June 9th, 1993 - the day on which the Montreal Canadiens would beat the Los Angeles Kings in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at home in the storied Montreal Forum. 22 years have passed since that day and still the Canadiens have not hoisted its 25th Stanley Cup, the longest drought in the history of the franchise. In honour of the anniversary of the Canadiens 24th Stanley Cup, I would like to present 24 thoughts starting with 1993 and leading up to the present and future of Les Bleu-Blancs-Rouges.
1) One of my favorite moments from the 1993 Stanley Cup run was Patrick Roy’s infamous wink from game 4 against the LA Kings. I had never seen an athlete so cocky, so rest-assured that he would win. It was a moment of “Nice try but I’ve got this…. From that second I knew that the Stanley Cup would belong to the Habs.
2) That 1992-1993 team remains my favorite. They were the most complete team of any that I have witnessed. 4 players with 80 or more points, a true # 1 centreman in Vincent Damphousse, Patrick Roy in net, Guy Carbonneau taking on top defensive assignments against Wayne Gretzky, John LeClair’s coming out party, a stellar young defence led by Eric Desjardins & Mathieu Schneider, veteran leadership from Denis Savard on the ice and behind the bench, everybody’s favorite Kirk “Is Work… Muller and the list goes on...
3) 10 Overtime wins that I refused to watch, believing that I single-handedly had the ability to control the Canadiens fortunes. Wouldn’t change it for anything.
4) Hearing “We Are The Champions… by Queen being played as the Canadiens skated around with the Stanley Cup. It was the first time that I connected a song with a moment, one that I will never forget. Tim Thompson, who used to do the montages for CBC on “Hockey Night in Canada… before being let go this season by Sportsnet is a master at making video compilations and choosing just the right song. Check out the one the Canadiens asked him to do before the start of this year’s playoffs:
5) The disappointment when the Habs lost in the first round the following season. Expectations for a 13 year old were a little high.
6) The beginning of the end in my mind - Guy Carbonneau traded from the Canadiens when a photographer captured him flipping the bird while golfing in 1994. There was no shortage of leadership on the Canadiens to fill the captaincy void. It was more along the lines of a sign of what was to come.
7) Serge Savard and Jacques Demers fired in 1995 and replaced by Rejean Houle and Mario Tremblay. Unbeknownst of what would come, I was excited by the thought of a former player becoming head coach. When I told a friend the news she was confused, she thought the Habs had hired DJ Mario Tremblay as head coach. #ProblemsOfATomboy
8) One of the darkest days in Canadiens history - December 2nd, 1995 - the night when Patrick Roy let in 9 goals before he was finally pulled by Tremblay. This led to the famous “It’s my last game in Montreal… line as Roy informed Canadiens President Ronald Corey that he would never suit up for the Canadiens again.
9) March 11th, 1996 - the last hockey game to be played at the Montreal Forum. The move to the Molson Centre (eventually re-named the Bell Centre) would haunt fans and players for years as the ghosts never found their way to the Canadiens new home. It would take many years before the Bell Centre would find its footing and create one of the best atmospheres for hockey games.
10) Too many disappointments to name from the mid 1990’s through the early 2000’s. Inept drafting, 3 years in a row of missing the playoffs, rookie NHL coaches who would break their teeth with the Habs before finding further success later with other teams, unable to attract free agents, unable to provide Saku Koivu with a proper supporting cast… Feel free to add more in the comments!
11) The beginning of a revival with the Canadiens being purchased by American(!) business man George Gillett for a bargain basement price of $185 US Million Dollars. Gillett would surround himself with smart hockey people with the key figure being Bob Gainey.
12) “In Bob we trust… became a slogan of sorts in Montreal for Habs fans. Gainey helped the Canadiens organization re-establish credibility in the hockey world. Celebrating the history and tradition of the Montreal Canadiens suddenly mattered again. Management finally righted the wrong to honour and retire the numbers of Habs legends such as Dickie Moore, Yvan Cournoyer, Boom Boom Geoffrion, Elmer Lach, Emile “Butch… Bouchard, Serge Savard, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy (Guy Lapointe would finally have his number retired in 2014).
13) Gainey rightly kept Trevor TImmins as Director of Amateur Scouting from the Andre Savard days. Timmins would go on to select today’s cornerstones of Carey Price, Max Pacioretty and P.K. Subban. Price was a gutsy call in 2005 with the Habs seemingly set with Jose Theodore in net. Gainey wisely deferred to Timmins and the rest is history.
14) With former captain Guy Carbonneau behind the bench as head coach, in the 2007-2008 season the Canadiens would go on to win their division for the first time since 1992 as well as finish 1st in the Eastern Conference. Alex Kovalev seemed rejuvenated playing in Montreal. Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek looked like the perfect 1st pairing - a physical guy to go with the smooth skater. Unfortunately the honeymoon did not last long.
