Montreal Canadiens: This Week in Habs History: March 7 – March 13
Tuesday March 8th
A Tragic Day
On March 8th, 1937, Howie Morenz sadly passed away in hospital due to a blood clot from his broken leg. His leg was broken in four places on January 28th in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Morenz’s funeral was held in the Forum, where the Canadiens played at the time, and over 50,000 people came to pay their respects. Morenz’s #7 was the very first number to ever be retired by an NHL team, and he was part of the first group of inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Mitchell Meteor, or Stratford Streak, nicknamed for his blinding speed and the cities he played junior for dominated the early NHL. He is said to have been the inspiration for Charles Adams to advocate for a team in his hometown Boston, and won the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player to his team three times.
Recchi’s Record
Mark Recchi played for many different teams and set many records in his Hall Of Fame career, but only one came partially as a Montreal Canadien.
Recchi was acquired by Montreal from Philadelphia in 1995. After four productive years in Montreal, Recchi’s numbers began to dip and he was dealt back to Philadelphia in 1999.
On March 8th, the year of our Lord 1995, as a member of the Canadiens, Recchi took a penalty shot against the Buffalo Sabres, when a month earlier, as a Flyer, he took a penalty shot against the Ottawa Senators. He missed both shots, but became the first player to take a penalty shot with two different teams in the same year.
Other Recchi records include having the most points in a single season for a Philadelphia Flyer (123 in 1992-93), being the oldest player to register 5 assists in a game (41), and being the oldest player to score a goal in the Stanley Cup Final (43).
Wednesday March 9th
LeClair’s Debut
On this day, the year of our Lord 1991, John LeClair would make his debut for the Montreal Canadiens against the Vancouver Canucks. LeClair would score his first career goal in the game as the Canadiens would win 4-2.
LeClair would win the Stanley Cup in 1992 as a member of the Canadiens, contributing two overtime goals in that magical run. 1992 would be a night of lasts for the Stanley Cup Final. It, so far, is the last Stanley Cup to be won by a Canadian team; it was the last Final of Wayne Gretzky’s hallowed career; and it was the last Cup to be won by a team composed solely of North American players.
LeClair was traded to Philadelphia in 1995 to acquire yesterday’s star Mark Recchi, and really hit his stride alongside new linemate Eric Lindros. LeClair, born in St. Albans, Vermont, became the first American born player to score 50 goals in three straight seasons.
Dryden’s Milestone
On March 9th, 1978 the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on the back of Larry Robinson’s 4 assists and Ken Dryden’s 25 save performance. The win was Dryden’s 30th of the year, and he celebrated it in style, getting an assist on the last goal of the game scored by Rick Chartraw.
The 1977-78 season was Dryden’s 6th 30 win season, becoming the fourth goaltender to accomplish such a feat. Dryden would retire with seven 30 win seasons, tying him with Curtis Joseph, Jacques Plante, Mikka Kiprusoff, Ryan Miller and Dominik Hasek.
It is important to note that Dryden accomplished this feat in just 7 full seasons, while every player before him needed 12-19 year careers to match him. We will never know how many records he could have broken had he not took a year off and retired early.
A Powerful Powerplay and A Powerful Slapshot
In a game against the Rangers in 1975, Pete Mahovlich and Guy Lapointe score two powerplay goals, both assisted by Guy Lafleur as the Canadiens win 5-3. The powerplay goals bring the season total to 82, a new NHL record.
The record would stand for over a decade until the Pittsburg Penguins demolished the total in 1988-89 with 119 powerplay goals.
Fifteen years ago in 1960, Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion scored a hattrick in a 9-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, giving him 250 career goals. He is the 4th Canadien to reach 250, and the 8th in the NHL.
Geoffrion earned the name “Boom Boom” from his wicked slapshot, a type of shot which Geoffrion claimed to have invented. The slapshot has a messy history, with the first recorded use in an NHL game some say came from Alex Shibicky, who fired the shot from his hip.
But the origins of the slapper likely go even further back to Eddie Martin and the Coloured Hockey League of the Maritimes. While many accomplishments of the CHLM have gone unappreciated in the past, it is widely believed that Martin had first used the type of shot Geoffrion perfected nearly 50 years later.
Thursday March 10th
The Rink Staff’s Arms and Legs Thank You
On this day, the year of our Lord 1955, the Montreal Canadiens battled with the Toronto Maple Leafs. By all accounts, the game was a snoozefest. The shots on goal weren’t recorded, but both Jacques Plante and Harry Lumley recorded shutouts.
