Of Near Brushes With Habness, And The Canadiens Working On The Railroad

Hockey and the railways have a strong connection and have played an important part in uniting Canada. From the famous locomotive works in Stratford, Kingston and Montreal, to the railway hubs in Manitoba and the Maritimes, as well as in the numerous smaller towns that sprouted up along the tracks, many railroad workers have donned their skates to play for their local teams.

The Montreal Canadiens of 1909, and today's Les Habitants share a connection with the railway industry. During the time of the club's inception one hundred years ago, it wasn't uncommon that several of the team's players found full time or off season employment working on the rails. As train travel began connecting Canada's distant parts in the day, railway stations often had their own teams of players.

Today in Montreal, the Bell Centre sits directly against La Gare Windsor, which was originally built to serve as both the transcontinental terminal of the Canadian Pacific Railway and also as its company headquarters. Since VIA Rail consolidated its operations at Gare Centrale in the 1980s, Windsor Station has seen only commuter trains. These have been pushed far back from the station by the construction of the Bell on the site of the original trainsheds. Parts of the original station, including its surprisingly modernist skylit hall, are still maintained for public use.

So, why you might ask, am I writing about trains on a Canadiens blog?

That's a damn good question too!

Pardon the obvious bad pun, but I got sidetracked. I started out looking up the career of a former NHL player online, and links led me to learn about what this player had done for a living after retirement. As the player in question was a railway employee, it led to my discovering of how train travel and its industry tied into early Canadiens history. Some posts just happen this way, I guess.

This story get its start while my wife and I are standing in line at Metropolis in Montreal this past Grey Cup Sunday, waiting in the queue to see former Soundgarden and Audioslave lead singer Chris Cornell in concert.

Perhaps because I often wear Montreal Canadiens colours when I am out and about, I often get asked the silliest of questions, such as, "Nice hoodie, are you a fan?"

Of course I inform that yes, I am in fact a Habs empassioned nutcase with a blog, no less. It speeds up the conversation, and it helps to separate the casuals from the diehards of Habs fandom real quick.

My wife Joanne is the big fan of all things Cornell. She goes nutso in a similar compulsion as I do with the Canadiens and Springsteen. Me, I just like the Soundgarden stuff Cornell did best, and love my wife more than enough, to brave the chilling cold and make a great time of it. It wasn't difficult! My better half was more than determined to have our asses freeze off in a lineup all in the name of getting the best general admission seats in the house - which we did. Along the way, we met some equally die hard fans, and inevitably, with me in my Habs hoodie, the hockey subject came up.

After a few brief questions, one young woman whom we hung around at the backstage door with prior to the show's start and are now standing in line with informs me that her grandfather once played in the NHL.

"No way?", I ask, "With Montreal?"

"Yes, he played a season with Montreal, and then he went to New Jersey."

Now my brain is reeling, right. The young lady is at the most in her late twenties, but my guess is she can't be no more than 21 or 22. I'm calculating as I speak, while eliminating that Stephane Richer or Claude Lemieux or Rollie the Goalie can't possible have a 20 something grandchild.

I'm messed!

"What was his name?"

After a minute's struggle, she recalls the name - Maurice Croghan.

"He died before I was born. I never met him, but he played for the Maroons."

"Oh, okay, not the Canadiens then. It was the Jersey thing that threw me off. If he played for the Maroons, he could not have played for the Devils of course."

"No, I don't know who he played with in New Jersey, my family just told me he went there after playing for the Maroons in 1935."

In '35, then his name is on the Stanley Cup!", I exclaimed, to her confusion.

"I'm not sure, I'd have to ask."

I told her quickly that the name Maurice Croghan rang a bell, and that I was familiar with the history of the Maroons franchise. If indeed he played in that season, his name would be ingraved on the Cup. I told her I would look it up once I arrived home.

"Do an internet search in a couple of weeks, and you might find somthing at my site", I suggested.

The young lady, whose name I dumbly never asked for, changed the conversation flow from there, and we began talking about where we were from and what we did for a living.

She informed me that she was from the eastern townships of Quebec, in a place familiar to me - Cowansville, Quebec. I made a mental note of it, once I got into researching just who was Maurice Croghan.

As it turns out, Croghan was actually Montreal Canadiens property for a season, upon the disolution of the Maroons after the club's final 1937-38 campaign. In looking up the player, I came upon the interesting connection to the railway industry.

A brief resume of Croghan's short NHL stint reads as such: The defenseman who went by the name Moe in the day, wore number 16 and played in 16 games for the Maroons in 1937-38. Moe Croghan was termed a sturdy defensive rearguard in his day, and counted no goals or assists in his short NHL time. Upon the Maroons franchise going out of business, he became property of the Canadiens, playing in some exhibition games prior to the start of the 1938-39 season - in possibly the Habs most dismal era on record.


















Croghan was born November 19, 1914 in Montreal, and played junior and senior hockey in his hometown until joining the Quebec Aces in 1936. Croghan's talent were on display that season, as the Aces ventured all the way to the Allen Cup, and after his successful run he was signed on by the Maroons.

There's no accounting of Croghan playing with a New Jersey based club around this time, but he wasn't far off in stints with the Habs affiliated Providence Reds and Springfield Indians, where he split his 1938-39 season. From 1939 to 1941, he played with the Montreal Victorias of the MCHL and the Montreal Royals of the QSHL.

After his retirement from the game, the native Montrealer relocated to Sherbrooke, Quebec, taking on a job with the Canadian National Railway as a locomotive engineer.

At age 64, Croghan passed away of a heart attack on February 7, 1979, and he is burried in Lac Brome, Quebec. In his obituary seen here, his birth name may have been "Morris" and not "Maurice", as the Lost Hockey website states a photo contribution from a Moe Croghan Jr, and this obit lists a Morris as one of his children. He was survived at the time by his wife, nee Lillian Hartley, and two daughters, Sandra Nicholson and Linda Mailloux.













That was all the detail I could find on Croghan's hockey career and life away from the game. From searching the net, I was led to site called Hockey Railroaders, that featured a more detailed account of how some former Montreal Canadiens players made a living away from the rink.

From the early 1900's, up until World War II in the 1940's, several Canadiens players, as well as other NHLer's worked on the railroad across Canada. Aurel Joliat, Maurice Richard, Dickie Moore, Marcel Dheere, Herb Gardner, Sam Pollock, Joe Cattarinich, Lorne Chabot, Len Grosvenor, Harry Mummery, and Howie Morenz all spent a good deal of their youth and playing days learning a trade that would provide income to them once away from the rinks in summer.

During WWII, the Canadian Pacific Railway reorganized its entire shop systen for the war. Wartime shop production signaled the end of the Great Depression and offered jobs to many of its laid off CPR employees.

The Canadiens original goalie in the 1909-10 season, Jos Cattarinich, was a brakeman with CPR when he met and befriended Leo Dandurand. The pair would go on to own and manage the Canadiens for several seasons, as well as partnering in the tobacco business and horse racing endeavors.

Mummery who played for both the Canadiens and Toronto Blueshirts in 1917, was employed by the CNR as a locomotive engineer. Also working as a fireman during the season, Mummery brought his rail eating ritual to both the firehouse and the arena dressing room. A large man at 250 pounds, Mummery set up pot bellied stoves in both workplaces, cooking large steaks in them with the help of a freshly hosed shovel, a practice he took to while riding the rails and cooking his meat in the steam engine's fire box.

Morenz followed his father and uncle, apprenticing as a machinist with Stratford's Grand Trunk Railway in 1919. The Canadiens future star played for three teams in different levels in the city, one of which was operated by GTR. In one incident, Morenz had dropped a metal block on his foot, causing it to swell badly - not bad enough to cause him to miss that night's game however. After the contest, Morenz's skate boot literally needed to be cut off to remove his swollen foot from it.

