Montreal. Photograph by : Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun









If he didn't gain fame as an NHL goalie, Charlie Hodge has earned legendary status as a Western Canadian scout.

By Gary Kingston, Vancouver Sun, Saturday, May 26, 2007

With his everpresent overcoat draped over one arm and his scouting binder tucked under the other, navy-blazered Charlie Hodge strides briskly down the Pacific Coliseum concourse, headed for the exit doors.

The Vezina Trophy winning goalie is 73 now."23, don't be giving me that bullshit!" he will rant later, white haired and garden gnomish. But he's motoring.
And there's no time to stop. Certainly not for a reporter whom he ducked after the first period of Tuesday's Memorial Cup game after grudgingly agreeing to an interview.

Asked for a phone number, he mumbles it while plowing ahead, forcing the hard of hearing reporter to follow him through the door to get it repeated a couple of times.
Four minutes remain in a game the Lewiston Maineiacs are leading 1-0 after scoring two minutes earlier, but Hodge is making a beeline for the parking lot. He needs to beat the crowd.

When you're driving home to Aldergrove, every minute not spent in a crush of people or stuck in traffic counts.

Never mind that the Plymouth Whalers tied the game with a minute remaining and then won it in the first overtime period. By that time, Hodge was probably on the Port Mann Bridge.

His buddies in the business will grin knowingly at the story. Typical Charlie.
























Get to the game way too early, then leave before it's over if possible, grumbling all the way.

"If he's not cantankerous when he gets to the rink, he's not feeling good," veteran Edmonton Oilers scout Bob Brown says.

It is said with a healthy measure of endearment. Hodge, now a scout for Tampa Bay after nearly two decades with the Pittsburgh Penguins, is a classic, old school character. A loveable, good hearted grouch. A guy who engenders considerable respect, but who also serves as a convenient foil for wise cracking colleagues who fire shots at him as regularly as National Hockey League forwards did 40 years ago.

"If you don't irritate him, don't bug him, he'd think you're upset with him and that's the truth," grizzled New Jersey scout Glen Dirk says.

The hard slogging of an NHL amateur scout's season is mostly done by the time the Memorial Cup begins. The cold winter nights spent bouncing from arena to arena are over, the comprehensive player reports long since filed, the departmental meetings finished, at least until everybody gathers at the entry draft in June.

"I don't travel anymore," says Hodge, who watches the Vancouver Giants and Chilliwack Bruins of the WHL and the Lower Mainland clubs in the B.C. Hockey League. "So when I watch the Memorial Cup, I'm interested in what players (in the OHL and QMJHL) have been recommended by our staff, three guys on Lewiston and, on Plymouth, an overager that we're looking at. One of them stuck out, but his intensity is lacking. He's got skill, but he lacks that intensity."

With most NHL teams carrying 10 to 15 man scouting staffs and decisions made collectively, it's difficult for outsiders to accurately assess a scout's acumen. "It's a groups pick," says Hodge. "You wouldn't want it any other way."
Asked to identify one guy he can proudly say he urged an organization to take, he mentions Andrew Ference, a defenceman out of Portland taken by Pittsburgh in the eighth round in 1997.

"He went to Pittsburgh, but the coaches really didn't want him. He was on the small side. But he went to Calgary and played in their top four until they traded him last season to Boston. He was one kid I pushed for a lot."

Hodge, a native of Lachine, Que., was an undersized battler of a goalie at 5' 6" and 150 pounds.

He won a Memorial Cup in 1950 as a backup with the Montreal Jr. Canadiens and got his name on five Stanley Cups as a member of the Montreal Canadiens (though he only actually played in one final, in 1965). He won the Vezina Trophy outright in 1963-64 and shared it with Gump Worsley in 1965-66.

Interestingly, Hodge's early pro hockey career might have cost him a chance to compete at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne as a canoeist.

He's still ticked about it.






















With my partner Arthur Jordan, we won the North American paddle tandem in 1955, beat a team that ended up representing Canada in 1956 and a team that represented the U.S. But then I was basically kicked out because I was being paid to play hockey.

"The way things are now, they got all kinds of pros in the Olympics. I did not see any relation to canoe racing and hockey, no relationship at all, so I'm a little disappointed."

It's a story that's not well known among his colleagues and word of it ignites Dirk, who has more one liners than a collection of bad NHL teams.

"He can't even swim, for Christ's sake. He's probably the only canoeist who wore those blow up water wings."

Hodge went to the Oakland Seals in the 1967 expansion draft and won a Western Hockey League title with their farm team, the WHL Vancouver Canucks in 1969. After another year in Oakland, the expansion NHL Canucks claimed him and he went 15-13-5 with a 3.42 goals against average in 1970-71, sharing netminding duties with George Gardner and Dunc Wilson.

When he and Canucks general manager Bud Poile couldn't agree on contract terms the next year, Hodge retired. He coached the junior Vancouver Nats for parts of two seasons and sold real estate in the Lower Mainland for the next decade until former teammate John Ferguson, then the Winnipeg Jets GM, talked him into working as a scout.

He scouted all over North America before eventually concentrating on the West. Over time, his fastidious habits, his "at the rink" seriousness and his fussy eating habits, "Boston Pizza, Swiss Chalet, that's it," says Dirk, became the fodder for great pranks and lively stories, some of which you can even tell in a family newspaper.

"We were at Bowling Green University," recalls a Toronto Maple Leafs scout. "Charlie used to have this brown leather coat with fur around the collar and they got this owl mascot. During the warmup, Charlie's watching real serious, writing the lines down. We get the mascot to go sit beside him. You can see the mascot pointing to his feather collar and then pointing to Charlie's coat. Charlie doesn't catch on at first, but all the fans are just howling. Finally, Charlie looks over and goes "Will you fuck off" and the whole rink explodes."

The same scout says that while he was coaching, Hodge came down before a game one night to get line combinations. He gave him phoney combinations and unused jersey numbers.

"Ruined his whole game."

It drives Hodge nuts, another scout says, when junior teams dress a player for warmup without a name on his jersey.

