OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Random Notes from a 120 year historical sim

Tiger Fan · 10-10-2017, 08:02 PM

Note- I spent a lot of time looking at the Canadiens of the late seventies and made some notes as I went through their history. I would love to see an OOTP style almanac in a future version of FHM as that would make for much less clicking to research a past season or seasons.

In the end I hope you find this easy to follow along and entertaining - and hopefully not as disjointed as I fear it might be from my proofread.

34 CUPS FOR THE CANADIENS

The Original Six era was dominated by the Montreal Canadiens as the Habs claimed 16 titles in the 21 seasons beginning with the 1942-43 campaign. With a record 34 titles, the Canadiens are obviously the most dominant franchise in the history of this sim and it is often debated which Habs era was their best. Many would point to the club that won 6 titles in 7 years between 1975 and 1981 as the league had much more competition then but for sheer dominance the 16 wins between 1943 and 1963 is hard to overlook.

I will look at the 40's and 50's teams later but for this write-up lets take a closer look at the Habs of the 1970s.

Montreal never really went through a rebuild but Habs fans would consider the 60's to be a terrible decade as the Canadiens, after winning a third straight Cup in 1962-63 did not win again until 1969-70. Fans of the hardluck Black Hawks or Rangers would be ecstatic with that kind of record, but not in Montreal where the Candiens went 6 decades without missing the playoffs - missing the postseason in 1930-31 and then not again until 1993-94.

The 1970 Cup would be the Habs only win in over a decade but in 1973-74 there was new hope. The Canadiens of that year finished with the best record in the regular season for the first time since 1964-65. Led by Mickey Redmond and Guy Lafleur along with a solid defense Montreal breezed past Buffalo in 5 games and Philadelphia in 6 to reach the finals where they would play Boston. The Bruins of the early seventies where led by Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr and had eliminated the Habs each of the two previous seasons. 1973-74 would be no different as Boston swept Montreal 4 straight in the finals to win the Bruins second Cup in three years.

However, the experience gained by young goaltender Ken Dryden, who wrestled the starting spot away from Tony Esposito, along with a Montreal defense that featured Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Carol Vadnais and Guy Lapointe, who prove incredibly valuable going forward.

1974-75

Led by the goaltending of Dryden and Esposito along with a 65 goal season from Mickey Redmond and 103 points from his 23 year old linemate Guy Lafleur, the Canadiens posted the best regular season record in the league. Defenseman Serge Savard would win the first of his 6 Norris Trophy's that year as well, ending Boston's Bobby Orr's 6 year stranglehold on the award.

The Canadiens swept Los Angeles in the quarterfinals and were given a gift by Buffalo after the Sabres upset defending champion Boston in 6 games. That meant Montreal did not have to face the Bruins, who had eliminated the Habs in each of the previous 3 seasons. The young Sabres pushed Montreal to the brink but the Canadiens advanced to the finals with a game seven victory. Montreal would then win the Cup by knocking off Chicago in 5 games.

Dryden played all 16 playoff games and posted a 2.17 GAA. The defense in front of him was outstanding and Guy Lapointe was award the Conn Smythe Trophy over Mickey Redmond, who had 10 goals, and veteran Yvan Cournoyer who led the team with 16 playoff points.

Code:


1974-75 STANLEY CUP WINNERS
MONTREAL CANADIENS

GOAL: K Dryden, T Esposito
DEFENSE: Lapointe, Robinson, Van Boxmeer, Savard, Vadnais, Murdoch, Nyrop
FORWARDS: Cournoyer, Redmond, Lafleur, Drouin, Risebrough, Goldsowrthy,
	  Lemaire, Charron, N Ferguson, Shutt, R Gilbert, Gainey.

1975-76

Possibly the most dominant team in NHL history, the 1975-76 Canadiens went 12-0 in the playoffs including a sweep of rival Boston in the finals to claim their second straight Cup. Mickey Redmond led the NHL in points with 135 and scored a then-record 76 goals. Teammate Guy Lafleur (48-83-131) finished third in scoring but the big story was Ken Dryden as the goaltender won 50 games while losing just 4 and posted a 1.37 goals against average leading Montreal to a 69-6-5 record for the season. The Habs 143 points was 32 more than second place Chicago in the overall standings.

