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Now This Is A Dynasty- 15 Cups In 23 Years

by Paul on 11/30/09 at 01:22 PM ET
Comments (2)

from the CP via NHL.com,

Longtime fans of the Montreal Canadiens, who mark their 100th anniversary on Dec. 4, can remember when winning the Stanley Cup was more of an expectation than a hope.

The Habs won 15 NHL championships in 23 seasons between 1956 and 1979, with dynasties as bookends. It was a level of success that, given how the hockey business has changed, will never be repeated.

So, how did they do it?

Picking the right people to manage and coach had a lot to do with it.

Go back to the days of the Original Six.

continued

Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens | KK Hockey | Permalink
 

Comments

Please.

Let’s be real and honest here:  The reason the Habs had those great teams is because they got out and signed guys first, and then stockpiled them in their minor system back when they could actually still do that.

The league had to invent and modify roster rules finally to stop Montreal from doing this.  Montreal’s AAA teams at the time would have easily beaten most of the NHL teams, and had they played at the same level the Habs would have likely been playing their own farm teams for the Stanley Cup.

I remember looking through record books and the Cincinnati Mohawks just dominating the old IHL for as span.  That was Montreal’s AAA club at the time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Mohawks

It would be like if Major League Baseball had a team in the Dominican Republic and no rules as to how many player they could keep signed at any given time… the local team would just sign them all right off the bat, have all the best local talent from a true hotbed at the time, and probably dominate play.

The NHL of course doesn’t want to ever acknowledge this because it’s embarrassing to the league in hindsight.  It is in fact something they quickly gloss over.

That’s why as great as those Habs teams were for the time (and with great players), I consider the Isles and Oilers of the 1980’s to be far greater, because they had a lot more rules with which they had to set their rosters within.

Posted by Primis on 11/30/09 at 02:31 PM ET

Half the league was at a disadvantage as New York, Chicago and Boston couldn’t sign the best players due to the 50 mile rule. Moreover, Norris welded strong influence over the running of four of the six teams. Dynasty, sure. But the deck was a bit stacked.

Posted by UMFan from Colorado on 11/30/09 at 04:13 PM ET

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