"He's just got to find out who it is, when he was born, whatever", the Leafs scout says. "We say 'Charlie, if he's not good enough to have his name on his sweater, he's not good enough to draft."

Hodge defends his attention to detail, including his insistence on being at the rink at least two hours before the puck drops, with a bit of self deprecating humour. "I don't feel I'm overly intelligent, so what I do is try to get everything organized before the game so I don't fool myself."

Young St. Louis scout Barclay Parneta says Hodge is nobody's fool.

"He has the act where he kind of pretends like he has no idea what's going on, but I've spent enough time to know he knows exactly what's going on," says Parneta.

"When I came in, sort of the new guy, Charlie was more than willing to drive with me or take me places and treated me the same as guys he played with in the NHL who had been scouting for 30 years. He really helped me out a lot."

But even Parneta has got a classic Charlie story.

"Canuck scout Ron Delorme, Dirk, Charlie and I drove to Kelowna once. We're eating at Swiss Chalet, but we're running a little behind. You get dessert with your meal, but Charlie's standing up going 'C'mon, c'mon we got to get going' even though it's still an hour and half before we've got to be at the game. Dirkie says to the waitress 'I want the pecan pie, but I'm not going to have enough time to chew the nuts because we've got to go.' Charlie's flustered if he doesn't have his routine."

Hodge, who refers to all his nemeses with "oh, he's a real bug," says he loves the kibitzing, even from the acerbic Dirk, an occasional travelling companion of whom he laughingly says: "He's brutal, cruel, he's got the great lines."

Hodge had triple bypass surgery 14 years ago and jokes that every day he wakes up in the morning is a bonus. So why, at age 73, isn't he sitting on a lakeside dock somewhere, taking life easy and not worrying about line combinations, birthdates and a teenager's intensity level?

"Actually, if you must know, I'm goddamn afraid I'll wake up one morning and not have anything to do. I just feel I have to have something to do," Hodge says.

Those who know him well say his life revolves around hockey and immediate family. He shares a house with one of his three sons and a developmentally challenged grandson, whom he looks after on many afternoons. His wife, Sheila, lives nearby in a townhouse.

"We're still married, we just don't live together," Hodge says.



















Coolopolis Interview With Montreal Canadiens Goalie Legend Charlie Hodge

Here's a chat with pint sized Charlie Hodge, 72, who now lives in Langley, BC but grew up in Lachine and went on to star in the nets for the Montreal Canadiens between 1954 and 1967. We spoke this afternoon, January 2, 2007.

Q: It seems a lot of goaltenders die young, thankfully you're still going strong.

A: I have a theory about that, relating to my own case. When we used to travel it would be by train and we had our own car and a lot of the boys used to smoke cigars. When I had my first and second heart attacks they kept telling me that I was a smoker. I never smoked in my life, so I can only assume that second hand smoke is deadly like they say. I was in Calgary working as a scout, I was about 54, when I had my first one, then I ended up the next year in Jackson, Michigan and had another heart attack. They kept accusing me of being a smoker. They said you might walk out and drop dead or we could send you to Ann Arbour and have surgery. I asked, what’s my chances with bypass surgery? It was like fifty-fifty. I was 56 at the time. I had the bypass and it’s been fine since.

Q: Do you think stress is the big goalie killer, goalies throwing up before games and stuff?

A: I’d have an upset stomach, my stomach used to knot up but Glenn Hall was the only one I heard of that threw up. Mine would tighten up, but that’s it.

Q: What do you do now?

A: I still scout hockey. I am an antique. I scout for Tampa Bay. I went through three teams, Winnipeg, I got fired from there when John Ferguson lost his job. Then I got hired in Pittsburgh and two years ago they let me go, there was a bit of skulduggery involved in that one, but we won’t get into that. They let three of us go at the same time. The other two guys got hired this year, so everybody from Pittsburgh got rehired. But I don’t do any traveling, I just do local around here.

Q: Do you still see your old hockey buddies?

A: Sure, we see each other and we kibbutz. But I don’t get to go back to Montreal, I should go back. I’ve been invited back, but I don’t go back, it’s just too much of a problem to go. I’ve done so much traveling in my life.

Q: Where did you grow up in Montreal?

A: On Georges V in Lachine. Originally it was 70 A George V and then they changed the numbers so it became 322 Georges V (the homes have all been demolished and it's industrial there now). I was born in that house and lived for 21 years in it.
Q: What sort of family background did you have?

A: My dad was a welder he worked for the Dominion Bridge Company. I have no brothers or sisters.



















Q: They wouldn’t let you play on the high school team, so you quit school?

A: When I was going to school, I ended up playing for Junior Canadiens with Sammy Pollock and the assistant principal who was my French teacher at the time said to me, "if you don’t play for the school, we’re going to take you to court." When you’re 16 years old, you get a bit concerned. My parents didn’t have any money. We didn’t know about these things. So I quit school. I went out with the Junior Royals in 1949 and at that time Tag Miller was the coach. I went out to practice with them and during the summer, Tag Miller who was only 37, died. So a new coach took over and all he had was my name, so he invited me to camp. When I got to camp I ran into somebody and he said, "you’re too small, go home." So I went home and the coach phones me up the next day and he says "where were you?" I explained someone told me to go home because I was too small." He said "come on in." The same guy catches me the next day and said "go home." So I go get undressed, I go home, coach phones me up. He said "you come and see me, you are going on the ice." I went on the ice, I practiced half a practice, that was it. I went home. So the fellow who recruited me said "alright we’re going to talk to Sammy Pollock." He said "come on out." So I went out and played.

Q: Did you know at that point that you’d be a pro hockey player?
A: You have ambitions but it was a far cry from being a professional. Every kid has ambitions.

Q: What’s your most memorable game?

A: The one I relish most, if I picked one, would be the last game of the season when first place was on the line and the Vezina Trophy was on the line, it was myself and Glenn Hall. I think we were a goal apart, that was all, so we were playing in New York and that was after they had traded Plante to New York, so that was quite the game.

