Montreal Canadiens: 4 players most don’t know played for the Habs

The Montreal Canadiens have a long list of players who wore the Red White and Blue. Here are 4 NHL players who most people don’t know dressed for the Habs.

For many players, getting the chance to play for the Montreal Canadiens is seen as an honor, with the team having a very rich history to their name and a long line of success behind it. They’re the oldest operating hockey team in the world, and as such have had many players come and go throughout the years. Today, I’ll be looking over 4 players who, unbeknownst to most, played for the Canadiens at one point in their career.

Brad Staubitz

Towards the end of the 2000s, the tough guy craze in the NHL was still very much in full effect and lingered on into the better part of the 2010s, albeit more so in the AHL. It was during this time where players like Kevin Westgarth, Colton Orr, Frazer Mclaren, and Brad Staubitz found themselves getting consistent bottom six minutes, despite a lack of hockey skills.

Undrafted out of junior, Staubitz had to toil for 4 years in the San Jose Sharks AHL system before making the team midway through the 2008-09 season. After being traded to the Minnesota Wild in the summer of 2010, Staubitz was then claimed off waivers by the Canadiens that same February. In what was a rough season for the team in general, despite solid performances from players like Erik Cole and David Desharnais, Staubitz brought the team some much needed physicality and protection and chipped in a goal and an assist as well. His contract wasn’t renewed at the end of the year, and he played 15 more games with the Anaheim Ducks before finishing his career in Germany’s 2nd division.

James Wisniewski

Best known for his years with the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he was a mainstay on their top 4 for the better part of 4 years, having a 50-point season in 2013-14, Wisniewski spent half a year on the Canadiens blue line the season prior. After being acquired from the New York Islanders for a 2nd round pick that December, Wisniewski played at a very solid pace, recording 30 points over 43 games, giving the Canadiens some much needed offensive help on their backend.

A 5th round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2002, Wisniewski came into his own with the Islanders and Canadiens that year, before being dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets that summer, for a 5th round pick that turned into Charles Hudon. An off and off offensive weapon for a number of teams, injuries and lack of production eventually caught up to Wisniewski, who finished his career in, like Staubitz, Germany’s 2nd division.

Tomas Vokoun

Known as one of the most reliable goalies in the NHL during the early to late 2000s, playing in 60 games in a season 3 separate times, including 73 games with the Nashville Predators in 2003-04, Vokoun was originally a 9th round pick of the Canadiens in 1994. After spending a year with their ECHL team in Wheeling, Vokoun played 1 period for the team in a February 6th, 1997 match against the Philadelphia Flyers, allowing 4 goals on 14 shots.

2 years later, Vokoun was claimed by the Predators in that year’s expansion draft, and well, the rest is history. Vokoun would spend the next 8 years as Nashville’s number 1 goalie, before being dealt to the Florida Panthers in the summer of 2007, where he spent another 4 years, carrying a rather weak Panthers team that never made the playoffs with Vokoun as their starter. After 2 years splitting duties in Washington and Pittsburgh, Vokoun retired in 2014 after playing 2 games in the AHL.

Nigel Dawes

Perhaps best known nowadays as the top scoring North American player in the KHL’s history, Dawes spent the first half of his career struggling to stick around in the NHL, demonstrating elite offensive abilities in the AHL that he was never given a chance to fully show in the NHL. Being rather small at 5’09, Dawes spent 2 full seasons with the New York Rangers and Calgary Flames before landing in Montreal at the 2011 trade deadline. Playing a key role for a Hamilton Bulldogs team that reached the AHL’s eastern conference finals that year, Dawes recording 28 points in 19 games to go along with 22 points in 20 playoff games.

This earned him a 4 games audition with the team in March of 2011, recording no points while playing a 4th line role. After this, Dawes signed with Kazakhstan team Astana Barys of the KHL, where he would become the teams star player, even acquiring Kazakhstan citizenship to be able to play for them in the 2016 IIHF World Championships. He’s reached 50 points in a season every year since 2014, and currently plays for Yekaterinburg Automobilist.