Dryden got hurt late in the season but Tony Esposito stepped in and backstopped the Habs to their 12 straight wins. Despite the Habs dominance in both the regular season and the playoffs the Hart Trophy and Conn Smythe went to Boston's Orr.

Code:


1975-76 STANLEY CUP WINNERS
MONTREAL CANADIENS

GOAL:  T Esposito, K Dryden
DEFENSE: Lapointe, Robinson, Van Boxmeer, Savard, Vadnais, Murdoch, Nyrop
FORWARDS: M Redmond, Lafleur, Lemaire, Cournoyer, Charron, Goldsworthy,
	  Drouin, Risebrough, N Ferguson, Jarvis, Shutt, Gainey, R Gilbert.

1976-77

If not for the Buffalo Sabres upsetting Montreal in a 7 game semi-final we could be looking back at a Habs team that won 7 straight Stanley Cups. Montreal won 60 games in the regular season and was nearly as dominant as they were the previous year. Mickey Redmond had a 72 goal season and again led the league in scoring while the duo of Dryden and Esposito were practically unbeatable in net. The Gil Perreault led Sabres got hot goaltending from Don Edwards and shocked the Canadiens in the semi-finals. Buffalo had little left after its battle with Montreal and fell in 4 straight to the Toronto Maple Leafs...giving the Leafs their first Cup in over a decade.

1977-78

Back with a vengeance, the Habs would breeze through the playoffs, losing just one game. Buffalo got the only win against Montreal as the Sabres lost in the finals for the second straight year. The Canadiens regular season record was 62-10-8, good for a 24 point bulge on the Sabres, who finished second overall. Redmond led the Habs with 54 goals and 128 points but finished behind Detroit's Marcel Dionne in both categories.

Very little changed on the Canadiens roster with the exception of Tony Esposito (51-8-6) regaining the starting goaltender job and pushing Ken Dryden to the bench. But the tables turned in the post-season as this time it was Esposito who was replaced by Dryden after a late season slump. Dryden would go 12-1 with a 1.54 GAA in seeing all of the playoff action. Guy Lapointe, with 13 points and a plus 21 postseason rating, would win his second Conn Smythe Trophy.

Code:


1977-78 STANLEY CUP WINNERS
MONTREAL CANADIENS

GOAL:  K Dryden, T Esposito 
DEFENSE: Van Boxmeer, Lapointe, Nyrop, Savard, Engblom, Vadnais
FORWARDS: Charron, Gainey, M Redmond, M Tremblay, Jarvis, Lemaire,
	  Cournoyer, R Gilbert, Lafleur, Risebrough, Shutt, R Wilson.

1978-79

The 78-79 Habs destroyed their competition all season, finishing 64-8-8 behind a 64 goal season from Mickey Redmond and a 50 victory year for Tony Esposito. The Canadiens dominance continued in the playoffs as they lost just 1 game - to Vancouver in the quarterfinals - before sweeping the Islanders and Sabres to win their second straight title and 4th in 5 years.

The playoff star for Montreal was newly acquired veteran Walt McKechnie, who came over in a mid-season deal with Minnesota. The 31 year old center scored 39 points in 27 regular season games with the Habs before earning the Conn Smythe Trophy after leading the team with 22 points in 13 playoff games. Linemate Guy Lafleur had 11 goals to lead the club while Tony Esposito posted a 1.85 GAA in playing in all 13 post-season games.

Code:


1978-79 STANLEY CUP WINNERS
MONTREAL CANADIENS

GOAL: T Esposito, K Dryden  
DEFENSE: Vadnais, Lapointe, Nyrop, Savard, Engblom, Van Boxmeer
FORWARDS: McKechnie, M Redmond, Lafleur, Jarvis, Gainey, R Gilbert,
	  M Tremblay, Shutt, R. Wilson, Cournoyer, Charron, Risebrough.

1979-80

One notable roster change as the addition of the 4 WHA clubs prompted an expansion draft which saw longtime defenseman Guy Lapointe move on to Edmonton after winning 4 Cups and 2 Conn Smythe Trophy's in Montreal.

