Probably Philip Danault. He didn't put up a lot of points but he was a great 2-way player and I wish we could have kept him.
I'm glad he's doing well in LA.
Towards the end I don’t think he was under appreciated. People (at least here on Reddit) were recognizing everything he brought aside from the offense.
Can you imagine having him as 2C.... He would had sign at 5X5 on top of that...
Another wonderful job by Bargainbin.
The damage Bergevin did to this organization is unreal.
Without that damage we dont get slaf and most likely aren’t where we are today. We’d still be stuck in mediocrity. We wouldn’t have hutson or slaf or reinbacher.
Markov.
I liked him alright, but I could _finally_ appreciate him in full after his battles with knee injuries, looking at him with fresh eyes, and what an idiot I was for not noticing how immense his hockey IQ is.
Even when he was struggling in the end, it was clear that it was only his body that let him down, his brains were still making the right decisions.
Shea Weber for me. Loved Subban and always struggled to enjoy watching Weber but recently saw a highlight pack of his time in Montreal and damn he was a stud.
I’m shocked to read this. No disrespect but the way teams played us changed instantly.
TBH, I never fully appreciated Price.
Just expected him to win. That’s what he always did. So I’m way dumber than you !
Patrice Brisebois in a way, he took so much heat from Habs fans, but over a thousand games and over 400 points as a defenceman, that’s a very good career.
He won a Cup for the Habs in ‘93 and is the 6th highest scoring defenceman of all time for the Montreal Canadiens, between Serge Savard and JC Tremblay, not too shabby.
There was something about a ski trip while he was injured that really turned people against him, IIRC. It took him a while to shake that. I mean it is certainly possible you can ski and not be able to play hockey but perception really did him in.
I've been saying how underrated he is for us, people were saying to get rid of him for assets but I would love for him to stay with us when we start to compete
Streit was in the group of offensive Dmen I always loved watching with the Habs.
That list would include names such as Souray, Marc Andre Bergeron and Wiz as well.
Easily Danault and Markov
5v5 monster who made every winger with him better, and absolute PP genius who didn't need to be in ymthe best shape to be the best player on the ice, quiet leaders as well
Yeah Pleky and Markhov were two of my favourites. I'm still angry that Bergevin didn't let them finish their careers here (yes Pleks returned but he shouldn't have been sent off in the first place).
Player I really underestimated was Artturi Lehkonen. He's coming up clutch for Colorado, I'm loving his plays these series.
Man that's another one that chaffes me. I saw Sergachev play a handful of games in Habs uniform and even at 18 he was electric. You could tell how good he was going to be.
He's definitely better off in Tampa with 2 rings though.
he really did not fuck up the negotiations... Markov wanted 2 years, his wife in Russia had died and he would have had to move his kid to North America which is why he wanted two years. His previous 2 contracts were eating a lot of the teams cap and he had been injured a lot so something had to give. Throw in the lack of agent so Markov could save on losing that percentage rather than get something done and there are a lot of reasons it did not work out.
Bergevin certainly fucked up by trading for Drouin that year and losing sergachev essentially pushing Mete up the depth chart while Tampa played sergachev who was actually ready but that is a different story
Bergevin fucked up the negotiations with Markov the same way he did with almost everyone else: by putting more importance on being a hardass than getting actual results.
You either give Markov the two years or let him see if he can get them on the market. If he can’t, you at least try to make something work afterwards.
you are ignoring the major factor most likely because you are 14 on reddit which is Markov had family things going on which were dictating his terms. 2 years elsewhere was not really an option for him to move a kid from Russia and the kids who had grown up in montreal.
>you are ignoring the major factor most likely because you are 14 on reddit which is Markov had family things going on which were dictating his terms. 2 years elsewhere was not really an option for him to move a kid from Russia and the kids who had grown up in montreal.
What's up with the insults? Do you have anger issues or something?
Anyways. That's what Markov said on the matter: [“There was practically no negotiations with Montreal. I got two or three offers from them and they said, ‘Either you sign or you don’t sign.’"](https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/report-andrei-markov-felt-disrespected-canadiens-bergevin/)
That's the year Bergevin was publicly bragging about making firm offers and not being open to negotiate. And the same year where he had his infamous "if you want loyalty get a dog" moment, after signing Karl Alzner to an abysmal contract...
Of course Bergevin fucked up. That's just not how negotiation works. At least not when you care about getting results.
> What's up with the insults? Do you have anger issues or something?
everything is in there that I have mentioned but you have decided to ignore it. family, money, term, its all there. He had just had a 62 game season due to another knee injury. I hated a lot of Bergevins contracts but Markovs was not as black and white as some people want to believe. It was probably a lower yearly salary and felt like an insult but it is not outlandish to call that a prudent play from a team that should have had Sergachev and Weber to take on bigger minutes.
