A case for Georges Vezina

A quick look up into the rafters of the Bell Centre in Montreal will show that the Montreal Canadiens have retired the numbers of three goaltenders: Jacques Plante (1), Ken Dryden (29) and Patrick Roy (33).  

Together, their play represents a span of five decades with the Habs, from the early 1950’s through the mid-1990’s. On the surface, that would lead you to believe that there wasn’t a goalie of incredible stature--one worthy of having his number retired--to have played for the Canadiens before 1952, Plante’s first season. Of course, that wouldn't be true.

As a candidate for number retirement, George Hainsworth should come to mind. Over a seven-year stretch with the Habs, he recorded 81 shutouts and won two Stanley Cups. Or maybe you’d toss your hat into the ring for Bill Durnan, the great ambidextrous goalie who over his seven-year career added another two Stanley Cups for the Habs. Both of those men could (and probably should) be honoured, but if you go back even further you come across the name of the man who inspired the trophy that Hainsworth and Durnan would win a combined nine times.

Along with Didier Pitre and Edouard “Newsy” Lalonde, goalie Goerges Vezina was a cornerstone of the early Montreal Canadiens. At a time when the team’s existence from season-to-season was not assured, Vezina was a constant in the lineup, helping to give fans a team identity to which they could relate. 

 

Vezina played in 328 consecutive regular season games (a goaltending record that stood over 30 years), plus 39 more league playoff and Stanley Cup challenge games for a total streak of 367 games spanning 16 seasons. His streak came to an end only when he was unable to answer the bell for the second period of the first game of the 1925-26 season. It was only then that it was discovered that Vezina had been suffering from tuberculosis, the disease that would take his life mere months later. So important had he been to the development of goaltending and to the team that the Canadiens donated a trophy to the NHL that bears his name; from that point onward the league’s best goaltender for each season would be awarded the Vezina Trophy.

Other points to support the retiring of Vezina’s #1:

Only 35 goalies have been inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Vezina was included in the original induction class of twelve players in 1945, along with fellow Canadien Howie Monrenz, whose number 7 has been retired.

Vezina won two Stanley Cups with Montreal, the same number as Patrick Roy, whose number 33 has been retired.

The Canadiens don't have a policy of "one man, one number"; 12 and 16 have each been retired twice. The same could be done for 1.

A couple of NHL firsts for a goaltender included Vézina being the first to register a shutout, blanking the Toronto Arenas 9-0 on February 18, 1918. Also against the Arenas in December 1918, he became the first goaltender to be credited with a point in an NHL game, an assist on a goal by Newsy Lalonde.

During his career, NHA and NHL seasons ranged from only 16 to 30 games in length, yet Vezina's 328 regular season games put him 5th all-time for the Habs, behind Plante, Roy, Dryden and Durnan.

His 23 playoff and challenge game wins rank him 6th on the Habs all-time postseason win list, even though he only had the privilege of playing in 39 career postseason games. Those 39 games tie him for 5th on the team; only Roy, Dryden, Plante and Durnan having played more.

For an idea of  how prevalent goal-scoring was at the time that Vezina played, in 1918-19 he set the season record for the fewest number of shutouts needed to lead the NHL in that category with 1.

His lifetime regular season goals-against average is 3.42, a feat considering that much of his career was played at a time when goalies would be penalized for leaving their feet to make a save. And he improved with age; after the rule change in 1918 that allowed goalies to leave their feet, he further refined his craft and lowered his goals-against average in each of his last 5 seasons. His average of 1.97 goals per game in 1923-24 was the first time that a goaltender had averaged fewer than two goals against per game. And the following year, he lowered that mark in his final season by dropping the number to just 1.81... at the age of 39.

His GAA in his last 3 playoff appearances (6 games, 7 goals against) was a mere 1.16.

Six times in his career, Vézina had the lowest goals-against average in the league,. Had it been around, he would have won his own trophy that number of times. In addition, he had the second-best average another six times.

