This Week In Canadiens History – April 18th-24th
Four In A Row
On April 18th 1959, the Montreal Canadiens become the first team in history to win 4 Stanley Cups in a row. To make things sweeter for you Canadiens fans, our warriors in red sweaters beat our ever bitter rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Bernard “Boom Boom” Geoffrion would also make history as he scored 2 goals in that final game and thus becoming only the second player in history at the time to score 50 playoff goals.
99 Retires in ’99
It needs to be mentioned even if he never wore a Canadiens jersey, but April 18th, 1999 would be Wayne Gretzky‘s final NHL game.
“The Great One” would retire with 894 goals, 1963 assists and 2857 points, all records. He would win a total of 31 individual trophies, the holder of a plethora of nearly unbreakable records and winner of four Stanley Cups. There’s literally nothing left to say about the legacy that Gretzky left on the game.
However, did you know? Wayne Gretzky almost became a Montreal Canadien had Sam Pollock gotten his way. The legendary general manager who famously acquired the first overall pick a year ahead of the 1971 draft in order to draft Guy Lafleur, tried to replicate a similar coup.
On September 13th, 1976 the Montreal Canadiens would trade Sean Shanahan and Ron Andrews to the Colorado Rockies in return for cash and a swap of 1st round picks in …1980.
At the time of the trade, Wayne Gretzky was 15 years old and starting to garner serious attention in the hockey world. However, the draft eligibility age at the time was 20 years old, making Gretzky eligible for the 1981 draft. Sam Pollock however, was deeply involved in expansion decisions and amateur drafting rules with the NHL since the mid-60’s. One could say he had a crystal ball which luck would have it, the draft age dropped to 19 in 1979.
At the end of the 1979-80 season, Colorado would finish, you guessed it, dead last, giving the Canadiens the 1st overall pick. By then the Oilers would retain Gretzky’s rights as the WHA merged with the NHL so the whole idea became moot.
Sam Pollock had already retired by then and replaced by Irving Grundman who infamously picked Doug Wickenheiser with that 1st overall pick, over a slick speedster from Gatineau named Denis Savard, who would get picked up 2 spots later by the Chicago Blackhawks, after the Winnipeg Jets selected Dave Babych with the number 2 overall pick.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Carey’s Pro Debut
On April 19th 2007, the Canadiens’ 5th overall pick of the 2005 draft would make his AHL debut with the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Carey Price had just finished his final season with the Tri-City Americans of the WHL, finishing with a 30-13-1 record with a 2.45 GAA and .917 save percentage. In his first game with the Bulldogs he would block all 34 shots sent his way and helped shutout the aptly named Rochester Americans 3-0. He would then backstop the Bulldogs in the playoffs and lead them to the Calder Cup and be named playoff MVP. In 22 playoff games he finished with a 15-6 record, 2.06 GAA and a sparkling .936 save percentage.
Price would play 10 games for the Bulldogs next season before being called up to Montreal and never going back down, except for that 1 rehab stint with the Laval Rocket in 2021.
Theodore’s Game 7 Heroics
Jose Theodore would also make history on this day. In Game 7 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Canadiens would go for all the marbles against them Big Bad Bruins.
Richard Zednik, who had his best years of his career in Montreal, took care of the offence and scored two while Theodore was spectacular and saved all 32 of Boston’s shots, en route to a Game 7 victory and grabbing his first career postseason shutout. He would become only the 4th goaltender in NHL history to register a Game 7 shutout on the road.
Theodore would only register one more postseason shutout in his career, this time with the Florida Panthers in 2012, which would also be his final season in the NHL.
We’re Going On A Boat…To Europe!
On April 11th, 1938, the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and a plethora of NHL executives boarded the RMS Ausonia in Halifax, Nova Scotia en route to Liverpool, England. A gruelling 9-day expedition awaited them that would end in Europe where they would play a series of exhibition games in England and France.
On April 22nd, in Earl’s Court, a suburb of London, the Canadiens and Red Wings would face off in front of 8,500 in an all out spectacle of entertainment. The Habs would win this one 5-4.
The second game would be played in famous Brighton neighbourhood, before setting said across the English Channel onto Paris, France where the teams would face off at the Palais Des Sports for three games.
The Canadiens would win 2 of the three matchups in France. Game one saw a spectacular comeback by the Canadiens when they were trailing 8-5 with 10 minutes left to the game, only to win it 10-8.
After a short break, both teams would return to England where they would win a pair of games each.
The trip was a resounding success. Both French and English fans loved the spectacle and would cheer at every chance. Canadiens goaltender Wilf Cude, a native of Barry, Wales was received as a conquering hero in England. English fans would resort to cheering “Go Canada Go” in favour of the Canadiens.
Happy Birthday Tyler Toffoli
We still wish that we could wish him a happy 30th birthday in a Habs uniform, but it is what it is and Mike Hoffman wouldn’t have given us that kind of haul anyway.
Tyler Toffoli was signed as a free agent in the summer of 2020 after winning the Stanley Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014, and a brief stint with the Vancouver Canucks at the end of the 2019-2020 season.
The Scarborough, Ontario native would of course be traded to the Calgary Flames this past February in return for a top-10 protected 1st round pick in 2022, a 5th round pick in 2023, Emil Heineman and Tyler Pitlick.
Tyler Toffoli gave Canadiens fans plenty to cheer for during his short tenure in Montreal. He came exactly as advertised and gave Montreal 28 goals in his only complete season with the team.
None of course, were bigger than the overtime goal he would score that completed the sweep against the Winnipeg Jets.
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