Conn Smythe Trophy: History, Montreal Canadiens Past Winners

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The Stanley Cup Finals kicks off on June 8th, with the Edmonton Oilers taking on the Florida Panthers. The Oilers can be the first Canadian Stanley Cup Champion since the Montreal Canadiens did it in 1993. The NHL will hand out the Conn Smythe Trophy at the end of the series, awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player of their team during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens are the most winningest team in NHL history, so it's no surprise they have many past winners.

The award honors Conn Smythe, a longtime owner, general manager, and head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Each year since 1965, writers of the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote to elect the player deserving of the trophy. Before the presentation of the Stanley Cup, Gary Bettman presents the trophy to the winner. The NHL began releasing the vote tallies for the trophy starting in 2017.

We've been doing a series here on A Winning Habit that outlines the winners of every award from the Canadiens franchise. Buckle up, because this iteration is a long and storied list of some of the greatest Habs in history.

1965 - Jean Beliveau

2009 NHL Awards - Show / Ethan Miller/GettyImages

It's fitting that a Montreal Canadien was the first winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy. It's even more fitting that the winner was Jean Beliveau. "Le Gros Bill" was one of the greatest NHL players ever and deserved the Conn Smythe to add to his trophy collection. It's interesting to wonder how many of these trophies Beliveau could have had if the award had been around during his first five Stanley Cups. Beliveau had 16 points in 13 games to lead the Habs to his sixth of ten titles.

1969 - Serge Savard

Montreal Canadiens v New York Rangers / Focus On Sport/GettyImages

Savard was the first defenseman to win the award and one of just 10 men to do it. Savard eventually won eight Stanley Cups as a player and two as a General Manager, factoring into the last ten Cups in Montreal Canadiens history. Savard was integral in each, but his best performance came in 1969 when he shut down the other team's biggest stars and recorded 10 points in 14 games.

1971 - Ken Dryden

Montreal Canadiens v Boston Bruins / Focus On Sport/GettyImages

Dryden made his NHL debut on March 14th, 1971, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played only six regular-season games but recorded a 1.65 goals-against average. The performance gave him the starting goaltender job for the playoffs, leading to his first of six Stanley Cups. Dryden won the Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup before winning the Calder Trophy in 1972 as Rookie of the Year. He is the only player to win the Conn Smyth before the Calder Trophy and the only goaltender to win the Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup before losing a regular-season game.

1973 - Yvan Cournoyer

Cournoyer's career took off in 1968 after the departure of Toe Blake as head coach. Claude Ruel brought out the best in Cournoyer, leading to his first 40-goal season. The 1972-73 season was a career-best for Cournoyer, tallying 47 goals during the regular season. He then had 15 goals and 10 assists in 17 games during the playoffs, earning his first and only Conn Smythe Trophy.

1977 - Guy Lafleur

Boston Bruins v Montreal Canadiens / Richard Wolowicz/GettyImages

Lafleur won his first Conn Smythe Trophy in 1977, his third of five Stanley Cups. The legend had some all-time playoff performances, but none were better than his run in 1977. He had 26 points in 14 games, a career-high after recording his career-high in points during the regular season with 136. Lafleur's performance kickstarted a run of three straight Stanley Cups for the 1970s Habs dynasty.

1978 - Larry Robinson

Robinson won the Conn Smythe thanks to an unprecedented run through the playoffs that saw him share the lead league in points with 21. He was No. 1 among all players with 17 assists, the second-most by a defenseman in a single postseason behind Bobby Orr's 19 in 1972. Robinson had points in 13 of 15 games and had a franchise-record nine-game point streak to begin the playoffs.

1979 - Bob Gainey

Florida Panthers v Montreal Canadiens / Minas Panagiotakis/GettyImages

The Canadiens would need a strong defensive effort to overcome two of the highest-scoring teams from the regular season. Enter Bob Gainey, who held the Bruins to two or fewer goals in four of seven games and let Phil Esposito and Don Maloney record just three points each in the five-game Stanley Cup Final. Gainey wasn't just a one-trick pony, recording a point per game with six goals and ten assists in 16 games.

1986 - Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy returns to the Bell Centre this season as coach of the Islanders / Minas Panagiotakis/GettyImages

There were a lot of questions about Patrick Roy entering the 1986 playoffs. However, the only question that Roy answered was if he would become one of the greatest goaltenders in Canadiens and NHL history. The answer was a resounding yes, as he showed his big-game flair by going 15-5 with a 1.93 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage. He became the second rookie in NHL history to be the playoff MVP.

1993 - Patrick Roy

ICE HOCKEY-STANLEY CUP MVP / -/GettyImages

Roy may not have topped his numbers from the 1986 run, but how he won games in 1993 may have made the trophy even sweeter. The Habs set NHL records for most overtime wins, with 10 of their 16 victories in the extra frame. Roy solidified himself amongst NHL royalty by becoming the fifth player to win multiple Conn Smythes, joining Bobby Orr, Bernie Parent, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux.

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