Morenz was always proud of his trade, and oftenmentioned that he was a machinist by profession. Two years later, Morenz and his GTR team played a game against the Montreal CNR shops at the Mount Royal Arena. The GTR team led by Morenz steamrolled the CNR's, and Howie scored 9 goals. The performance caught the attention of the Canadiens director Cecil Hart, who then made it a point to sign Morenz.






















Before his NHL career got going, goaltender Lorne Chabot worked full time with the CPR in Brandon, Manitoba while playing senior hockey with the Wheat Kings in 1921. A age 16, Chabot had enlisted in the army. Unaware of his age, he was stationed in France, driving an ammunition wagon with the Royal Canadian Field Artillery. He was soon found out and sent home.

Former Canadiens defenseman Herb Gardiner got a late start in professional hockey due to his committments to the war and the railroad. Gardiner had quit playing senior hockey at age 18 to work for the CPR as a surveyor. After serving three years with the Canadian Army, Gardiner rejoined the CPR while playing with the Calgary Tigers in the WCHL. In losing to the Canadiens in the 1924 Cup final, Gardiner made the Habs acquaintance and was signed by them two seasons later.

Len Grosvenor, who toiled with the Canadiens in 1932, worked his entire life, in and around hockey, on the railroad.

























Onesime Richard, the father of Maurice, worked as a carpenter for 40 years with the CPR. Each morning he would board the train in Bordeaux and catch a ride to the Angus shop, where he would build freight cars. Maurice joined him in 1942 while playing for the Canadiens Seniors, earning up to $40 a week working as a machinest for the Munitions Department. The future Rocket was on leave a great deal at this time due to his burgeoning hockey career, and did not resign his position with CPR until after his 50 goal season.

Following his retirement from hockey in 1938, Aurel Joliat went on to work for CNR in Ottawa as an agent. He was also later employed as a coach and with the Quebec Liquor Commission.




















St. Boniface's Marcel Dheere joined the Canadiens in a trade on Christmas day, 1940 and also found work at the time with Montreal RCAF and Montreal Canada Car. Dheere played hockey at several levels including the Canadiens over the next few seasons before leaving the city. He served in the military in 1944-45, and the strong connections he made while in Montreal set him up for employment with the railway as a switchman for the next 30 years.

After high school graduation in 1943, Sam Pollock was a junior clerk with the railway for a few years, while also working in hockey and baseball. He left the railway for good in 1946 to coach and scout in the Canadiens organization. Three years later, Pollock signed Dickie Moore, a CPR alumni, to a Montreal Junior Canadiens contract on the word of Frank Selke.

Hope you enjoyed this little sidetrack - it was more to do than blogging about O'Byrne derailing!

.

Don Cherry Was Almost A Montreal Canadien, Not!

Everyone has heard the old Don Cherry tale of playing his lone NHL game against the Canadiens in the 1955 playoffs. Few people realize that Cherry once donned the Habs jersey he would later grow to despise.

Who knows the real story, but it is doubtful an accounting would come from Cherry himself!

Cherry started out in junior as a solid prospect on defense who was signed to a confirmation form (C - Form) with the Bruins in the day. After his first pro season in Hershey, he was called up by the Bruins in March of 1955, to play what would turn out to be his only NHL game.

Did the Habs burn him or what?

All that is known from the game, is that Boston didn't win it.

The Canadiens went on to win the series 4 to 1, but then lost in the Cup final to Detroit in seven games.

In the 1959-60 season, Cherry played the final 23 games of the season for the Trois Rivieres Lions of the Eastern Professional Hockey League. The 25 year old defenseman had been acquired from the Springfield Indians and was in the midst of becoming a journeyman AHL'er. Soon he would play for eight different teams in the next ten seasons.

With the Lions, he was a team mate of future Rangers dynamic duo Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle, and one time Habs forwards Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort, and goaltender Claude Evans.

The Canadiens organziation sponsored Quebec based teams and players in the EPHL, and obviously became acquainted with Cherry at the time. After Cherry played with Kitchener, Sudbury and Springfield once more, he was looking to remain in the EPHL, where he had forged a reputation as a tough and dependable rearguard.

Prior to the 1962-63 season, it appears that Cherry was given a tryout by the Canadiens, playing a few exhibition games with the Hull Ottawa Canadiens of the EPHL

Cherry wore number 6 and played in at least a few exhibition games for Hull, as noted by this program for a game against the NHL Bruins.

Curious that an EPHL team would play against an NHL club in exhibition. The Bruins in the day were the NHL's weak sisters, and the Canadiens farm club was a strong minor league affiliate loaded with talent.

Canadiens prospects on that edition of the Hull - Ottawa squad included Keith McCreary, Claude larose, Terry Harper, Jim Roberts, Jacques Laperriere, Germain Gagnon, Andre Boudrias, and goalies Ernie Wakely, Claude Pronovost, and Cesare Maniago.

Few remember Cherry's brief stint in the CH duds. It is likely only after he became famous as the Bruins coach, and later, even more reknown from Coach's Corner, did anyone likely recall his Canadiens cup of coffee.

Of the few recollections from that time, word arises that the team liked Cherry enough to invite him. It is often discussed that the NHL Habs were on the lookout for players who weren't afraid to drop the gloves, and that is where their interest in Cherry may have came from. The following season, the Canadiens signed John Ferguson, and settled the issue of team toughness in one fell swoop.

Why Cherry didn't stick with Montreal could have been that he liked to tip the bottle a touch too much for the liking of GM Sam Pollock. The tryout ended as soon as it began, and the 28 year old went on to sign with the Spokane Comets of the WHL. The Comets had an affiliation with the Canadiens as well, employing the three goaltenders named above, as well as Cherry for the duration of the season.

Cherry then moved on to the Rochester Americans of the AHL, where he would play parts of the next six seasons, in a veteran leadership role that led to his interest in coaching. In Vancouver, he crossed more Canadiens affiliates, in Marc Rheaume, Gagon and goalie Charlie Hodge.

The Canadiens meanwhile, were busy winning four Cups in five seasons from 1965 to 1969.

Were francophone sour grapes born from this?

The Story Of How Bob Gainey Became A Canadien

At Eyes On The Prize, I have often written about the present, spoken about the future's promises, and delved into the past.

This next little tale, a flashback of sorts, is how events can all collide in terms of the big picture. It's something to think about next time you have a doubt about the team, and think you might know a little more than those being paid the big bucks to think stuff out.

The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1973 with a team that was thought to be in transition, as they had done in 1971.

The team was abundant with properous youth combined with wise and wiley veterans that understood what it took to win.

The Habs had talent aplenty at every position. They were deep in offensive talent (Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt had yet to bloom), solid on defense (Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe were in their early 20's, Larry Robinson was a rookie ) and solid in goal (Ken Dryden was about to take a sabbatical year off due to a contract dispute, but others were worthy of tending the Habs net).























The prize of that summer's draft was a defenseman named Denis Potvin, who would go on to win 4 Cups with the New York Islanders.

Potvin was a cornerstone prospect, described as a franchise player and the second coming of Bobby Orr. The estimations weren't far off.

Then Canadiens GM Sam Pollock knew of Potvin's potential worth and began a year prior to set up trades and manoeverings in order to be able to draft Potvin. He worked both expansion teams, the Islanders and the Atlanta Flames, in order to land Potvin.

Pollock managed to get Atlanta's first round pick from a previous deal, but it was the Islanders who finished dead last.

Trader Sam ended up with the Flames second pick, while the Islanders would pick first, and grab Potvin.

Then Islanders GM Bill Torrey has often mentioned that Pollock walked him around the block of the Forum where the draft was being held that summer over a dozen turns while they chatted trade talk.

Pollock wanted Potvin that badly!

Torrey was and is a gentleman who has never named names, but he has often told that Pollock the offered him as many as five or six roster players for the right to aquire Potvin.

