As the Stanley Cup Final is slowly crawling toward its conclusion, a new Conn Smythe Trophy winner will soon be crowned. While the Montreal Canadiens are not in the Final, they have had their fair share of Cup Finals and Conn Smythe winners over the years. Let us have a look at the Canadiens’ previous playoffs MVP in net and on the blue line.
Roy and Dryden Clutch in Net
We could argue for a long time about who the Canadiens’ top goaltender was, but one thing’s certain these two would be in the conversation. Thankfully arguing for one or the other is not our purpose today; we can just revel in the glory of these two amazing goalies.
When anyone thinks about Ken Dryden, the first thing that comes to mind is his stoic pose in front of his net when the puck was in the opponent’s zone or play was stopped. He oozed confidence in that pose, and it could be intimidating.
When he won his only Conn Smythe, he played in all 20 games the Canadiens played and had a 12-8 record, posting a 3.01 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. Those numbers — especially the GAA — might not seem impressive but remember goaltenders had much smaller equipment back then. Having played just six games before the playoffs, the outstanding goaltender was still a rookie when the following season started and to no one’s surprise, he won the Calder Trophy awarded each year to the NHL’s best rookie. He remains the only rookie to have won the Conn Smythe Trophy before the Calder.
Related: Canadiens’ Ken Dryden – Truly One of a Kind
Dryden had a short hockey career; having won everything he left to seek new challenges in the legal field, later becoming a politician and a successful writer. He has written tons of hockey books, and if you have not read them, I highly recommend Game Change: The Life and Death of Steve Montador and the Future of Hockey which talks about the fact the game needs to change if players are to remain healthy.
As for Patrick Roy, he led the Canadiens to two Stanley Cups they had no business winning and without “Saint-Patrick” they would still be stuck on 22 Cups. Just like Dryden, he was a rookie when he conducted the Canadiens to their 23rd Cup with a 15-5 record, a 1.93 GAA, and a .923 SV%. It was an amazing performance that he still managed to beat in the 1993 Cup run.
If fans think of Dryden’s pose when they think of him, they think of Roy’s wink on Tomas Sandstrom when “Casseau” is invoked. It was in the 1993 Cup Final when the Canadiens took on Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings. Roy was so solid in that postseason that Montreal won 10 overtime games in a row, a record which is unlikely to be beaten. It’s quite an impressive feat as well, it takes 16 wins to win the Stanley Cup and the Canadiens won 10 of those in OT, meaning 63% of their victories were acquired in overtime. It takes nerves of steel to manage that.
In those playoffs, Roy posted a 16-4 record with a 2.13 GAA and a .929 SV%, numbers that are even more impressive when you realize he faced 647 shots that postseason when he had only faced 504 in the 1986 conquest (a difference of 143 shots). No wonder Roy is known as a “money player” who always showed up when the stakes are at their highest.
Roy went on to win two more Cups in his career with the Colorado Avalanche and he also captured another Conn Smythe. To this day, he remains the only player to have won it with two different teams and to have won it three times.
On the Blue Line the Senator and Big Bird
The Conn Smythe trophy has been awarded since 1964 and so far 29 forwards, 17 goaltenders only 12 defensemen have won it. Two of those 12 times were players of the Montreal Canadiens; Serge “The Senator” Savard and Larry “Big Bird” Robinson.
Both were members of the Canadiens’ dominant 1970s dynasty and were also part of the “Big Three” – perhaps the best trio of defensemen any team ever had in the NHL. Guy Lapointe was the third member of the unit and together they were the pillars of the dynasty.
All too often the Norris Trophy is awarded to the defenseman who produced the most points, something I find tremendously annoying, there is so much more to being a blueliner than getting on the scoresheet. In 1969 however, when Savard won the Conn Smythe, he was 11th in playoff points, and yet his defensive acumen was considered worthy of the award.
As for Robinson, he won his Conn Smythe in 1978 and he did it by tying Guy Lafleur for the most points scored in those playoffs. Both scored 21 points (four goals and 17 assists for “Big Bird,” as his teammates and the media used to call him.) He went on to take part in two more Stanley Cups with the Canadiens before signing with the Kings as a free agent in 1989.
Meanwhile, Savard took part in two more Stanley Cup wins, those of 1986 and 1993. He wasn’t on the ice, though — he was in the general manager’s office pulling the strings.
There have been so many Conn Smythe winners with the Canadiens I’ll have to cover the forwards in my next article. You’ll see there are very important Canadiens players among them.
