Patrice Brisebois

[Kimota]

IMO they didn't boo him enough. He was hot garbage from Day One of his career. He had all the physical skills required to be a great player. But he had no heart and no guts. I loathe any defenseman who pushes and shoves but doesn't hit people. Brisebois couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper sack. There was no menace to his game at all. He intimidated no one other than nervous Habs fans who held their breath waiting for the worst to happen whenever he was on the ice. He had a hockey IQ of below room temperature. He was making the same dumb mistakes with and without the puck in his last game as he was in his first game. He never learned a damn thing. If his name was Smith he'd have been shipped out of town years before he was and he would never have been re-acquired.

And while he was not obliged to be an enforcer, there were some occasions where he needed to take one for the team and he always balked. When Kyle McLaren of the Bruins nearly decapitated Richard Zednik Brisebois was on the ice and nearby McLaren. He cowered like a biotch when he should have tried to take McLaren's head off. Retribution was called for in that instance and he was perfectly positioned to deliver it. He was 6'2" and over 200lbs. He could have done something. Anything. But no. He tried to avoid eye contact with any Bruins player instead like the waste of space he was. If there's a Habs player in history who played that many games who was more useless than Brisebois I don't know who it is and I pray I never see him.

Brisebois is the physical embodiment of everything that's wrong with this franchise in the past quarter century. This is the useless hump that they held up on a pedestal as the example of what a Canadiens player should be. Really? Well no wonder they haven't won jack squat for 25 years.

I completely disagree.

 

[Brainiac]

well Desharnais got that treatment online.. Drouin... a lot of peop,le are callling him lazy and are blaming him... so it will happen ...

Drouin doesn't look like a victim. He can take the heat.

Breezer on the other hand...

 

[Clumsyhab]

The media dislike him a lot during the contract negotiation when he said: "Je ne veux pas jouer pour des peanuts".

 

[MaxDummy]

The media dislike him a lot during the contract negotiation when he said: "Je ne veux pas jouer pour des peanuts".

He said that ? In the province of Québec?

How to get heat 101 by P.Brisebois.

Rule number one if you're a successful and rich québécois

Don't talk or show off your money.

The only one who seems to get a pass is Céline Dion

 

[Bring Bak Damphousse]

To me Brisebois can be summed up by his reaction to McClaren knocking out Zednik in the 02 playoffs. He was the closest hab when the hit occurred and he kinda glides over to mcclaren and gives him a few taps, he had decent size for a dman but was soft as butter. When Hamrlik absolutely destroyed lucic with a hit in the playoffs it was brisebois that let lucic go into the corner with little more than a bump. He was playing above his head, and I hate when fans single out our own players, but he had the size and skill set to be a competent defenceman, he was just lacking heart, was lazy and a chickenshit.

 

[Shabs]

IMO they didn't boo him enough. He was hot garbage from Day One of his career. He had all the physical skills required to be a great player. But he had no heart and no guts. I loathe any defenseman who pushes and shoves but doesn't hit people. Brisebois couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper sack. There was no menace to his game at all. He intimidated no one other than nervous Habs fans who held their breath waiting for the worst to happen whenever he was on the ice. He had a hockey IQ of below room temperature. He was making the same dumb mistakes with and without the puck in his last game as he was in his first game. He never learned a damn thing. If his name was Smith he'd have been shipped out of town years before he was and he would never have been re-acquired.

And while he was not obliged to be an enforcer, there were some occasions where he needed to take one for the team and he always balked. When Kyle McLaren of the Bruins nearly decapitated Richard Zednik Brisebois was on the ice and nearby McLaren. He cowered like a biotch when he should have tried to take McLaren's head off. Retribution was called for in that instance and he was perfectly positioned to deliver it. He was 6'2" and over 200lbs. He could have done something. Anything. But no. He tried to avoid eye contact with any Bruins player instead like the waste of space he was. If there's a Habs player in history who played that many games who was more useless than Brisebois I don't know who it is and I pray I never see him.

Brisebois is the physical embodiment of everything that's wrong with this franchise in the past quarter century. This is the useless hump that they held up on a pedestal as the example of what a Canadiens player should be. Really? Well no wonder they haven't won jack squat for 25 years.

Agreed. He had no edge to his game. He was at his best when he was on Battle of the Blades.

He frustrated hockey fans. But he was a nice guy off the ice and this is why he lasted longer in Montreal than he should have and why he still has people’s respect.

 

[Deluded Puck]

Brisebois took more heat than most, but not all of it was his fault. He was pushed into a role that he was clearly overmatched in, and his heritage played a role in that, like so many others (Latendresse, Boullion, Desharnais, Drouin). The backlash came because of his demeanour; he unfortunately gave off the vibe of being entitled, his salary was big and you could say he wasn’t a player you’d want with you in the trenches. I’d say that was a major difference between him and Desharnais.

Desharnais was and is respected because he busted his ass to make it in; the frustration with him came from the usage of him by coaches. He wasn’t paid like a star and his play reflected that with his cold streaks and getting outmatched in the playoffs.

 

[Habs]

He was really soft. To be fair, he didn't play in the right era for his style of play.

I still remember him doing nothing after Zednik got destroyed by Kyle McLaren.

Nobody did anything, the entire team was a disgrace.

 

[TRG]

Nobody did anything, the entire team was a disgrace.

That said, they won the series.

 

[Laurentide]

Wasn't just media and fans who disliked him. Plenty of guys in the room didn't like him either. He was a bad teammate. He was selfish and not willing to stick his neck out for the guys next to him on the bench.