Bill Torrey has also admitted that pulling that many players from a Stanley Cup winning roster was awful tempting, but the fact that Sam wanted him so bad, told him not to give in.

It was a tunnel vision moment for the Islanders GM, as Potvin would become that cornerstone player so needed, on a Habs like dynasty team for the Islanders just six seasons later.

Sam Pollock was left with a second overall pick that he understood other teams wanted more than he.

The next best prospect was a shifty centerman named Tom Lysiak - Pollock had plenty of those.

There was a sharpshooter named Lanny McDonald, and Pollock knew the Habs stable was filled with his type.

A standout junior goalie named John Davidson was available - he already had Ken Dryden, Michel Larocque, and others to cram the Habs crease. No need there.

There was a Quebec Remparts centerman named Andre Savard ( Habs GM prior to Gainey ) that was scouted to death but deemed passable as well.

Other junior standouts such as Blaine Stoughton, who was blessed with a wicked shot, Rick Middleton, who was sleek and loaded with a centerman's clear vision, and Ian Turnbull, a defenseman who owned a howling point shot, were not deemed as being anything the Habs lacked at that point in time by Pollock.

As the Habs GM held the second overall pick, he scanned the needs and wants of the teams picking just behind him, and figured out who each team would draft. Not needing any of the above mentioned players, Pollock proceeded to trade down.

First, he gave Atlanta back its second pick, for their fifth overall that they had previously aquired for the Flames first rounder at a later date. He took that fifth pick, and found a taker in St. Louis. They drafted goalie Davidson, and Pollock ended up with the Blues 8th pick that they had aquired previously, while adding another first rounder to a later draft.

In 1973, there was little media to cover all this shrewd manoevering, otherwise it would have been a spectacle to behold.

Imagine Bob McKenzie falling off his chair when Pollock modestly announced he had chosen a defensive specialist named Bob Gainey from the Peterborough Petes.

Gainey was well known by the scouts of the day as being an excellent two way player, one that was seen as a surefire NHL'er with great shutdown forward potential - in today's lingo!

But back then, and especially in Montreal, you went for flash.

The headlines in the papers read: "Bob Who?"

Pollock had gone all out for the best element the Canadiens were thinnest in - upcoming dominant defensive forwards.

The entire city had thought Pollock had gone mad.

In trader Sam's estimation, Gainey ranked just behind Potvin in order of the Canadiens team needs. While he struck out on Potvin, Pollock recognized and understood where the other six teams picking next needs were. He used that knowledge to his advantage, stockpilling a pair of first rounders while still getting his man.

Madman Pollock had four first round picks the following year. He used the Atlanta and St. Louis picks to grab a couple of irritating, get under your skin types named Doug Risebrough and Mario Tremblay.

Lysiak, McDonald, Davidson, Savard, Stoughton, Middleton and Turnbull won a total of one Stanley Cup in their combined careers,

Gainey, Risebrough, and Tremblay won 14.

All three are currently employed by NHL teams.

The previous Risebrough card looks an awful lot like Gainey to me, and if this ain't Serge Savard on this one, then I'm Boom Boom Geoffrion's twin sister!

"God sure liked me that day" - Claude Ruel

Transcribed from Bertrand Raymond's Le Journal de Montreal column, November 20, 2007

Former Canadiens coach, scout, and man for all purposes Claude Ruel was absent from the Bell Centre Monday night, when one of his most gifted students witness the raising of his sweater to the rafters.

His name on the guest list but his health fragile, he preferred to remain home, glued to the televison when he heard the celebrated Robinson thank him for having supported him so well.

"I tire easily these days", Ruel explained, "I must avoid stressful situations."

Robinson was part of a group known in the day as "Piton's boys." It was he who spend the summer months grooming them into players, as he's done also after practices during the season.
"Skate, skate, skate", the round bellied teacher would endlessly holler. And skate alot they did - until their tongues were dragging - but Ruel made them all better players.

"I'm happy for Larry, for worked extremely hard to become the type of athlete he is", says Ruel. "You could place all your confidence in him at any time and in any situation."

Ruel recall one particular night on Long Island, when he asked Robinson to play right wing along side Gainey and Jarvis, to help counter the explosive Trottier, Bossy, and Gillies line.

"He played an awesome game and we won 3-1. He was always a player who wanted to do more. A coach is priveledged to have players of his stripe."























Robinson was drafted in 1971, when the NHL was a 14 team league. He was taken in the second round, 20th overall. That year, the Canadiens had three first round picks, and used them to select Guy Lafleur (1), Chuck Arnason (7), and Murray Wilson (11).

When Ruel presented the list from his scouting reports to Sam Pollock before the draft, he made a point to mention a player whom he felt worthy of choosing in the top 20. He asked Pollock permission to run the risk in his case.

"It's you who is in charge", the GM replied.

"Okay, then I'm going for it", said Ruel.

"I can say today, that I am the one who discovered Larry", Ruel confirmed. I was at a game between Kitchener Rangers and Toronto Marlies, I watched this big fellow who skated well and who played a hell of a game, offensively and defensively."

Ruel admits sweating bullets at the draft table that day, for fear Robinson would be scooped up by another organization.

"When Buffalo chose Craig Ramsay 19th, it was as if a ton of weight came off my shoulders. We all have our own faith. "God sure liked me that day!"

However, there were many who were baffled by Ruel's take on Robinson.























"I make no hesitation in saying that I was putting alot on the line for him. The same goes for Dryden and Gainey."

Two years later, with the Canadiens 8th choice overall, Pollock asked Ruel who he had his eyes on.

"There's this kid I've seen in Peterborough..."

For Pollock and several of the Canadiens scouts, Gainey was a complete unknown.

"Sam looked at me with a crooked smile - as if to say "Are you smashed?", recounts Ruel.

Ruel firmly believes these players for whom he battled for became greats because of the sizes of their hearts.

"Larry was exactly the same as Serge Savard", Ruel pointed out, "When you told them what was expected of them, you had no worries. You knew you were going to get it."

Ruel emphasizes that what makes the player, as in Robinson's case, has much to do with the man he is off ice.

"I didn't hang with players when work was done. I've no way of knowing what they are like away from the game, but I am convinced that Larry was a great father. The guy always had a good head on his shoulders."

Being invited to the ceremonies profoundly touched Ruel. Away from the game, and in quiet retreat, the 69 year old retiree is quite happy to realize he has not been forgotten.

"I'm happy he remembered me", Ruel said, his voice failing him slightly, "I gather it has all to do with the amount of time we spent together.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if this man, who has devoted his life's work to his "boys", shed a few tears Monday night.

Harper And Brisebois Were Equal Boo Targets

As a Canadiens fans who started watching games at age 7 in 1969, I'm not certain that I am fully qualified to offer a parallel between defenseman Terry Harper and Patrice Brisebois, other than the fact that both went underappreciated at times during their era's.

Few players epitomized the Montreal Canadiens work ethic and sense of personal sacrifice better than Terry Harper in the 1960's. Conversely, no player received less respect from the Forum fans, who have been overrated as hockey connoisseurs at times.

The story concerning Harper below, is one of but two highlights I recall him from. The other is of him basically breaking the end glass with his face as he was crushed into the boards in a game against Detroit.
















I recall Harper as a sturdy stay at home type of defender, whose game was simplicity personified. Brisebois was in a sense, the opposite of Harper, in that he was surely more talented and capable of a bigger game. Oddly, Brisebois was at his best when he kept things simple, often earning the heat of the fans when he found trouble in taking on too much.

Hindsight may well suggest that Harper was in fact underrated while Brisebois could be both overrated, and under appreciated.

Character is a word currently being brought into the Brisebois equation, in regards to his return to the Canadiens. I'm not too certain I can subscribe to that notion. In the + / - column of character traits and flaws, Brisebois still has a ways to go to find the positive scale in my eyes.

