On Tuesday, Quebecers celebrated their national holiday, Saint-Jean-Baptiste. A day that has been eventful in Montreal Canadiens’ history, from the blockbuster in 2017 that was meant to solve the first center conundrum when Jonathan Drouin arrived in Montreal in return for Mikael Sergachev to Artturi Lehkonen’s Cup Final trip-clinching goal.
On that special day for the province, it felt like a good idea to list who would be featured on my Mount Rushmore of Quebec hockey players. Of course, the list cannot only include Tricolore players, but they do dominate. Without further ado and in no particular order, here we go.
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Maurice Richard
Any Mount Rushmore of Quebec-born players has got to include the Rocket. The original Richard was so much more than a hockey player; he was the idol of a people and the leader the province needed to undergo social and political changes. He empowered the people of Quebec to shine and excel in their fields. The first player to score 50 goals in 50 games, the Rocket now has a trophy named after him, which is awarded annually to the league’s top goal scorer. When he left the game, Richard was leading all players in career points with his 966 points in 978 games.
Mario Lemieux
It’s impossible not to put the Magnifique on this list. Lemieux is arguably the best player in history, and it’s impossible to know what heights he could have reached had he not had to deal with chronic back pain and cancer. When he hung up his skates for good, he had played 915 games and picked up 1723 points for a 1.88 point-per-game average, not far behind Wayne Gretzky’s 1.92 PPG average. In addition to being a fantastic player, Lemieux saved the franchise that drafted him, the Pittsburgh Penguins, twice. Once as a player and once as an owner, when you think of hockey in Pittsburgh, you think of Super Mario, even though it is now the home of Sid the Kid.
Patrick Roy
I may catch some flak for this one since Roy doesn’t lead the NHL in goalie wins, but I believe he was an absolute force on the ice, not just because of how well he played, but also because of his mental strength. There should be a picture of Roy next to the word “clutch” in the dictionary. To this day, Roy remains the only player in history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP for two different teams and to win it three times in four Stanley Cup wins, which demonstrates the significant contribution he made to those victories. Brodeur might have won three Cups, but he never was the playoffs' MVP. In his 1,029-game career, Roy has a 551-315-131 record. Furthermore, he led the Canadiens to their last two Stanley Cups; without his elite goaltending, Montreal would still be stuck on 22 Cups.
Guy Lafleur
I was torn here between Flower and Le Gros Bill, but Lafleur is the last absolute offensive superstar who wore the Sainte-Flanelle and was part of that Canadiens’ dynasty in the 1970s. When Beliveau skated into the sunset, Flower took over the torch, and although it took him a couple of years, he eventually held it high for all to see. In 1,126 games, Lafleur put up 1,353 points while Beliveau, in just one less game, put up 1,219 points. Perhaps I’m showing my age here, and I went with Lafleur because I was lucky enough to see him play; that’s a possibility, but just like Richard, Lafleur was the people’s idol. Unlike many players, he was always frank and ready to give his opinion, which is another reason why people loved him. Quebecer’s reaction to his death in April 2022 said it all…
Photo credit: Eric Bolte – Imagn Images
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