With a handful of games left to this roller coaster of a season for the Montreal Canadiens, there is one player that stands out for reasons aside from the obvious. No, this time it won’t be about the near daily goal scoring of Cole Caufield, but more of his lines mate, Nick Suzuki.
Once the season is over, Nick Suzuki will lead the team in most categories. He leads the team in goals (19), assists (37) and points (56), although Cole Caufield and Josh Anderson are right behind at 18. A trio of 20 goal scorers is definitely something to look forward to as the season winds down to an halt.
He leads the team in Power Play goals (8), Power Play assists (12) Game-Winning Goals (4), Even strength assists (23), shots on goal (173) and the list just goes on and on. No wonder he was selected as an all-star.
Suzuki is also the only player on the team not to have landed on the injury list at some point. The Canadiens have played 74 games so far and Suzuki is the only one to have played them all. Only Alexander Romanov comes close at 71.
However, the only category in which he will make history is the points. No, his current 56 points is nowhere near Guy Lafleur’s all-time franchise record of 136. The last time a Canadiens player racked up 100 points in a season was way back in 1986 when Mats Naslund totalled 110 points while achieving his second consecutive 40 goal season.
Been a while.
The distinct honour Nick Suzuki will likely achieve at the end of the season is being the second youngest player in Canadiens history to lead the team in points. The original record was set by John Quilty during the 1940-41 season.
Nick Suzuki (22 years, 244 days) is on pace to become the second-youngest player in @CanadiensMTL history to lead the team in points at season's end, behind only John Quilty (20 years, 56 days; 18-16—34 in 1940-41).#NHLStats: https://t.co/VRjyH0y125 pic.twitter.com/MACDxqlyMc
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 12, 2022
Suzuki is also part of an elite crew as he ranks 4th in Montreal Canadiens history for most career points through 200 games, before age 23, as you can see from the Tweet above. Suzuki will be 23 on August 10th.
About John Quilty
In 1940-41, John Quilty would score 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points in 48 games and would go on to win the Calder Trophy. He was the son of Sylvester “Silver” Quilty, a Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee.
After two seasons with the Canadiens, John Quilty would join the Royal Canadian Air Force in support of his country during World War II. He would bounce around senior leagues while serving in the military.
Quilty would return to the Canadiens in 1947 but only played 3 games as he would spend the majority of the season with the Springfield Indians of the AHL. He would play a handful of games for the Canadiens the next season before being traded to the Boston Bruins where he would only play 6 games. He would then spend the next six seasons playing in various senior hockey leagues before finally retiring.
Quilty joins the long list of athletes who served during World War II and is part of players such as Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer (ironically called the “Kraut Line” with the Boston Bruins due to their German ancestry) in the NHL. Ted Williams in MLB could also be part of a “What If?” conversation, had they been able to play during those times.
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