Tribute Damn, Chris Chelios was so good with the Habs

ChesterNimitz

governed by the principle of calculated risk
Jul 4, 2002
5,013
10,113
The best Habs Dman I have seen in my lifetime - could do it all. Offense, defense, grit, nastiness...dominant in regular season & playoffs
Chelios was very good and was usually the best player on the ice when he was at his peak. Though the Canadiens had to trade him for non-hockey related reasons, the return they received was woefully inadequate. Savard was a quickly fading asset which anyone could see in his ineffectiveness against the Oilers in the playoffs the previous spring. Nevertheless, while an important player for Montreal as they transitioned from the dynasty of the 70s to being a contender in the mid-80's, he was no where as dominant as Robinson. In my almost 70 years of watching hockey, Robinson to me was one of the five best defensemen of all-time. Chelios, maybe, in the top 15-20 range. At best.
 
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habsfan92

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Jun 5, 2005
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Remember the summer he got traded. He was arrested in Chicago for public urination I believe.
Just another player the Habs ruined by playing immediately in the NHL instead of the AHL, so he could learn the 200 ft game ;)
 

salbutera

Registered User
Sep 10, 2019
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Remember the summer he got traded. He was arrested in Chicago for public urination I believe.
Just another player the Habs ruined by playing immediately in the NHL instead of the AHL, so he could learn the 200 ft game ;)
Univ of Wisconsin...
 

yianik

Registered User
Jun 30, 2009
10,609
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Habs did not HAVE to trade him. That Beliveau standard of conduct which no longer was relevant to the times got him traded is my belief, not the knee stuff.

As I sit here thinking about Chelios, it popped in my head that I would take him over Weber and not even close. I would rank Chelios then Markov as the best Habs D men since the 1980s, aside from the Big 3.
 

nuck

Schrodingers Cat
Aug 18, 2005
11,340
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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 wasn't washed up until he was in Montreal, that was the Burns effect. He didn't fit with the 1990 Habs except for being an FC icon. Chelios incredible longevity tipped the scales but nobody could have ever predicted that. Denis was still an electric player when they got him but Burns had no idea how to use him.

I don't deny Cheli was the greater player but Savard was a brilliant skater and a world class playmaker and if any 29 year old forward had another 6-8 great years in the tank it was him.
 
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Schooner Guy

Registered User
Jun 23, 2006
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Savard wasn't washed up until he was in Montreal, that was the Burns effect. He didn't fit with the 1990 Habs except for being an FC icon. Chelios incredible longevity tipped the scales but nobody could have ever predicted that. Denis was still an electric player when they got him but Burns had no idea how to use him.

I don't deny Cheli was the greater player but Savard was a brilliant skater and a world class playmaker and if any 29 year old forward had another 6-8 great years in the tank it was him.

I was a very young adult when the trade was made but I knew enough that Savard's best days were behind him and he wasn't going to put up the same offensive numbers in the tighter checking Wales/Eastern conference. The two conferences were night and day during Savard's career.

Chelios was nasty and made for playoff hockey. A Norris trophy winner beginning his prime.
 

Kojo

Registered User
Nov 22, 2013
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Nothing against Denis Savard but we lost that trade badly. We won the cup that one year but we sucked a lot after since we didn't have guy like Chelios on defence.
 
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Joe Lamb

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Mar 12, 2004
359
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Nothing against Denis Savard but we lost that trade badly. We won the cup that one year but we sucked a lot after since we didn't have guy like Chelios on defence.

Totally agree. Loved Denis Savard, wanted the Habs to draft him, but that trade was so onesided. I found out about the trade as I was walking between connecting flights in Halifax, returning from Europe. The loud " f*** " I screamed drew lots of attention. LOL
 

1909

Registered User
Jul 6, 2016
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Totally agree. Loved Denis Savard, wanted the Habs to draft him, but that trade was so onesided. I found out about the trade as I was walking between connecting flights in Halifax, returning from Europe. The loud " f*** " I screamed drew lots of attention. LOL

Habs made two mistakes regarding Savard: not drafting him in 1981... and trading for him 11 years later.
 

Nostradumbass

Divinity
Jan 1, 2007
4,965
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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 ...
Makes the playoffs with a losing record.
 

JianYang

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
17,753
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Remember the summer he got traded. He was arrested in Chicago for public urination I believe.
Just another player the Habs ruined by playing immediately in the NHL instead of the AHL, so he could learn the 200 ft game ;)

Chelios told the story of how he was traded at the same time as he got arrested. He mentioned that wasn't even sure savard knew at the time that he had been arrested, but it's clear Chelios had his off ice issues, and he also says that he was never ready for the captaincy in retrospect.

Corson said Chelios was the last guy to leave the bar, but the first to be on the ice the next day as if nothing happened.
 
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1909

Registered User
Jul 6, 2016
20,533
11,140
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.

Right. Serge Savard is totally over rated. He lived on one great draft that brought him Lemieux, Richer, Roy and Svoboda. Most of his 1st rounders were really bad, bad players. When you pick Ryan over Iginla, there is a problem.
 

JianYang

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
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Right. Serge Savard is totally over rated. He lived on one great draft that brought him Lemieux, Richer, Roy and Svoboda. Most of his 1st rounders were really bad, bad players. When you pick Ryan over Iginla, there is a problem.

I'll say this though. The habs ridiculous depth on defense circa 1989ish

Robinson
Chelios
Ludwig
Green
Lefebvre
Brisebois
Schneider
Desjardins
Lumme
Odelein
Hill
Svoboda

I'm probably missing some others but that's basically 2 quality teams worth of dmen depth right there. That depth was pissed away pretty quick though.
 

Lafleurs Guy

Guuuuuuuy!
Jul 20, 2007
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I'll say this though. The habs ridiculous depth on defense circa 1989ish

Robinson
Chelios
Ludwig
Green
Lefebvre
Brisebois
Schneider
Desjardins
Lumme
Odelein
Hill
Svoboda

I'm probably missing some others but that's basically 2 quality teams worth of dmen depth right there. That depth was pissed away pretty quick though.
Yeah, but where's Schlemko? Where's Mete? Where's Benn? Where's Alzner? We have had some pretty great blueliners lately too.
 

LaP

Registered User
Jun 27, 2012
24,298
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Quebec City, Canada
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)

Damphousse for Corson is not a win it's highway robbery. You forgot Courtnall for Bellows and while Bellows did not play here for long it was definitely a win since he himself acquired Courtnall for nothing. Acton and Napier for Bobby Smith was a good one too. Some of his worst trades you did not mention were Andrew Cassels for a 2nd round pick, Claude Lemieux for nothing, Lumme for a pick. I think people are a little bit unfair with the Savard trade. It was bad but Savard was just one year older than Chelios and he is a HOF. His early decline was surprising for a player of this skill level. Had Savard aged better people would not talk about this trade that much.
 
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robert ethan

Registered User
Feb 5, 2021
707
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I'll say this though. The habs ridiculous depth on defense circa 1989ish

Robinson
Chelios
Ludwig
Green
Lefebvre
Brisebois
Schneider
Desjardins
Lumme
Odelein
Hill
Svoboda

I'm probably missing some others but that's basically 2 quality teams worth of dmen depth right there. That depth was pissed away pretty quick though.

Rod Langway was from that era, wasn't he? Brian Engblom
 

JianYang

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
17,753
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Rod Langway was from that era, wasn't he? Brian Engblom

Langway was long gone by this point. I mentioned Rick Green on my list. He was one of the guys they got back in the langway deal.

Langway requested a trade back in the early 80s. He wanted to play in the US.
 
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