Jersey Retirement thread

[Lafleurs Guy]

I got a request for a Markov retirement thread but thought there are others who could be included here as well. Might as well make a poll for the following players:

Toe Blake
- HOF
- 1 x Hart
- 3 x Cup winner
- 5 x All Star
- Byng winner
- 1 x Scoring Title
- 6 x Top 10 in Points
- 5 x Top 10 in Goals
- Included in NHL's Top 100 Greatest Players All Time list

Guy Carbonneau
2 x Cup Winner
3 x Selke Winner
9 x Top 5 for Selke

Bill Durnan
HOF
2 x Cup Winner
6 x Vezina
6 x All Star
- Included in NHL's Top 100 Greatest Players All Time list

Aurele Joliat
HOF
4 x Cup Winner
4 x All-Star
1 x Hart
3 x Top 5 in Hart
9 x Top 10 in Points
7 x Top 10 in Goals

Newsy Lalonde
HOF
1 x Cup Winner
2 x Scoring Titles
1 x Richard
1 x 1st in Assists
4 x Top 5 in Points
4 x Top 5 in Goals

Saku Koivu:
- Longtime Montreal captain
- 1 x Clancy Award
- 1 x Masterson Award
- 10th All Time in Points for Montreal

Jacques Lemaire
- HOF
- 8 x Cup winner
- 3 x Top 10 in Points
- 1 x Top 5 in Goals
- Included in NHL's Top 100 Greatest Players All Time list

Andrei Markov
- Current roster player
- 2nd in points among active NHL defensemen
- 2nd all time points for defensemen with Montreal
- 2 x top 10 in Norris

Steve Shut:
- HOF
- 3 x AS
- 1 x Richard Award
- 5 x Cup winner
- 1 x Top 5 in scoring

George Vezina
- HOF
- 3 x Cup winner
- Vezina Trophy named after him
- 3 x GAA leader
- 8 x Top 3 in GAA
- Included in NHL's Top 100 Greatest Players All Time list

Click to read more...

 

[Toene]

Lapointe's jersey has already been retired buddy.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Lapointe's jersey has already been retired buddy.

Dang you're right. I'll change it to Koivu as there seems to be a lot of fans who'd like that retired.

 

[Toene]

IMO Lemaire, Blake, Durnan and Joliat, in order, should be the next candidates.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Yes to Blake and Joliat. I'm undecided on Lemaire and Durnan. No to everyone else.

I'm not sure why Vezina is on the top 100 players of all time list to be honest. There are comparables with better resumes. Clint Benedict would have been a better choice in my opinion.

 

[MXD]

Joliat : Totally worthy of Jersey Retirement, but he'S solidly dead and his number is already retired (#4)

Blake : I'd keep him for a "ring of honor" of sorts for coaches. Strikes me as definitely a notch below his closest comparables Moore, Joliat, Lach and Geoffrion. But better than Cournoyer.

Durnan : Nope. Too late and too much to dislike anyways.

Carbonneau : I really, really love Carbo, but I wouldn't get him up there before Claude Provost, and Claude Provost's jersey isn't getting retired anytime soon.

Lapointe : Eh...

Lemaire : NO.

Shutt : NO.

Koivu : **** off

Markov : No.... But I could see a case being made at some point.

Vezina : Should've been done 90 years ago.

 

[MXD]

Yes to Blake and Joliat. I'm undecided on Lemaire and Durnan. No to everyone else.

I'm not sure why Vezina is on the top 100 players of all time list to be honest. There are comparables with better resumes. Clint Benedict would have been a better choice in my opinion.

I don't see it either. I mean, I can't figure out how the line between "In" and "Out" can be between Vezina and Benedict. Either both are in, or both are out.

 

[Toene]

Yes to Blake and Joliat. I'm undecided on Lemaire and Durnan. No to everyone else.

I'm not sure why Vezina is on the top 100 players of all time list to be honest. There are comparables with better resumes. Clint Benedict would have been a better choice in my opinion.

Lemaire because of the Selke-like defense and being the top center on a dynasty. If Chicago retires Toews' jersey, for 60 points seasons and 3 cups, then 8 cups and close to PPG in both regular season and playoffs should be enough imo. Best center this franchise has had after Beliveau.

Durnan has 6 Vezinas, it's self-explanatory. As many as Hasek and Plante.

 

[MXD]

Durnan has 6 Vezinas, it's self-explanatory. As many as Hasek and Plante.

At that time, the Vezina simply stood for "Better GAA".

 

[Le Tricolore]

I voted yes for Blake and Markov.

On the condition that Markov wins a Cup here. If he doesn't, it just won't happen. We have too many greats and the bar is set really damn high.

 

[Uncle Gary]

Jersey retirement should only be left to the absolute best of best. While these guys were great players, most of them shouldn't even have a chance of having their jersey retired.

 

[donghabs98]

I'm actually a bit surprised that Blake's number hasn't been retired already.

 

[the]

Wheres the Yes to all option?

