Montreal Canadiens: Ten Scariest Players In Franchise History

The Montreal Canadiens have not scared many of their opponents in the past couple of seasons.

Finishing last in the NHL standings in 2021-22 and then fifth last the following season means most teams are not that worried when they have to face them. They got off to a better start to this season, but wins over the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets may not look that impressive in the grand scheme of things.

With today being Halloween, we decided to take a look back at some of the scariest members of the Montreal Canadiens over the years. Just for fun we will take a glance back at some of the players who donned the Canadiens jersey and flat out terrified the opposition on a nightly basis.

While this is not happening as frequently these days, there were enforcers over the years who would scare the daylights out of anyone who dared go near them on the ice. Intimidation has always been a big part of the game of hockey, and though we do not see the enormous enforcers throwing haymakers at each other as often as we used to, there is still an element of physicality and toughness to the game.

Of course, some players terrify the opposing team based on their size, ability to hit, score, defend well or even play goal at such a level that it seems almost unfair for the opposing team. The Canadiens have had many of these players over the years, and since it is October 31st, we decided to have a little fun today and look back at some of these players that struck the fear of God into the oppositon.

So, let’s look back at the top ten scariest Montreal Canadiens players in the history of the franchise.

10. Jeff Petry

Jeff Petry is probably not the first player that jumps to mind when you think of the scariest Canadiens players of all time. In nearly a decade with the Canadiens organization, his highest penalty minutes total was 36.

Sure, he was a sold two-way player who could carry the puck up ice and make a nice pass to a teammate to set up a scoring chance, but the other wasn’t exactly paralyzed by fear when Petry would go on a rush up ice.

He did have some great offensive seasons, scoring 13 goals and 46 points in 2018-19 and also having 42 points in just 55 games in the Covid shortened 2020-21 campaign. While a near point per game defenseman is a fearful thought for an opponent to gameplan against, it was Petry’s look in the 2021 postseason that made him a scary opponent.

A freak accident along the glass in the second round of the playoffs resulted in dislocated fingers when Petry got his glove stuck in the camera hole on the glass. Apparently, when the doctors tries to reset the fingers, Petry passed out from the pain and it resulted in him rupturing blood vessels in his eyes.

When he returned to the lineup in the third round against the Vegas Golden Knights, he looked like he was about to fire lasers out of his eyes. The bright red glow in his eyeballs was a sight straight out a Halloween movie, and the image is about as scary a mugshot as any hockey player has ever had.

9. John Kordic

John Kordic was drafted by the Canadiens in 1983 in the fourth round of the NHL Draft as they hoped he would add a physical presence to the team. He surely did not disappoint in that area of the game.

In the year he was drafted, he played 72 WHL games for the Portland Winterhawks scoring three goals and 25 points and also piling up 235 minutes in penalties.

He first cracked the NHL roster late in the 1985-86 season and would play just five regular season games that year. He did suit up for 18 playoff games, as the Canadiens would go on a run that saw them win their 23rd Stanley Cup. Kordic didn’t add any points, but did being a physical presence to the lineup and ensures the opponent’s kept their head up when he was on the ice.

Listed at 6’1″ and 190 pounds, Kordic was not the biggest player to ever lace up skates, but he did not back down from a fight with anyone. That would include Boston Bruins tough guy Jay Miller.

Kordic had a distinct style where he could fire out punches in rapid succession, hammering an opponent two or three times in a row before they knew what was coming. Even more terrifying was a seemingly unlimited pain tolerance level. You may as well punch the ice instead of his head as he never really seemed to notice anyway.

He was once suspended five games for fighting Gord Donnelly of the Quebec Nordiques before the game even started. Terrifying players before the puck even drops to start the game because they wear a Nordiques jersey makes Kordic one of the most feared players to ever play for the Canadiens.

8. Lyle Odelein

Montreal Canadiens defender Lyle Odelein would have a long and successful NHL career, and played on some terrific defensive teams including the 1993 Stanley Cup winning Canadiens as well as the stingiest defensive group possibly ever with the late 1990’s New Jersey Devils.

So, he could play and defend and was far more than a goon at any point in his career, but he could also drop the gloves with anyone. He proved this immediately as he would fight 19 times in his first full season with the Canadiens, piling up 259 penalty minutes as a rookie.

In the entire history of the Canadiens, only 14 times has a player reached 200 penalty minutes in a single season and Odelein did it five times. The only season he did not reach 200 PIMs with the Canadiens was the 48 game lockout shortened season in 1995 and he came pretty darn close, considering it was barely half a season, with 152.

Odelein did not pick his spots, even though he was under six feet tall, as he dropped the gloves with enforcers like Gord Donnelly, Gino Odjick, Joey Kocur and Bob Probert.

