While some will say that wearing the captain’s C is not a must and that there are ways to act as a captain even when you aren’t, one fact remains: wearing the captain’s C for the Montreal Canadiens is a tremendous honor, and it comes with a certain panache.
When Nick Suzuki was appointed the captain of the Canadiens, he became the 31st player to be given the honour. Throughout the team’s history, 31 great players and, for some, even better leaders have worn the Sainte-Flanelle with a C stitched to its crest.
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Toe Blake, Emile Bouchard, Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau, Bob Gainey, the list of greats is too long to name them all, and yet, there are at least two players that should have been bestowed the honour and never were.
The first one is a defenseman who spent 17 of his 20-year career in Montreal and was part of a redoubtable trio of blueliners that patrolled the ice during the Canadiens’ most prolific era, when les Glorieux won six Stanley Cups in 10 years, including four in a row. No, I’m not talking about Serge Savard, “the Senator” did get to wear the C for two seasons in 1979-80 and 1980-81. I’m not talking about “Pointu” either; don’t get me wrong, he was a great player, but he couldn’t have pulled all those pranks if he had been the captain.
I’m of course talking about the final part of the Big Three, the Big Bird, Larry Robinson. Before you tell me that he acted as captain for a brief stint when Gainey was injured, that doesn’t count for me; it has to be an appointment in due form, and he didn’t receive that. Even though he was a blueliner, Robinson is the fifth-highest scorer in Canadiens’ history behind Guy Lafleur (1246), Beliveau (1219), and the Richard brothers (Henri racked up 1046 points while Maurice scored 966).
Big Bird put up 883 points and leads the team in plus/minus with a resounding plus 692, almost 200 ahead of Savard, who comes in second with an excellent plus-497 rating. His knack for scoring and his incredible efficiency on defense made him one of the best blueliners ever to play the game, and on top of that, he was always ready to stick up for a teammate, as his 793 penalty minutes show.
If you wanted to beat Big Bird, you had to be ready to suffer, as he never hesitated to throw his 6-foot-3 and 220-pound big frame around. More than anything, though, he was the kind of guy you wanted to follow into battle, a real leader whose actions on the ice spoke volumes, and without him, that 1970s dynasty might not have happened.
I was just a kid when Robinson signed with the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent and left the Tricolore. He’s the first player I remember being sad for, and there was a readiness for that. He was just so crucial to that blue line. To me, he will always remain one of those players who should have worn the C proudly.
My second choice is the Canadiens’ modern-day warrior, a player who may be small in stature but plays like a giant with a lion’s heart: Brendan Gallagher. When Max Pacioretty was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, it should have been Gallagher’s turn to wear the C, but the team’s management chose to give the title to Shea Weber instead.
Don’t get me wrong, Weber was a great captain and player. Still, by then, Gallagher had been bleeding Red, White, and Blue for six seasons, giving his all for the team and never hesitating to put his body in the line of fire, whether it was to stop a shot or to take a bullet (figuratively speaking, of course) for a teammate.
For years, Carey Price was the face of the franchise, but Gallagher was the heart. A perfect opportunity was missed when Paccioretty left. Nowadays, the number 11 is making its way up the Canadiens’ record book. With 834 games, he is now 20th in team history for games played. He’s the 15th-highest goal scorer with 239 goals and trails Mats Naslund by only four goals, meaning he should soon be the 14th-highest. He’s 39th in assists with 225 and 27th in points with 464.
Gallagher is not just about the points, though; he’s about leading by example, leaving it all on the ice all the time, and just doing whatever is asked of him whenever it is asked. His role in the lineup is not as prominent as it once was, but he’s still battling and giving his all for the Tricole.
When Suzuki was named captain, I’ll admit I was one of those who thought Gallagher would have been the perfect choice. Not because Suzuki didn’t deserve the honour or wasn’t ready, but because Gallagher deserved it too, and he could have been a transition captain for a couple of seasons before Suzuki took over. Mind you, with what number 14 did this year, on and off the ice, it’s hard to argue against the decision.
Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
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