After The Athletic named Cam Neely the biggest on-ice villain for the Montreal Canadiens, THN elected to select its own biggest on-ice villain in the franchise's history. Read on to find out who it was and why.
The Athletic recently ran an article that listed the biggest on-ice villain in each franchise's history, and for the Montreal Canadiens, Arpon Basu went with former power forward and now Boston Bruins President and alternate governor Cam Neely.
Basu writes that after beating the Canadiens in the playoffs in 1943, the Bruins went on to lose their next 18 playoff series against the Habs until Neely’s arrival allowed them to beat the Canadiens three out of five duels from 1987 to 199. In those 26 games, he scored 20 goals and was basically unstoppable for the Habs in the postseason. Basu also adds that Neely could not only beat you on the scoreboard, but he could also beat you up.
While I can understand going for Neely, who was a Habs nemesis for years, he ended up only playing 13 seasons in the NHL thanks to a knee-on-knee collision with Ulf Samuelson that caused a knee injury that would eventually lead to hip issues. In 726 games, he put up 395 goals and 299 assists for 694 points while racking up 1241 penalty minutes. He was a great player and a formidable foe, but if I had to choose the ultimate on-ice villain for the Canadiens, I couldn’t help but go for another Bruin: Zdeno Chara.
Back in 2011, when Max Pacioretty was just starting to become an impact player for the Habs at the age of 22, he was the victim of a Chara hit that saw him hit the glass between the two team benches; it was very much as if he had hit a wall, and he fell on the ice unconscious. You could have heard a pin drop in the Bell Centre on that day; Chara silenced an arena that’s always raucous for a Canadiens-Bruins duel. There was real concern in that moment not only for Pacioretty’s health but also for his career. The sniper was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with both a severe concussion and a fractured fourth cervical vertebra.
What made the hit even worse for Canadiens fans, however, was the fact that the Bruins captain wasn’t even given a suspension for the play. Then senior vice-president of hockey operations for the NHL at the time Mike Murphy said in a statement that: "After a thorough review of the video, I can find no basis to impose supplemental discipline. This hit resulted from a play that evolved and then happened very quickly — with both players skating in the same direction and with Chara attempting to angle his opponent into the boards. I could not find any evidence to suggest that, beyond this being a correct call for interference, Chara targeted the head of his opponent, left his feet or delivered the check in any other manner that could be deemed to be dangerous."
The League ruling followed a telephone hearing with Chara on the day that fell to Murphy, because Colin Campbell, the NHL disciplinarian back then, was the father of Bruins player Gregory Campbell. From then on, Chara was hated with a passion by the Habs fans and any time he touched the puck at the Bell Centre, he was copiously booed. The blueliner went on to play another 11 seasons in the NHL, and the Montreal faithful never wavered in their booing of his on-ice play. To this day in Montreal, when a player is booed, it can be referred to as getting the Chara treatment.
However, the Montreal crowd, being a knowledgeable hockey crowd, can still recognize a player's greatness. When Chara played the 1,500th game of his career, against the Canadiens at the Bell Center, the villain actually received a roaring ovation following a tribute video. For a few minutes, the crowd forgot about the Pacioretty incident, but it definitely didn’t forgive.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