 

[Laurentide]

Sooooffffff as butter. Would not defend teammates. When sidelined with sickness went on a vacation to Paris instead of being with the team that was battling for a playoff spot.



Brisebois takes vacation without Habs' approval

Imagine if Subban had done that!

 

[beowulf]

It seemed like a mixture of many different factors

- Due to the lack of talent around him his defensive flaws were exposed and apparent
- He had a relative large contract
- Due to his long tenure and being a local player he was an easy target and reminder of the Habs decay from the early 90s

It was basically a perfect storm that led him to be treated so poorly by fans.

You can add to that in that he didn't help his situation like when he was out injured and doctors said he could not skate to help it heal but he then decides to take off to Europe for a ski vacation with his family. That didn't go over well with the fans.

 

[Andy]

Borderline top 4 d-man, miscast in a top 2 role, and was "soft" during a time where people wanted hulking, face-pounding defensemen. His second stint with the Habs was cool.

 

[Laurentide]

Borderline top 4 d-man, miscast in a top 2 role, and was "soft" during a time where people wanted hulking, face-pounding defensemen. His second stint with the Habs was cool.

I still want hulking, face-pounding defensemen. I'd love to have a Byfuglien on my team.

 

[Deluded Puck]

I still want hulking, face-pounding defensemen. I'd love to have a Byfuglien on my team.

We have Weber for that. And Jordie Benn.

 

[WinterLion]

The media dislike him a lot during the contract negotiation when he said: "Je ne veux pas jouer pour des peanuts".

No he said "It's not like I'm asking for millions of dollars..."

Anyways I always liked Briser. He was never treated fairly here.

Fans expected too much and then got mad when he didn't become what they expected. It's a pretty common problem in sports towns... and it's happening now too.

 

[Tighthead]

No he said "It's not like I'm asking for millions of dollars..."

Anyways I always liked Briser. He was never treated fairly here.

Fans expected too much and then got mad when he didn't become what they expected. It's a pretty common problem in sports towns... and it's happening now too.

I swear, and this is obviously completely subjective, he just wasn’t an easy guy for fans to get behind. His demeanour and overall style gave the appearance that he was kind of aloof and detached. I’m not saying it’s fair or that he actually was aloof and detached. He just didn’t have any “fan favourite” intangibles. I think the issue of too high expectations as noted above was a function of the overall fan sentiment. Fans as a whole seemed to dwell on what he wasn’t, not appreciating what he was.

It never bothered me that he wasn’t a physical presence. It wasn’t his game.

 

[badbrains]

Talented player at his best but a scapegoat when the team was losing A bit too soft. Nice guy but passive, timid personality made him an easy target for bullies in the media and the stands.

Played for some terrible Habs teams and that didn't help. Would have been great as a 3-4 D on a contender.

 

[Laurentide]

No he said "It's not like I'm asking for millions of dollars..."

Anyways I always liked Briser. He was never treated fairly here.

Fans expected too much and then got mad when he didn't become what they expected. It's a pretty common problem in sports towns... and it's happening now too.

No.

I didn't expect "too much" from Brisebois unless your definition of "too much" is expecting him (as a 10 year veteran) not to clear pucks up the middle of the ice leading to odd-man rushes for the opposing team or expecting him to follow basic rules of playing the position that most people learn at the pee-wee level. It wasn't that he made mistakes; it's that he made "Defense 101" mistakes, the kind of things they teach you not to do when you first lace up a pair of skates. And he didn't just make these mistakes once in a while. It was constant. He was making the same bonehead plays in his last year that he was making in his rookie year. He never learned anything from experience.

And there's a big difference between being a goon and playing as soft as Brisebois. Markov wasn't a bruiser or an intimidator but he wasn't a pantywaist. Brisebois never met an opponent who couldn't make him soil his diaper. Hailey Wickenheiser or Cassie Campbell could have intimidated him. He was an embarrassment. And you might have been able to forgive him for some of that had he not been blessed with the physical gifts of size and skill but he had all of that. If you could have put Frankie Boullion's heart and guts into Brisebois' body he'd win the Norris.

 

[Rosso Scuderia]

I like that time Bob Hartley said this to Brisebois.

"Toe tu chies dans les coins".

 

[Laurentide]

I like that time Bob Hartley said this to Brisebois.

"Toe tu chies dans les coins".

The way he played you'd have sworn that he learned to play hockey on a frozen pond with no boards and was shocked to discover that pro hockey rinks have physical dimensions with walls and corners.

 

[MtlBoxFan]

Imagine if Subban had done that!

This was the one that made a lot of people mad. The internet was not as prevalent, people started saying he was going on skiing trips while complaining of chest pains. I think a lot of people were confusing him with Malakhov.

He was soft. He flew to Paris while injured. He was paid a lot.
Breeze-by was catchy.

 

[Andrei79]

IMO they didn't boo him enough.

You have issues man.

What they did to Brisebois was not and never will be ok.

 

[Rockomax]

He was really soft. To be fair, he didn't play in the right era for his style of play.

I still remember him doing nothing after Zednik got destroyed by Kyle McLaren.

Came here to post about the McLaren cheapshot on Zednik. Brisebois didn't move a finger and Zednik was one the most important forwards on the team back then. Still pissed off about this.

 

[Price is Wright]

Chris Chelios
Eric Desjardins
Mathieu Schneider
Patrice Brisebois

As a 3-4 he would have been fine. Perfect slot for him. Management thought they could get rid of the top three and be fine so long as they had Brisebois.

It's a classic case of blaming the player instead of blaming the team.