Q: Plante was seen as the one who blocked your career by holding the number one job, did you have mixed emotions towards him?

A: I always got along good with Plante. He helped me, in all honesty he helped me in some of the things that he pointed out to me. Plante was more of a student of the game, in other words he used to calculate everything out and he helped in that way. We weren’t friends off the ice, he was in a world of his own, but on the ice I feel that Plante helped me let’s put it that way. I didn’t mind him. But he got most of the ice time. One thing that you probably don’t know, when Dick Irvin was coaching, I think it was Dick, we were playing in the playoffs, playing against Boston and Plante and I would change every third shift. You have to go back a few years for that, but it was in the 50s and Plante and I would change every third shift, and against Boston it worked out pretty good. But when we played Detroit they rapped seven goals past us that night and that was the end of me. I sat on the bench. They rapped three past me and four past Plante. But he was the starter so I was the one that sat.

Q: Which character stands out most in your memory?

A: I guess you’d have to say Doug Harvey. He was a pretty good guy. He was good to everybody but himself and his family. Or Dickie Moore. He was another wing ding that I liked. They were a little crazy and I think most of the friends I hang out with now are still pretty crazy.

Q: I guess you guys were like kings of the city when you’d walk around town.

A: People wouldn’t recognize me much but they’d recognize Dickie, Doug or the Rocket.

Q: Doug Harvey, do you figure he was one of the best?

A: He was one of the better players but you couldn’t pick out one guy, it would be unfair to the rest of them, there had been a lot of pretty good players in those years.

Q: Do you consider yourself one of the top goalies?

A: I don’t think that, but for someone in my position I figure I achieved possibly more than I had hoped for.

Q: I hear you had to work summers as a player.

A: I worked with Goodyear Tire and Rubber in the early days. After that I got a little established I used to do two months of hockey schools, Montreal and Worcester Massachusetts and other different places.

Q: Was it hard work at the tire company? Not really. Sam Pollock got me in through a friend when he first got the job, like I said I just quit school and didn’t have anything going and Sammy got me going with Goodyear.

Q: I guess your mother and your father have passed away by now?

A: No. Well, my father John Hodge died in September 1954 and I played my first game in October 1954. He had lost an eye with the welding and what he’d do was move all the furniture out. We didn’t have a living room dining room but we had a combined room, so he built a four by six net with potato sacks behind it for mesh and get on his hands and knees and shoot tennis balls at me.

Q: So you played a lot or did you go to games as a kid too?

A: We didn’t have the $2 to go to a game. You’d go once a year, or something. Things were a little different in those days.

Q: Do you still know people in Montreal?

A: My paddling buddy Arthur Johnson (aka Perky Johnson) is there. We got screwed in the Olympics. (Johnson lost Hodge as a partner when Hodge was disqualified for being a professional athlete). Well, he got screwed. I did too but I had something else, but he didn’t have something else. This was his whole life so they ended up switching him over and putting him in with one of the Goerge Bosse’s cousin so that’s where that went. They kicked me out because I was a pro hockey player. I don’t know what that had to do with canoeing. The US team that won the '56 Olympics, well we beat them in 1955.

Q: Do you cheer for any hockey team?

A: Well, the one I work for. Tampa Bay. You’ve got to be loyal to your employer.

Q: Is there anything you miss about Montreal, a restaurant or something?

A: Well, the restaurant that I like is also here (Langley BC), it’s Swiss Chalet, it started in Montreal.

Lessons In Hockey And Class As Habs Schooled By Wings

Hey, maybe if we got to see the Red Wings more often, we might recognize how hockey is supposed to be played!

This, my good friends is firewagon hockey - not played by flying Frenchmen - but by a mix of fleetfooted Russians, Finns, Swedes and you name it foreigners.

The Habs had great seats for this windburning, freewheeling display of hockey as it should be played, and as spectators received a close up lesson in how it's done.

The Canadiens have something in common with the Wings, other than red home jerseys. In addition to a similar mix of nationalities on the team, the Habs also know how to create a breeze on the ice. Although they have looked anything but fast of late, the Canadiens know how to move it - they just don't know how to use it.

Watching the blur that was Detroit tonight, I found myself asking more questions than I had answers to, starting with, and always returning to, "Why can't Montreal do that?"

For one, how is it that all Red Wings forwards can streak into the Canadiens end at breakneck speed, hang around for a scoring chance or two, and have four players back at the blueline to surround a Habs player (Ryder, no less than 3 times, Higgins as pictured above) as he stiffles himself or augers himself into the ice?

How is it that the Canadiens, speedy enough themselves, can be made to look so stiff and slow?

Why is it that the Red Wings transition game appears to be a seamless flow from zone to zone?

The answers to these and many other mind boggling questions are not rocket science, but are rather based on the simplest notion in hockey - that the puck is what moves fastest on the ice.

The Wings apply this theory to all that they do, in all three zones, all the time, at the highest speed of execution imaginable.

Contrary to the Habs, Detroit does not log the puck - they move it. You'll rarely see any great individual plays by Red Wings until there is one final defender to beat. They don't get fancy in their own end. The don't do it in the neutral zone. They hardly ever attempt it at the blueline. Around the net, or nearing the slot, with one player left to beat, then the bag of tricks come out.

Up to this point, Wings players carry the puck very economically. They get the puck, pass it, a stride and half later it's gone again to another player who repeats the drill. Nobody tries to squeeze between other players individually.

What helps Detroit work this, is that they never stop moving. They do not stand still, watch or wait - they create, by keeping everything moving, the puck included. Space is hence created by defenders on their heels.

When the opposition has possession of the puck, Red Wings players do not settle for tailing their coverage back to the blueline, they beat it there, often preventing the opposing player who has the puck from finding an open pass. They muffle out many threats this way, and the Habs were helpless in solving this tonight.

How Detroit plays without the puck is impressive. They do well not to waste checks when unecessary. They couldn't be bothered with hindering the path of a player without the puck for too long. They are expert in being properly positioned all the time.

