The Habs have had many star players from Quebec suit up for them in their history. Over the next month, we’ll be assembling their all-time roster. We begin with the top line.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve gone around the globe looking at Montreal’s top players from each country (and from within Canada, each province) but we saved the most prominent for last. With so many players from Quebec having played for the Canadiens, we had to be more restricted than usual in determining who even makes it onto the ballot.
For forwards, only those that are in the top-75 in franchise scoring are eligible for selection. There are plenty of Hall of Famers and franchise icons in the mix along with some who weren’t quite as talented but had lengthy stints with the team. For defencemen, the threshold is expanded to the top-150 to make sure there are enough options in there. Between the pipes, the cutoff is for goaltenders in the top-15 in games played (and wins) in franchise history.
For this exercise, we’re going to be assembling a top line that consists of three forwards, two defencemen, and one goalie. Next week, we will re-run the ballot with the top liners omitted to create the second line and so on until we have the all-time roster.
When voting, please make your selections based on their contributions with the Canadiens only and not the rest of their NHL and international careers. Click here for a listing of the all-time stats for the Habs.
Here are the players to select from for ‘Team Quebec’.
Please cast your ballot by Friday, November 13th. Results will be posted on Saturday, November 14th.