 

[MXD]

Jersey retirement should only be left to the absolute best of best. While these guys were great players, most of them shouldn't even have a chance of having their jersey retired.

Some of them (namely, Joliat and Blake) were better players than some who already have their jersey retired.

 

[BPD Habs Fan]

some great names and I was on the fence with Blake but I chose no to all.

 

[Not The One]

Isn't Joliat's number already kind of retired?

From his Wikipedia :

His number 4 jersey was "co-retired" in 1984, having been previously retired in Jean Béliveau's honour.

 

[Dr Black]

Jersey retirement should only be left to the absolute best of best. While these guys were great players, most of them shouldn't even have a chance of having their jersey retired.

I agree 100%!! On most NHL teams, the bar has been set way too low in terms of retiring jerseys! This most certainly includes the Montreal Canadians. In fact, both Montreal and Boston only have 2 numbers between 1-9 that are NOT retired (Boston 1,6 Montreal 6,8) That's is ridiculous! That has lead to a lot of goofy non-hockey numbers between 50-99.

If it was up to me, I would unretire ALL numbers throughout the league and just honor numbers instead. This way certain guys and their children and grandchildren would not feel singled out and insulted. This in spite of the fact that the best of the best do deserve this honor. Like I said, the bar has been set to low and the practice has got out of control.

 

[MXD]

Oh, cue the oncoming ceremony of Shea Weber giving his jersey to the corpse of Toe Blake.

 

[MXD]

I agree 100%!! On most NHL teams, the bar has been set way too low in terms of retiring jerseys! This most certainly includes the Montreal Canadians. In fact,both Montreal and Boston only have 2 numbers between 1-9 that are NOT retired (Boston 1,6 Montreal 6,8) That's is ridiculous! That has lead to a lot of goofy non-hockey numbers between 50-99.

If it was up to me, I would unretire ALL numbers throughout the league and just honor numbers instead. This way certain guys and their children and grandchildren would not feel singled out and insulted. This in spite of the fact that the best of the best do deserve this honor. Like I said, the bar has been set to low and the practice has got out of control.

Who would you unretire for the Habs?
I mean, there are four guys for whom it's possible to make a case :

- Butch Bouchard
- Guy Lapointe
- Yvan Cournoyer
- Bob Gainey

 

[LeHab]

As much as I like Markov, lack of Hardware and limited playoff success means no HoF or jersey retirement. Same for Saku. If Markov leads Habs to a cup with a Smythe, things could change.

Price has a chance if he sticks around and continues to have success.

 

[Masao]

It sucks how it plays against Markov not to have won a Cup and it's not his fault, but it definitively is a factor whether we like it or not

 

[David Suzuki]

I really don't think winning cups or trophy's matters when it comes to jersey retirement. HOF yes but not jersey retirement... TO me, retiring a jersey is about the impact a player had on a franchise. It's why I'd retire even Saku's just because of the off ice/cancer stuff on top of the play. And with Markov I would due to his impact on the ice for almost 20 years.

 

[WhiskeySeven*]

None of them!

Enough jersey retirements and pimping our past. This organisation has achieved nothing for 25 years so they keep tapping into nostalgia to maintain their supposed aura. It's sickening.

I love Markov but he's never won anything. Koivu's a quickly forgettable figure in Montreal and for good reason - he was never that good. The rest of them are either too long ago or not good enough for the Habs' rafters. Toe Blake should've been retired, and I'll always love Carbo but still - NO.

I still don't think Gainey should've retired his own damn number, that's so obnoxious of him and his crew.

When I was a kid I looked at those jerseys and numbers in awe, but now I realise that they're ghosts and this current organisation has NOTHING to do with them. For god's sake Carbo had to have a meeting with Geoff Molson to ASK if the Habs Ambassadors could interact with the players a bit more. That's how secretive and insular and up their own rear-ends this crew of foxhole flunkies is. They don't deserve or get to pimp out a heritage they had no part in making. No way.

If they win a cup, then we can talk. Then they have contributed to our heritage and therefore have earned the right to tap into that well. But we're as far from winning as we were when the foxhole assumed power, so let's not give them any ideas.

 

[Bob Cole]

cup or bust

we aren't a mickey mouse franchise like the senators. You need to win to get up there.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I really don't think winning cups or trophy's matters when it comes to jersey retirement. HOF yes but not jersey retirement... TO me, retiring a jersey is about the impact a player had on a franchise. It's why I'd retire even Saku's just because of the off ice/cancer stuff on top of the play. And with Markov I would due to his impact on the ice for almost 20 years.

I think the jersey retirement should be a very exclusive club. We have HOFers who are excluded from it. I don't think either Markov or Koivu really belongs. I'm not even sure I'd have Lemaire in there and his career is far more prestigious than either of those two.

Joliat and Blake should've been in long ago. Apart from them there are some HOFers who I'd consider but that's about it.

cup or bust

we aren't a mickey mouse franchise like the senators. You need to win to get up there.

I don't think a cup should be a pre-requisite. A HOF slot is though. If you aren't in the HOF then I don't think you should get your jersey retired here.