A third straight Cup and 5th in 6 years for the Habs, who again finish with the best regular season record at 61-13-6, but they were chased by Philadelphia all season and led the Flyers by 6 points when it was all said and done.

The Flyers, led by Bobby Clarke and a career year from goaltender Pete Peeters, appeared ready to challenge Montreal's supremacy in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Philadelphia never got the chance to meet Montreal as the Flyers were upset by the Islanders in the semi-finals. Montreal would handle the Islanders in 6 games after disposing of Buffalo (yet again) in the semi-finals in 5.

Guy Lafleur equalled his career high with 134 points, good enough to win the first and only Art Ross Trophy of his career. After playing 70 regular season games and winning 53, Tony Esposito played all 20 playoff games while posting a 1.78 goals against average. The Conn Smythe went to defenseman Carol Vadnais who led the team with 20 points in the postseason. Mickey Redmond was the goal leader with 12 but Steve Shutt was the big surprise, scoring 10 playoff goals and 17 points after not contributing as much in previous post-seasons.

Code:


1979-80 STANLEY CUP WINNERS
MONTREAL CANADIENS

GOAL: T Esposito, K Dryden  
DEFENSE: Vadnais, Savard, Engblom, Van Boxmeer, Ramage, S Campbell, S. Beaudoin
FORWARDS: M. Redmond, Gainey, Lafleur, Shutt, Jarvis,B Dunlop, Risebrough,
	  R. Wilson, M Tremblay, McKechnie, K Acton, K Crowder.

1980-81

Lafleur had a career high 149 points but finished 2 points behind Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky in the scoring race. Lafleur did lead the league in goals with 69. Ken Dryden replaced Esposito as the starting goaltender.

For the first time in many years the Habs did not finish first overall. That honor went to the rapidly improving New York Islanders who's 118 points were 8 more than the second place Canadiens. Philadelphia was just 1 back of Montreal and a real surprise was the Quebec Nordiques, who finished 4th overall in their inaugural NHL season.

The extra teams meant an expanded playoff so the Habs had to play a preliminary round series in which they barely broke a sweat in sweeping Vancouver 3 straight. The quarterfinals saw the Minnesota North Stars push the Habs to the limit but Montreal prevailed in 7 games. That set up a battle of Quebec as the Nordiques had beat Winnipeg and Buffalo to reach the semis. Montreal won in 6 hard fought games before sweeping the Islanders in the finals to win their fourth straight Cup.

Dryden led the way in net, playing all but 7 minutes of the playoffs and posting a 2.10 GAA with his 15-5 record. The Conn Smythe went to Lafleur after he led the playoffs with 30 points including 15 goals.

Code:


1980-81 STANLEY CUP WINNERS
MONTREAL CANADIENS

GOAL: K Dryden, T Esposito  
DEFENSE: Vadnais, Savard, Ramage, Van Boxmeer, Ludwig, S Campbell, S. Beaudoin
	 G Gingras, Engblom.
FORWARDS: Lafleur, Shutt, Acton, Gainey, Jarvis, M Tremblay, Wickenheiser, 
	  Risebrough, R Wilson, B Dunlop, McKechnie, Carbonneau, K Crowder,
	  M Redmond.

1981-82

The year the dynasty would end as the Canadiens fell to the Islanders in 6 games in the semi-final setting up a New York-Edmonton Cup final, which the Islanders would win. The Canadiens beat Boston 3 games to 2 in the preliminary round and were taken to the limit by Buffalo in the quarterfinals before succumbing to the Islanders.

With Trottier, Bossy and Potvin in their prime and goaltender Rollie Melanson having a huge year the Islanders proved too much for the agining Canadiens.

Montreal would win another Cup in 1983-84 with much of the same cast but the sheer dominance they enjoyed in the late seventies was gone. The 83-84 team was a mid-level playoff squad that caught an exhausted Edmonton team - pushed to the brink by Toronto in the semi-finals - and road a hot goaltender in young Steve Penney to a title.