They do a whole mess of other things well using fluid motion and little waste. They do not spend a lot of time gringing players down or tying them up as they burn their gas getting into position to counter the attacks first.

Looking at Detroit's elements, one can see comparable assets on the Habs side, some that would look perfectly suited wearing the winged wheel.

The entire Kovalev line fits the bill - or could. Both Markov and Hamrlik can play that style too. Dandeneault has been there, and it shows at times. Pieces of Koivu, Higgins, and Begin's game goes there as well, just not often enough to cry "discovery".

Montreal frustrates themselves by trying to beat defenders one on one. They can't dump and chase against a faster team. They take too many strides with the puck and get snuffed out because linemates are watching instead of moving. Pinned in their own end, they have begun to wait for breaks rather than utilizing their collective speed to force them. They skate themselves into corners because they fail to create pass options consistently. Other than a tight cycling of the puck, they are lost for plays to make except on the power play.

When coaches suggest a team wasn't working hard enough, it all starts with skating.

Montreal was guilty of that worst of flaws, when not guilty of others, and it kept them a spectator to a great game.

At times it seemed as if they would keep up, until costly errors eroded their confidence and set them reeling on their heels again.

Perhaps what Guy Carbonneau is attempting to accomplish with certain line combinations, is an evening out of skill on particular lines. That might explain Streit with Koivu and Higgins, as opposed to the slow and dragging Ryder. It could also explain why there seemed to be some complicity between Latendresse and Chipchura on Saturday - neither fleet of feets. In time, it could also reveal Hamrlik to be better partnered with Markov as well.

The lessons to be learned in tonight's game may be found by splitting the contest into separate halves - what worked up until the score was 2 -1, and what failed to after. Comparing the details may hold some clues.

It may be a good thing that the Canadiens next opponant is the Bruins - who have a habit of making the Habs look like the Red Wings on occasion. With how the Habs are doing now, every light at the end of the tunnel is feared to be an oncoming train.

A Lesson In Class

I never liked the Chris Chelios for Denis Savard trade, and I never bought the Serge Savard argument about Chelios' knees being a question. He was moved because president Ron Corey didn't like the badass Chelios as captain. But that's a story agonized and unresolvable.

Habs fans evidently do not, or never did feel the same way.

Chelly was part of the Canadiens celebration of Original Six rivalries prior to the puck drop, and Chelios, the only man on the ice (where the heck were Frank and Pete?) to have played on both sides got great love from the packed house.

Chelios seemed extremely touched by the ovation in what was perhaps his last appearance in Montreal. He must have been just beside himself, getting louder cheers than both Gordie Howe and Jean Beliveau.

Not that I have any qualms with his inclusion, but Chelios as a Red Wing was never a part of any Original Six rivalry, or any other. Still, he deserved to be standing amongst the greats he was included with.

After the game, as the announced third star, Chelios was given the opportunity to send the love right back, and he surprised with a class gesture rarely seen. Rather than the usual spin, twirl and wave to the crowd, Chelios skated some lengths, looking into the masses with a genuine appreation in his own. He took his time about it too.

It was as if he were saying, "I remember you folks, and thanks for everything you've helped me achieve to get here today."

That was class you cannot teach - but it can be learned.

I hope many Canadiens players took note that when you bust your ass for this team and its fans, it is never forgotten.

Chelios Equates Habs School With Harvard

From the pages of today's Le Journal De Montreal

Former Canadiens defenseman Chris Chelios does not look like he is ready to ponder retirement. To see him in action during the Red Wings practice at the Verdun Auditorium yesterday, he surely did not look to be 45 years old.

When asked if this could be his final trip to the city which launched his career, his reply was, "I hope not."

Chelios, who turns 46 on January 25th and started his career in 1983-84 with the Habs, attributes his longevity to several factors.

"Not changing teams often helps, as does playing only for good ones. I was also lucky enough to have never suffered any serious injuries."

The fountain of youth that is Chelios dreams of wrapping up his career by playing with his 18 year old son Dean, a forward with the junior team in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Chelios remains realistic, however in saying "It's not certain that he'll be an NHL player. Even then, that day could be five years away. He's just beginning his first junior season."

Chelios teases that "If he's not good enough for the NHL, we'll have to accompish this in a lesser league, like Gordie Howe did with his sons."
























Howe teamed with his boys, Mark and Marty, with WHA Houston Aero's in the mid 1970's.

Still after so many years, Chelios feels a certain sensation playing against his former team.

"Of my years in Montreal, what I cherish most is the Stanley Cup win in 1986, the parade down Ste. Catherines, with millions of enthusiastic fans."

He made note of his initial NHL steps alongside a Hall Of Famer.

"In Larry Robinson, I had the cream of the crop as a role model. I always said that my years with the Canadiens were the equivallent of graduating Harvard with a diploma in hand."

Of all his career achievements, Chelios admitted that one particular thrill has passed him by - that of not having scored a hat trick.






















Speaking of the Red Wings, Chelios suggested that it has been Scotty Bowman's imprint upon the team that has kept it successful.

"He brought so much to the organization at every level, particularly in terms of drafting and competance in the hockey operations.

Wings coach Mike Babcock adds that Detroit has a recipe for success that is unshakable.

"We have been able to rebuild the team while maintaining a high level quality thanks to a good amalgam of veterans and young players.In today's NHL, a team cannot keep every one of it's pillars because of the salary cap. Teams have to be prepared for regular turnover, in addition to having quality drafts."

Babcock also spoke of Canadiens rookie Carey Price, of whom he predicted a long career.

"From what I have seen of him so far, I have been impressed by his calm nature, his fluid style and his size, one which allows him to greatly cover his net."

Don't Look Now, It's The Big Red Machine

Dangling on a precipice of doom and gloom, it looks to be lock that things will get worse for the Canadiens before they get better.

The Detroit Red Wings are in town. It's early December. Flashbacks, anyone?

Twelve years after the coming unglued of Patrick Roy, things are mighty different in Montreal. Some rightfully suggest that on that fateful day, the Habs history was altered and cursed for good. Or at least until now.

