Which Montreal Canadiens should be in the all-time Canadian starting lineup?

The Great White North takes its hockey seriously and when someone tries to put together an all-time Canadian starting lineup, it always sets the stage for some heated arguments. Earlier this week, the Instagram account NHL History released the list of Chicago Blackhawks great defenseman Duncan Keith.

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There’s no denying he made excellent choices. No one can argue with the selection of “the Great” Wayne Gretzky, “le Magnifique” Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr – even Canadiens fans will admit how much of a dominant force he was.

I believe some debate can be had about the other three selections. Don’t get me wrong, Raymond Bourque was a great defender, but he doesn’t stand out to me as much as Bobby Orr. He may have the most points for a blueliner in NHL history, but there’s more to it than that. I would say that Larry Robinson has defended himself quite a bit throughout his long career.

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As for Connor McDavid, there’s no doubt he’s a generational player, but I don’t think he’s done enough to replace Sidney Crosby. The 37-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins captain currently ranks 10th in the NHL in all-time scoring and is expected to pass Joe Sakic for ninth place next season. In addition to being a proven offensive contributor, he has proven to be a great leader as well as a clutch player. Does anyone want the golden goal of Vancouver 2010?

However, it was not these selections that led me to write this article, but rather those of the goalkeeper. Keith chose former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, and considering he played against him for years, it makes sense. During these years, the Habs goaltender was frequently voted the best goaltender in the league by his peers.

There’s no arguing that Price dominated at one stage and he’s the most game-winning goaltender with the Montreal Canadiens, but for an all-time lineup, I believe you need to look at more than that. Who will step up when everything is on the line? Who’s really going to show up when things get tough?

No disrespect to Price, he performed admirably at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, supporting a Canadian team to a gold medal, but in 2021, the only year he managed to lead the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup final, he looked out of control. gas and I couldn’t get rid of it. I’m not attributing the loss to him, but just saying he couldn’t close the deal.

Related: Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price won gold in Canada

Meanwhile, although Patrick Roy never medaled on the international stage, the one time he competed in the Olympics he had wonderful statistics and failed to reach the final thanks to Dominik Hasek’s incredible muzzling of the Canadian attack. Even with this “blemish” on his record, Patrick Roy remains the only player to win three Conn Smythe Trophies and did so with two different teams in three different decades. That to me is definitive proof of a player’s dominance and their ability to win when it really matters.

For these reasons, if I had to make a single change to Keith’s lineup, it would be in goal and St. Patrick would take his place among the greatest Canadian hockey has offered thus far.

Related

Canadiens: From fifth overall pick to first overall
How the Olympics affected the Montreal Canadiens coach
Canadiens’ Carey Price won gold for Canada
Canadiens: The Kostitsyn brothers and the 2010 Olympics
Canadiens: Slafkovsky Games
Canadiens: Captain Koivu’s Finnish final
Canadiens: Alex Kovalev, the Golden Russian and the 1992 Olympics
Canadiens: how the former captain became the man on the mountain

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