Not only could he fight but he was always looking to impact the game with a big hit. He was smart enough defensively to be in the right position and when an opposing player was in a vulnerable position, Odelein took advantage by stepping up and making them think twice about skating into the Canadiens zone with the puck again.

He averaged 3.25 penalty minutes per game while a member of the Canadiens, which is the second highest PIMs per game in franchise history. He battled hard, hit like a truck and fought anyone in the league who dared, making him one scary customer on the ice.

6. Sheldon Souray

Sheldon Souray arrived in Montreal  in the 1999-00 season as a completely unproven player. He was in his third season with the New Jersey Devils, but was a depth piece on the blue line, buried behind players like Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Ken Daneyko and Odelein.

He was big, at 6’4 and 233 pounds, and was not afraid to use his size to his advantage with physical play in the defensive zone. After arriving in Montreal, he would continue to make life miserable for the opposition in a way that was not really penalized before the 2004-05 lockout. Hacks, whacks, slashes and cross checks were the norm and a player as big as Souray could really use his size to intimidate the opponent physically.

Souray missed a chunk of the 2001-02 season with wrist injuries and was then out for the entire 2002-03 season recovering from wrist surgeries. When he returned, he had an added weapon that terrified the opposition and it was his slapshot. He would score 15 goals in 2003-04, then had 12 more following the lockout season and upped that to an incredible 26 in 2006-07.

That season saw him even score a shootout goal after faking a slapshot that had Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Andrew Raycroft shaking in his skates. The fake completely froze Raycroft who must have closed his eyes when he saw Souray wind up.

Not only was Souray an intimdating opponent because of his size, physicality, willingness to drop the gloves and insane slapshot. He also scared the daylights out of Canadiens fans as his defensive awareness in his own zone left a lot to be desired. Everyone, teammates, opponents, both goaltenders, and fans of both teams were downright terrified when Souray was on the ice for the Canadiens and that makes him one of the scariest players to ever suit up in Montreal.

5. Guy Lafleur

Imagine this… it is the 1970’s and you are playing in the National Hockey League. You are sitting on the bench and your team has the puck in the Montreal Canadiens zone applying some pressure in a tie game in the third period.

Your teammate, a defenseman blasts a puck from the point but it is blocked and the puck bounces out to the neutral zone. Suddenly, Guy Lafleur flies by your bench in a race for the loose puck.

It has to be a terrifying scene. You know he is getting to that loose puck because he can flat out fly down the ice. You also know he is getting in all alone on a breakaway and you are about 98% sure that puck is going into the back of your net. The only thing more terrifying would be imagining yourself as the goaltender. Good luck.

There is nothing really physically intimidating about facing Lafleur. He was about six feet tall and 185 pounds or so which means he was not the biggest or toughest guy on the ice. He didn’t quite reach 400 minutes in penalties for his entire career, which spanned from 1971 to 1991 so he was not running anyone over out there.

But he did score 518 goals for the Canadiens and won three consecutive Art Ross Trophies, three Lester Pearson Awards and a couple of Hart Trophies as well as a Conn Smythe. He scored at least 50 goals and 119 points each season from 1974-1980, making him the best player in the league for close to a decade.

You didn’t have to worry about him taking you out, running you over with a big hit or fighting anyone, but it must have been terrifying to face him and try to shut him down knowing you did not stand a chance.

4. John Ferguson

John Ferguson arrived in Montreal with one mandate that was clear, he was to be the bodyguard for Jean Beliveau.

The Canadiens lost some toughness in the 1963 offseason when Lou Fontinato retired, and they needed a new policeman to keep an eye on things on the ice. They found the perfect fit when Ferguson joined the team.

Ferguson made his name known when he fought Boston Bruins tough guy Ted Green mere seconds into his NHL career and more than held his own. That let everyone know there was a new tough guy in town and no one was going to mess with superstar center Jean Beliveau.

Ferguson, a big, physical winger had 125 penalty minutes in his rookie season and never had less than 115 in his career. He was known as the league’s toughest enforcer during his eight season NHL career and allowed star players like Beliveau and Henri Richard to play their games without worrying about cheap shots from opponents.

It also helped that Ferguson could play the game of hockey as well as fight. He scored 18 goals and 45 points in 59 games as a rookie and had a total of 303 points in his 500 game career. He had a career high 29 goals in 1968-69 making him a legitimate first line player alongside Beliveau.

The combination of being the toughest guy in the league for nearly a decade as well as an offensive threat made Ferguson one of the scariest players a Canadiens opponent has ever faced.

3. Sprague Cleghorn

Sprague Cleghorn played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1921-25. That puts him on the Habs exactly 100 years ago and his legend lives on to this day.