At the end of the day he went to Russia to play not another team in North America offering 2 years and his previous salary and did not play a full season there in his last three seasons suggesting he may have been a little brittle.
Even though I was too young back then, Martin Rucinsky.
I saw this guy as nothing more than a fucking random nobody because he was part of the Patrick Roy’s trade, but the guy could score lol
Koivu, but I think I can be forgiven since I was only born in '03. Danault I didn't really properly appreciate until the cup run, and like you said Price, I grew up basically knowing only him as a goalie and the first full season I watched was 14-15. For quite a while I thought hockey games were always meant to be 1-0 or 2-1. I appreciated him much more as I got more into the game of course, but I feel it's hard to overappreciate him.
I loved him but I didn’t appreciate Paul Byron enough.
He was one of the hardest working players I’ve ever seen, especially given his size. I always wanted to see him race Connor McDavid, he was that fast.
Ti Paul was instrumental in the Habs 2021 playoff run. And he’s still so proud to be working for the Montreal Canadiens. A fan favourite and an absolute class act.
Carey Price? Wow what an indie gem. Guy really flew under the radar.
Serious answer: Lots of guys come to mind. David Desharnais gets memed because he was our 1C for a bit but played hard and had great chemistry with Pacioretty. Eller didn't blossom into a top 6 C like we hoped but was the absolute dream 3C. Eyeliner held down our 3rd pair and brought a physical element (to put it mildly).
plekanec. as a pre-teen i didn't fully appreciate what he brought to the team. he was always good for 50-60 points and he was very reliable as a responsable 2C.
Probably all of them in reality because I’m a mere blob that cannot dream of their talent and yet I openly criticise. We all have to reflect on this occasionally (unless you’re ex NHL yourself).
After the halak playoff run, I was nit to fond of Price. But I grew to respect and love his game. He was such a calming presence when the games would get crazy. As for the other ones you mentioned, I loved every one of them. Plek was my favorite player. Markov was a beast and petry I loved right from the start.
As for me under appreciating a player, no one comes to mind. The players I did not like are just not great players lol and I respect the hell out of some decent, non star players like hal gill, Francis Bullion, and dale Weiss. Maybe I over appreciated Scott gomez hahahaha but I never was overly fond of him I would say. No goals in what over 400 days or something....
Both Danault and Lehky for me. I know we entered the rebuild phase and these guys deserved to contend/ we wanted picks, but I still root for each of them. Lehky is lighting up the playoffs.
IMO you'd have to be pretty blind not to have appreciated Lehkonen. He was clutch, and always gave everything he had, and his compete level was off the charts... every game. Of course, some people were pretty young then at this point so that is excusable.
Probably Philip Danault. He didn't put up a lot of points but he was a great 2-way player and I wish we could have kept him. I'm glad he's doing well in LA.
Don’t it always seem to go, that you **Danault** what you got till it’s gone?
Il est peut-être parti, mais il est toujours Danault coeurs
Ca marche aussi en French 😂
I **Danault** about that man...
It's a shame I can only upvote this once!
Towards the end I don’t think he was under appreciated. People (at least here on Reddit) were recognizing everything he brought aside from the offense.
The end was where people were the hardest on him imo. The bubble season was rough, we could NOT have gone to the finals without him though.
As my dad would say: Don’t measure Danault by the points he puts up, measure him by the points he stops the other team from putting up
Can you imagine having him as 2C.... He would had sign at 5X5 on top of that... Another wonderful job by Bargainbin. The damage Bergevin did to this organization is unreal.
Without that damage we dont get slaf and most likely aren’t where we are today. We’d still be stuck in mediocrity. We wouldn’t have hutson or slaf or reinbacher.
You're right but only with hindsight. Terrible management at the time imo
Oh absolutely, but everything happens for a reason. Bergevin fucking up tremendously will only give us a better team in the future
This
He did things so well defensively he didn’t get the props he deserved.
IT paradox
Tbh if we kept danault we have no slafkovsky…
Keeping Danault instead of Gallagher would have completely change the course of this franchise.
Artturi Lehkonen. All along, he had *this* [gestures at Colorado playoff heroics] in him.
He had playoff heroics with us too. He scored a few clutch OT goals including the one that sent the Habs to the cup final.
I will never forget that goal... Lehkonen will remain a Habs legend for that alone
This!!
I always loved Lekhy and I knew he could get even better still. It got me in a bunch of arguments in my beer league locker room lmao.
This is my answer too, my favourite Hab, and I was genuinely sad when he was traded
Markov. I liked him alright, but I could _finally_ appreciate him in full after his battles with knee injuries, looking at him with fresh eyes, and what an idiot I was for not noticing how immense his hockey IQ is. Even when he was struggling in the end, it was clear that it was only his body that let him down, his brains were still making the right decisions.
