Montreal Canadiens' alternate captain could reach several milestones this season and last night, he reached an important one.
When Brendan Gallagher started his career with the Montreal Canadiens in the 2012-13 season, he wasn't the one fans were excited about. Most didn't care much about a rookie who had been drafted 147th overall in the fifth round of the 2010 draft; all eyes were on Alex Galchenyuk, the third overall pick at the 2012 draft.
Thirteen years later, though, it's the fifth-round pick who is still proudly wearing the Sainte-Flanelle with an A on his chest and who still lives and breathes bleu, blanc, rouge. The Habs' biggest warrior may be diminutive in size, but his level of effort is always enormous, and that's how he climbed up the ladder of the Canadiens' history book.
Last night, his third goal of the season was also the 221st of his career, which allowed him to join Guy Carbonneau as the 21st all-time top scorer. Furthermore, his first assist of the season was the 209th of his career, which ties him with Jean-Guy Talbot as the 40th all-time assist leader in Canadiens' history.
Interestingly, Gallagher caught up to Carbonneau in 761 games, while the former captain scored 221 goals in 912 games with the Canadiens. Carbo, who was celebrated as one of the best defensive forwards of the game, winning the Frank J. Selke Trophy three times, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019. I'm not saying Gallagher is headed for the Hall, but I'm simply stating how far he's come for a player selected so late.
While Gally was picked in the fifth round, Carbonneau was grabbed in the third round and only 44th overall. Who's next on the top scorer list at rank 20? Peter Mahovlich, a second-overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings who, joined the Canadiens in the fifth year of his career and has a total of 223 goals in 580 games with the Habs, but we're talking about a player who was part of the Canadiens' powerhouse dynasty of the 1970s.
In 19th position, with 225 goals, we find Stephane Richer, the Canadiens' last 50-goal season scorer. The second-round pick and 29th overall at the 1984 draft only skated in 490 games with the Canadiens and was all about goal-scoring. With five more goals, Gallagher could join his former captain, Max Pacioretty, who notched 226 lamplighters in his 626 games with the Habs currently sitting in 18th place. A first-round pick, the former Michigan Wolverine was grabbed 22nd overall at the 2007 draft.
Gallagher will need 12 more goals to reach the 17th place though, that one is held by another one of his former teammates, Tomas Plekanec. The Czech center scored 233 goals in his 984 career games with the Habs. Pleky was also drafted much higher than Gallagher as his name was called in the third round of the 2001 draft with the 71st pick overall.
Should the alternate captain find it in himself to score 14 more goals, he would join the legendary Toe Blake, who had a final tally of 235 markers in 569 games. Of Course, Blake was never drafted, as he played long before the drafting system was put in place. Blake marked the history of the team for much more than just scoring, guiding it to eight Stanley Cups in the 13 years he coached it.
What do you think? Will Gallagher find it within himself to get 14 more goals before he hangs them up? He's now 32 years old and has two more years left on his contract after the current season. I'd like to think he'll get there, but so many factors will come into play. Who will he play with? Will he stay healthy? How much ice time will he get?
With three goals in nine games so far this year, he's on pace for 27 on the year. The chances of keeping up that pace are slim, but still, I wouldn't bet against him doing it before the end of his contract. After all, he came such a long way; who's to say he won't be able to climb a few more steps up the ladder?
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