Canadiens

Is Jean Beliveau one of the Top 3 Greatest Centres of All Time?

Jean Beliveau is one of the rare NHL stars to combine regular season dominance with playoff dominance. Many of the centres who have scored more regular season points than Beliveau both haven’t done so relative to the league – Beliveau would have been the best offensive player of his era had it not been for Gordie Howe – and very few of them have Beliveau’s long history of success in the playoffs.

So where does he rank all time? Is he a Top 5 Centre? Is he a top 5 Player?

Listen to us discuss Jean Beliveau’s career here:

Does Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion is one of the underrated great RWs in NHL history. Is he one of the greatest RWs of all time? Would he be better known had he not played for the Canadiens?

Listen to us talk about Geoffrion’s Hall of Fame case here:

Hall of Fame Class of 1972 Part 1: Bernie Geoffrion, Hap Holmes, Hooley Smith

Bernie Geoffrion’s Career:

NHL: 1950-64, 1966-68; 16 seasons, 14 quality
Totals:
- 393G (3rd All Time at his first retirement – Howe, Richard),
- 429A (12th All Time at his first retirement) for
- 822P (5th All Time at his first retirement – Howe, Richard, Lindsay, Beliveau),
- +39* in
- 883 Games;
- 97.5 Point Shares (12th All Time at his first retirement);
- At his 1st retirement, Geoffrion was
  - 12th All time in Offensive Point Shares
  - 21st Forward All Time in Defensive Point Shares
Per Game: At his first retirement, Geoffrion was
- T-8th All Time in GPG
- 9th All Time in APG
- T-5th All Time in PPG (Beliveau, Howe, Bathgate, Cowley)
Era: Of the 19 skaters to play in at least 738 games between 1950 and 1964, Geoffrion is
- 2nd in Goals (behind Howe by 125)
- 2nd in GPG (6 qualifying players)
- 6th in Assists
- T-2nd in APG (7 qualifying players)
- 2nd in Points (behind by Howe by 355)
- 2nd in PPG (5 qualifying players)
- 6th in Plus/Minus
- 14th in Games
- 2nd in Offensive Point Shares (behind Howe by 44.9)
- 3rd Forward in Defensive Point Shares
- 4th in Point Shares
- 14th in Games
82-game average: 37G, 40A for 76P, +4*
3-year peak (1958-61): 70-game average of 39G, 50A for 89P, +5*
Playoffs:
- 58G (3rd All Time at his first retirement – Richard, Howe),
- 60A (3rd All Time at his first retirement – Howe, Harvey) for
- 118P (3rd All Time at his first retirement – Howe, Richard),
- +3* (t-21st All Time at his 1st retirement) in
- 132 Games (5th All Time at his 1st retirement – Kelly, Richard, Howe, Harvey)
- Per Game: At his first retirement, Geoffrion was
  - T-6th All Time in playoff GPG
  - 13th All Time in playoff APG
  - 5th All Time in playoff PPG (Beliveau, Blake, Howe, Richard)
- Era: Of the 13 skaters to play in at least 82 playoff games between 1950 and 1964, Geoffrion is
  - 1st in playoff Goals
  - 4th in playoff GPG
  - 2nd in playoff Assists
  - 6th (3rd last among qualifying players) in playoff APG
  - 2nd in playoff Points
  - 3rd in playoff PPG
  - T-4th in playoff Plus/Minus
  - 1st in playoff Games
Adjustment for era:
- Hockey-Reference:
  - 464G
  - 518A for
  - 982P
  - Adjusted 82-game average: 43G, 48A for 91P (+15P per 82 games)
  - Per Game: Geoffrion is
    - T-22nd All Time in Adjusted GPG;
    - If the qualifier is set to 820 games, Geoffrion is
      - T-6th All Time in Adjusted GPG
      - 14th All Time in Adjusted PPG
- VsX:
  - 595G
  - 696A
  - 1093
  - Per Game: Geoffrion is
    - 19th All Time in VsX Adjusted GPG;
    - If the qualifier is set to 820 games, Geoffrion is
      - 3rd All Time in VsX Adjusted GPG (Richard, Bobby Hull)
      - 17th All Time in VsX Adjusted APG
      - 9th All time in VsX Adjusted PPG
Waived at 34 so he could unretire

