Toggle sidebar

Give your pecking order for the 1970s dynasty Habs

Big Phil

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,146
Obviously the 4 in a row from 1976-'79 we are talking about here. Lots of HHOFers on that team but rank who you thought were the most important contributors from top to bottom. Let's put it at 10.

Lafleur
Robinson
Dryden
Savard
Lemaire
Gainey
Lapointe
Shutt
Lambert
Cournoyer

Honourable mention to Pete Mahovlich even though he was only there for the first two, but he was important for them for sure. I guess after him you might be thinking about Mario Tremblay. Cournoyer played three full seasons during that span but missed two postseasons entirely. Was important when he was there though in 1976 and 1978. Plus he was the captain. I had to put him somewhere on here.

Imagine this, Lemaire with 62 points over this span is 5th. Shutt with 61 is 8th. With both players I just couldn't find a way to put them higher. Amazing.
Click to read more...
 

wetcoast

Registered User
Nov 20, 2018
22,504
10,293
I think Lemaire gets under rated at times but I have a hard time putting him any higher than 4th or 5th.
 
Big Phil

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,146
Vanzig said:
(1) LAFLEUR
(2) ROBINSON
(3) DRYDEN
(4) LEMAIRE
(5) SAVARD
(6) GAINEY
(7) SHUTT
(8) LAPOINTE
(9) MAHOVLICH
(10) LAROUCHE
Click to expand...

Larouche huh? Okay, fair enough. I just don't see it with him though. He was there for the final two Cups, was injured during one of those seasons and for some reason (can't remember if it was injuries or a healthy scratch) played only 5 and 6 playoff games each in 1978 and 1979. He didn't make much of an impact. Obviously Mahovlich is ahead of him, as you pointed out, but how are guys like Tremblay or Lambert who were at least there the whole time not ahead of him? Or even Doug Jarvis or Doug Riseborough.
 
Vanzig

Vanzig

Registered User
Aug 6, 2018
113
46
Vancouver, B.C.
Big Phil said:
Larouche huh? Okay, fair enough. I just don't see it with him though. He was there for the final two Cups, was injured during one of those seasons and for some reason (can't remember if it was injuries or a healthy scratch) played only 5 and 6 playoff games each in 1978 and 1979. He didn't make much of an impact. Obviously Mahovlich is ahead of him, as you pointed out, but how are guys like Tremblay or Lambert who were at least there the whole time not ahead of him? Or even Doug Jarvis or Doug Riseborough.
Click to expand...

Bowman hated Larouche, I’ll admit he don’t play much defence but given the chance he was a 50 goal scorer with two different teams and almost did it with a 3rd with rangers scoring (48). When I met Lafleur I asked him who he thought had the most talent/pure skill that Montreal had, He said “Larouche” but Scotty hated him, lol, LAFLEUR was cool, we drank a few beers and he was soft spoken and it was mind blowing, But yes DOUG JARVIS could have been number 10, I just wanted to shake it up a bit otherwise we would alll have the same answers. :)
 
Big Phil

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,146
Vanzig said:
Bowman hated Larouche, I’ll admit he don’t play much defence but given the chance he was a 50 goal scorer with two different teams and almost did it with a 3rd with rangers scoring (48). When I met Lafleur I asked him who he thought had the most talent/pure skill that Montreal had, He said “Larouche” but Scotty hated him, lol, LAFLEUR was cool, we drank a few beers and he was soft spoken and it was mind blowing, But yes DOUG JARVIS could have been number 10, I just wanted to shake it up a bit otherwise we would alll have the same answers. :)
Click to expand...

He did have 50 goals for the Habs, but that was in 1980. This was after Lemaire left and it was the brief time that Larouche was Lafleur's center.
 
Mandar

Mandar

The Real Maven
Sep 27, 2013
4,386
4,557
The Tarheel State
I've always struggled to give Dryden his due. Sure, he was sensational in the '71 series against the Bruins, but I've always felt he never really had it tough during those years with the Habs incredible defense (both from the big 3 and their great defensive forwards). I think I would have him no higher than 8th or 9th.

Then again, the Year he sat out in the 70's, they didn't go far.
 
Iron Mike Sharpe

Iron Mike Sharpe

Registered User
Dec 6, 2017
949
1,124
1. Lafleur
2. Robinson
3. Dryden
4. Savard
5. Gainey
6. Lemaire
7. Shutt
8. Lapointe
9. Cournoyer
10. Lambert
 
Big Phil

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,146
Mandar said:
I've always struggled to give Dryden his due. Sure, he was sensational in the '71 series against the Bruins, but I've always felt he never really had it tough during those years with the Habs incredible defense (both from the big 3 and their great defensive forwards). I think I would have him no higher than 8th or 9th.

Then again, the Year he sat out in the 70's, they didn't go far.
Click to expand...

Right. They got bounced out in the 1st round in 1974. In 1975 he comes back and isn't quite up to par and Buffalo beats them in the semis. After that he won 4 straight Cups and then the Canadiens got upset in 1980 by Minnesota. There is a direct correlation to him being on the team and the fate of the Habs. All in all, here is a gaudy stat, Dryden lost two playoff series in his career and they were both to teams that took the eventual Cup winners to 6 games in the final.
 
cupcrazyman

cupcrazyman

Stupid Sexy Flanders
Aug 14, 2006
16,404
1,469
Leafland
I considered Bunny Laroque for this list at #10 .He had 128 wins playing in the shadow of Ken Dryden during the 70's but Dryden played in all the playoff games for 4 of those cup runs.
 
Big Phil

Big Phil

Registered User
Nov 2, 2003
31,703
4,146
cupcrazyman said:
Why did Dryden miss the 73-74 season ?
Click to expand...
MXD said:
He wanted better pay and he actually had something else he could do (articling)
Click to expand...

He did hold out that was true, but didn't he also write his bar exam that year and officially become a lawyer?

cupcrazyman said:
I considered Bunny Laroque for this list at #10 .He had 128 wins playing in the shadow of Ken Dryden during the 70's but Dryden played in all the playoff games for 4 of those cup runs.
Click to expand...

Played 20 minutes of playoff hockey in 1979 and that was it. Would have started Game 2 of the Cup final but got hurt in warm up from a Doug Riseborough shot. Dryden had a poor Game 1.

But either way, in the regular season these were his stats during the dynasty:

1976 - 16-1-3
1977 - 19-2-4
1978 - 22-3-4
1979 - 22-7-4

That's actually pretty good. I don't know if people realize just how much Bunny played in the season. Sure he tended to play against the weaker teams and almost anyone's stats would be good playing in Montreal but that's still a lot of playing time. Maybe he is a good fit for #10.
 

nnynetpotato

Registered User
Sep 9, 2008
539
54
Jarvis and Gainey were a dominant PK unit.
Keep wondering if Risebrough or Langway shouldn't be popping up somewhere on here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Ad

Latest posts

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

Top Bottom