It wasn’t what happened during the game that was noteworthy, but what happened in between the periods. It was the first game where the rink staff didn’t clear the rink by man power and shovels. Instead they used the newly invented Zamboni machine.
Okay, technically its called an ice resurfacer, but its inventor Frank Zamboni became so synonymous with his invention they are frequently called zambonis. Zamboni was born in Eureka, Utah in 1901. What a fitting city.
The original zamboni was built over an army Jeep chasis with a blade attached to the back. It saved a ton of time and man effort and has since become a staple in practically every ice rink in the world.
The Longest Home Undefeated Streak
On March 10th, 1977, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Colorado Rockies 7-1 at The Forum. The win broke the record set by the Boston Bruins in 1971 of 27 straight home games without a loss.
It started after the Canadiens lost to the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Montreal on October 30th 1976. It was just the 13th game of the season, and the Canadiens wouldn’t lose a game at home for the rest of the season. In fact, the Habs lost just 8 games that season.
The next time the Montreal Canadiens lost at home was in the playoffs against the New York Islanders 4-3 in overtime on May 3rd, 1977. The next time the Canadiens lost at home in the regular season against the L.A. Kings 5-3 on October 29th, 1977.
Friday March 11th
The Finale at the Forum
On this day, the year of our Lord 1996, the Montreal Canadiens played the Dallas Stars in the final game in the legendary Forum in Montreal. The Canadiens beat the Stars 4-1 to send of what was their home for over 70 years in style.
The final goal scored in that most hallowed of halls was by Andrei Kovalenko, who is most famous in the NHL as one of the pieces in return for that ill fated Patrick Roy deal. Kovalenko scored 17 goals in his only career as a Canadien. Interestingly enough, Kovalenko also scored the first goal in the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Centre, later known as the RBC Centre later known as PNC arena in 1999 as a Hurricane.
The Birth of a Legend
I can go on and on about Sprague Cleghorn, born March 11th 1890 in Montreal, Quebec. He is a Hall of Famer, was frequently the subject of multiple attempts to get him kicked out of the league, incurred two different actual police charges for incidents on the ice, and almost dismantled an entire team. Did I mention that he broke his ankle walking around Montreal while rehabbing his other ankle which he broke in a game weeks prior?
Cleghorn, like it seems to many were back in that time, was a member of the Montreal Wanderers. A proud and historic team that played just 6 NHL games before their arena burned down and the players were dispersed throughout the rest of the league. Cleghorn landed with the Senators and he and the team were dominant.
But then, the league decided to just move Cleghorn to the Hamilton Tigers, to promote parity. Cleghorn flat out refused to go. The Senators begged the league to just let him return to them, but they were threatened with being kicked out of the league.
But the wild thing is, it happened twice. Cleghorn played with the St. Patricks when he then signed with the Senators before the playoffs and won the Cup there again. Then the league forced him to move to the Hamilton Tigers again, and Cleghorn refused to play again.
He did all this while also being one of the first offensive defensemen in the league, retiring with the second most career goals by a defenseman, and even captaining the Montreal Canadiens one year.
Another Habs Birthday
March 11th is also the birthday of Martin Ručinský in 1971 in Most, Czechoslovakia. Ručinský was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers but bounced around to the Quebec Nordiques who became the Colorado Avalanche. And I am sure many of you know where this is going.
On December 6th, 1995, Ručinský, along with Kovalenko, and Thibault, was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Patrick Roy. Ručinský stuck around for a few years in Montreal, scoring four 20+ goal seasons.
1998-99 was not one of those years. This was the season of the controversial foot-in-the-crease goal in the Stanley Cup Final, and league scoring was at an all time low. Ručinský scored 17 goals that season, and that somehow was the team lead. It is the first time any Montreal Canadien failed to score 20 goals in a season. Ručinský was also the last Quebec Nordique to play professionally, retiring from play in 2015 in the ELH.
Saturday March 12
Gone Streaking
On this day, the year of our Lord 1975, the Montreal Canadiens roll into Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs, and the teams play to a 3-3 tie. With that tie, the Canadiens extend their record away undefeated streak to 23 games.
It started on November 23rd, 1974 with a 3-2 win against the Pittsburg Penguins, and it lasted all the way up to March 23rd, 1975, as the Canadiens lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1. The Montreal Canadiens of 1977-78 also have the second longest road undefeated streak at 16 games.