Bernie Geoffrion’s Accomplishments:

Hart (‘61)
Art Ross (‘55, ‘61)
Richard* (‘55, ‘61)
Calder (‘52)
Back Check MVP and Best Player (‘61)
All Star:
- 1st Team All Star once
- 2nd Team All Star twice
- 11 All Star Game appearances
Top Player:
- Top 5 Player (by PS) twice (‘55, ‘61)
- Top 10 four times (‘52, ‘60)
- Best Offensive Player (by OPS) once (‘61)
- Top 5 six times (‘52, ‘54, ‘55, ‘56, ‘60)
- Top 10 eight times (‘58, ‘59)
Goals:
- Leader-boards:
  - Led the league in Goals twice
  - Top 5 six times
  - Top 10 eight times
- GPG leader-boards:
  - Led the league in GPG three times (t-8th most all time)
  - Top 5 eight times (t-8th most all time)
  - Top 10 eleven times (t-7th most all time)
- Single-season totals:
  - 50 goals once (2nd player ever, 1 of only 3 at his first retirement – Richard, Hull)
  - 35 goals twice (1 of only 10 players ever at his first retirement)
  - 30 goals four times (1 of only 7 players ever at his first retirement)
  - 25 goals seven times (1 of only 6 players ever at his first retirement)
  - 20 goals twelve times (1 of only 3 players ever at his first retirement – Howe, Richard)
Assists:
- Leader-boards:
  - Top 10 five times
- APG leader-boards:
  - Top 5 three times
  - Top 10 six times
- Single-season totals:
  - 40 assists three times (1 of only 11 players ever at his first retirement)
Points:
- Leader-boards:
  - Led the league in Points twice (t-10th most all time)
  - Top 5 three times
  - Top 10 seven times
- PPG leader-boards:
  - Led the league in PPG once
  - Top 5 seven times
  - Top 10 nine times (t-8th most all time)
- Single-season totals:
  - 90 points once (1 of only 4 players ever at his first retirement – Beliveau, Moore, Howe)
  - 70 points three times (1 of only 10 players ever at his first retirement)
  - 60 points five times (1 of only 6 players ever at his first retirement)
  - 50 points nine times (1 of only 6 players ever at his first retirement)
VsX Peak:
- Best 7 Seasons:
  - Goals: 14th All Time
  - Assists: 67th All Time
  - Points: 39th All Time
- Best 10 Seasons:
  - Goals: 14th All Time
  - Assists: 84th All Time
  - Points: 42nd All Time

Bernie Geoffrion’s Great Teams:

Best Player (led playoffs in goals and points) on one Champion (‘57 Canadiens)
Best Player on one Champion (‘53 Canadiens)
Best Skater? On one Runner Up (‘55 Canadiens)
Top 3 Forward (led playoffs in goals) on one Runner Up (‘54 Canadiens)
Top 3 Forward (led playoffs in assists, co-led playoffs in points) on one Champion (‘60 Canadiens)
Top 3 Forward (by points) on three Champions (‘56,’58, ‘59 Canadiens) and one Final Four (‘67 Rangers)
Top 6 Forward (by points) on one Runner Up (‘52 Canadiens) on two Final Four (‘63, ‘64 Canadiens)
Top 9 Player (by points) on one Runner Up (‘51 Canadiens) and one Final Four (‘61 Canadiens)
Role Player? (by points) on one Final Four (‘62 Canadiens)

Is Doug Harvey the Greatest Defenceman of All Time?