A list of some of Vezina's accomplishments: 

 1910-11   Led NHA in GAA (3.80), fewest goals against (62), tied for most games played (16) 

1911-12    Led NHA in GAA (3.57), fewest goals against (66), tied for most games played (18)
  

1912-13    Tied for most games played (20) and shutouts (1) 

1913-14    Led NHA in GAA (3.23). Tied for most wins (13), games played (20), shutouts (1) 

1914-15    Tied for most games played (20), second in GAA (3.88) 

1915-16    Stanley Cup champion, Led NHA in wins (16) playoff wins (3), tied for most games played (24) 

1916-17    Led NHA in games played (20) 

1917-18    Led NHL in wins (12), GAA (3.93), tied shutouts (1) 

1918-19    Tied for NHL lead in games played (18),  Led NHL in playoffs games played (10), playoff wins (6), playoff shutouts (1) and playoff GAA (3.60)  

1919-20    Tied for NHL lead in games played (24)   

1920-21    Tied for NHL lead in games played (24) 

1921-22    Tied for NHL lead in games played (24) 

1922-23    Tied for NHL lead in games played (24) 

1923-24    Stanley Cup champion; Tied for NHL lead in games played (24), shutouts (3) and led in GAA (1.97), playoff games (6), playoff wins (6), playoff shutouts (2), and playoff GAA (1.00) 

1924-25    Tied for NHL lead in games played (30), playoff wins (3); led with fewest goals against (56), GAA (1.81), playoff games played (6) and playoff shutouts (1)

As it stands, the first four decades of Canadiens history is underrepresented in the list of retired numbers, though era alone shouldn't be a determining factor in if a player should receive the team's highest honour. But if it wasn't for the stellar careers of players like Georges Vezina, the team may not have survived through the 1930's; there's every possibility that there may not have been a CH for the Richards, Beliveau, Plante, Dryden or Roy to wear. For that, I can think of no better reason for the Habs to rightfully raise the Chicoutimi Cucumber's #1 to the rafters.

.
.
.

My final Canadiens game at the Forum

I will never forget Saturday, November 29, 1980.

It was that night that I walked through the front doors of the world's most famous arena (screw you, Madison Square garden) to take in my final Habs game at the Montreal Forum. It was always a treat to get to visit Montreal, but going to a hockey game was something else. At a much younger age, I had been treated to two games by a friend of my dad who had grown up playing in the same junior leagues and against Maurice Richard—the Flyers and Bruins were visitors those nights—but the circumstances around the third game are what stick in my memory.

At the time, our family simply didn’t have the disposable income to spend on hockey games, so when our group of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts had the opportunity to pick up discounted group seats from a promotion with the Canadiens, I pleaded with my parents to spring for a ticket for me. As it was, I had to pay for half out of my allowance. I remember my dad mumbling something about learning a lesson in financial responsibility as he forked over the remainder. Three years later and out of work, my dad packed up the family and headed for the other side of Greater Toronto. It would be almost another sixteen years before I got back to the Forum, but that’s another story.

It was a cold and blustery night in Montreal when our bus pulled up alongside the plain, yet imposing building at the corner of Ste. Catherine and Atwater Street and discharged its load of wide-eyed Cub and Boy Scouts that had made the trip to the city from various small towns in the Eastern Townships, east of Montreal. That night the Canadiens were playing the Minnesota North Stars, the team that a season earlier had ended the Habs' quest for a 5th straight Stanley Cup; none of our group had seen a game live at the Forum since then, so that night we were hoping for a victory to fuel our own personal revenge against the team in the ‘snot-green and pee-yellow’ uniforms.

After making our way through the front doors and a ride up those legendary hockey stick escalators, the first order of business of our Cub and Scout leaders was to get us up to section 419 without losing anyone, which considering the wide-eyed wonder of a large number of 10-12 year olds—many of whom who had never seen an NHL game or who had never been to the Forum—was a rather daunting task. Once we were all seated, smaller groups could then be escorted to the concession stands, washrooms, souvenir stands, or head off for a bit of general sightseeing.