The story below can be found on pages 223-225 in Chris Goyens and Allan Turowetz' classic read "Lions In Winter".

It testifies to Harper's abundance of character and resolution, and is one of about five highlights from the 1971 playoffs that are etched in my mind, clear as the day they happened.



















Not only is the story a perceptive one - it's a hoot, as well.

Mssr's Goyens and Turowetz can take it from here.

Harper, a Regina native, was twelve years old when he was severely burned in an accident. For a while it was uncertain he would ever walk again, but with a quiet sense of self confidence combined with hard work, Terry built himself up and became a stalwart defender for his hometown Regina Pats.

He arrived in Montreal late in the 1962-63 season and went on to play ten seasons for the Canadiens. A 6' 2", 195 pound defenseman, he was the antithesis of everything the Montreal fans had come to expect from the flashier side of the sport.

Harper once scored as many as four goals in one season and even won a fight, a penalty box affair with Bob Pulford very early in his career. However J.C. Tremblay or John Ferguson he wasn't when it came to offensive prowess or intimidation.

The Boston Bruins Derek Sanderson perhaps said it best in his autobiography, "I've Got To Be Me": "Harper can't fight worth a damn but he's got a lot of guts and keeps coming back, although he usually gets the hell beat of him".

Another thing Sanderson could have said, but didn't, was that his Bruins could never beat the Canadiens when it counted because of players like Harper.

During the 1960's, when he was at his peak, Bobby Hull was asked about the defensemen who were toughest on him, at a time when Hull was shredding defenses every night.

"Terry Harper", he said, "plays me as well or better than any defenseman in the league. I can never seem to get around him."

One thing the so-called knowledgable fans overlooked in their merciless treatment of Harper was his skating ability. He was gawky, all angles, elbows and knees. But the forwards on his team who went against him in practice knew one thing: you couldn't get around him. Skating backwards, he put his flashier defensivemates to shame. Add to that ability a reach that could flick a puck off an attacker's blade from a seemingly impossibly long distance, and it is little wonder that Frank Selke and Sam Pollock ignored the braying of the red seat cognosenti for a decade.



















"Boooooooooooooo!"

Just inside the blueline, Harper slid off yet another bodycheck and carried the puck behind the Chicago net. As he skated directly behind the cage, two Black Hawks smashed into him simultaneously. Falling, he still had enough leverage to pass the puck out in front of the net where John Ferguson was all alone in front of Tony Esposito . Ferguson made no mistake, and the Canadiens were on their way to a 4-2 win (and an eventual Cup).

A teammate, who prefers to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, summed it up best: "That was the best 'fuck you' play I've ever seen in hockey. It was all some of the players could do not to give the crowd the finger".

Harper disentangled himself from the two Chicago players and rose to the rare, for him, sound of a standing ovation as all of his teammates on the ice converged around him, rather than Ferguson the scorer.

In the stands, fans were cheering wildly, if not looking out the corners of their eye in semi-accusation at all of their confreres who had had the temerity to boo such a wonderful hockey player.

Remembering Sam

by ERIC DUHATSCHEK

From the Globe and Mail, Monday August 20, 2007

(Robert L Note: I've reprinted this Duhatschek article to archive it - it is so interesting! Simply linking to pieces from online newspapers is tricky. Often the link disappears after a month, and you can only gain access it through subscription. I didn't want this to happen here.)

The year was 1971. Sam Pollock, the legendary Montreal Canadiens general manager/horse trader, had already manoeuvred his way into the top pick in the National Hockey League's amateur draft, giving him the opportunity to select Guy Lafleur, a future Hall of Famer.

But he wanted more.

"The two best juniors by a mile that year were Lafleur and Marcel Dionne," recalled Scotty Bowman, one of the many Pollock protégés who went on to have fabulously successful NHL careers. "The night before the draft, we met for three hours and Sam grilled everybody in the room - Al MacNeil, Ronnie Caron, Claude Ruel and a couple of scouts - What should they do with Lafleur and Dionne?

"Then he excused himself and made a call to Ned Harkness, in Detroit, to propose a trade. The Canadiens had just won the Stanley Cup in '71 and Sam offered Detroit Phil Myre, plus either Terry Harper or J. C. Tremblay and something else, to get the second pick. And Detroit was going to do it, because they were going to get three players who could help them.

"I remember Sam came back in the room and said, 'If I make this deal, could it be another [Jean] Béliveau and [Bernie] Geoffrion for 10 years?' But nobody would stand up and say yes, so he didn't make the deal - because that's how Sam worked. If there were five people in the room, he would never do anything until he talked all five people into doing what he wanted to do.

"But that's how Sam operated. If there were two great players in the draft, he wouldn't be satisfied with saying, 'I'm getting Lafleur, to hell with Dionne.' He wanted them both."

Mr. Pollock left an unmatched legacy as an NHL wheeler-dealer. In 14 years as the Canadiens' general manager, he was at the helm for nine Stanley Cups. But, as Mr. Bowman pointed out, Mr. Pollock joined the Canadiens organization in 1947 and spent 17 years working behind the scenes in player development before getting promoted to GM - counted this way, he had his fingerprints on a total of 15 Stanley Cups in a 31-year span.

"The best way I can say it is, when all the rest of us were standing at the corner, waiting for the light to change, Sam was already three blocks down the street," said Frank Selke Jr., whose father gave Mr. Pollock his first job in the Canadiens organization.

Mr. Pollock, known as Sad Sam because of his dour visage, forged his reputation as a result of the many out-and-out thefts he completed. But the seeds of his success were sewn much earlier, when he joined the organization at 19 as an assistant coach with the 1945-46 Junior Canadiens.

He was hired largely because of his teenaged success managing a softball team made up mostly of Canadiens players, some of whom were 10 years older than him. Mr. Selke's father was impressed with the way Mr. Pollock handled people, even at that age.

Mr. Pollock would eventually succeed the senior Mr. Selke as Canadiens GM, and was later chairman of the Toronto Blue Jays between 1995 and 2000. His love for and knowledge of baseball was as great as his love of hockey, according to the younger Mr. Selke.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, if Sam was a 10½ in hockey, he was an 11 in baseball," he said. "... Sam would talk about baseball far more than he would talk about hockey. He'd say, 'I don't want to talk about hockey because then you'll know what I'm thinking and I don't want people to know what I'm thinking.' "

Mr. Pollock was intensely private. He would watch the Canadiens play from Section 66 in the old Forum - the highest part of the building.

He took over from Mr. Selke in 1964, three years before an ambitious expansion doubled the NHL from six teams to 12. Because Mr. Pollock sat in on board of governors meetings as an alternate, he understood the ins and outs of the process far better than his peers - a primary reason why the Canadiens flourished in the first decade after expansion.

Long-time NHL general manager Cliff Fletcher, who got his start in the Montreal organization under Mr. Pollock, called him "one of the architects of expansion" and said the Canadiens' success in the 1970s "was the result of Sam doing a better job than the other five general managers at the time when expansion came around, and parlaying fringe-line assets into futures."

His most memorable deal came on May 20, 1970, when he traded a pair of future NHL journeymen, Ernie Hicke and Chris Oddliefson, to the Oakland Seals for François Lacombe and the rights to Oakland's first pick in the 1971 draft, which he used to get Mr. Lafleur.

"It was the steal of steals," said former Canadiens player and coach Al MacNeil, who was the playing coach for Montreal's minor-league affiliate in Houston, where Mr. Hicke played. "Ernie was a tough, hard-working journeyman left-winger, but he wasn't going to be a star in the NHL."

It was also the year that Mr. Pollock traded a personal favourite, Ralph Backstrom, to the Los Angeles Kings, bolstering their chances of finishing ahead of Oakland and guaranteeing the top pick to Montreal. (Mr. Bowman, however, said Mr. Pollock always insisted that part of the story was fiction.)