There’s_no_action_like_hockey_action_by_Louis_Jaques.jpg:Photographer: Louis Jaques (Weekend Magazine)Credit: Weekend Magazine / Louis Jaques / Library and Archives Canada / e002505707 Copyright: Copyright assigned to Library and Archives Canada by copyright owner Weekend Magazine.derivative work: Leech44, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Until Bobby Orr, nobody had more Norris trophies than Doug Harvey. And, arguably, only other NHL defenceman could claim similar acclaim, Eddie Shore.

But things have changed. There have been numerous D who have eclipsed Harvey’s offensive accomplishments and Lidstrom tied him for the second most Norris trophies ever.

So where does Harvey rank now? Is he Top 3? Top 5? Top 10?

Listen to us talk about his Hall of Fame case here:

Does Henri Richard Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Maurice’s less famous brother is the winningest player in NHL history in terms of Stanley Cups. But, does he have more of a case than just his 11 Stanley Cups?

Listen to us discuss Henri Richard’s Hall of Fame case here:

Is Dickie Moore one of the Greatest Left Wings of All Time?

Is Dickie Moore the least discussed Habs great of his era? He is famous in Montreal but not so much in the rest of North America.

He’s arguably one of the best Left Wings of all time. For one thing, he has the second most Art Ross trophies among Left Wings after Bobby Hull.

Listen to us discuss Dickie Moore’s Hall of Fame case here:

Does Gordie Drillon Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Hockey publicity photo c 1940(Life time: pre-1949, copyright expired), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Did you know that Gordie Drillon was one of the greatest goal scorers in early NHL history?

He was indeed. And we think he has a pretty slam dunk Hall of Fame case. Listen to us talk about him here:

The Worst Montreal Canadiens Trades of All Time

This list of the Top Worst trades in Montreal Canadiens history is our third Worst Trades list, after the Worst 31 Trades in Maple Leafs history and the Worst 10 trades in Canucks history.

The trades on this list are ranked by Point Shares. For an explanation as to Point Shares and the rankings, see the Maple Leafs Best Trades list.

In Canadiens history, they have given up a whopping 1,222.67 more Point Shares than they’ve received back. So that’s a net of loss of nearly 4 Gretzkys worth of NHL players given up in trades over the years. That hurts.

For, the positive side, the Best 26 Trades in Canadiens History, see here.

So, without further ado, here are the worst Habs trades ever, ranked by Point Shares lost.

Does Lorne “Gump” Worsley Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Gump Worsley spent half his career playing for bad teams.

But then he got traded to the Habs, won some Vezinas, and could have won at least one Conn Smythe if the votes had gone differently.

The big question about Worsley is which part of his career should we take seriously: the regular season goalie without a winning record or the goalie who was among the best in the world for a time?

Listen to us talk about Gump Worsley’s Hall of Fame case here:

Is Frank Mahovlich one of the Greatest Left Wings of All Tim

Frank Mahovlich was considered the second best LW of the 1960s. (The first is arguably the Greatest of All Time.) But outside of Leafs fans, how well is he remembered?

He was likely more dominant in certain areas than you think but, in part because he never scored more than 49 goals or 96 points, and had some poor playoffs, it seems like he’s not as highly regarded now as he was in his prime. Also, like most LWs, his numbers wouldn’t look as good if he was a centre or RW.

Mahovlich obviously belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame (see his resume below) but, in this episode, we wonder where he ranks among the greatest Left Wings of all time.

Listen:

The Best 25 Montreal Canadiens Trades of All Time

This list of the Top 25 best trades in Montreal Canadiens history is our third Best Trades list, after the Top 25 best trades in Maple Leafs history and the Top 25 trades in Canucks history.

The trades on this list are ranked by Point Shares. For an explanation as to Point Shares and the rankings, see the Maple Leafs list.

Rest assured, the worst Habs trades list will be a lot more fun for all of us who aren’t Habs fans.

With that out of the way, on to the best trades in Montreal Canadiens history: