Chooch, in this lockout season, coupled with expressvu's free month of January, I watched a lot of classic games over the last 6 weeks. Lemaire was definitely on th epenalty kill. Lemaire essentially had 2 careers in Mtl. as a player. Up to about 76 he was the offensive threat expected to rival Cournoyer as the team's go to guy. It never quite happened that way as he was a solid player but aside from 1 year, never threatened to join the 50 goal guys. His last 3 years, he became,imo, the most complete player on the team. I've always thought that, and see no reason to change from anything I've read here. Further, Bowman trusted him in those roles and freely states as much when asked. As for Canada Cups, it was timing I guess. If they were played in 77,8, or 9 or even 80, I'm sure he would have been picked. I think that if we dug up old Mtl. Star articles from the fall of 71, Peter's selection may have raised a few eyebrows, though I'm glad they picked him. As for Peter M being a true leader, I've read whatever books are available from the players from that team and I lived in the city then. I'm not slandering the guy because the stories were documented. The players loved Peter, and would want to be in his taxi going out for dinner, but his lifestyle kept him from being considered a leader. He was the team party animal and Bowman's whipping boy. His mishaps in local establishments were legendary. I have no problem with this as during the same era, a few of my own were pretty legendary. He was the lovable wayward guy on that team, not their leader. Remember when Shutt called their line the Donut Line ? [ no center]. Remember when he and Mario Tremblay bralwed in their hotel ? Remember when Bowman fined him $100 for missing curfew and he peeled off $200 and said I'm coming in late tomorrow too. None of these make him a bad guy, but the team knew he had personal problems and his trade was inevitable. If I list favorites, he's way ahead of Lemaire in my books. I just think that Lemaire was a superior player.
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