Mr. Bowman first met Mr. Pollock in 1947, as a 14-year-old in his first year of midget hockey in Verdun. The Canadiens decided to put a second midget team in the small Quebec community and Mr. Pollock asked Mr. Bowman to switch sides.

"Sam said if I wanted to play for the midget Canadiens, I'd get a pair of pants, a pair of gloves and a pass to the Forum," Mr. Bowman said. "So it was a pretty easy decision to make."

He played in the organization until an eye injury prematurely ended his career. Mr. Pollock offered him his first full-time coaching job in 1956, when Mr. Bowman was working for a paint company and moonlighting as a Junior B coach on the side.

"Sam asked me, 'How much money do you make at the paint company?' I said, 'It's not bad, I'm making $3,800 a year.' He said, 'Well, this job pays $4,200.' He added about a 10-per-cent raise. I've always thought, 'I should have told him I made $4,800.' But I didn't care what they paid me. I just wanted to get my first job.

"He was a shrewd businessman. Even in the sixties and seventies, he believed the best player on the team had to make the most money and the second best should be paid the second most. It's really hard to do, and even in that era, it wasn't easy."

Mr. Pollock also relied on a vast network of trusted lieutenants sprinkled across professional leagues around North America, helping him make numerous trades that proved embarrassingly one-sided in Montreal's favour. Mr. MacNeil recalled a lesser-known example from 1969, when he was still working in Houston.

"We used to play Fort Worth all the time and they had Peter Mahovlich, who belonged to Detroit," said Mr. MacNeil. "He was one guy who really impressed both me and Ronnie Caron and we'd badger Sam and say, 'You've really got to keep an eye on this guy.' That year, Detroit called him up but didn't play him much, so the next spring, we ended up trading Doug Piper and Gary Monahan for Peter Mahovlich - who was a superstar for the next seven years with the Canadiens [and helped them win four Stanley Cups in that span]."














Mr. Bowman recalled an occasion when both he and Mr. Fletcher, who were handling the Canadiens' junior operations in 1963, had to confess to Mr. Pollock about an oversight they'd made relating to a then-unknown defenceman named Serge Savard.

That summer, the Canadiens had decided to drop the teenaged Mr. Savard from their protected list, but no one remembered to call him to deliver the bad news. September rolled around and Mr. Savard showed up at his boarding house in Montreal and called Mr. Fletcher at the Forum, looking for book money and room and board.

"Cliff came running to me and said, 'Remember that guy Savard? He's back in Montreal.' And we looked at each other and said, 'Well, Cliff, we got to go in and see Sam and tell him the truth.' So we both went in and said, 'Sam, we've got a real problem with Savard.' Right away, Sam jumped in and said, 'He's not here, is he?' We said, 'That's the problem, he is here.'

"And Sam said, 'Oh no, he wasn't on the list, you've got to send him home.' But we kind of liked Serge, so Cliff said, 'Sam, can we give him a chance until Christmas?' because Cliff knew some other guys in the league needed players and one was Doug Harvey's brother, Alf. Anyway, Sam said 'Okay, but only until Christmas, and if he's not cutting it by then, he's got to go home.'

"To make a long story short, by Christmas, Savard was playing great and had made the Junior Canadiens. But we were so afraid to tell Sam what happened. Of course, Savard's a Hall of Famer now. Sometimes, you've got to be lucky too."










Mr. Bowman left the Canadiens in 1966 to join the expansion St. Louis Blues, but returned after Montreal won the 1971 Stanley Cup, with Mr. MacNeil behind the bench. He stayed for eight seasons, winning five of his record nine Stanley Cups as a coach in that span.

"Sam had some very strange rules," Mr. Bowman said. "We weren't supposed to leave the Forum after practice until we stopped by his office. I would say 75 per cent of the time, his secretary would come out and say, 'Sam said go on, he doesn't need to see you today.' But he just wanted to know what was going on. He didn't watch many of the practices because he was so busy and he didn't go to a lot of the road games because he didn't like to travel, so we had to call him after every single game."

Mr. Pollock's keen interest in the business side of the operation led to what seemed like a premature departure from the game in 1978, at 53. The Canadiens were in the midst of another streak of four consecutive Stanley Cups, but he bowed out to join Carena Bancorp Holdings, part of the financial empire controlled by Canadiens owners Peter and Edward Bronfman, who were in the process of selling the team.

More than a dozen players from the Pollock era went on to become coaches and general managers in the NHL, including Mr. Bowman, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. MacNeil, Mr. Gainey, Jacques Lemaire, Doug Risebrough, Réjean Houle and others. Ken Dryden eventually became president of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"The measure of Sam Pollock is he won nine Stanley Cups in 14 years," Mr. MacNeil said. "You can't even begin to fathom how difficult that is. What happens in any successful organization is that a cynicism creeps into the dressing room. Indifference can build up and you've got to guard against that if you want to be competitive year after year.

"For Montreal to keep winning on a continuous basis, that was the same as the New York Yankees in baseball. It was all because of Sam Pollock's driving force. There was a sombre quality to him at times, but he was a good person - his word was solid. He was an original - and you'll not see his like again."

Where Canadiens History Changed Course

The recent passing of the Canadiens legendary General Manager Sam Pollock has revived looks into his accomplishments over his 14 years at the helm of the Habs from 1964 to 1978. The achievements of 9 Stanley Cups by Pollock during that time will be forever unparalled in hockey.
What I found extremely curious about Pollock's resume, is what happened to his team after he retired in 1978.

Blame it on changing era's, the return on players leaving the Canadiens fold trickled from a flow to a slow drip. Without Trader Sam running the show, the assets slowly dried up, and the Canadiens went from great teams, to simply a very good regular season team, and finally after the 1993 Cup, middle of the pack also-rans.

Towards the end of the Canadiens four Cup run in 1978, when GM Pollock retired, coach Scotty Bowman assumed he was in line for the GM's position. Pollock considered Bowman, but instead decided upon a businessman with little to no hockey managing experience in Irving Grundman.

Bowman, upset at not being handed the job, fled to Buffalo where he would assume both duties.

Pollock had stated at the time that he chose not to go with Bowman, as the coach would have dismantled the dynasty piece by piece in an attempt to turn over the aging lineup.

In retrospect, it might have been the most logical move. Incoming GM Grundman held onto many players years beyond their prime, and as you will see, the returns greatly explain the Canadiens downfall.

In fairness to Grundman and his scouting staff, luck was never on their side. While the organization drafted quality players such as Chris Chelios and Guy Carbonneau between 1980 and 1983, two other draft choices impacted the organization greatly.

Doug Wickenheiser, a can't miss prospect chosen first overall in 1980 was a complete bust.

Grundman managed to get the Hartford Whalers first choice in the 1984 draft for Pierre Larouche, all in hopes of landing budding superstar Mario Lemieux. Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Penguins finished last overall and not the Whalers, whose 5th overall pick rendered the Canadiens one Petr Svoboda.
























Had the Magnificent Mario become Canadiens property, Grundman would have been hailed as a genius in the Pollock mold instead of a bumbling former bowling alley manager ill suited to run the Habs.

Grundman did as Bowman wouldn't have, and held on to the dynasty team a year or two too long. This is where the Canadiens history changed course.I've chosen a group of 27 players who participated in 5 Cups wins between 1973 and 1979 to illustrate what happened to the Habs dynasty. The lack of talent continuity is obviously apparent as diminishing returns prevented the Canadiens from maintaining previous heights. Although they managed 2 more Stanley Cups (1986, 1993) in the interim since, the depth has never been replaced.

The group of 27 players, divides itself a first group of 13 and a second one of 14.

The first group are players that the Canadiens received no dividend or returns from, as they all retired due to different scenarios. While some were simply destined to retire as career long Canadiens, other reasons played into it as well.

