The Pale King
Go easy on those Mango Giapanes brother...
Reading through Ken Dryden's new book about Scotty Bowman, 'Scotty', and I came across an interesting passage where Bowman talks about how close Pollock and himself were to getting the #2 selection from Detroit. It's important to note here that Bowman was announced as Montreal's new head coach on June 9th, just one day before the '71 draft. The extended quotation from Bowman goes as follows:
"... And Sam was really pressing everybody, pressing on the difference between Lafleur and Dionne. Claude (Ruel) had seen Lafleur play a lot. I think [Canadiens owner] Dave Molson had seen him play in Verdun and Lafleur didn't have a terrific game. I don't know if Sam worried about that or not. He told us he was very close to making a trade with Detroit to get their pick. The trade was Phil Myre, a young goalie that had some possibility, and either Terry Harper or J.C. Tremblay, both on the back end of their careers---and also a young player, I could never remember who it was."
"It could be a done deal, Sam said. [Then] he asked the question, and I'll never forget it. He said, 'If I make this deal, and I think I can, could this be like getting Beliveau and Geoffrion for the next 10 years?' And somebody said, I think it was Ronnie [Caron], said 'Not really, because Dionne is not a big guy. He's a small player.' And Sam, when he made a trade, he'd push everybody like hell, but if everybody didn't agree, he wasn't going to do it. And it didn't go through. Came close."
Wow. I'd never heard of this... had read lots of speculation about the Canadiens going with Dionne instead of Lafleur, but never that they were close to getting both. Is this common knowledge? How would a bombshell like this have changed the league? I know for my Kings it would have been game-changing, but beyond that, is there room for the Canadiens to develop two superstar offensive guys like that while still having the success they did in the early 70s? Does having Dionne extend the window for the Habs going into the 1980s? Lots to unpack here, what do you guys think?
"... And Sam was really pressing everybody, pressing on the difference between Lafleur and Dionne. Claude (Ruel) had seen Lafleur play a lot. I think [Canadiens owner] Dave Molson had seen him play in Verdun and Lafleur didn't have a terrific game. I don't know if Sam worried about that or not. He told us he was very close to making a trade with Detroit to get their pick. The trade was Phil Myre, a young goalie that had some possibility, and either Terry Harper or J.C. Tremblay, both on the back end of their careers---and also a young player, I could never remember who it was."
"It could be a done deal, Sam said. [Then] he asked the question, and I'll never forget it. He said, 'If I make this deal, and I think I can, could this be like getting Beliveau and Geoffrion for the next 10 years?' And somebody said, I think it was Ronnie [Caron], said 'Not really, because Dionne is not a big guy. He's a small player.' And Sam, when he made a trade, he'd push everybody like hell, but if everybody didn't agree, he wasn't going to do it. And it didn't go through. Came close."
Wow. I'd never heard of this... had read lots of speculation about the Canadiens going with Dionne instead of Lafleur, but never that they were close to getting both. Is this common knowledge? How would a bombshell like this have changed the league? I know for my Kings it would have been game-changing, but beyond that, is there room for the Canadiens to develop two superstar offensive guys like that while still having the success they did in the early 70s? Does having Dionne extend the window for the Habs going into the 1980s? Lots to unpack here, what do you guys think?
