Tribute Damn, Chris Chelios was so good with the Habs

[Schooner Guy]

Serge Savard was a great GM.

Chelios and a 2nd for washed up Denis Savard.

Claude Lemieux for a done like dinner Sylvain Turgeon.

Leclair, Desjardins and Dionne for Recchi.

Horrible overall 1st round drafting from mid-80's until he was ousted in 1995.

Two Cups though. Can't take that away from him no matter how things have fallen into place. However, Peter Chiarelli also won a Cup in an era that is much more difficult to win one in.

 

[Mrb1p]

Yep but dont forget that un 87-88 , Lemieux did 168 points.

Second point scorer on the team was:

Dan Quinn with 78 points

The third

Randy Cunneyworth...with 74...

Lemieux was SEUL COMME Un BAS SALE

Lemieux is the reason i love hockey.

Even in the tail end of his career he was as good as any player I ever seen. Cant even begin to think what a 25 yo Mario looked like.

Crosby is probably the only one that even comes close to Mario but even then, thats a big gap.

 

[lillypad33]

Brings me back to when I loved hockey.....
Checking the paper for stats to see who was leading the goal scoring race, and of course checking out Patrick's stats to see how he was doing in the Vezina and Jennings race.
Lemieux for me is the most talented player of all time.... guy never kept himself in shape, and was just purely talent.... imagine if he would have worked on things and had his body hold up!

Chelios was a tough SOB and just such a great player.....
Imagine that they lost him, Desjardin, LeClair..... It makes me want to cry....
All over the need for French Canadian forwards who are exciting....

Instead of learning the mistakes.... they repeat it with Drouin....
How to turn les Glorieux into just Gore ....

 

[crosbyshow]

What Lemieux did at the turn of the millenium isn't equal to the play of today. 80's and 90's saw huge expansions, which stopped just when Lemieux left. The next 20 years saw almost no expansions at a time when the worldwide hockey pool exploded. Those are actually the years, the last 2 decades, when talent has risen much higher, where the playing field has been much closer than it has ever been. A game in 2001 is far from the same as a game in 2021, just like 1981 is a world of difference with 2001.

As someone who has spent a considerable time reading up on the dynamics of complex systems, to think you even know the answer to those questions make me think you do not appreciate the complexity in differences in dynamics between eras.

It's just pure idolization of the past without regards to a true comparative model, other than stats, which are useless with such different contexts.

What Lemieux did in 2000 is not equal ...... wtf..

Wake up... he was 35 years old....retired at 31 for godsake came back 4 f......years later.........and he did almost 2 points a game and 35 goals in half of a season.

He was dominant, and 2 years later at...37...look what he did.

Did you watched him at the time??? I did and did you watched the game at the time..with the hooking, Red line, low scoring era ......it was harder to score in 2000...

If you think that 7 years from now Mcdavid will retire and will come back 4 years later at 35 and be able to dominate like Lemieux..good luck

If you think Crosby is better than Mario Lemieux , you dont know nothing about hockey.

Crosby is far than Lemieux. If you think that a 33 years Lemieux would only have 55 points today...i dont know what to say.

Lemieix at his prime was completely alone on his team except Coffey.

He did 199 points in 76 games and the power play was Lemieux, Errey, Brown, Coffey and Taglianetti ....

.he was alone....

You clearly did not seen 66 at his prime dominate his peers. In 92,93..he was just too good for the league..Crosby and Mcdavid have never been too good for the league


Nothing to do with idolization..my own eyes have seen loving Lemieux and Crosby for example...and Crosby is far ..very far the beast that Lemieux was on the ice offensively

 

[crosbyshow]

Lemieux is the reason i love hockey.

Even in the tail end of his career he was as good as any player I ever seen. Cant even begin to think what a 25 yo Mario looked like.

Crosby is probably the only one that even comes close to Mario but even then, thats a big gap.

You are right man...a big gap between Crosby and Lemieux..and look my nickname..I am in love with 87....but Lemieux was so much better

 

[OldCraig71]

I don't know if it is an age thing or not but I found hockey to be much more entertaining in the 80's over the product that we have today. Today it's all about systems and structure and many games are snoozefest, hitting has not gone away but it is way less of a factor than it used to be. There were more characters in the game back then, many of the buildings had a personality, a vibe, whereas today, every arena is basically the same.

Guys like Chelios were hated in rival barns by fans and teams alike, that element seems to be gone from hockey. Who do we hate now on a rival team? Maybe 2-3 players in the entire league. Many players train together in the offseason, they all seem to be pals now. There is less in the way of rivalry and it might be because I am older, a twenty-something fan might have a different perspective.

 

[JianYang]

Hockey is still super fun when it's played by good teams. We are not one of the good teams. I'm sad to say our team is very boring to watch unless they give their 120% something nobody can do for 82 games.

I mean, I certainly don't hate today's hockey, but it doesn't matter to me whether we are talking about the habs or two of the best teams going head to head. It's just not as fun. The game has become a science, and exponentially more systematic. The emotional dislike between teams is nowhere near where it used to be, and that by itself used to get alot of juices going for fans and players alike.

 

[Zorba]

Best Greek player ever!!!!!! He made every Greek proud

 

[BLONG7]

I don't know if it is an age thing or not but I found hockey to be much more entertaining in the 80's over the product that we have today. Today it's all about systems and structure and many games are snoozefest, hitting has not gone away but it is way less of a factor than it used to be. There were more characters in the game back then, many of the buildings had a personality, a vibe, whereas today, every arena is basically the same.

Guys like Chelios were hated in rival barns by fans and teams alike, that element seems to be gone from hockey. Who do we hate now on a rival team? Maybe 2-3 players in the entire league. Many players train together in the offseason, they all seem to be pals now. There is less in the way of rivalry and it might be because I am older, a twenty-something fan might have a different perspective.