Realities are much more grounded in Montreal. There is much chance of any repeat scenarios similar to Roy's in this day and age.













Imagine Patrice Brisebois, mock hounded by fans, skating off the ice down to the Canadiens bench, walking in one door, past Doug Jarvis, thumbing his nose up at Guy Carbonneau, walking out the far end door, then skating back to the Habs blueline in search of George Gillett.

Spying him three rows up, in the corner reds, he meanders over to the glass and shouts to the owner, "I've just played my last game as a Montreal Canadien."

He says it a second time, and the glass fogs up. Brisebois wipes the mist off and yells it a third time.

Gillett, finally noticing Breezer, asks the fan sitting the next to him, "Who's that player staring at me, and what is he shouting?"

The fan informs the owner. Gillett yells back, "I don't care, you big pussy!"

Back at center ice, Alex Kovalev concusses himself, flailing to the ice in a fit of laughter.



















Yes, things definitely are no longer the same.

Tonight, the Canadiens organization will be celebrating the Red Wings, a team with both glorious past moments and presently the class of the NHL.

Ironic, isn't it, that Detroit today represents everything that Montreal used to be, everything they were, up until the Roy incident.

As the Habs honour the Wings as Original Six rivals, there will be one infamous clip, and it's perpetrator absent from the festivities - thankfully.

I respect omens more than I used to. I also respect superstitions as well.

























In the last five Canadiens games, I have worn my Habs jersey as I sat to watch each, all except the Toronto game - which they won.

I have two NHL jerseys and I'll be wearing the home jersey of Motor City tomorrow - an attempt to reverse the jinx!

Incidently, I am a Red Wings fan to some point. I always liked the sweater and logo, the players they had, and heck, in the last ten years I needed some team to cheer for after the Habs were done early. And I own them some gratitude for delivering us Pete and Frank Mahovlich!

There is one main difference between 1995 and 2007, and it is not a marginal one.

When Roy's skates last cut Montreal ice, the Habs were destined, with or without him, to hit a downward slope.

















Twelve years later, and even if it has been difficult to visualize of late, the slope now curves slightly upward.

The Canadiens of today, rut and all, currently possess a group youth core, one that assures better days ahead.

There's just this big hump in the road obliviating that curve we did catch glimpses of.

We may not be able to see it any clearer after this game either - considering the opponant, the odds, and bad timing. But somewhere in my beating Habs heart, in sense a strange notion that these players who have looked so disjointed together own more pride that they have earned credit for.

Maybe the score will be closer than we'd guess, and that coming off this Red Wings match, some player, young or old, will not look to the floor as he speaks afterwards about the game.

Perhaps he'll look the camera, the viewer straight in the eye and roll out an old and abused cliche - that won't be, this time - and say, "We did many good things. We have to focus on what we learned today, and build on it for the next game."

That's what we have for now, and that is all we will have to grasp from this one - lose or lose big.

Carbonneau At Work As Canadiens Riddle Continues

What a mess the Canadiens must sort through now!

With tonight's loss in OT to the Predators, the Habs freefall is now officially aimed to hit rock bottom, and it will be curious to see how management, the coaching staff, and the players react.

In the press, and in Habs fan circles, blame will be the order of the day, and the finger pointing frenzy got a head start last weekend with back to back loses against the Sabres.

The goaltending will be questioned, and Cristobal Huet will be criticized for allowing the Predators back into the game with an absent minded play.

A defense, whose ego is as tender as Andrei Markov's unspecified injury, will be taken to task as their errors and tendencies are magnified.

Slumping shooters will be roasted for missing golden opportunities, their intensity brought into play for mulligans in front of gaping nets.

Defensive specialists will be eyed for not having enough grit when it is needed, or for being too small when they needed to be big.

Contrarily, the bigger players will criticized for playing small.

The speedy, slick, talented, and small will be maligned for not showing enough guts.

The crash and bang players will be blamed for trying to get too fancy at the wrong times.

And finally, Guy Carbonneau will earn a myriad of arrows of discontent for anything he's done, or tried to do, or hasn't done.Of course the coach will be the most pointed of all. As a focal point for the team, it is his responsability to see that it works.

The real problem with the team, as I see it, is that it isn't playing as a team at all.

The Canadiens do not seem to have faith in themselves one bit.

Players are often tentative in their roles and hesitant in the execution of the details of their respective duties. Certain players might be more concerned / distracted with their personal stats and goals. The defense is likely unhappy with the offensive players committment, and vice versa. Players who wish to speak out and be leaders by example, may be lacking the on ice goods to have their words respected. There may even be some kind of rookie / veteran split that could be keeping things dysfunctional. Cliques could be dividing the team, preventing reason and accountability from bringing it together.


























I could speculate endlessly on some points, but the fact of the matter is that the team is simply not playing as a cohesive unit in any way.

So a point should be made that no blame should be singular, as everyone on board needs to gaze into the mirror for self examination in times such as these.

It should also be pointed out that such inner team quakes aren't uncommon. Most teams go through it annually at some point. It's happening to Ottawa right now. It's been happening in Toronto on and off for going on 40 years. Hopefully, it begins happening to the Red Wings starting Tuesday.

The team dysfunction can grow roots, or be temporary. The players themselves will actually decide its length by their committment to getting out of it.

It's not unlike other relationships (think spouses, sibling, work cohorts!) where doubt and jealousy seep in to corrupt faith, togetherness, and the ultimate goal.

If this game against Nashville became the drop that made the bucket overflow, it was because good things seemed to be occurring, albeit deceptively, while the Canadiens mounted a 3 - 0 lead in a game they had little business leading by such a margin.

For the first 50 minutes, the Habs seemed somewhat in control, and despite handing out scoring chances like credit card applications before Christmas time, looked to have the game in the bag.
The trouble is, a fragile team should never think like that, and they obviously did in this game. After Guillaume Latendresse made the score 4-1, they geared down and settled into cruise control.

