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Once upon a time the Canadiens were stocked with Quebec players. Those times are gone, thanks to the entry draft and the scarcity of francophone talent throughout the NHL


Throughout the team's storied history, Quebecers have played a key role in the success of the Canadiens.

The Stanley Cup bears testament to the litany of francophone stars, beginning with Georges Vezina and Newsy Lalonde and continuing with Aurele Joliat, Maurice and Henri Richard, Butch Bouchard, Jean Beliveau, Bernie Geoffrion, Jacques Plante, Yvan Cournoyer, Jacques Lemaire, Serge Savard, Jacques Laperriere Guy Lapointe, Guy Lafleur and Patrick Roy.

But there is little Quebecois content on the current Montreal roster. You have Mathieu Dandenault, Francis Bouillon and Steve Begin, as well as Portuguese-Canadian Mike Ribeiro. Throw in Europeans Cristobal Huet, Mark Streit and David Aebischer and you have seven French-speaking players.

Everyone associated with the team - from the fans to the media to management - agrees it would be desirable to have more French-speaking players, but it's easier said than done.

There are a number of reasons why there are so few French-Canadians on the Montreal roster and why it will be difficult to increase that number in the near future.

The problem starts with the fact there are a limited number of francophones in the National Hockey League.

This past season, there were only 57 French-Canadians playing on a regular basis in the NHL. Spread over 30 teams, that's an average of less than two per team. Take away the 15 Quebec goaltenders and the talent is spread even thinner.

There was a time when the best Quebec players knew they were going to play for the Canadiens. The team owned entire junior leagues and locked up the best local talent at an early age. Expansion and the introduction of the entry draft changed that, and the Canadiens find themselves in a position where they have to compete for homegrown talent.

It would be simple to say the Canadiens haven't done a good job of identifying local talent in the draft. Critics of the team's scouting efforts are justified in pointing out some major mistakes over the years, starting in 1980, when the Canadiens selected the late Doug Wickenheiser with the No. 1 overall pick instead of Verdun junior star Denis Savard.Wickenheiser wasn't a total bust, but his career fell far short of Savard's Hall of Fame status.

More recently, the Canadiens goofed in 1998 when they selected Eric Chouinard with the 16th overall pick, passing on Simon Gagne, who was Chouinard's linemate with the Quebec Remparts. But that 1998 draft offers a couple of reasons why the ranks of francophone players are thin in Montreal. For most of the past two decades, the Canadiens have been drafting in the middle of the pack. By the time the Canadiens selected Chouinard, other teams had already picked Vinnie Lecavalier, Alex Tanguay and Mathieu Chouinard.

The Canadiens also had a chance to draft players like Patrice Bergeron, Daniel Briere and Martin St. Louis, but in fairness, every other team in the NHL also passed on those players at least once in the draft.

Since 1990, the Canadiens never had a chance at players like Philippe Boucher, Martin Lapointe, Alexandre Daigle, J.P. Dumont, Roberto Luongo and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.

The 1998 draft is also significant because six Quebecers were among the first 22 selections. The talent level in Quebec has fallen off since then. In the last seven NHL entry drafts, there have been only nine Quebec players drafted in the first round out of the QMJHL.

There's little hope of nabbing a top Quebec prospect at next month's NHL entry draft in Vancouver. The only projected first-rounders are Drummondville centre Derrick Brassard and Lewiston goaltender Jonathan Bernier, and both figure to be gone before the Canadiens make their first pick.

Looking to the farm, the Canadiens have a couple of Quebec prospects in defenceman J.P. Cote and Guillaume Latendresse, the junior forward who looked great at training camp last fall, but struggled when he went back to the junior Drummondville Voltigeurs.

If you look at the 57 Quebecers in the NHL this season, you'll find there are more players over age 30 (21) than under 28 (19).

The Canadiens could increase their Quebec content through free agency, but the pickings might be slim. The pool of francophone players includes nine former Canadiens, and the one guy Montreal regrets letting get away, defenceman Francois Beauchemin, won't be available.

There was talk Lecavalier might be available, but the Ile Bizard native dashed any hopes of a homecoming when he signed a long-term contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

While Lecavalier didn't dismiss Montreal, he did say he enjoyed life in Florida.

That's another problem facing the Canadiens. Over the years, some players have balked at the idea of playing in Montreal, while others, including Roy, Pierre Turgeon, Patrice Brisebois and Jose Theodore, have felt a sense of relief at the prospect of moving elsewhere. Higher taxes are often cited as a reason for not wanting to play in Quebec, but it's the pressure in Montreal that seems to be the key factor in players welcoming a change of address.

The Canadiens appear willing to dip into the free-agent market this summer, but the prospects of adding a francophone are slim. The team's greatest need is for a big centre or a power forward, and the players mentioned most often are Jason Arnott and Brad Richards, a Maritimer who picked up some French while playing junior hockey in Rimouski. Franco-Ontarian Marc Savard might also be in the mix, but at 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, he doesn't address the Canadiens' need for size.

phickey@thegazette.canwest.com

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006





Brighter days: Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau pose with the Stanley Cup in 1958, the third of five in a row won by the Canadiens from 1955-56 to 1959-60, when the team was stocked with Quebec players.