10-10-2017, 08:02 PM	#20
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,536	The Greatest Dynasty Note- I spent a lot of time looking at the Canadiens of the late seventies and made some notes as I went through their history. I would love to see an OOTP style almanac in a future version of FHM as that would make for much less clicking to research a past season or seasons. In the end I hope you find this easy to follow along and entertaining - and hopefully not as disjointed as I fear it might be from my proofread. 34 CUPS FOR THE CANADIENS The Original Six era was dominated by the Montreal Canadiens as the Habs claimed 16 titles in the 21 seasons beginning with the 1942-43 campaign. With a record 34 titles, the Canadiens are obviously the most dominant franchise in the history of this sim and it is often debated which Habs era was their best. Many would point to the club that won 6 titles in 7 years between 1975 and 1981 as the league had much more competition then but for sheer dominance the 16 wins between 1943 and 1963 is hard to overlook. I will look at the 40's and 50's teams later but for this write-up lets take a closer look at the Habs of the 1970s. Montreal never really went through a rebuild but Habs fans would consider the 60's to be a terrible decade as the Canadiens, after winning a third straight Cup in 1962-63 did not win again until 1969-70. Fans of the hardluck Black Hawks or Rangers would be ecstatic with that kind of record, but not in Montreal where the Candiens went 6 decades without missing the playoffs - missing the postseason in 1930-31 and then not again until 1993-94. The 1970 Cup would be the Habs only win in over a decade but in 1973-74 there was new hope. The Canadiens of that year finished with the best record in the regular season for the first time since 1964-65. Led by Mickey Redmond and Guy Lafleur along with a solid defense Montreal breezed past Buffalo in 5 games and Philadelphia in 6 to reach the finals where they would play Boston. The Bruins of the early seventies where led by Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr and had eliminated the Habs each of the two previous seasons. 1973-74 would be no different as Boston swept Montreal 4 straight in the finals to win the Bruins second Cup in three years. However, the experience gained by young goaltender Ken Dryden, who wrestled the starting spot away from Tony Esposito, along with a Montreal defense that featured Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Carol Vadnais and Guy Lapointe, who prove incredibly valuable going forward. 1974-75 Led by the goaltending of Dryden and Esposito along with a 65 goal season from Mickey Redmond and 103 points from his 23 year old linemate Guy Lafleur, the Canadiens posted the best regular season record in the league. Defenseman Serge Savard would win the first of his 6 Norris Trophy's that year as well, ending Boston's Bobby Orr's 6 year stranglehold on the award. The Canadiens swept Los Angeles in the quarterfinals and were given a gift by Buffalo after the Sabres upset defending champion Boston in 6 games. That meant Montreal did not have to face the Bruins, who had eliminated the Habs in each of the previous 3 seasons. The young Sabres pushed Montreal to the brink but the Canadiens advanced to the finals with a game seven victory. Montreal would then win the Cup by knocking off Chicago in 5 games. Dryden played all 16 playoff games and posted a 2.17 GAA. The defense in front of him was outstanding and Guy Lapointe was award the Conn Smythe Trophy over Mickey Redmond, who had 10 goals, and veteran Yvan Cournoyer who led the team with 16 playoff points. Code: 1974-75 STANLEY CUP WINNERS MONTREAL CANADIENS GOAL: K Dryden, T Esposito DEFENSE: Lapointe, Robinson, Van Boxmeer, Savard, Vadnais, Murdoch, Nyrop FORWARDS: Cournoyer, Redmond, Lafleur, Drouin, Risebrough, Goldsowrthy, Lemaire, Charron, N Ferguson, Shutt, R Gilbert, Gainey. 