We’re all familiar with both the expression and the exercise of determining who should be on a team’s Mount Rushmore. This off-season, The Hockey News’ writer Ken Campbell has gone through the exercise for every single team in the NHL and he has the Canadiens finishing third. He didn’t just put each team’s best four players though, one of the players had to still be part of the team.
As a result, his choices for the Montreal Canadiens were: Maurice “Rocket” Richard (who is not their best player, but their most iconic according to Campbell), Jean “Le Gros Bill” Beliveau (who he considers to be the Habs best player), Guy “le démon blond” Lafleur and Carey Price as the player who is still on the team.
Those are all very valid choices and before you complain about the Canadiens finishing third in the rankings, you should know which two teams comprising which players made the top two.
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In second place, he has the Pittsburgh Penguins represented by Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Evgeni Malkin and of course, Sidney Crosby. Who tops the rankings? The Edmonton Oilers with Wayne Gretzky, Marc Messier, Jari Kurri and Connor McDavid.
No matter how much of a Canadiens fans you are, you have to admit that these two Mount Rushmore are absolutely amazing. Both Crosby and McDavid are generational talent who gave a new lease of life to the NHL, hockey card collecting became a thing again when the Penguins captain played his rookie season alongside arch-rival Alexander Ovechkin of course.
As for Gretzky and Lemieux, they were the faces of the sport in the 1980s and 1990s they still spark debates about who’s the best between “The Great One” and “Le Magnifique”. Generally followed by “Yes, but what if Mario didn’t have cancer and back issues?” which are of course valid points.
While the Canadiens’ players are excellent, I believe Campbell’s assessment is right there, both teams have a pair of generational players whose success and level of play was sustained for so long, that they have to take the cake. There’s absolutely no shame in coming third behind those two teams though.
There is one Mount Rushmore competition the Canadiens would easily win though, the best goaltenders one. Montreal’s would have to include Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy and Carey Price. Although a strong case could also be made for George Hainsworth and his 75 shutouts, 1.78 goals-against average, and 167 wins (sixth most in team history behind the above mentioned four goalies and Bill Durnan who was no slouch himself of course).
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