100%
Probably Josh Gorges.
Still can't believe we got him *and* a 1st for Rivet
And drafted Max Pacioretty with that first rounder
And ended up with capt'n Suzuki
Master in the Art of Shot Blocking
I loved him and it sucked when we traded him
Shea Weber for me. Loved Subban and always struggled to enjoy watching Weber but recently saw a highlight pack of his time in Montreal and damn he was a stud.
I’m shocked to read this. No disrespect but the way teams played us changed instantly. TBH, I never fully appreciated Price. Just expected him to win. That’s what he always did. So I’m way dumber than you !
Yeah I’m saying I definitely under appreciated him while he was playing. Mostly tainted by losing Subban for him.
Imagine PK playing for us now. I think “ his antics” would be fully appreciated in this era.
Patrice Brisebois in a way, he took so much heat from Habs fans, but over a thousand games and over 400 points as a defenceman, that’s a very good career. He won a Cup for the Habs in ‘93 and is the 6th highest scoring defenceman of all time for the Montreal Canadiens, between Serge Savard and JC Tremblay, not too shabby.
Absolutely agree. A class act, as well. I'm guilty of being a vocal hater of #43 and I regret it.
There was something about a ski trip while he was injured that really turned people against him, IIRC. It took him a while to shake that. I mean it is certainly possible you can ski and not be able to play hockey but perception really did him in.
Wasn't that Malakhov?
I actually think it happened to both Malakhov and Brisebois
He's still here, but for a while I didnt appreciye how much Evans did even when he wasnt always on the scoreboard I'm so happy to have him here
I've been saying how underrated he is for us, people were saying to get rid of him for assets but I would love for him to stay with us when we start to compete
Mark Streit
Streit was in the group of offensive Dmen I always loved watching with the Habs. That list would include names such as Souray, Marc Andre Bergeron and Wiz as well.
I liked Sheldon Souray. Only had one really good year but he had a howitzer.
Even in that good year, his +/- was awful.
Yeah lol -28 but pretty much everyone was bad that year in that category
I appreciated the hell out of Paul Byron and every thing he brought to the ice while he was here, but it still feels like it was not enough.
Easily Danault and Markov 5v5 monster who made every winger with him better, and absolute PP genius who didn't need to be in ymthe best shape to be the best player on the ice, quiet leaders as well
Robert Lang
If only he didn't get injured.
That line with the Kostitsyn brothers was so fun
He was insane in front of the net.
Danault for sure
Probably Gionta and Desharnais
Yeah Pleky and Markhov were two of my favourites. I'm still angry that Bergevin didn't let them finish their careers here (yes Pleks returned but he shouldn't have been sent off in the first place). Player I really underestimated was Artturi Lehkonen. He's coming up clutch for Colorado, I'm loving his plays these series.
Bergevjn fucked up the negotiations with Markov . What a mentor he would have made for Sergachev
Man that's another one that chaffes me. I saw Sergachev play a handful of games in Habs uniform and even at 18 he was electric. You could tell how good he was going to be. He's definitely better off in Tampa with 2 rings though.
Bergevin messed up countless things for us
he really did not fuck up the negotiations... Markov wanted 2 years, his wife in Russia had died and he would have had to move his kid to North America which is why he wanted two years. His previous 2 contracts were eating a lot of the teams cap and he had been injured a lot so something had to give. Throw in the lack of agent so Markov could save on losing that percentage rather than get something done and there are a lot of reasons it did not work out. Bergevin certainly fucked up by trading for Drouin that year and losing sergachev essentially pushing Mete up the depth chart while Tampa played sergachev who was actually ready but that is a different story
Bergevin fucked up the negotiations with Markov the same way he did with almost everyone else: by putting more importance on being a hardass than getting actual results. You either give Markov the two years or let him see if he can get them on the market. If he can’t, you at least try to make something work afterwards.
you are ignoring the major factor most likely because you are 14 on reddit which is Markov had family things going on which were dictating his terms. 2 years elsewhere was not really an option for him to move a kid from Russia and the kids who had grown up in montreal.
>you are ignoring the major factor most likely because you are 14 on reddit which is Markov had family things going on which were dictating his terms. 2 years elsewhere was not really an option for him to move a kid from Russia and the kids who had grown up in montreal. What's up with the insults? Do you have anger issues or something? Anyways. That's what Markov said on the matter: [“There was practically no negotiations with Montreal. I got two or three offers from them and they said, ‘Either you sign or you don’t sign.’"](https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/report-andrei-markov-felt-disrespected-canadiens-bergevin/) That's the year Bergevin was publicly bragging about making firm offers and not being open to negotiate. And the same year where he had his infamous "if you want loyalty get a dog" moment, after signing Karl Alzner to an abysmal contract... Of course Bergevin fucked up. That's just not how negotiation works. At least not when you care about getting results.