Our seats for my final game at the Forum: section 419, next to the blues and under the Coca-Cola sign

Section 419 was about as far away from the action as you could get and still be able to tell your friends that you were 'at the Forum'. As a reference point, there were roughly the same number of rows in the reds and whites as there are in the lower bowl of the Bell Centre; sitting in the Forum blues was similar in height to the Bell Centre's club level. Yet in the intimate confines of that building, the view from that high perch was spectacular. We gazed in wonder at the white ice, glowing under the extra illumination of the TV lights, the row of 22 Stanley Cup banners that were hung down the centre line of the rink, and watched as the seats around us filled up with fans of all description and the players skated through their warm-ups. We were disappointed when it was announced that the great Guy Lafleur would not be in the lineup, and thought the folks in the standing room section below us were the luckiest people in the arena.

We stood, caps off, and saluted our two and three-finger Cub and Scout salutes as the incomparable Roger Doucet boomed through the national anthems. And then… game time!

In hindsight, the game must have been fairly unnteresting; 30 years later it seems strange that I remember so little of the actual game action, considering that’s why we were at the Forum in the first place… though I do remember a scuffle involving Chris Nilan, and our Cub and Scout leaders reminding us that resorting to violence to solve a problem shows a lack of good character.





After the first period we made our way up to the concession stand to get steamies and Cokes. We should have listened to the adults about loading up on the serviettes, because no sooner than we got back to our seats did my buddy Dean take a bite of his hot dog and drop mustard all over his Scout uniform. I laughed hard enough to have Coke come out my nose. Ouch!

The second intermission was saved for souvenir hunting. Before we got on the bus that afternoon, my mom gave me $20 (she probably didn’t tell my dad) and told me to spend it wisely. In mom-speak, than meant to return home with at least $10 change. I bought a Montreal Canadiens pennant, which I still have packed away in a box somewhere. I also picked up a cool set of Canadiens signature photo postcards. Unfortunately, I no longer have any of those; they were traded over the following period of hockey and the following years for various hockey and baseball cards, most of which ended up not being worth the cardboard on which they were printed.

Sadly, our Habs came out on the short-end of the score, the game ending 4-2. After the final siren we bundled up in our hats and coats, but the Forum ushers allowed us to hang out in our seats until most of the crowd dispersed. They told us that it was to give us a little more time to soak up the Forum atmosphere. In hindsight, it was probably less-difficult to lose a kid by not trying to steer them through the departing crowd.





After we made our way outside, we noticed that there was a) a lot more snow on the ground, and b) a lot less bus in the spot where we were supposed to meet it. There was, however, a large road coach idling next to the arena. As it turns out, it was also being loaded with Montreal Canadiens equipment bags.

With some time on our hands while a couple of the adults went to hunt down our transportation, we decided to investigate. There was a rather large gentleman in a long grey overcoat standing next to the door of the bus. As it turned out, it was Bob Gainey, who dutifully set about autographing a number of the souvenirs that our group had just purchased. I only remember him uttering one word, “Buffalo”, in response to our questions about where the team was headed to on the bus. Before long he was joined by a REALLY big guy with a shock of curly, reddish hair: Larry Robinson.

I’m not sure what, if any, connection Robinson had with the Boy Scouts, but upon seeing our hats and berets he seemed to take a real interest in us. Or maybe he just felt sorry for a bunch of kids stranded on a cold, snowy street outside of the Forum. Whatever the case, as Gainey continued to sign, Larry disappeared around the bus, only to return moments later with a Canadien puck for each of us. To this day, that puck is one of my favourite Hab-related collectibles. It’s not autographed, but it has Montreal Canadiens class written all over it.

It wasn’t long before our school bus turned the corner onto Atwater Street (it had mistakenly been waiting for us on the other side of the building) and we said our thanks to Gainey and Robinson and piled into its warmth, each of us comparing our the autographs that we’d just received and our haul from the souvenir stands from earlier in the evening.

Soon we were headed back across the Champlain Bridge, all the way home none of us talking about a Hab loss that night.


 



A special thanks to the unknown individual(s) who posted these photos of the Forum online. If one of them is yours, drop me a line so that I can credit you accordingly.

.
.
.