Jacques Lemaire
Jacques Laperriere
Mario Tremblay
Bob Gainey
Serge Savard
Frank Mahovlich
Pierre Mondou
Rejean Houle
Bill Nyrop
Henri Richard
Marc Tardiff
Ken Dryden
Guy Lafleur

13 players, including 9 Hall of Famers with no return value to the team.Richard, Laperriere, Savard, and Gainey retired due to their age.Cournoyer, Tremblay, Houle, and Mondou retired due to injury.Mahovlich and Tardiff went on to the WHA.Dryden, Lemaire, and Nyrop retired with much hockey left in them.Guy Lafleur was forced to retire as the Canadiens would not exercise his wish for a trade.Tardiff returned to the NHL with Quebec Nordiques.Lafleur, Savard and Nyrop made brief returns to the NHL with other teams.

























The second group of 14 includes players the Canadiens were able to get some return on, however small they were. Eight players descending from that group were members of Cup teams in 1986 and 1993.

It is interesting to note that backup goaltender Michel "Bunny" Larocque, two trades later, parlayed into Patrick Roy by sheer great luck. The return on Roy, as you will see detailed below, was unfortunately equally dismal.

Larry Robinson (FA Los Angeles)
Steve Shutt ( for future considerations to Los Angeles, reaquired by Montreal at the same price)
Guy Lapointe ( for St.Louis' 2nd rd pick, 1983 - Sergio Momesso)
Michel Larocque ( to Toronto for Robert Picard )
Doug Risebrough ( to Calgary for 2nd and 3rd rd picks '83,'84 - Todd Francis, Grahame Bonar)
Doug Jarvis ( with Englom, Langway, and Laughlin to Washington for Ryan Walter, Rick Green)
Brian Engblom ( with Jarvis, Langway, and Laughlin to Washington for Ryan Walter, Rick Green)
Rod Langway ( with Englom, Jarvis, and Laughlin to Washington for Ryan Walter, Rick Green)
Pete Mahovlich ( with Peter Lee to Pittsburgh for Pierre Larouche, Peter Marsh)Pierre Larouche ( to Hartford for 1st rd pick '84 - Petr Svoboda)
Yvon Lambert ( claimed by Buffalo in '81 waiver draft)
Rick Chartraw ( to Los Angeles for 2nd rd pick '83 - Claude Lemieux )
Mark Napier ( to Minnesota with Keith Acton for Bobby Smith)
Pierre Bouchard ( claimed on waivers by Washingston)

The second group of 14 produced only the 7 player assets listed below, who were in the organization from 1983-85. Six of them were on the '86 Cup winner, if you add in Patrick Roy, who had just been drafted in 1984. The final piece falling into the lineup was Brisebois, who would be on the '93 Cup winner.

Sergio Momesso ( to St. Louis with Vincent Riendeau for Jocelyn Lemieux and 2nd rd pick '89 - Patrice Brisebois)
Robert Picard ( to Winnipeg for 3rd rd pick '84 - Patrick Roy )
Ryan Walter ( FA Vancouver)
Rick Green ( to Detroit for Brad Layzell)
Petr Svoboda ( to Buffalo for Kevin Haller)
Claude Lemieux ( to New Jersey for Sylvain Turgeon)
Bobby Smith ( to Minnesota for 4th rd pick '92 - Louis Bernard

























From the 7 assets above, only Roy, Brisebois, and Haller are descendant players from the '70's dynasty that won the Cup in 1993.

Jocelyn Lemieux ( to Chicago for 3rd rd pick '90 - Charles Poulin)
Patrice Brisebois (FA Colorado)
Patrick Roy ( with Mike Keane to Colorado for Jocelyn Thibeault, Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinski)
Kevin Haller ( to Philadelphia for Yves Racine)
Sylvain Turgeon ( claimed by Ottawa in expansion draft)

After the trading of Roy in 1995, the returns dimished at an even thinner rate. The 3 players received for Roy were turned over for a total of 12 players in 8 seasons.

No assets remain from the descendants of the Roy deal.

Jocelyn Thibeault ( with Dave Manson and Brad Brown to Chicago for Jeff Hackett, Eric Weinrich, Alain Nasreddine, Chris Dyment)
Andrei Kovalenko ( to Edmonton for Scott Thornton)
Martin Rucinski ( with Benoit Brunet to Dallas for Donald Audette, Shaun Van Allen)Yves Racine ( waivers San Jose)
Jeff Hackett ( to San Jose for Niklas Sundstrom)
Eric Weinrich ( to Boston for Patrick Traverse)
Alain Nasreddine ( to Edmonton with Igor Ulanov for Christian Laflamme, Mathieu Descoteaux)
Scott Thornton ( to Dallas for Juha Lind)
Donald Audette ( FA Florida)
Shaun Van Allen ( FA Ottawa)
Patrick Traverse (FA Dallas)
Niklas Sundstrom ( FA Overseas)
Juha Lind ( FA Overseas )
Christian Laflamme ( FA St.Louis)

As a result of the Roy deal, two successive goaltenders stopped pucks for the Canadiens, Jocelyn Thibeault, and then Jeff Hackett. While Hackett was traded away due to the emergence of Jose Theodore, Thibault is presently the backup goalie with the Sabres.

Added to the original 27 players, are 9 more were packaged in trades to aquire future assets. The nine include Lee, Acton, Laughlin, Riendeau, Keane, Manson, Brown, Brunet and Ulanov for a total of 36 players dealt away. For these 36 assets, the Canadiens aquired 34 bodies in return, 7 of which never player for the team.

Only Thibeault, Thornton, Rucinski, Nasreddine and Brisebois, remain active NHL'ers.

By 2002-03, all trickle downs from the 1970's had dried up as the Canadiens become playoff spectators.

Grundman's successor Serge Savard maintained a standard of excellence from 1984 to his firing in 1995.

Rejean Houle, a puppet GM of Habs president Ron Corey, sunk the ship beginning with the trading of Roy in 1995.

Since then, GM's Andre Savard and current man in charge Bob Gainey have replenished the Canadiens stock of players, and after a decade of bumbling, the Habs finally look to have a brighter future.

As of 2007, the Canadiens have no trickle down assets from the dynasty of the 1970's. All in all, a sad return on a glorious period.

Debunking The French Canadien Territorial Rule Myth

There is a popular myth, longstanding in fact, and surely perpetrated by decades of Maple Leafs frustration that the Montreal Canadiens superiority from the early 1950's to the late 1970's was due to the simple notion that they had territorial rights to the province of Quebec's two greatest hockey talents annually.

The myth has gained ground on the factual truth in many minds based on the coincidental perceived removal of such rights and the Habs descent down to normalness since the heyday of the dynasty years.

But the myth, hockey fans, is complete bunk!

The small sliver of truth and fact behind the one time territorial Habs clause fails to back up the claims of those who have cried "No Fair" like whining children for years.

I first remember heading about this when I was all of seven years old.

The myth was cemented into young impressionable minds in hockey rinks and schoolyards Canada wide by Maple Leafs fans needing a convinient excuse in explaining their own clubs decline.

I grew up with kids who believed it then. I know some of them as adults who still believe it today.

The twisted yarn is so maligned, it even now includes the drafting of Guy Lafleur first overall in 1971, as well as others, as part of it's Leaf derived legend.

If the myth were true, the Canadiens would have also snapped up Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert, and Gil Perreault among others. The possibilities are endless - they would have likely never lost a game, nevermind the Stanley Cup.

Looking back on it all now, on how the mistruth spread, it's become clearer as to why it would permeate logic, given the finger pointing nature of Leafs fans, who have consistantly failed to look in their backyard to explain their failings and past inferiorities.

