Great topic Nil! Lately I've been dreaming of those great Hab defensemen of old (for some odd reason...) Lots of them come to mind, including some unsung heroes. Anybody remember Terry Harper? How about Pierre Bouchard? They didn't wind up getting coaching jobs in New Jersey, but they were two tough sumbitches and made opposing players think twice about approaching the Habs net. Then there was Rod Langway -- he looked pretty darn good in a Habs jersey, too.

As for forwards, I was always amazed by the Little M. He only played one way for the most part, but when his head was in the game and he was on the go, he had some unbelievable moves for a big guy. Steve Shutt was another one. He let his stick do his talking — and it spoke up pretty frequently. And Rejean Houle -- his face was enough to scare the other team off the ice. But my all-time soft spot has to go to Claude Lemieux. I was living in Hartford when he scored that OT goal in game 7 of the quarterfinals and I owe him forever. Talk about playing hard -- he was tough and he would never stop 'til the puck was in the net or he was in the penalty box. I'd take a whole team of Lemieuxs, including one in net!

Les Canadiens Sont La

Being a goalie my "soft spots" would have to be in that department. First of all, Steve Penney. He came in and stood on his head but then disappeared..kinda an unsung hero. The other would be Michel "Bunny" Laroque. Did not play alot behind Dryden but when he did usually won.

Desi wrote:

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Great topic Nil! Lately I've been dreaming of those great Hab defensemen of old (for some odd reason...) Lots of them come to mind, including some unsung heroes. Anybody remember Terry Harper? How about Pierre Bouchard? They didn't wind up getting coaching jobs in New Jersey, but they were two tough sumbitches and made opposing players think twice about approaching the Habs net. Then there was Rod Langway -- he looked pretty darn good in a Habs jersey, too. As for forwards, I was always amazed by the Little M. He only played one way for the most part, but when his head was in the game and he was on the go, he had some unbelievable moves for a big guy. Steve Shutt was another one. He let his stick do his talking — and it spoke up pretty frequently. And Rejean Houle -- his face was enough to scare the other team off the ice. But my all-time soft spot has to go to Claude Lemieux. I was living in Hartford when he scored that OT goal in game 7 of the quarterfinals and I owe him forever. Talk about playing hard -- he was tough and he would never stop 'til the puck was in the net or he was in the penalty box. I'd take a whole team of Lemieuxs, including one in net! Les Canadiens Sont La

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Ah yes, Terry Harper!  I remember him well.  But I can't say I ever liked him.  The slapshot became popular while he played, but he never learned to hit one.  He couldn't even lift one off the ice if he had to!  Thanks for the "great topic" comment, but your list isn't exactly what I had in mind, player-wise.  Langway won the Norris Trophy; Steve Shutt's in the Hall of Fame; Pete Mahovalich was a 100-point + man.  I was thinking more of no-names (the Terry Harpers of the world).  But I also liked all the guys you named - except Terry Harper.

 

 

Gotta agree about Pierre Bouchard. His last year in the NHL was the first year I watched hockey.

Hey, what about Pierre Larouche? A Ribeiro for my generation. But can't complain about 50 goals that one year.