Montreal Canadiens: Ten Scariest Players In Franchise History

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.