1975-76 Possibly the most dominant team in NHL history, the 1975-76 Canadiens went 12-0 in the playoffs including a sweep of rival Boston in the finals to claim their second straight Cup. Mickey Redmond led the NHL in points with 135 and scored a then-record 76 goals. Teammate Guy Lafleur (48-83-131) finished third in scoring but the big story was Ken Dryden as the goaltender won 50 games while losing just 4 and posted a 1.37 goals against average leading Montreal to a 69-6-5 record for the season. The Habs 143 points was 32 more than second place Chicago in the overall standings. Dryden got hurt late in the season but Tony Esposito stepped in and backstopped the Habs to their 12 straight wins. Despite the Habs dominance in both the regular season and the playoffs the Hart Trophy and Conn Smythe went to Boston's Orr. Code: 1975-76 STANLEY CUP WINNERS MONTREAL CANADIENS GOAL: T Esposito, K Dryden DEFENSE: Lapointe, Robinson, Van Boxmeer, Savard, Vadnais, Murdoch, Nyrop FORWARDS: M Redmond, Lafleur, Lemaire, Cournoyer, Charron, Goldsworthy, Drouin, Risebrough, N Ferguson, Jarvis, Shutt, Gainey, R Gilbert. 1976-77 If not for the Buffalo Sabres upsetting Montreal in a 7 game semi-final we could be looking back at a Habs team that won 7 straight Stanley Cups. Montreal won 60 games in the regular season and was nearly as dominant as they were the previous year. Mickey Redmond had a 72 goal season and again led the league in scoring while the duo of Dryden and Esposito were practically unbeatable in net. The Gil Perreault led Sabres got hot goaltending from Don Edwards and shocked the Canadiens in the semi-finals. Buffalo had little left after its battle with Montreal and fell in 4 straight to the Toronto Maple Leafs...giving the Leafs their first Cup in over a decade. 1977-78 Back with a vengeance, the Habs would breeze through the playoffs, losing just one game. Buffalo got the only win against Montreal as the Sabres lost in the finals for the second straight year. The Canadiens regular season record was 62-10-8, good for a 24 point bulge on the Sabres, who finished second overall. Redmond led the Habs with 54 goals and 128 points but finished behind Detroit's Marcel Dionne in both categories. Very little changed on the Canadiens roster with the exception of Tony Esposito (51-8-6) regaining the starting goaltender job and pushing Ken Dryden to the bench. But the tables turned in the post-season as this time it was Esposito who was replaced by Dryden after a late season slump. Dryden would go 12-1 with a 1.54 GAA in seeing all of the playoff action. Guy Lapointe, with 13 points and a plus 21 postseason rating, would win his second Conn Smythe Trophy. Code: 1977-78 STANLEY CUP WINNERS MONTREAL CANADIENS GOAL: K Dryden, T Esposito DEFENSE: Van Boxmeer, Lapointe, Nyrop, Savard, Engblom, Vadnais FORWARDS: Charron, Gainey, M Redmond, M Tremblay, Jarvis, Lemaire, Cournoyer, R Gilbert, Lafleur, Risebrough, Shutt, R Wilson. 1978-79 The 78-79 Habs destroyed their competition all season, finishing 64-8-8 behind a 64 goal season from Mickey Redmond and a 50 victory year for Tony Esposito. The Canadiens dominance continued in the playoffs as they lost just 1 game - to Vancouver in the quarterfinals - before sweeping the Islanders and Sabres to win their second straight title and 4th in 5 years. The playoff star for Montreal was newly acquired veteran Walt McKechnie, who came over in a mid-season deal with Minnesota. The 31 year old center scored 39 points in 27 regular season games with the Habs before earning the Conn Smythe Trophy after leading the team with 22 points in 13 playoff games. Linemate Guy Lafleur had 11 goals to lead the club while Tony Esposito posted a 1.85 GAA in playing in all 13 post-season games. Code: 1978-79 STANLEY CUP WINNERS MONTREAL CANADIENS GOAL: T Esposito, K Dryden DEFENSE: Vadnais, Lapointe, Nyrop, Savard, Engblom, Van Boxmeer FORWARDS: McKechnie, M Redmond, Lafleur, Jarvis, Gainey, R Gilbert, M Tremblay, Shutt, R. Wilson, Cournoyer, Charron, Risebrough. 