Montreal Canadiens Folklore - by Moses

Montreal Canadiens Folklore

  Starting out as the Montreal AAA (Amateur Athletic Association), then as the Shamrocks and finally as the Canadiens.  The Montreal Canadiens leads all teams with 24 Stanley Cup wins over their proud history.

  In their earliest years there were legends such as Joe Malone, Newsy Lalonde, Georges Vezina, Aurele Joliat, Howie Morenz, Nels Stewart, and George Hainsworth.  Each were integral to the success of the Montreal Canadiens in both the N.H.A and the N.H.L.  They were able to capture 4 Stanley Cups in their infant stage in the Association and the League.  Joe Malone once scored 7 goals in one game.  Newsy Lalonde was an equal goal scorer to Malone (this being in the teens and early twenties).  Goaltenders Georges Vezina and George Hainsworth were each the top of their class when they played in the early years.  Howie Morenz and Aurele Joliat teamed on a line in the twenties and thirties that brought Montreal 4 Stanley Cups alongside Nels Stewart and Toe Blake.

  Then came along Maurice ‘The Rocket’ Richard, goalie Bill Durnan, and defense-man Butch Bouchard (who Captained the team for 8 years) alongside new Head Coach Dick Irvin in 1940, and we saw an emergence of many dynasties to come.  Teamed on a line with Toe Blake, ‘The Rocket’ became a dominant force culminated by a season in 1944/45 in which he scored the magical 50 goals in a 50 game season.  Blake held the Captaincy for the team for eight years.  This team only got better with the additions of Doug Harvey, Jean Beliveau, Bernie ‘Boom Boom’ Geoffrion, Henri Richard (a.k.a the Pocket) and Jacques Plante.  As a result we saw the Canadiens of the fifties take home 6 Stanley Cups (five in a row at one stretch including 1960).  This was when the Canadiens employed former Captain Toe Blake as their Head Coach.  Lest not forget it was Plante that introduced the first mask to be used by a goalie and ‘Boom Boom’ was the first to fire a slapshot (both events occurring in the fifties).

  In the Sixties there were more additions of impact for their organization.  When Jean Beliveau was named Captain in 1961 he held the post for a record 10 years.  In came Yvan Cournoyer, Frank Mahovlich, Jacques Lemaire, Guy Lapointe, Rogie Vachon, Tony Esposito, and Gump Worsley to lend support to an already stacked team.  While some may say they had too many top goalies it’s hard to argue with the Montreal philosophy of the times.  Although they didn’t win 5 in a row in the decade they still had a powerhouse squad taking home 5 Stanley Cups.  In fact, Henri Richard won an incredible 11 Stanley Cups, while Beliveau took home 10 Cups, over their storied careers.

  When Ken Dryden came up to the big club in 1971 he single-handedly won the Canadiens their first Cup of that decade.  Then Scotty Bowman took over the Coaching job and we also saw the emergence of Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Pierre Bouchard (son of legendary Butch Bouchard), Pete Mahovlich (brother of Frank Mahovlich), Bob Gainey, Doug Jarvis, Pierre Mondou, and Bunny Laroque.  They were again a powerhouse in the League taking home 6 Stanley Cups in the seventies including 4 in a row from 1976-1979.  

  While the Canadiens really haven’t dominated the game like they did pre-1980, they’ve had some success with top players like goalie Patrick Roy (who almost single-handedly’ won them two Cups), and Jose Theodore (who almost fulfilled the same role in a post-season).  When they named Saku Koivu as their Captain he held the reign for 10 years tying him with Jean Beliveau for the longest tenure as Captain.  Keep in mind that they’ve also had some fantastic Hockey minds like Pat Burns and Jacques Demers to keep the organization respectable.

  Although Montreal hasn’t won the prized Stanley Cup in the past 25 years they’ve got the best goalie in the game today in Carey Price.  In the modern day mantra of ‘anyone can win on any given night’, they’ve got a shot to at least go deep into this years’ post-season.  Keep in mind that they’ve still got Captain Shea Weber to rejoin the club before the mid-season of this campaign.