On this week in Canadiens history: Guy Lafleur (of course), a couple of game changing inventions, killer flows, unbeatable undefeated streaks and more on this week’s edition of Canadiens’ History!
Monday March 7th
Lafleur Hits 100 For the First Time
On this day, the year of our Lord 1975, our good friend Guy Lafleur was at it again. Lafleur scored 2 goals and 2 assists as the Canadiens beat the Washington Capitals 8-4. Those four points gave Lafleur his first 100 point season, and the first 100 point season any Montreal Canadiens player has ever had.
Now that is probably due to the extended schedule as the NHL expanded to include more teams, but Lafleur would prove that this was no fluke. This season sparked a six season run where Lafleur scored at least 50 goals and 100 points.
Only one other player has more than one 100 point season as the member of the Montreal Canadiens, and that would be Pete Mahovlich. Pete had a 117 point season in 1974-75, and a 105 point season in 1975-76.
And just two other Montreal Canadiens have scored 100 points as a Hab. The next was Steve Shutt, part of the amazing 1970s Canadiens dynasty that also housed Lafleur and Mahovlich. Shutt scored 105 points in 1976-77.
The final Canadien to have a 100 point season is Le Petit Viking and member of the Triple Gold club, Mats Naslund. Naslund scored 110 points in 1985-86, and is the only Hab to score 100 points outside of the 1970s.
The closest anyone’s gotten to a 100 point season since then is Vincent Damphousse in 1992-93 with 97 points, and Pierre Turgeon with 96 points in 1995-96. The best point total in a season since the new millenium? Alexei Kovalev in 2007-08 with 84 points.
A Goaltending Legend Gets the Call
In 1971 the Canadiens called up from the AHL for the first time a young Ken Dryden to back up then starter Rogie Vachon. Dryden would wait a week before making his debut, a 5-1 win against the Penguins, and would later be part of the first brothers to ever play each other as goalies when he played brother Dave Dryden of the Buffalo Sabres.
Despite playing just 6 games in his career, Dryden won the starting spot from Vachon in the playoffs, and carried the team all the way to winning the Stanley Cup, with Dryden winning the Conn Smythe and Calder Trophies along the way.
A Trio of Milestones, Just One Night
In 1959 Jean Beliveau scored his 200th career goal in a 4 goal effort against the Red Wings, which the Canadiens won 10-2. Beliveau would finish his career in 1970-71, where he still managed to score at over a point-per-game (76 points in 70 games). Beliveau ended his career with 507 goals and 1,219 points in 1,125 games.
Exactly four years later, Dickie Moore scored his 250th goal as he and Jacques Plante best the Bruins 8-0. The 1962-63 season would be Moore’s final with the team, and last full season, as he played just parts of the next two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. Moore scored 254 of his 261 goals as a Canadien and finished with 608 points in 719 games.
Plante is best known for revolutionizing the goaltending position by being the first goalie to wear a mask full time. But Plante also was one of the first goalies to let his skaters know that the referees would be calling an icing by raising his hand, and he would frequently skate behind the net to stop the puck, something he was also an innovator of.
Happy Birthday to a Big Centre and a Two Sport Star
March 7th, 1995, Michael McCarron was born in Grosse Point, Michigan. McCarron put the Grosse in Grosse Point, standing at 6′ 6″ and weighing 231 lbs, Montreal thought they had solved their size and centre issues when they drafted McCarron 25th overall in 2015.
Unfortunately, it just hasn’t worked out for McCarron. He played just 69 games with the Habs before being traded to Nashville for Laurent Dauphin. And in just 22 games as a Canadien, Dauphin has 6 points, two less than McCarron had as a Canadien.
And finally, Tom Manastersky was born in 1929 in Montreal, Quebec. He only played 6 games as a defender in the NHL (as a member of his hometown Canadiens) in 1950, but that was after a lengthy career in the Canadian Football League. Starting his career as a half-back in 1946, Manastersky won the Grey Cup in 1949 as a Montreal Allouette, and returned to the CFL after his brief hockey career to retire in 1954 as a Saskatchewan Roughrider.