1979-80 One notable roster change as the addition of the 4 WHA clubs prompted an expansion draft which saw longtime defenseman Guy Lapointe move on to Edmonton after winning 4 Cups and 2 Conn Smythe Trophy's in Montreal. A third straight Cup and 5th in 6 years for the Habs, who again finish with the best regular season record at 61-13-6, but they were chased by Philadelphia all season and led the Flyers by 6 points when it was all said and done. The Flyers, led by Bobby Clarke and a career year from goaltender Pete Peeters, appeared ready to challenge Montreal's supremacy in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Philadelphia never got the chance to meet Montreal as the Flyers were upset by the Islanders in the semi-finals. Montreal would handle the Islanders in 6 games after disposing of Buffalo (yet again) in the semi-finals in 5. Guy Lafleur equalled his career high with 134 points, good enough to win the first and only Art Ross Trophy of his career. After playing 70 regular season games and winning 53, Tony Esposito played all 20 playoff games while posting a 1.78 goals against average. The Conn Smythe went to defenseman Carol Vadnais who led the team with 20 points in the postseason. Mickey Redmond was the goal leader with 12 but Steve Shutt was the big surprise, scoring 10 playoff goals and 17 points after not contributing as much in previous post-seasons. Code: 1979-80 STANLEY CUP WINNERS MONTREAL CANADIENS GOAL: T Esposito, K Dryden DEFENSE: Vadnais, Savard, Engblom, Van Boxmeer, Ramage, S Campbell, S. Beaudoin FORWARDS: M. Redmond, Gainey, Lafleur, Shutt, Jarvis,B Dunlop, Risebrough, R. Wilson, M Tremblay, McKechnie, K Acton, K Crowder. 1980-81 Lafleur had a career high 149 points but finished 2 points behind Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky in the scoring race. Lafleur did lead the league in goals with 69. Ken Dryden replaced Esposito as the starting goaltender. For the first time in many years the Habs did not finish first overall. That honor went to the rapidly improving New York Islanders who's 118 points were 8 more than the second place Canadiens. Philadelphia was just 1 back of Montreal and a real surprise was the Quebec Nordiques, who finished 4th overall in their inaugural NHL season. The extra teams meant an expanded playoff so the Habs had to play a preliminary round series in which they barely broke a sweat in sweeping Vancouver 3 straight. The quarterfinals saw the Minnesota North Stars push the Habs to the limit but Montreal prevailed in 7 games. That set up a battle of Quebec as the Nordiques had beat Winnipeg and Buffalo to reach the semis. Montreal won in 6 hard fought games before sweeping the Islanders in the finals to win their fourth straight Cup. Dryden led the way in net, playing all but 7 minutes of the playoffs and posting a 2.10 GAA with his 15-5 record. The Conn Smythe went to Lafleur after he led the playoffs with 30 points including 15 goals. Code: 1980-81 STANLEY CUP WINNERS MONTREAL CANADIENS GOAL: K Dryden, T Esposito DEFENSE: Vadnais, Savard, Ramage, Van Boxmeer, Ludwig, S Campbell, S. Beaudoin G Gingras, Engblom. FORWARDS: Lafleur, Shutt, Acton, Gainey, Jarvis, M Tremblay, Wickenheiser, Risebrough, R Wilson, B Dunlop, McKechnie, Carbonneau, K Crowder, M Redmond. 1981-82 The year the dynasty would end as the Canadiens fell to the Islanders in 6 games in the semi-final setting up a New York-Edmonton Cup final, which the Islanders would win. The Canadiens beat Boston 3 games to 2 in the preliminary round and were taken to the limit by Buffalo in the quarterfinals before succumbing to the Islanders. With Trottier, Bossy and Potvin in their prime and goaltender Rollie Melanson having a huge year the Islanders proved too much for the agining Canadiens. Montreal would win another Cup in 1983-84 with much of the same cast but the sheer dominance they enjoyed in the late seventies was gone. The 83-84 team was a mid-level playoff squad that caught an exhausted Edmonton team - pushed to the brink by Toronto in the semi-finals - and road a hot goaltender in young Steve Penney to a title. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Columnist- The Figment Sporting Journal MY FIGMENT LEAGUE BROOKLYN KINGS DYNASTY PAST DYNASTYS My History of Hockey Replay Tiger Fan's Sporting News : the mid 1940's Tiger Fan's All Sport Replay: The 1920s History of Sports 1901-15 Historical Tutorial and Feedback League My first fictional attempt The HOB4: The last of my series of history of baseball replays that go back to OOTP2 and the old message board.