It's almost as if they agreed in unison that the myth would be their battlecry, their common shield of armour in the face of defeat. One day, somewhere in time, a little light went off in someones head. I can almost see it now.

"Well no wonder the cheaters won all them damn Cups, the Kweebeckers got the two best Frenchman every year..."

I've long known the truth is othewise, and have long sought out a source that would explain it best, with insightful completeness and perspective.

With much talk of Canadiens drafts in the past few days, the old territorial rights rule reared its famaliar head in chat room talk, when somebody posted a link to hockey historian and trivia expert Liam Maguire's site. As a Canadiens fan himself, Maguire has also been confronted with this myth numerous times, and sets the record straight. He has interviewed many on this very subject, including Sam Pollock, Scotty Bowman, Dick Irvin, Marcel Pronovost, Rod Gilbert, Yvan Cournoyer and numerous others.

It seems the origin of the rule is as old as the NHL itself, going back to wartime days when the fortunes and faith of franchises fluctuated annually.


Contrary to popular belief, the NHL did not start out as an Original Six league. Many teams came and went, existing anywhere between two or three years up to a decade, including the original Ottawa Senators.










Not unlike today's revenue sharing programs amongst sports teams, league members back in the day, found creative ways to assist in each other in the help for financial survival. Often this was done by way of player and monetary loans, but what team owners discovered back then was that locals stars filled seats to great capacity.

This fact was evident even in pre-NHL days, and especially true in Montreal, where a rivalry was built up to fullfill a demand for a french team to compete against the english Montreal teams of the day, the Wanderers and Maroons.

One year after the birth of the Montreal Canadiens, known then as Le Club Athletic Canadiens, it was decided that this would become the franchise that would cater to the desires of the french speaking clientele. Slowly but surely it filled it's roster with french names and proceeded to become semi-successful on the ice, but teetering financially off it.

Over time, the Canadiens became the only Montreal franchise remaining, outliving the Maroons and winning Stanley Cups in 1916, 1924, 1930, and 1931. It fought on through hard times and financial up and downs, and during a spell in the late 1930's, the team was on the brink of folding.

It was around that time, that the idea came up to offer the Canadiens the exclusive rights to two players per year as a means of maintaining interest and ensuring financial success.














To quote Liam Maguire, "(It was) decided that the Montreal Canadiens could take any two players from the province of Quebec in a special draft. There was one rider however. None of these players could have already been previously signed to a C form (confirmation form) with any other club."

"At this time in the NHL and right through the late 60's amateur players were signed by NHL teams to C forms and then placed on their appropriate junior clubs or minor pro clubs depending on their age. The most extreme case of this was Bobby Orr. Orr signed a C form three weeks before his 12th birthday with the Boston Bruins. He was so young his parents signature was required. When he turned 14 he began playing for Boston's junior sponsored team, the Oshawa Generals. That's how Orr became a Bruin."

"From 1936-1943 Montreal protected 14 players through this special draft. Unfortunately none of them ever played a minute in the NHL. Reason being, anybody who could tie their skates and chew gum at the same time were already long signed by other NHL teams including the Canadiens who certainly wern't going to survive solely with this rule."

"The hope was that there would be a spark from signing a French Canadian kid, even better if he could play a bit. The thought was that this could help attendance and thereby help Montreal.

It never did. What really helped Montreal at that time were two shrewd moves. One, a trade with the Montreal Maroons which brought them Toe Blake and two, the signing of Elmer Lach to a C form, who was from Saskatchewan by the way. He was signed after the Rangers passed on him. Lach attended their camp first."



















The root of the myth may lie in the fact that just prior to the Habs landing Blake and Lach, the Canadiens first two stars were Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde and Aurel Joliat, both owners of French sounding names. Along Georges Vezina and the Cleghorn brothers, these two succeeding hero's, who were at one time traded for one another, were important facets of the Canadiens success in the 1920' and 1930's.

What many may not know, is that neither Lalonde or Joliat was a home grown talent. Lalonde was billingual, and was born in my hometown of Cornwall, Ontario (a great source of pride!), and Joliat was an Ottawa born player, of Swiss descent.

In the excellent book "Lions In Winter", by Chris Goyens and Allan Turowetz, Joliat comments on his being aquired from the Saskatoon Shieks for the popular Lalonde in 1922. As Habs fans were upset at seing a french speaking player leave, Joliat adds, "Still, it was easier for (GM Leo) Dandurand to trade for me than for a Dick Smith."

The Canadiens other big star of the time, possibly the first true superstar of hockey, Howie Morenz, also has a Swiss background.

Maguire further clarifies the myth's mystique by stating that the reasons the Habs survived the 1930's doldrums had nothing to do with the territorial rule, and everything to do with Lach and Blake working out brilliantly with a player the Habs didn't have in their future plans.













"The rest of the league passed on Montreal GM Tommy Gorman's offer of a trade for what seemed to be a very brittle but explosive goal scorer named Maurice Richard. Richard had suffered injury after injury in his first three years of pro. Gorman tried to unload him but nobody wanted him."

"Needless to say Richard's coming out party in 1943-44 and the subsequent effect he had on the game in the next 17 years has been well documented but suffice to say, these were the three major reasons (Lach, Blake, Richard) for the success of the Habs over a nearly two decade span - not some bullcrap rule that although was well intentioned did nothing to extend Montreal's stay in the NHL at that time. In fact they were even worse in 1940 than they were in 1936."

Bolstered by the "Punch Line", the Canadiens would win the Stanley Cup in 1944 and 1946, but Maguire states that there were two other pieces to the puzzle that would ensure Canadien supremacy for the coming decades.

"It happened in 1946 and 1947, respectively. With the French Canadian rule now rescinded and Montreal rolling with two Cup victories in a three year span something else was going to be needed for the franchise to rise to the extreme greatness they would see in a few short years."

To the distress of Maple Leafs fans, they unwittingly assisted the Canadiens a second time, and in similar fashion. The first had been the firing of coach Dick Irvin Sr. years earlier, who continued to be as successful with Montreal as he'd been with Chicago and Toronto.

"Toronto owner Conn Smythe fired Frank Selke Sr. and Montreal quickly hired him. Selke had a vision about a series of teams in the minor leagues that would be stocked with players that Montreal would sign to C forms. These minor league teams and the players on them were soon to be known as a farm system."

"This was the origin of the farm system as we know it today. It took the rest of the NHL 2-3 years to catch on to this idea but they did and they've all benefited from it but Montreal had a tremendous head start and in some instances they purchased the rights to an entire league to get a certain player."

"They did this for Jean Beliveau and Bobby Rousseau. In Beliveau's case it didn't matter because he told the Habs to get stuffed anyway. He was happy in Quebec and there were only two players in the NHL making more money than Jean who was in the QSHL. That was Rocket Richard and Gordie Howe. Finally Selke was able to sign Beliveau in 1953 when as he put it, " I opened up the vault and said help yourself Jean!" Great quote"

"The move in 1947 was the hiring of Sam Pollock. Pollock came under the tutelage of Selke and finally in 1963 became his successor as GM of the Canadiens."

"In 1963 the NHL finally realized there were a glut of players, post second World War 2 births, that were coming of age to play in the NHL and even with the C form system, stones were being left unturned. For the first time a draft was implemented. There was never any thought that this would one day become the life blood of the NHL."

"In 1963 the NHL finally realized there were a glut of players, post second World War 2 births, that were coming of age to play in the NHL and even with the C form system, stones were being left unturned. For the first time a draft was implemented. There was never any thought that this would one day become the life blood of the NHL."

"At the time the six NHL teams would draft in a rotating order any player who had not signed a C form. Ken Dryden was a draft pick of the Boston Bruins. Boston traded Dryden to Montreal."

"In 1963, the French Canadian rule was brought back for the Montreal Canadiens. It was not necessary, no question about it but Selke and Pollock worked a sweet deal and got it back on the books however the same rules applied. The player could not have signed a C form with any other team."