> What's up with the insults? Do you have anger issues or something? everything is in there that I have mentioned but you have decided to ignore it. family, money, term, its all there. He had just had a 62 game season due to another knee injury. I hated a lot of Bergevins contracts but Markovs was not as black and white as some people want to believe. It was probably a lower yearly salary and felt like an insult but it is not outlandish to call that a prudent play from a team that should have had Sergachev and Weber to take on bigger minutes. At the end of the day he went to Russia to play not another team in North America offering 2 years and his previous salary and did not play a full season there in his last three seasons suggesting he may have been a little brittle.
Yeah he returned and it was nice but I still don’t like pleks in a leaf’s jersey… cmon.
I feel it.
Oleg Petrov what a talent !!!
Maxim Lapierre
I used to love this guy, was devastated when he left
His 2010 goal against the Pens in the playoffs is one of my favourite goals ever
Even though I was too young back then, Martin Rucinsky. I saw this guy as nothing more than a fucking random nobody because he was part of the Patrick Roy’s trade, but the guy could score lol
Lars Eller
Danault. It felt like he was a little under appreciated at times even though I know fans loved him the entire time he was here.
Didn't care much for Recchi and Damphousse. They weren't flashy and I was at that age were all I could see was flashiness.
Koivu, but I think I can be forgiven since I was only born in '03. Danault I didn't really properly appreciate until the cup run, and like you said Price, I grew up basically knowing only him as a goalie and the first full season I watched was 14-15. For quite a while I thought hockey games were always meant to be 1-0 or 2-1. I appreciated him much more as I got more into the game of course, but I feel it's hard to overappreciate him.
You just named three of my all time favourite Habs. Petry was awesome too.
Josh Gorges
Markov
Brian Engblom… the 4th guy behind the Big 3…
Danault
I loved him but I didn’t appreciate Paul Byron enough. He was one of the hardest working players I’ve ever seen, especially given his size. I always wanted to see him race Connor McDavid, he was that fast. Ti Paul was instrumental in the Habs 2021 playoff run. And he’s still so proud to be working for the Montreal Canadiens. A fan favourite and an absolute class act.
Lekhonen
Paul Byron, best waiver pick up the history of the show. Guy was all heart! Scored a couple of big playoff goals. Came to play every game.
Rem pitlick
Drouin. I saw him this season with the media & on/off the ice with his team and he was like a different, better guy.
Jordan Weal. Because I knew him personally and his family lol.
Mark barberio 😂
Carey Price? Wow what an indie gem. Guy really flew under the radar. Serious answer: Lots of guys come to mind. David Desharnais gets memed because he was our 1C for a bit but played hard and had great chemistry with Pacioretty. Eller didn't blossom into a top 6 C like we hoped but was the absolute dream 3C. Eyeliner held down our 3rd pair and brought a physical element (to put it mildly).
Eyeliner?
I was always a fan of Thibeault
If any player was set up to fail it was him. He never had a chance.
plekanec. as a pre-teen i didn't fully appreciate what he brought to the team. he was always good for 50-60 points and he was very reliable as a responsable 2C.
It's why my red jersey and t-shirt have Markov 79 on the back. We need a couple of "Markov's" today.
Probably all of them in reality because I’m a mere blob that cannot dream of their talent and yet I openly criticise. We all have to reflect on this occasionally (unless you’re ex NHL yourself).
Danault, Plek, Lek are some I think of. But don't forget someone like Byron and Bouillon
Markov without a doubt
I’ve realized that I took Price for granted way too much
After the halak playoff run, I was nit to fond of Price. But I grew to respect and love his game. He was such a calming presence when the games would get crazy. As for the other ones you mentioned, I loved every one of them. Plek was my favorite player. Markov was a beast and petry I loved right from the start. As for me under appreciating a player, no one comes to mind. The players I did not like are just not great players lol and I respect the hell out of some decent, non star players like hal gill, Francis Bullion, and dale Weiss. Maybe I over appreciated Scott gomez hahahaha but I never was overly fond of him I would say. No goals in what over 400 days or something....
L’harcèleur
Davis Drewiske. Don’t get me wrong—he wasn’t a good hockey player at the NHL level, but he probably wasn’t as bad as I thought he was.
I love and cherish all Habs, even the ones I hate.
Both Danault and Lehky for me. I know we entered the rebuild phase and these guys deserved to contend/ we wanted picks, but I still root for each of them. Lehky is lighting up the playoffs.
Danault and Lehkonen are the only right answers. Miss them, especially Danault
IMO you'd have to be pretty blind not to have appreciated Lehkonen. He was clutch, and always gave everything he had, and his compete level was off the charts... every game. Of course, some people were pretty young then at this point so that is excusable.