The good things I mentioned, for starters were Cristobal Huet being as good as he was lucky - and he was very lucky during the game's first 50 minutes. Mark Streit looking way more comfy as a forward again, and complementing Koivu well. Four, count 'em - even strength goals.

Patience paying off in the name of Guillaume Latendresse. Kovalev continuing to fire on all cylinders after a deceiving game.

The sickest feeling I have right now is that all of this has been wasted and thrown away.











Carbonneau must regroup the troups and find a way to get them to focus on a back to basics team defense approach. The Canadiens blueliners, especially with an ailling Markov, desperately need the concentration and contribution of clued in and dedicated forwards.

The focus should also include great notions of forcing opposition mistakes rather than placing an emphasis on creating more scoring chances. The effort on the first basic notion is what enables the latter.

Carbonneau knows this, obviously, and is likely presently hard at work preaching it.

Certain things we as fans have seen and are disatisfied with, occur to the coach as well. While we cast opinions easily, the coach is tasked with not only managing the players roles but also handling their personalities. One nod to that ideal - he sits Begin and Kostopoulos because he knows they can bounce back. Doing the same with other players is akin to spinning the wheel when it comes to personality repercussions.

Carbonneau has yet to learn how Bryan Smolinski would handle such a fate. Last season, doing the same to a more than deserving Sergei Samsonov and an unsuspecting Craig Rivet caused a deep rot in the team's ranks and chemistry.

This year, it seems the coach is trying to find a cautious balance between having enough patience with certain players, and too much with others.

He might also be wary of how to handle team captain Koivu during an unproductive period. He does not want to say or do the wrong thing, but Koivu has all of one even strength goal this season - an output doubled by Latendresse in tonight's game - and may be in need of some fresh perspectives.

In fact, what Koivu is currently undergoing is quite representative of the team, in that he is hard working, often discouraged, misguided in his efforts, and possibly too proud to surrender to the notion that he is in error at times. Carbonneau has to tread gently when it comes dealing with his captain - one wrong move and the ship springs a leak.

I recall listening to Scotty Bowman one time, while employed as an analyst with TSN. He suggested that there were no bad coaches or systems in the NHL. He said that what often makes the difference between successful coaches, and those who had shorter tenures, was their ability to get their system across to players and get them to buy into it wholeheatedly. He used the "one weak link in the chain" analogy, and offered how players who did not believe in the system were cancers. Older fans remember how he dealt with such cases when he coached.
















The big difference today, is that long term contracts, numerous employment possibilities for players, and a salary cap structure and a CBA that prevent trades and demotions, all work against what coaches attempt to achieve. When one considers that coaches have way less security than players, not to mention that they also have smaller paydays, it's quite easy to see who has who's balls in a vice.

Sunday morning, hundreds of thousands of fans in Montreal will wake up better coaches than Cabonneau, knowing precisely the right solutions to every woe. They will have the best line combinations, of course, to get the Habs back on track. They'll know who to bench next game, who to call up from Hamilton, and be damned if they can't make all those trades Bob Gainey has been unable to do so far to get the boys rolling again.

Funny how a seemingly sound coach of the year candidate earlier in the season can turn into a complete idiot in the space of two weeks.

On Monday morning, discontented Habs fan will return to their regular routines of life, be it work or school, while Guy Carbonneau loses sleep thinking about how to rectify everything that has soured with his team recently.

The difference between the views and opinions of us fans and Carbonneau's connundrum is that he understands and knows his personel way better than we ever could.

I recall three separate and disctinct occasions when a Habs benchboss seemed to lose the grip on the steering. They had names such as Vigneault, Therrien, and Julien, and all recovered from temporary idiot status to coach again in the NHL. While all three were being lined up for the firing line, it was shouted that the Habs ought to hire Carbonneau to guide the forces.

If it were Larry Robinson presently at the Canadiens helm, mangled in this mess, we'd still be demanding Carbonneau!

That is because Carbonneau has all the credibility needed to be behind the Montreal bench. He is a former player. He's won two Cups. He's a two time Selke Trophy winner. He's billingual. He's a former captain. He's tangled and dealt with the media both pro and con.

The only other candidate with a similar resume is GM Gainey.

Tonight we were beaten by a team whose coach might have outcoached ours in the latter stages of this game. Barry Trotz, through good times and bad, and the thick and thin of some very thin teams, has been in place for a decade in Nashville. His tenure speaks loudly for his worth and players, fans, and media never call for his head on a block. Last weekend, the Lindy Ruff coached Sabres, a team given up for dead weeks earlier, taught the Habs a pair of lessons. Ruff is the second longest tenured coach in the NHL, after Trotz. Experience has taught both coaches what is needed to recover from slow starts and rough spots.

Players get better with experience. Coaches gain experience from being fired.

I want a coach in Montreal that has been through experiences similar to those of Trotz and Ruff.
Blaming is a tactic for the ill willed and weak minded. Solutions require deeper digging and more visionary perspectives. Blaming is for smaller minds. Grouping ideas, possibilities, and solutions are for leaders and winners.

Blaming Carbonneau without reason or knowledge lends creedence to the players who slack off from duty, take shortcuts in regards to effort, and in the end believe themselves to be above a team concept.

I'd rather see a different message sent in Montreal. One that says the coach rules - buy into it or else!

Habs Sit Begin And Kostopoulos Against Predators

Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau decided earlier today that he is ready to ruffle some feathers in a bid to spark a sagging Montreal Canadiens offense.

Veterans Steve Begin and Tom Kostopoulos, healthy scratches both, will not be in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Nashville Predators. Seldom used defenseman Josh Gorges will sub for Mark Streit, who's being moved up to wing, and Mikhail Grabovsky will see action on either the third or fourth line.

"It's unfortunate that those guys have to pay for it, but Nashville's got a quick team, they'll put a lot of pressure on our defencemen, so we just want a little more speed up front," said Carbonneau.

Carbonneau's moves were in part prompted by concerns about that defenceman Andrei Markov, who is playing through an undisclosed injury, might not be up to playing his usual minutes. Markov had a season low 16:53 of ice time in the 4-0 loss to New Jersey.

