Price is Wright
Registered User
Houle was no big loss and JC Tremblay was past his prime. Tardif, however, was a guy the Habs could have used. I would have loved to see him playing alongside Lafleur in his prime. And let's also not forget that one of the years that the Flyers won was the year that Dryden decided to go to law school rather than accept the Habs' "take it or leave it" contract offer.
Bunny got his chance to shine after being traded to the Leafs and he played like a back-up. And Mario Tremblay wasn't held back. He won his first Cup when he was barely old enough to shave. He cracked the toughest roster in pro hockey outside of Moscow a month after his 18th birthday. Doesn't sound like being held back to me.
Tremblay was often benched by Bowman when a lot of people thought he had superstar potential. He didn't but it was an old bar argument.
The JC/Tardif/Houle stuff was a common reply back in the day when someone said it was because Dryden wasn't there. I would often hear it wasn't Kenny but those three because Bunny could have won with them in the lineup. Bunny was the original Eller. He was held back, until he wasn't, and did nothing to step up.
I'm just remembering old arguments back when I was a fresh Islanders fan who first loved the Habs. I wanted an Islanders/Canadiens series when both were great so bad. I don't think we were ready in 77. We were ready in 79... but we choked to the Rangers so I guess we weren't. 1980 rolls around, we are definitely ready... No Dryden, Montreal loses in 7 to the North Stars. By the time we played again in 84 it meant nothing.