Today's game is just over coached....as you say, systems etc
Not near as entertaining.
Not to mention the Bergevin years, and we have been awful.
As for rivalries, almost never happens now, guys are buds and train together in the offseason! lol
We don't know rivaliries these days, because those are built in da playoff, and we never make da playoff!!

 

[Zorba]

Serge Savard was a great GM.

Yes but his first round picks were not good
He struck gold In later rounds
His 84 draft of corson, Roy and richer is amazing

 

[JianYang]

I drafted Terry Ruskowski one year and what a heist that was!

Early 90s were the best, Ruskowski and then I had Mogilny & La La Lafontaine what a season!

This is before my time but back in the 80s, I heard of this no Gretzky rule. Basically, Gretzky was not eligible in hockey pools because he was way too far ahead of the pack.

 

[JianYang]

Yes but his first round picks were not good
He struck gold In later rounds
His 84 draft of corson, Roy and richer is amazing

I think corson was a first rounder. It might have been the same year where they took Svoboda in the first round too.

 

[Habby4Life]

Chelios and a 2nd for washed up Denis Savard.

Claude Lemieux for a done like dinner Sylvain Turgeon.

Leclair, Desjardins and Dionne for Recchi.

Horrible overall 1st round drafting from mid-80's until he was ousted in 1995.

Two Cups though. Can't take that away from him no matter how things have fallen into place. However, Peter Chiarelli also won a Cup in an era that is much more difficult to win one in.

Savard was a great GM. He made some great trades and his teams were competitive. Great record of 483-337-116 including 2 cups and 1 final.

Drafted : Keane, Roy, Svoboda, Richer, Corson, Desjardins, Schneider, Odelien, Leclair, Theodore, and on and on.

TRades
Damphousse
Muller
Bobby Smith
Turgeon

Chia should not be used in the same sentence with Serge.

 

[Zorba]

I think corson was a first rounder. It might have been the same year where they took Svoboda in the first round too.

Corson was. He was the exception. Bilodeau. Vallis Stevenson. Even svoboda wasn’t anything special
Savard made mostly good trades , won’t talk about the Sly turgeon trade ...
But he hit gold in the draft. Especially later rounds.

 

[Zorba]

Chelios and a 2nd for washed up Denis Savard.

Claude Lemieux for a done like dinner Sylvain Turgeon.

Leclair, Desjardins and Dionne for Recchi.

Horrible overall 1st round drafting from mid-80's until he was ousted in 1995.

Two Cups though. Can't take that away from him no matter how things have fallen into place. However, Peter Chiarelli also won a Cup in an era that is much more difficult to win one in.

His later round picks were terrific though. He struggled in the first. But he knew the value of having big point producing centres and pmd
Chelios was apparently banging Coreys wife. Savard was handcuffed.

 

[nilan30]

Savard trades: Kordic for Coutnall, then Courtnall for Bellows, but also Chelios for Denis Savard, and then wins the cup!

Am I just reaching for parallels:

MB trades: Galchenyuk for Domi, then Domi for Anderson, but also Sergachev for Drouin, and then .... fill in the blank ...

...gets fired

 

[Runner77]

Remember when Ron Corey and his wife used to sit right behind the Habs’ bench? Good times.

 

[JianYang]

Corson was. He was the exception. Bilodeau. Vallis Stevenson. Even svoboda wasn’t anything special
Savard made mostly good trades , won’t talk about the Sly turgeon trade ...
But he hit gold in the draft. Especially later rounds.

His 90s trades were hit and miss like every GM. The big ones I remember are:

Savard for Chelios (yuck)

Muller for Richer (both teams win)

Damphousse for corson and Gilchrist (win)

Leclair and Desjardins for Recchi (loss)

Turgeon and Malakhov for Muller and Schneider (win)

 

[Zorba]

Remember when Ron Corey and his wife used to sit right behind the Habs’ bench? Good times.

View attachment 426296

Chelios and Corey wife....

 

[robert ethan]

Corson Ceulemans is the second coming of Chelios. Big offensive right shot defenseman coming out of Tier II junior, headed for Wisconsin. Plays with an edge, and looks like the 18 year old Chelly. But smarter, I think.

 

[peate]

Remember when Ron Corey and his wife used to sit right behind the Habs’ bench? Good times.

View attachment 426296

Look at those scrutinizing looks from The Rocket, Blake and Lach. No pressure.

 

[Runner77]

Chelios and Corey wife....

Never heard of it.

 

[beowulf]

Never heard of it.

I don't know it was a rumor along with others. Savard was not a huge factor in the Habs 93 Cup win and I wonder had they managed to keep Chelios would they have won in 93 and maybe more?

 

[Shabs]

I was way underage going to bars in the 80s and I remember chelios corson et al hitting on young girls. I'm pretty sure this played a factor.

 

[Burke the Legend]

I always get trashed for this, but 80's-90's hockey was a total joke looking back. Goalies were awful, small, the net looked enormous. Guys like Probert could pot 19-20 goals , you could clutch and grab .. try and find legitimate one-knee sniper highlights like what Stamkos, Ovy and some of these kids today do, you won't. I grew up watching hockey from the 70's onwards, and its funny to watch how awful the majority of the players were. Lemieux would be a god in any decade, but Gretzky? Not so sure, the stars alligned for him. Imagine having the fighting rules of today, no Semenko and the boys to patrol the superstars.

TLDR - Chelios was awesome regardless.

Skate and stick technology are huge difference makers. 80s skates were soft leather, couldn't apply much torque. Started getting better in 90s but still nothing compared to today's boots.