"That's one reason we have seven defencemen in the lineup," added Carbonneau. "When we have days off in between games, he's OK. But two games in two days, we don't know."



















In 14 games during the month of November the Canadiens record is 7-7-0 after getting off to a good start.

"We haven't been on top of our game for the last seven or eight games," added Carbonneau.

Should the team not turn things arounf soon, there is speculation that they may call players up from their AHL team in Hamilton.

Begin and Kostopoulos were among a handful of players who took part in an optional skate on Saturday morning.

"The coach needs to wake the team up and I probably have to give more on the ice - get more points or whatever," said Begin, who was also a scratch for a game on Oct. 16. "I have to work harder and make sure it doesn't happen any more.

"I'm here to bring energy and probably that's what I haven't done lately. That's all I can say."

The Predators will try to post their first win ever in Montreal as they face the Canadiens on Saturday night. Since entering the league in 1998, Nashville is 0-3-1 all-time at the Bell Centre, where they'll take the ice for the first time since a 5-4 overtime defeat on Dec. 18, 2003.

Habs Goalies: Murphy, Evans, and Binette

After Jacques Plante joined the Canadiens and solidified the team's goaltending duties for the next decade, other goalies rarely had the opportunity to play. Some teams began carrying two netminders in case of poor play or injury and the Canadiens would soon follow the trend.

When playing in Montreal, the Canadiens had several goaltenders in their system to choose from. During road games, it was a different story, and the Habs would then take a goalie on loan from the opposing teams.

Three goaltenders who appeared for Montreal in the early 1950's were Hal Murphy, Claude Evans, and Andre Binette. Here's their short profiles.

Hal Murphy 1952 - 1953

Goaltender Hal Murphy came up through the ranks of Montreal's minor-hockey system in the 1930s and 1940s and joined the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QSHL in 1950. He was moved to the Montreal Royals in 1952-53.

During the 1952 season the Canadiens came calling as they needed a one game fill in replacement for the injured Gerry McNeil.

Murphy got his chance to shine on November 8, 1952 and the Canadiens went on to beat the Boston Bruins 6-4 that evening. It was a short one-game career for the diminutive goalie, but he always cherished that one opportunity and often joked that he left the league undefeated.

Murphy played three games with the OHL's Ottawa Senators in 1953-54 before leaving the game as a player at the age of 26.

Claude Evans 1954 - 1955























Born in Longueil, Quebec, on April 28, 1933, goaltender Claude Evans spent three seasons with the Montreal Nationale before turning pro with the International Hockey League's Cincinnati Mohawks. Evans put up All-Star numbers for the Mohawks leading the league in games played with 60, wins with 43 and shutouts with five. A busy 1953-54 saw Evans suit up for four different clubs, but by the following season Evans had reached the NHL.



















Though most of his season was spent with the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Hockey League, Evans was called up to replace the injured Jacques Plante and played four games with the Canadiens between November 13 and 18. Evans had an even 2-2 record, but was returned to the Royals after the stint.





















Evans remained in the minors for two full seasons before signing as a free agent with the Boston Bruins in 1957-58.He returned to the NHL in March of that year playing one game for the Boston.

An All-Star the next year, back in the QHL, Evans never made it back to the big leagues. He played three more years, the majority with the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League before retiring following the 1960-61 season.

Andre Binette 1954 - 1955




















Goalie Andre Binette was known for his lightning fast reflexes while playing junior hockey with the Trois Rivieres Flambeaux of the QJHL.

In 1954, Binette was called up from the Montreal Royals by the Canadiens to replace injured starter Jacques Plante. His only NHL experience came on November 11, allowing four goals in a 7-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Binette continued to play hockey for another three years with Shawinigan Cataracts (QHL), Cornwall Colts (EOHL), Troy Bruins (IHL), Clinton Comets (EHL), Toledo Mercury's (IHL), and the Chatham Maroons (NOHA).

Following the 1957-58 season, Binette called it quits but was enticed to come out of retirement four years later by the Montreal Olympics of the QSHL. Binette became the teams number one netminder, bringing them all the way to the 1962 Allan Cup. During the playoffs, Binette recorded eleven wins and five loses, while recording four shutouts and a 2.60 GAA.

Devils Expose Where Habs Need Upgrading Most

Earlier in the season, while the Canadiens were off to good and fresh start, certain games, namely those against Toronto, Ottawa, and Carolina were seen as measuring sticks for how good the Habs truly were doing. These are teams with identity written all over them, and the Habs were greatly tested when they butted heads with these well aquainted foes.

They faced another such well defined opponant in the New Jersey Devils last night, and the result was both deceiving and disappointing.

Assessing how good - or how bad - the Habs have been of late is no simple chore. After the teams surprising start to the season, which had them on a lofty precipice as high as third place overall after some wins, they have settled into being nothing more than an average .500 hockey team over the last three weeks.

Some nights, all the promise of the roster speaks of a Stanley Cup future. On other nights, reality sets in and much reassessment is needed to figured out exactly where the team is at.

Earlier this week, right before the win against Toronto, I made a note to myself to write a post entitled "Where The Habs Need Upgrading Most". The goal was to analyze in detail, what were the weaker points of the lineup, and of the team's game, that needed attention in regards to where the Habs were headed, not just immediatly, but with that silver mug big picture in mind.

As I thought out my points and took notes, I decided that I would let the notion marinade on my brain for a game or two, before committing them here.

Unsuspectedly, this loss to Jersey brought them to a head.


To summarize, before offering an explanation, I'll suggest that the Canadiens have a nucleus with the potential for an awesome upside, combined with, or divided by, some very ill fitting parts.

I see the team as being about three and a half players away from being a serious Stanley Cup contender.

New Jersey did well to expose the Canadiens most glaring weaknesses in this game, and the score wasn't exactly reflective of the game that was played.

The contest in and of itself was a pretty even match. The Devils, as per their norm, took advantage of four Canadiens errors to score four goals.

