The Habs: Brian McFarlane's Original Six

Brian McFarlane's Original Six

by Brian McFarlane

Since the establishment of the Montreal Canadiens on December 3, 1909, as part of the then newly created National Hockey Association, the Flying Frenchmen have thrilled and delighted their fans with some of the best hockey in the history of the game.

Sheltered within the walls of the venerable Forum, home of the Canadiens for more than seven decades, Montreal's loyal supporters cheered for countless giants of the sport: legends like Aurel Joliat, Howie Morenz, Bill Durnan, and Maurice Richard, along with more recent heroes like Jean Beliveau, Ken Dryden, Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, and Patrick Roy.

Now Brian McFarlane's The Habs recalls hockey's golden era, with entertaining stories of the feats of Les Glorieux. From historic scoring achievements such as Rocket Richard's 50 goals in 50 games, to the team's unmatched tally of Vezina Trophy-winning netminders, to the record 24 Stanley Cup victories, the list of accomplishments of the Montreal Canadiens is second to none.

Genres: Hockey, Sports

217 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Brian McFarlane (born August 10, 1931) spent 27 years thrilling audiences with his colorful commentary from the gondola at Maple Leaf Gardens and the studios of Hockey Night in Canada. A member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Brian McFarlane has written more than 50 books about hockey, and loves nothing more than to share his passion for the game with fellow enthusiasts.

Reviews

[Paul Haspel · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Habs” is short for habitants – a reference to the original French settlers of Québec – and if you didn’t already know that, then it’s evident that, like me, you are not from Montréal. In another context, a book about habitants might be, say, an epic historical study of the colonial struggles of les habitants during the 18th century generally and the Seven Years War (or French & Indian War) specifically. Here, however, les habitants du Canada are the National Hockey League’s Montréal Canadiens – the most successful team in the history of the game, and a vital force in Québécois life to this day, as Brian McFarlane makes clear in his 1997 book The Habs.

McFarlane, a veteran hockey journalist from New Liskeard, Ontario, is so eminent a chronicler of the game that he has his own place of honor in Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame, right alongside the 66 (!) Canadiens players or officials who have likewise been named Hall of Famers. The Habs is part of McFarlane’s Original Six series of books chronicling the six teams that constituted the entire NHL from 1942 to 1967 – the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montréal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Original Six era is still widely regarded as the NHL’s classic period or "Golden Age" by many hockey fans, and the Canadiens in particular have an impressive history – their 24 Stanley Cup championships and their run of five straight Stanley Cups from 1956 to 1960 remain achievements unparalleled in their sport. Along with those team records, many impressive individual records exist; for example, Doug Jarvis’s record of 964 consecutive games played from 1975 to 1987 remained unequalled for many years (though Phil Kessel and Keith Yandle have now surpassed that record).

McFarlane captures the larger-than-life role that the Canadiens played in the lives of the people of Montréal, and of Québec generally; hockey journalists chronicling the exploits of the Canadiens seem often to have resorted to language resembling that of classical epic, as when Toronto Star writer Andrew Lytle, responding to Howie Morenz’s 1937 death after his leg was broken during a Canadiens-Black Hawks game, wrote that “to a startled world and to his agonized people, the tragic words were spoken – ‘Howie Morenz is dead.’ It was his brave heart that had given suddenly, tragically out, his doctors said” (p. 50). “To his agonized people”; “his brave heart…had given suddenly, tragically out” – Lytle could have been describing the death of Achilles.

Also emphasized by McFarlane is the close bond that existed among the Canadiens, who knew that as they played, they carried with them the hopes and dreams of all Québec, a province that has sometimes thought of itself as a nation within a nation. Marcel Bonin, who played for the Habs during part of their 1956-60 run of five straight Stanley Cups, told McFarlane that “The best memory I have of hockey is the friendship of my teammates. They were all just like brothers” (p. 101).

When McFarlane published The Habs in 1996, the Canadiens had recently won their 24th Stanley Cup in 1993, defeating Wayne Gretzky’s Los Angeles Kings. In response, Montrealers engaged in the highly un-Canadian activity of rioting: “Fans rampaged through downtown streets, setting fires, smashing store windows, and looting. Damage to municipal property was estimated at more than $1 million. The four-hour riot was the worst in Montreal’s history” (pp. 200-01).

There has been no cause for comparable rioting in Montréal since then, as 1993 was the last time a Canadiens team, or any Canadian team, won the Stanley Cup. Gone are the days when the Canadiens enjoyed exclusive territorial recruiting rights for virtually the entire province of Québec, giving them a built-in talent-pool advantage; today, the Habs, like the other 31 NHL teams, must bid for the services of the best players from Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, the United States of America, and other countries.

I remember watching the Canadiens on TV in the 1970’s, delivering one thrashing after another to my local team, the Washington Capitals – Guy Lafleur skating along at speeds that seemed humanly impossible, his long dark hair flying back behind him; Ken Dryden looking steady and unflappable in goal while making one acrobatic save after another. Later, in the 1980’s, I watched with interest the frequent and hotly contested Adams Division playoff series between the Canadiens and their cross-provincial rivals, the Québec Nordiques. Still later, I took my copy of The Habs with me on a trip to Montréal, reading it while touring the Vieux-Port district of the city, the Lachine Canal, the campus of McGill University. Occasionally, a proud Montrealer, seeing my copy of McFarlane’s book, would share with me his or her memories of a favorite moment from Canadiens history.

McFarlane’s The Habs chronicles well the glorious history of the Montréal Canadiens. To Habs fans everywhere, I offer my hopes that, before too long, your team will be able to raise a 25th Stanley Cup banner to the rafters of Bell Centre, to join the 24 that are already there.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It isn't the NHL without the Canadiens.