The Montreal Canadiens have seen some of their greatest players leave town. Some of them just looked strange wearing something other than the bleu, blanc et rouge.
The Montreal Canadiens have employed some of the greatest hockey players of all time. Some of their most historic figures showed up in Montreal as young players and never left. Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard and Ken Dryden played their entire NHL careers with the Canadiens.
Not all of the Habs all-time greats stuck around forever. With a salary cap, free agency and high provincial taxes in Montreal, it is becoming more and more rare that a star player stays in one city for his entire NHL career.
This is not unique to the National Hockey League either. Just last week, we saw Tom Brady leave the New England Patriots to sign a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After playing 20 seasons with the Patriots and winning six Super Bowl titles, it is going to be odd seeing Brady in another jersey.
This got me thinking about some of the former Habs who left town and just looked strange wearing another team’s uniform. While some, like the Richard brothers and Beliveau, and maybe Carey Price, never left town, many of the Habs star players did.
So, let’s take a look at the top five players who left Montreal and just looked strange wearing the colors of another NHL team.