The Canadiens began the game exactly as mandated. Come out howling, force the Devils to take some penalties, and pounce on the opportunities offered.

As though they had something to prove to more than just themselves, the Habs did exactly as mandated, but Martin Brodeur had other ideas. To suggest he was stellar in the opening frame is obvious. Oddly, this is where the Devils won their game of patience. They play chess on an ice surface and conquer Montreal with their poise every time.

The four Habs boobs were:

Patrice Brisebois revisiting a hellish flashback of his gravest flaw - his inability to seize a pass, shoulder into it's reception at the blueline, in order to counter a check or pickoff attempt.

Mathieu Dandeneault offering himself up as a pylon without a stick during the second New Jersey goal, a Devils PP in which he did zero to negate the Devils moving the puck around.

The third and fourth boobs were unique, yet coincidental incidents, that led to two Devils PP goals, and they snuffed out all hopes for any comeback.

On the same shift, both Kyle Chipchura and Guillaume Latendresse were called for high sticking infractions worthy of 4 minutes in the box each. It was the ultimate in dubious calls. You may watch 5000 more hockey games in your lifetime and never see such a mangling of official responsability by the zebra's in charge of the game.

Simply put, and not that it affected the game's outcome, here is the explanantion of what occured.

Chipchura highsticked a Devils player in the face in the Canadiens zone. Both referees on hand missed the call, but the infraction was observed by one of the two linesman, who where positioned further away from the play - where they should be positioned, which is at the blue line.

Now a four minute call for high sticking involves two ideals. One, that it is a blatant foul. Two, that it draws blood. In either, the linesman have the power to blow the whistle as soon as the guilty team gains possession of the puck - even sooner in case of extreme injury.

Neither the referee's or linesman did so in this instance.

Hence, the play was allowed to continue up ice with the Canadiens in possession of the puck. When Latendresse accidently high sticked a Devils defender while on an offensive rush, the whisltle blew, and the referee called him for high sticking.

It did not seem that Latendresse's foul drew blood, nor did it incur to the linesman to whistle upon the Canadiens possesion in regards to the Chipchura call, which commentators said did draw blood.

In my interpretation of the rulebook, one call ought to have negated the other. Impossibly, the game's officials made three mistakes on only two infractions, and handed the Devils a 4 minute 5 on 3 powerplay.

Of course, all this is beside the point, as the Habs lost the game way before these bumblings sealed their defeat.

Where the Canadiens came up short in this shutout loss to New Jersey, was predicted by where they have been running on empty in other games.

It is a not a question of player dedication, heart, focus, or committment that has been derailing the Habs of late. It is an issue of personel.

It is the reason why Bob Gainey has taken in some Bulldog's games of late.

Personel? I'll name names.

Brisebois, Streit, Dandeneault, Bouillon, Smolinski, Plekanec, and Koivu.

Take a breath - I'm far from suggesting the Canadiens need to ship the whole seven off - nowhere near.

I will tackle each needed upgrade in order named.

Brisebois, simply put, is a stop gap measure until a more rounded defenseman becomes NHL ready, or the Habs pull off an upgrading trade move. In some games he has looked composed while paired with Roman Hamrlik, but such notions are deceiving as he often screws up when left to his own devices.

Grooming Josh Gorges or Ryan O'Byrne would hardly detract from the zero upside that Brisebois gives the team.

Streit and Dandeneault were each better off where they were played last season. Streit contributed more offense than Dandeneault up front, while Dandeneault wasn't as shellshocked as Streit presently is on defense. While Streit may add up powerplay numbers, he is a 5 on 5 liability on pace to challenge Sheldon Souray's minus stat from ast season.

Francis Bouillon gives all of what he has on a nightly game basis. I respect the courage and conviction he brings, but on a thinned out Habs defense, and paired so vulnerably with Streit, he is prone to his inadequacies of size and speed. Paired with another player, on a deeper dfense, he would be tolerable.

So far, Bryan Smolinski has been a giant step sideways as a Habs depth player, and is no upgrade on Radek Bonk in any area. He has been inconsistant, while being unpredictable. Playing both wing and center, on both the third and fourth lines, Smolinski has found no niche or role on the team yet that has been definable. In defensive roles at center, he has been surpassed by a rookie with a mere 20 games of experience in Chipchura. On the wing, he skates away from obvious hits. He acts like a player more concerned with his health after retirement than a veteran willing to go the lengths to win a Cup. He's a million bucks more expensive than Maxim Lapierre - but half as effective and irritating to opponants.

Saku Koivu is a difficult player to critique, as I love both the man and the player. The human being that he is, is even more beyond reproach. Last night, I watched Saku make a half dozen premature passes to wingers not yet in the open. Koivu wants to win so badly. I find that he often tries to play quicker and bigger than he is - his heart not recognizing his talents limitations. The Devils keyed their best center against Plekanec, and still Koivu was squeezed in a vice - like a blanket. He's a keeper for the Habs until the day he hangs them up, but as a centerman, the opportunities he must create for his wingers must be more fluid and precise.

Tomas Plekanec is the most difficult talent to assess. The Devils shut him down by systematically throwing two forwards at him all game. Other teams will learn to snuff him out similarly. Obviously, not every team has a John Madden capable of reading the Habs rush, but this is the type of countering he can expect come playoff time. Last night, Plekanec did little more than dump pucks into safer area's, and the tight coverage nulified the effectiveness of his line. He's young enough and smart enough to learn how to adapt to it. Only time and experience will show what he is truly made of.

Taken in context, the Canadiens upward moves are in a stanglehold position. Trades and upgrades simply do not occur as often as they once did. The new NHL's salary cap is both a vice and a noose, and I hope Gainey's trademark "wait and see" approach is sound when it comes to risking change.

Perhaps Bob Gainey's patience is the Hab fans best armour as roadbumps develop. Better to follow Gainey's cautious steps, than rush and regret later.

While the need for certain upgrades may seem exposed, 57 games remain in the season, panicking now would be irrational, given the variables that lie ahead.

Take a deep breath, Habs fans, and give your own observations a little more time.