In fact, Mike Matheson just reached a milestone that brought Cleghorn’s name back into the news this week. Matheson scored his 40th point with the Canadiens in just his 56th game with the team. That is the second fastest defenseman in franchise history to reach 40 points.

The only defenseman to do it quicker was Sprague Cleghorn just over 100 years ago who scored 40 points in his first 46 games with the Canadiens.

That shows Cleghorn would have been a scary player to face just because of his offensive ability. He was a rare defenseman back then who was willing to join the attack and he was obviously pretty good at it. That would make him a feared opponent, but by all accounts, his scoring ability was the least of his opponents worries.

Cleghorn’s play on the ice inspired the Lady Byng Trophy, not because he as so gentlemanly, as the award suggests, but because he was the complete opposite. The award was originally created to inspire the play opposite to what Cleghorn did. It was hoped the award would promote more gentlemanly conduct on the ice and entice a player like Cleghorn to change his ways.

It didn’t work.

Cleghorn was charged with assault for attacking an Ottawa Senators player with his stick and hitting him over the head in the 1923 playoffs. He was suspended by his own team, not the league, after that game. The Canadiens were so frustrated by his constant antics they didn’t want him on the ice anymore. And this was in the middle of the finals.

The Ottawa team tried to have him banned from ever playing in the league again as his attack on their player was a viscous attack with his stick that looked more like a lumberjack trying to split a thick piece of wood than anything seen on ice before.

Cleghorn was once described by King Clancy as a terrific stickhandler and a master of the butt-end. That pretty much sums it up. He could beat you with his stick both literally and figuratively which makes him one of the scariest players to ever play for the Canadiens.

2. Chris Nilan

This one is fairly straightforward. Chris Nilan was a dominant fighter in his generation when everyone had a great fighter, or four, on their roster. He made a name for himself almost immediately as he fought both Stan Johnathan and Terry O’Reilly in the same game early in his career.

If you don’t back down from those two, there is no one around the league that could scare you.

Nilan played most of the first eight seasons of his career with the Canadiens and he would have at least 204 minutes in penalties each season. He only had 204 in 1981-82 because he played just 49 games. Getting suspended somewhat regularly will limit a players games played.

Nilan was once suspended eight games for butt-ending Bruins forward Rick Middleton in the mouth as they skated towards one another. He quipped after the game that he merely meant to pop Middelton in the mouth with his glove and not the butt-end of his stick.

He also got a three game ban later in his career for throwing a puck at Pittsburgh Penguins player. Paul Baxter and hitting him in the head. He was suspended yet again for taking a swipe at Ken Linesman, nicknamed The Rat, while Linesman was on the bench and Nilan was being escorted off the ice after being thrown out of the game.

Playing against one of the tougest guys who in the league, who is also crazy enough to thrown pucks at players and attack cheap shot artists while they sit on the bench makes Nilan one of the scariest players in franchise history.

The fact he could also play the game well adds to his scariness as well. He played alongside Guy Carbonneau and Bob Gainey on perhaps the best defensive line in the history of the game. Being a scorer in the NHL, and seeing that line as your regular matchup would have you a little worried you were not going to be able to put the puck in the net that night.

1. Rocket Richard

Rocket Richard was the player in Montreal Canadiens history that struck more fear into opponent’s than anyone else ever did. He was a cultural icon in the province of Quebec, but everywhere else he was a feared and fierce competitor.

Not only could he fly down the wing with eyes as wide as saucers, solely focused on driving to the net as hard and as fast as possible, but there was no stopping him. Whether he chose to stickhandle around a defender or just barrel straight through them would be something the opposing team would just have to wait and see.

He would score 544 goals in his career, which still stands as the franchise record. His goal scoring ability was scary enough for the opposition, but Rocket had an awful mean streak to him as well.

He piled up 1285 minutes in penalties in his career, never shy to stick up for himself in a fight.

He got into a wild stick swinging incident and eventually struck a linesman who tried to break it up in 1955 which ultimately led to him being suspended for the rest of the season. This resulted in the infamous Richard Riots in Montreal.

Hall of Fame goaltender Glenn Hall once said, “when I think of Maurice Richard, the thing I see are his eyes. They were flashing and gleaming like the lights of a pinball machine. It was frightening.”

Yet another Hall of Fame goaltender Terry Sawchuk had similar memories, saying facing Rocket was “absolute terror. Those eyes glowing like a set of high beams. You’re scared.”

When a couple of the greatest goaltenders of all time admit to being terrified to face a player, you know they are a scary opponent. That is why Rocket Richard is the scariest player to ever suit up for the Montreal Canadiens.

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