As usual, a fine, thoughtful post, Robert.
Of the players active when I started seriously following Canadiens in the late 60s,
Vachon and Provost are, for me, no brainers. I see no possible reason—other than politics—why Bob Pulford should be in the Hall of Fame and Claude Provost not. Indeed, I can do some quick finger counting based on Stanley Cup rings that suggests that Provost should be and Pulford should not be in the HOF.
But, as for Jarvis and Pierre Bouchard, both of whom I admired for widely different reasons, I would never put either ahead of either J.C. Tremblay or Ralph Backstrom. And while neither Jarvis nor Bouchard the Younger deserve a place in the HOF, Tremblay assuredly does, on a par with Vachon and maybe just beneath Provost.

But this is a game, a fun game at that. And these are all truly deserving individuals.

Thanks for the post.

The list should have included defenseman Terry Harper. Even though the fans got on him on a regular basis, he was one of the best defensemen the Canadiens ever had. The fans finally realized his worth….just watch the second game of the 1971 finals between Montreal and Chicago.

I like this subject and believe that out of 700 potentials that we all have our favorites. Personally, I think this list should be of 25 to 50. My unsungs have to include Don Awrey and Jim Roberts. Their contributions were phenomenal. They made shot blocking an art form. Great Post!!

Once again, Robert a thoughtful post and it’s nice to see that others have mentioned some of the names that immediately came to my mind, Backstrom, Tremblay, Roberts etc..

But in my eyes so far there has been one glaring exception from the discussion.

I would submit the name of Peter Mahovlich to any list of underappreciated Habs.

The fact is that the ‘Little M’ still holds the single season record for most assists in team history. In addition, no Habs center before or since has been able to top his 117 point season in 1974-75. Don’t forget that it was originally Mahovlich at center who helped ignite the careers of both Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt. Throw in his excellent penalty killing skills, his clutch play in the 1971 playoffs, his performance in the classic New Year’s Eve game, and his noteworthy appearances on both Team Canada 1972 and 1976, and of course four Stanley Cups and you have one of the most underappreciated of all Montreal Canadiens.

In his article in which he named Mahovlich as the 16th best Hab he had covered, Red Fisher had this to say.

Mahovlich was a perfect fit with the Canadiens. They needed his size (6-foot-5, 210 pounds). They needed his skill with the puck. They needed the joy he brought to the ice, and off it. Hockey was a game, something to enjoy – and Peter enjoyed it to the fullest. What also made the big centreman special was that while his linemates rode the big wave with him,

It wasn’t that long ago that Serge Savard was talking about Peter Mahovlich who, in his view, was the most underrated player in Canadiens history.

“Look what he has done,” Savard said. "A franchise record 82 assists in one season. He had 117 points that year and 105 points the next. Look what he did in ’72 against the Russians. The short-handed goal he scored in the second game in Toronto kept us alive in that series.

“He turned it around for us after we lost so badly in the first game. The way he played all through that series … and in the Canada Cup four years later. Not a lot of people knew how great he was. Not enough people realized it. Our team knew.”

T.C.

There have been way more than 10 unsung heroes in the time I’ve watched the Canadiens, since 1953. But the ones that head my list are Ralph Backstrom, Claude Provost and J.C. Tremblay, all of whom should be in the Hall of Fame.

Laperriere, I think was fully appreciated and is in the HOF. A great Canadien.

Lemieux, yes, indeed, if only Savard hadn’t traded him away. Loved Lemieux.

Nyrop, Green, Gingras and Tremblay the Younger were good, but I wouldn’t put them close to the top of this pack.

A big yes to Bobby Rousseau and a yes to Marshall and Gilles Tremblay. (Rousseau used to kill the Canadiens during his brief Rangers tenure, especially on the power play and in the playoffs. Used to drive me nuts watching him play for in a Ranger uniform.)

Yo, Francis B.

Your point about J.C. is well taken. Still, he isn’t in the Hall of Fame—and clearly should be. Much as I admire Laperriere—and I do greatly—Tremblay is just as much or more deserving of being in the HOF.

Houle? My own feeling is that his greatest contribution came very, very early in his career: Shadowing Bobby Hull in the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals. My favorite Canadiens’ playoff year of all time.

Which reminds me: Francis B., you and Robert should do a riff about the 1969-70 season. A great deal of the reason 1971 meant so much to so many of us is that it followed the catastrophic collapse of 1970.

I was pondering this the other day, reliving it game-by-game, at Hockey Reference. We all forget—or at least, we (I) forget—that Canadiens made a tremendous charge over the last month of regular season play. We all remember the terrible last two games, but we forget that Rangers had a lead going into the last month. But then Detroit made a big charge that brought them third place, while Rangers lost game after game. Were it not for those final two games . . . .

I’ll pipe in with – as others above – Jim Roberts. And Claude Larose as well.

I dig the Floyd Curry inclusion. There were a number of scrappy players which kept the team going in the ’50s, but the big point getters (Geoffrion, Moore, Richard, etc.) always get the attention.