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Canadiens vs Nordiques: 38 Years Ago – The Good Friday Massacre

By Patrick Lortie

UNIONDALE, NY - DECEMBER 11: Members of 'Nordiques Nation' cheer during the NHL game between the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Thrashers on December 11, 2010 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Over 1,100 fans from Quebec attended the game to prove their support for an NHL team. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NY - DECEMBER 11: Members of 'Nordiques Nation' cheer during the NHL game between the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Thrashers on December 11, 2010 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Over 1,100 fans from Quebec attended the game to prove their support for an NHL team. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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The boiling point came on April 20th, 1984. A small snippet was written in “This Week In Canadiens History“, but here’s how it ultimately went down.

It’s the eve of Game 6 of the 1984 Adams Division Finals, the second round of the playoffs that year. The Canadiens are ahead 3-2 and have the chance to close the series on their rivals.

The Canadiens had already swept their other rivals, the Boston Bruins, the round prior. While the Nordiques also steamrolled their way past the Buffalo Sabres for a first round sweep.

The Canadiens’ dominance of the 1970’s were long gone. Lafleur, Shutt and Robinson was all that was left of the old guard along with Jacques Lemaire who took over Bob Berry as head coach near the end of the season.The team now belonged to captain Bob Gainey and his young scrappers named Claude Lemieux, Guy Carbonneau, Chris Chelios, Chris Nilan and Mario Tremblay. Mats Naslund was a year away from officially becoming a superstar.

Claude Lemieux made playoff history with Canadiens
Claude Lemieux made playoff history with Canadiens /

That summer, Mario Lemieux went first overall and Kirk Muller second in the NHL Draft. The Canadiens would land Petr Svoboda, Shayne Corson, and Stephane Richer. Late in the third round they would also tempt fate by drafting a scrawny goaltender named Patrick Roy.

The Nordiques had the Stastny brothers – Peter, Marian and Anton, but leading the pack was a 23 year old sensation named Michel Goulet who had just scored his second consecutive 50 goal season. He would score to more to make it four in a row, then have 49 and 48 goal seasons before injuries significantly slowed him down and was ultimately traded to Chicago.

Behind them were hitters and bruisers. Dale Hunter, Pat Price, captain Mario Marois, Randy Moller and Wilf Paiment just to name a few. Future Montreal Canadiens GM Andre Savard was also part of this team.

Quebec was craving a long cup run and Montreal needed their glory back. This series would claw and scratch all the way to Game 6 and here we were at the famed Montreal Forum for what everyone expected to be an intense battle. Even Don Cherry was there for CBC and couldn’t contain his excitement.

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