Gone Streaking…Again
Is it possible to overstate how good Guy Lafleur and the Montreal Canadiens were in the 1970s?
Guy Lafleur registered 4 helpers as the Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1. It was Lafleur’s second straight 4 assist game on March 12th, 1977, and Montreal’s team record 10th home win in a row. The game before, Lafleur also had 4 assists as the Canadiens beat the Colorado Rockies 7-1.
This was also in the middle of a record breaking 34 game home undefeated streak that ended in May against the New York Islanders 4-3 in overtime in the playoffs. The next time the Canadiens would lose in the regular season at home was November 29th, 1977 against the L.A. Kings. Unfortunately, the first three undefeated games at home during the 1977 season.
The closest another team has come to that mark was the Boston Bruins in 1970-71 with 27 straight home games. It is a record that probably will never be broken. Things have changed ever since the NHL got rid of the tie in 2005-06. Before that, any overtime period that didn’t produce a goal was a tie, and a tie didn’t count against an undefeated streak. Now every game has a winner and a loser, so the undefeated streak has morphed into a winning streak. Going undefeated for 35 straight home games seems almost impossible, but winning 35 straight probably is.
Sunday March 13th
The Best Flow In the Game
On this day, the year of our Lord 1998, Michael Pezzetta was born in Toronto, Ontario. Pezzetta was drafted in the 6th round, 160th overall pick in 2016. The 160th overall pick has seem some success, particularly when it comes to defense, with Josh Manson, Andrew McDonald and Dmitri Mironov were all picked at this position. The best forwards are Luke Witkowski and Anthony Peluso.
And who knows, maybe Pezzetta can find his name beside those. Pezzetta made his NHL debut this year, and has so far provided energetic play and 4 goals and 6 points in 34 games so far.
There have been many different hair cuts over the years in the NHL. If you want a laugh, look up Al Iafrate and whatever you would call that haircut. But I think that Pezzetta’s curly locks are up there with the long blonde hair of Le Demon Blond Guy Lafleur, or the heights of Jaromir Jagr’s mullet. Fortunately for the safety of the players, but unfortunate for hockey hair, every player needs to wear a helmet during play. But we can always gaze adoringly at Pezzetta during the warmups.
The Pocket Rocket Scores #350
On March 13th, 1974, Henri Richard scored his 350th career goal in a 3-3 tie against the Chicago Blackhawks. The next season would be Richard’s last, and he would finish his career with 358 goals and 1,046 points in 1,256 games.
Richard is among just 8 Canadiens to have scored over 350 goals, behind Jacques Lemaire, Bernie Geoffrion, Steve Shutt, Yvan Cournoyer, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur and older brother Maurice Richard.
But no player compares to The Pocket Rocket when it comes to winning Stanley Cups as a player. Richard has won 11 cups as a player, one more than Beliveau and Cournoyer. Richard is also one of 11 players to have played on every one of Montreal’s Stanley Cup wins between 1955 and 1960, all of whom share the record for most consecutive Cup wins.
The Rocket Is Suspended
In 1955, Maurice Richard and the Montreal Canadiens were taking on the Boston Bruins in a highly physical affair. The Bruins won 4-2, but that result seemed to hardly matter. The teams combined for 51 penalty minutes, including two game misconducts to Maurice Richard and Boston’s Hal Laycoe with just under 5 minutes left in the game.
By all accounts, Laycoe hi-sticked Richard, who reacted violently to Laycoe and the officials who tried to break up the two. Part of a long list of altercations between Montreal and Boston, the Boston police attempted to arrest Richard but were thwarted by his Canadiens teammates barring the lockerroom door.
Following the altercation, the president of the NHL, Clarence Campbell, decides to come down on hard on Richard, citing previous incidents and banning The Rocket for the remainder of the season. Somehow, Campbell thought that it would be a good idea to go to the very next Montreal Canadiens game in Montreal on March 17th, with his fiancé. Anything that could be thrown at him was, and it got so bad that Campbell cancels the game and gives the win to the visiting Detroit Red Wings, who would go on to win the Cup against the Richard-less Canadiens.
That night the riot spilled out into the street and resulted in over 100 arrests and an untold amount of property damage. It didn’t stop until Richard himself begged for the fans to stop, and he served the entirety of his suspension.
However, Richard promised to return better than ever after the suspension cost him the scoring championship and the Canadiens the Stanley Cup. And come back he did, and Maurice Richard and the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup the next year, and the next four years after that.
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