15) On March 9th, 2009 Bob Gainey would fire his friend and head coach Carbonneau and go behind the bench himself. It always seemed odd that Gainey let Carbonneau go by telephone and not in person. Gainey had always been the epitome of class. Many wondered if it was simply too hard on Gainey to give the bad news in person. The Canadiens didn’t fare any better with Gainey and were swept by the Boston Bruins that Spring. In the off-season sweeping changes would come.
16) The Canadiens unceremoniously said goodbye to longtime captain Saku Koivu. Gainey preferred to try to re-sign Kovalev only to see him choose more money in Ottawa, Mike Komisarek chose Toronto over Montreal (thankfully). New blood was brought in with Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Hal Gill and Travis Moen signed as free agents. The 2nd worst trade in my lifetime happened as Scott Gomez was traded to Montreal with the Habs throwing in Ryan McDonagh to go to the New York Rangers. Perhaps fans would have been kinder to Gomez if they hadn’t lost McDonagh. We’ll never know thanks apparently to Assistant GM at the time Pierre Gauthier. Also for the first time since the days of Jacques Demers, the Canadiens hired an NHL head coach with previous experience, Jacques Martin.
17) In their centennial year of 2009-2010, the Canadiens would go to win a second round playoff series for the first time since 1993. Two magical comebacks and incredible play by goalie Jaroslav Halak led to a city being completely invigorated. Bob Gainey would resign during the regular season due to personal reasons, handing the reigns to Pierre Gauthier.
18) The 2011 playoffs led to a heartbreaking overtime game 7 loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champions Boston Bruins. While the Habs seemed to still hold promise, the 2011-2012 season would become a joke of sorts and complete circus. Fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs experienced a similar year this past season. In one season Gauthier fired assistant coach Doug Jarvis on game day, later fired head coach Jacques Martin, promoted unilingual AHL coach Anglo Randy Cunneyworth as Interim head coach and traded Cammalleri to Calgary in the middle of a game against Boston in exchange for Rene Bourque. At the very least, the awful season gave the Canadiens the 3rd overall pick in the 2012 draft and would go on to choose Alex Galchenyuk.
19) Finally President & new owner Geoff Molson has had enough and lets Gauthier go right before the end of the season. After an exhaustive search aided by Serge Savard, Molson decides that Marc Bergevin of the Chicago Blackhawks is his man. Bergevin in turn chooses Michel Therrien to return for a 2nd try behind the Habs bench. Habs fans are cautiously optimistic.
20) The Canadiens would win their division in 2 of 3 seasons under the tutelage of Therrien. The past two playoffs would see the Canadiens advancing past the first round in consecutive years for the first time in 22 years, with the Habs reaching game 6 of the conference finals in 2014. Change happened and it was certainly for the better.
21) The Habs have 3 key ingredients for success: Carey Price, Max Pacioretty and P.K. Subban. The supporting cast is good but not great. The Canadiens still lack a true # 1 centreman although Habs faithful still have hope that young Galchenyuk can still develop into one. Role players such as Dale Weise and Brandon Prust know their job and do it effectively. Consistency from Lars Eller still leaves much to be desired. What is David Desharnais’ place on this team?
22) Can Jarred Tinordi step up and become the NHL defenceman that the Habs drafted? Tinordi showed such early promise in 2013 and has faltered since. His inconsistent play has been highlighted by the difficulty he has experienced keeping up with the fast NHL pace. Tinordi tries to do much in his limited opportunities with the Habs, it seems like he feels he has to try too hard and has so much to prove that he overthinks it. He also needs to learn to just say “No… when he is challenged to fight.
23) What is the window of Carey Price’s prime years with the Montreal Canadiens? He is currently signed through the next three years. The Habs owe it to him to do everything they can to give Price the opportunity to play in a Stanley Cup Final. This upcoming draft should be an important one regarding the future of the Canadiens considering how deep it is.
24) Is Michel Therrien the coach that will take the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final? Three seasons into his second stint as the Habs head coach, Therrien has a winning percentage of .644 in the regular season and .500 in the playoffs. His players fought back from an 0-3 deficit to win two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning proving that they had not quit on their coach. Some say that Therrien’s strength is to help in the rebuild and the ability to apply structure. However, special teams have been a great weakness throughout his tenure. I think Therrien can do the job as the head coach but he needs stronger assistant coaches on both offence and defence to strategize and come up with cohesive plans and special team units.
Bonus Cup:
The Montreal Canadiens are the last Canadian team to hoist the Stanley Cup. In my opinion they are currently Canada’s best bet to bring Lord Stanley back up north but it is still a few years away from happening...
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