I don't think a Cup is required and I also don't get why people think it's such an affront to retire a simply good/v good player's number who meant a lot to the city organization. It's doesn't have to be a Habs HoF, qualifications are arbitrary. I'm not pro Saku or Markov being retired personally but if you think that, say Saku's contributions off the ice makes him the most exemplary example of what a Hab should be and should stand for in the last 30-40 years, why not retire it?
With that said, I don't get why they don't do a tiered system, some jerseys deserve to be honored with only a very, very small handful permanently retired (4, 7, 9, 10 for example). The rest can have a banner and just be recirculated, Leaf style. I love a lot of the guys retired but there's no way some of those numbers should be forever out of circulation. Then we can stop the silly debate about worthiness and just honour the right guys. They've already gone too far and retired too many numbers. The meaning isn't the same when you're retiring guy's numbers 40+ years after they retired. All of the sudden they're worthy?