"From 1963-1967 none of the players Montreal selected played one minute in the NHL, ever. Finally in 1968, they drafted their first live one. A goalie named Michel Plasse."










"In 1969, it was determined that this would be the final year of the draft in this manner and the sponsorship of Junior A teams would cease to be. All players were to be 20 years of age or older and they would be eligible for a Universal Amateur Draft."

"Montreal was given one final kick at the French Canadian can and they made the most of it by selecting Rejean Houle and Marc Tardif. That was it for the French rule."










"By then Sam Pollock or Trader Sam as he was known, was working magic year in and year out on draft day and by flipping players in Montreal's farm system that had been so expertly set up years before by Selke and ran by Pollock, for draft picks. Players like Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Mario Tremblay, several others, were selected with picks that Pollock acquired through trades."

This should clear up any misconception about this long believed fallacy, born primarily by frustrated anti-Montreal fans who for decades suffered through parade after Stanley Cup parade.

A Dynasty Undone - What Became Of The Seventies Canadiens

With the trade deadline fast approaching and the Canadiens fortunes slipping by the day, my attention soon turned to the teams soon to be UFA's, namely Markov, Souray, and Rivet on defense. While I'm becoming more indifferent to Markov by the day, I'm hoping more and more than GM Gainey finds a way to make big Sheldon happy. From there it's Rivet, only at the right price.

For someone who has watched the hockey landscape evolve over the decades, free agency still doesn't sit well with me. I've always felt that a team losing a player to free agency should be in some way compensated.

Losing players for little or no return reminded me of the late '70's, early '80's period for Montreal, where greats retired with no dividend to the team. While I'm all in favor of great players playing their entire career for one team, the Habs were somewhat decimated by a whole roster of uncashable assets from the '70's dynasty.

Towards the end of the Canadiens four Cup run in 1979, Genaral Manager Sam Pollock retired and coach Scotty Bowman, upset at not being handed the GM's job, fled to Buffalo. Neither position was ably filled.

I've chosen a group of 28 players who participated in 5 Cups wins between 1973 and 1979 to illustrate what happened to the Habs dynasty. The lack of talent continuity is obviously apparent as diminishing returns prevented the Canadiens from maintaining previous heights. Although they managed 2 more Stanley Cups in the interim, the depth has never been replaced.

The group of 27 players, divides itself a first group of 13 and a second one of 14. The first group are players that the Cana diens received no dividend from as they all retired due to different scenarios. While some were simply destined to retire as career long Canadiens, other reasons played into it as well.



























The second group of 14 includes players the Canadiens were able to get some return on, however small they were. Eight players descending from that group were members of Cup teams in 1986 and 1993.

It is interesting to note that backup goaltender Michel "Bunny" Larocque, two trades later, parlayed into Patrick Roy by sheer great luck. The return on Roy, as you will see detailed below, was equally dismal.

Jacques Lemaire
Jacques Laperriere
Mario Tremblay
Bob Gainey
Serge Savard
Frank Mahovlich
Pierre Mondou
Rejean Houle
Bill Nyrop
Henri Richard
Marc Tardiff
Ken Dryden
Guy Lafleur



























14 players, including 9 Hall of Famers with no return value to the team.
Richard, Laperriere, Savard, and Gainey retired due to their age.
Cournoyer, Tremblay, Houle, and Mondou retired due to injury.
Mahovlich and Tardiff went on to the WHA.
Dryden, Lemaire, and Nyrop retired with much hockey left in them.
Guy Lafleur was forced to retire as the Canadiens would not exercise his wish for a trade.
Tardiff returned to the NHL with Quebec Nordiques.
Savard and Nyrop made brief returns to the NHL with other teams.

Larry Robinson (FA Los Angeles)
Steve Shutt ( for future considerations to Los Angeles, reaquired at same price)
Guy Lapointe ( for St.Louis' 2nd rd pick, 1983 - Sergio Momesso)
Michel Laroque ( to Toronto for Robert Picard )
Doug Risebrough ( to Calgary for 2nd and 3rd rd picks '83,'84 - Todd Francis, Grahame Bonar)
Doug Jarvis ( with Englom, Langway, and Laughlin to Washington for Ryan Walter, Rick Green)
Brian Engblom ( with Jarvis, Langway, and Laughlin to Washington for Ryan Walter, Rick Green)
Rod Langway ( with Englom, Jarvis, and Laughlin to Washington for Ryan Walter, Rick Green)
Pete Mahovlich ( with Peter Lee to Pittsburgh for Pierre Larouche, Peter Marsh)
Pierre Larouche ( to Hartford for 1st rd pick '83 - Petr Svoboda)
Yvon Lambert ( claimed by Buffalo in '81 waiver draft)
Rick Chartraw ( to Los Angeles for 2nd rd pick '83 - Claude Lemieux )
Mark Napier ( to Minnesota with Keith Acton for Bobby Smith)
Pierre Bouchard ( claimed on waivers by Washingston)



























Of the second group of 14, only these 7 were in the organization in the '84-85 period. Five of them were on the '86 Cup winner, if you exclude Roy, who had just been drafted. The final piece falling into the lineup was Brisebois, who would be on the '93 Cup winner.

Sergio Momesso ( to St. Louis with Vincent Riendeau for Jocelyn Lemieux and 2nd rd pick '89 - Patrice Brisebois)
Robert Picard ( to Winnipeg for 3rd rd pick '83 - Patrick Roy )
Ryan Walter ( FA Vancouver)
Rick Green ( to Detroit for Brad Layzell)
Petr Svoboda ( to Buffalo for Kevin Haller)
Claude Lemieux ( to New Jersey for Sylvain Turgeon)
Bobby Smith ( to Minnesota for 4th rd pick '92 - Louis Bernard

From the 7 assets above, only Roy, Brisebois, and Haller are descendant players from the '70's dynasty that won in '93.

Jocelyn Lemieux ( to Chicago for 3rd rd pick '90 - Charles Poulin)
Patrice Brisebois (FA Colorado)
Patrick Roy ( with Mike Keane to Colorado for Jocelyn Thibeault, Andrei Kovalenko, Martin Rucinski)
Kevin Haller ( to Philadelphia for Yves Racine)
Sylvain Turgeon ( claimed by Ottawa in expansion draft)

After the trading of Roy in 1995, the returns dimished at an even thinner rate. The 3 players received for Roy were turned over for a total of 12 players in 8 seasons. No assets remain from the descendants of the Roy deal.

Jocelyn Thibeault ( with Dave Manson and Brad Brown to Chicago for Jeff Hackett, Eric Weinrich, Alain Nasreddine, Chris Dyment)
Andrei Kovalenko ( to Edmonton for Scott Thornton)
Martin Rucinski ( with Benoit Brunet to Dallas for Donald Audette, Shaun Van Allen)
Yves Racine ( waivers San Jose)

Jeff Hackett ( to San Jose for Niklas Sundstrom)
Eric Weinrich ( to Boston for Patrick Traverse)
Alain Nasreddine ( to Edmonton with Igor Ulanov for Christian Laflamme, Mathieu Descoteaux)
Scott Thornton ( to Dallas for Juha Lind)
Donald Audette ( FA Florida)
Shaun Van Allen ( FA Ottawa)

Patrick Traverse (FA Dallas)
Niklas Sundstrom ( FA )
Juha Lind ( FA )
Christian Laflamme ( FA St.Louis)

As a result of the Roy deal, two successive goaltenders stopped pucks for the Canadiens, Jocelyn Thibeault, and then Jeff Hackett.

While Hackett was traded away due to the emergence of Jose Theodore, Thibeault is presently the backup goalie with the Penguins.

Only Thibeault, Thornton, Rucinski and Brisebois, remain active NHL'ers.

All in all, a sad return on a glorious dynasty.