HabsWorld.net -- 

Since late December, the NHL has been revealing each franchise’s Quarter-Century team with one announcement per day.  On Sunday, it was Montreal’s turn to have its roster revealed.

Media members, retired NHLers, and team executives contributed to the voting for each team.  Two teams per franchise are announced with each comprising of three forwards, two defencemen, and one goaltender, for 12 players total.

First Team

Saku Koivu (F)
Alex Kovalev (F)
Tomas Plekanec (F)
Andrei Markov (D)
Shea Weber (D)
Carey Price (G)

Up front, the choices were fairly obvious.  Plekanec played in nearly 1,000 games for the franchise and sits 13th all-time in points by a Hab.  Koivu was a top-line centre for the bulk of his tenure with the club and while a good chunk of his games came in the 1990s (and thus didn’t factor into consideration), he was still an impactful forward with over 400 points in the covered timeframe.  Kovalev’s stint was the shortest but he was their last point-per-game winger and a key playoff performer so he was widely expected to make the cut.

Markov’s inclusion was another easy selection.  He also got to nearly 1,000 games with the Habs and is tied for the second-most points by a blueliner in franchise history.  Weber landing here will likely raise some eyebrows.  His tenure with Montreal was shorter than the one who he was traded for but Weber also captained the Habs to a surprising Stanley Cup Final appearance.  It wouldn’t be shocking if that swayed voters.

As for Price, he was Montreal’s franchise netminder for his entire tenure with the team, winning a Hart and Vezina and has the franchise record for wins.  Nothing more needs to be said there.

Second Team

Brendan Gallagher (F)
Max Pacioretty (F)
Nick Suzuki (F)
Sheldon Souray (D)
P.K. Subban (D)
Jose Theodore (G)

Pacioretty had a ten-year run with Montreal, several of which were spent as the captain.  He was fairly consistent as a top-line performer with five years of at least 30 goals and five seasons of 60 or more points, putting him 29th in franchise scoring.  Gallagher is right behind Pacioretty (he’ll probably catch him within the next few weeks) in that department so it makes sense that he’s on here as well.  Suzuki’s still in the early stages of his time with the Habs but he’s one of their top point-getters from that quarter-century already.

On the back end, with Weber landing on the first team, Subban was an easy choice in this group.  He won the Norris Trophy in 2013 and had three years of 50-plus points before being moved for Weber.  Souray was best known as Montreal’s power play threat from the point for the back half of his time with the Canadiens and was next on the all-time points list among defenders in this era which may have earned him the nod over someone like Roman Hamrlik who was steadier but not as productive.

Theodore was Montreal’s starting goalie at the beginning of the millennium and had a dominant year in 2001-02, earning the Hart and Vezina trophies for his efforts.  He was with the team until 2006 before being traded to Colorado, leading to some iffier years between the pipes until Price was ready.