Fisher

The Gazette's Red Fisher concludes his list of the Canadiens' Top 10 trades today. His top pick is a trade that secured the rights to the Oakland Seals' first-round draft pick in 1971, which GM Sam Pollock used to select Guy Lafleur.

The original trade saw Pollock send fringe forward Ernie Hicke and the Canadiens' first-round choice in 1970 (Chris Oddliefson) to the Seals in exchange for defenceman François Lacombe, cash and the Seals' first-round pick in 1971.

Then, Fisher writes: Pollock didn't stop there. On Jan. 26, 1971, he sent his talented centreman Ralph Backstrom to the struggling Kings for Gord Labossière and Ray Fortin with only one idea in mind: to strengthen the Kings sufficiently so that they would at least finish ahead of the Seals in Lafleur's draft year.

The Gazette's Red Fisher continues his look at the Top 10 trades in Canadiens' history. At No. 2 is the trade that brought the rights for Ken Dryden to Montreal with Alex Campbell for Guy Allen and Paul Reid in June 1964.

Fisher writes: Dryden had spent most of his first professional season with the American Hockey League’s Voyageurs. Canadiens GM Sam Pollock liked what he saw. He wanted to see more. With time running out on the regular season, Dryden joined the Canadiens and, astonishingly, won all six of his starts with an eye-opening 1.65 goals-against average.

The Gazette's Red Fisher continues his look at the Top 10 trades in Canadiens' history. At No. 3 is a trade that resulted in the drafting of one of the greatest goaltenders in team history, Patrick Roy.

Roy was selected in the third round of the 1984 entry draft, a choice acquired by sending Robert Picard to Winnipeg on Nov. 4, 1983.

The Gazette's Red Fisher continues his look at the Top 10 trades in Canadiens' history. At No. 4 is John Ferguson, whom the Canadiens bought from Cleveland in June, 1963.

When GM Frank Selky sent scout Floyd Curry to Cleveland, he saw John Bowie Ferguson, with menace implicit in his eyes. What he saw was Ferguson, who had scored 38 goals and 40 assists with the American Hockey League's Barons the preceding season, fire a puck at a teammate's head when he saw him exchanging pleasantries with an opponent during a pregame warmup. He was everything the Canadiens needed. Mean. Intimidating. Unforgiving. He hit people to hurt them. He also played hurt.

The Gazette's Red Fisher continues his look at the Top 10 trades in Canadiens' history. At No. 5 is Peter Mahovlich, who was dealt to Montreal with Bart Crashley by the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Garry Monahan and Doug Piper on June 6, 1969.

Fisher writes: Mahovlich was a perfect fit with the Canadiens. They needed his size (6-foot-5, 210 pounds). They needed his skill with the puck. They needed the joy he brought to the ice, and off it. Hockey was a game, something to enjoy - and Peter enjoyed it to the fullest. What also made the big centreman special was that while his linemates rode the big wave with him.

The Gazette's Red Fisher continues his look at the Top 10 trades in Canadiens' history. At No. 6 is the Big M, Frank Mahovlich, acquired by legendary GM Sam Pollock for Mickey Redmond, Bill Collins and Guy Charron.

Fisher writes that the Big M's acquisition had the following result: the Canadiens upset the heavily favoured Bruins in the first round, Minnesota in six games in the second round and won the Stanley Cup in seven games against Chicago. While rookie Ken Dryden was getting it done defensively, Mahovlich was unstoppable on offence. It's unlikely the Canadiens would have won the Cup without him.

The Gazette's Red Fisher continues his look at the Top 10 trades in Canadiens' history. At No. 7 is the trade for Lorne Worsley, otherwise known as The Gumper. Worsley came to Montreal with Dave Balon, Léon Rochefort and Len Ronson from the New York Rangers in exchange for Jacques Plante, Don Marshall and Phil Goyette on June 4, 1963.

Fisher writes: The Gumper loved to play the clown, but with Worsley in the nets, the Canadiens won four Stanley Cups in five seasons. At 5-foot-7 and 180 pounds, he looked anything like an NHL goaltender, but you don't play 21 seasons in the NHL without bringing something special to the arena.

The Gazette's Red Fisher continues his look at the Top 10 trades in Canadiens' history. At No. 8 is the the acquisition of Vincent Damphousse from the Edmonton Oilers for Shayne Corson, Brent Gilchrist and Vladimir Vujtek. Fisher writes that GM Serge Savard won the jackpot with this trade, but Damphousse says the move was made for personal reasons.

"That's strictly what it was," he said. "It was a personal situation rather than a professional one. That whole year in Edmonton was a great year professionally, but I was going through a divorce."

The Gazette's Red Fisher continues his look at the Top 10 trades in Canadiens' history. At No. 9, he places the acquisition of Bobby Smith from the Minnesota North Stars during the 1983-84 season for Mark Napier, Keith Action and a third-round draft pick.

Smith was the No.1 overall pick of the North Stars in the 1978 entry draft after having scored 69 goals and 123 assists in only 61 games with the Ottawa 67's that season. He also had size at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, something then GM Serge Savard said his team was missing.

"I don't think I would have won the Stanley Cup in '86 without him," Savard said recently. "He gave us a dimension we didn't have ... he gave us size. I'm not saying he was the best player on the team, but he gave us what we needed. He brought a lot of character to the team. You noticed him every time he was on the ice."

Over the next little while, The Gazette's Red Fisher will be providing his take on the top 10 trades in Canadiens' history. Fisher gets things started today with the No. 10 trade that allowed the Canadiens to acquire a player who had a key role in their 1993 Stanley Cup victory.

Kirk Muller was acquired from the New Jersey Devils with goaltender Roland Melanson in exchange for Stephane Richer and Tom Chorske on Sept. 20, 1991.

"I was actually very shocked," Muller said, "but the moment I heard it was to Montreal, I was so excited. It was exactly what I was hoping for my career. It's not a knock on New Jersey, but to go and play before 7,000 ... 8,000 people a night, that wasn't for me. I just knew that in Montreal there was going to be the pressure and excitement. It pushed me. You had to be good every night ... or try to be, anyway. I enjoyed the environment and I think it only makes you a better player."