HF Habs: A thread for the old fart that we are, 50 years old and counting, younger guy's feel free to chip in too

[Habs]

Yeah I was born in 95 so I've never seen anything impressive , aside from CP31

I was seriously so miserable in the 90's watching this team, I'm a treat now compared to those days. I used to get booted from the AOL chatrooms in the mid-late 90's so often they actually cancelled my monthly membership

If you ever check out Spector's Hockey blog, he and I were like the OG's of the Montreal Message board on AOL! Yikes!

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Yeah I was born in 95 so I've never seen anything impressive , aside from CP31

Since Roy it’s been a wasteland. We had a window in the 2010s but brought in the exact wrong GM who brought in the exact wrong coach. Subban and Price were HOF caliber players and we had a good support group. We weren’t far off. But of course… we f***ed it up.

At least Price took us to a finals. He’s a blue chip HOFer. But he’s the only one we’ve had (apart from player pits stops) in that time.

 

[vokiel]

Chipping in I'm not there yet, only ~3 more years to go. I'm kinda fed up, I just want to build a log cabin.

 

[Tyson]

I grew up hearing stories from my dad about the 50's teams while witnessing the entire 70's. Man it was a special time to be a Habs fan.

 

[Scintillating10]

Former Hab Rick Green was on Habs Inside Out other day. He was #1 overall pick in 1976. His signing bonus was $25,000. He went to buy a Cadillac. The dealer said he would get more girls with a Corvette. So first thing he bought was brand new Corvette for $6,800.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

I remember getting mad at some of my friends in the 80s that became bangwagoners cheering for the Islanders or Oilers when they started winning championships. I was a teen and figured you don't turn your back on your team cause you go through a few years without winning anything, didn't expect it to last 3 decades and now too far down the rabbit hole to back out and cheer for anyone else.

I really don't understand how anyone under the age of 30 would be a Habs fan though, must be hereditary

 

[Kaiden Ghoul]

the first game i remember watching was against Québec, let me tell you, it was like watching wwe on skate

No wonder i like big physical team

 

[JianYang]

I remember getting mad at some of my friends in the 80s that became bangwagoners cheering for the Islanders or Oilers when they started winning championships. I was a teen and figured you don't turn your back on your team cause you go through a few years without winning anything, didn't expect it to last 3 decades and now too far down the rabbit hole to back out and cheer for anyone else.

I really don't understand how anyone under the age of 30 would be a Habs fan though, must be hereditary

When I come out to games in Vancouver with the Habs in town, it's not just the number of red jerseys that catches your eye, as much as how many young people are wearing them.

Definitely, it gets passed down in some cases.... other cases don't have an explanation. It was passed down to me as well although i have no personal link to quebec.

 

[Scintillating10]

If Lafleur never smoked would his play held up a few more seasons before fall off in '81?

 

[Favster]

Cool thread. I'm 37 and my first game at the Forum was Mario Tremblay's first game as head coach lol. Habs scored with like a second left to win it against the Leafs. Was the only game I ever saw at the old Forum.

 

[Schooner Guy]

If Lafleur never smoked would his play held up a few more seasons before fall off in '81?

I remember Wayne Gretzky talking about possibly retiring in the late-80s (before he was traded to LA). He mentioned that Lafleur, Dionne and Perreault all came in at roughly the same time and that Lafleur was the best of the three but his production fell off well before it did for Dionne and Perreault. 99 mentioned it was likely because of burnout as Lafleur played in a higher pressure market and played in a lot more playoff games.

 

[Scintillating10]

I remember Wayne Gretzky talking about possibly retiring in the late-80s (before he was traded to LA). He mentioned that Lafleur, Dionne and Perreault all came in at roughly the same time and that Lafleur was the best of the three but his production fell off well before it did for Dionne and Perreault. 99 mentioned it was likely because of burnout as Lafleur played in a higher pressure market and played in a lot more playoff games.

Yup, I don't know. Dangers of smoking wasn't known back in '70s. I imagine it costs Lafleur a prime year or two.

Lafleur use to drink quite a bit also. Montreal nightlife is like none other in league. For rich star it was another factor in his early demise.

If Lafleur kept himself better probably be known as one of greatest ever. Maybe still with us today.

 

[Surfer72]

I remember getting mad at some of my friends in the 80s that became bangwagoners cheering for the Islanders or Oilers when they started winning championships. I was a teen and figured you don't turn your back on your team cause you go through a few years without winning anything, didn't expect it to last 3 decades and now too far down the rabbit hole to back out and cheer for anyone else.

I really don't understand how anyone under the age of 30 would be a Habs fan though, must be hereditary

My Grandfather passed Montreal to my Dad. My Dad passed it to me and I'm currently passing it on to my 8 year old son (poor boy)...Many changes throughout this total time period. The Quality of stories definitely diminishes with each generation baton pass.

 

[CDN24]

Cool thread. I'm 37 and my first game at the Forum was Mario Tremblay's first game as head coach lol. Habs scored with like a second left to win it against the Leafs. Was the only game I ever saw at the old Forum.

I was at that game too, first one at the forum where I had seats. I moved to Montreal in fall 93 for University. Went to a few games with the standing room tickets but that was the first one where I had seats. Maybe there is a correlation with them not winning a cup after I moved there. That said we should be good now- I now live in Ottawa

 

[FerrisRox]

Cool thread. I'm 37 and my first game at the Forum was Mario Tremblay's first game as head coach lol. Habs scored with like a second left to win it against the Leafs. Was the only game I ever saw at the old Forum.

I was at that game.

Pierre Turgeon scored - his second of the game - with literally one second on the clock to send the Leafs packing.

 

[Garbageyuk]

I met Guy L at older timers game.
got him to sign a hockey card I had from 1976. he looked at it and laughed. "many moons ago" he said.

Met him at same type of thing when I was a kid. He was in a grumpy mood and everyone was asking him to sign their stuff as he was leaving. He grabbed my hat and signed it and walked away because it was the only Habs item lmao (this was in BC). Everyone else was pissed lol. At least that’s how I remember it lol. Maybe he was annoyed that it was a bunch of old dudes except me, idk

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

If Lafleur never smoked would his play held up a few more seasons before fall off in '81?

Injuries had something to do with it. So did Lemaire coming in as coach.

Lafleur was basically benched into retirement. That never should've happened. If you think the Guy's done... trade him. Could've gotten a boatload.

But the politics would've been horrible... nobody wanted to be known as the guy who traded away Lafleur. So they just benched him. Incredibly shortsighted.

 

[FormerLurker]

Cool thread. I'm 37 and my first game at the Forum was Mario Tremblay's first game as head coach lol. Habs scored with like a second left to win it against the Leafs. Was the only game I ever saw at the old Forum.

I was there too that night, with friends from the UK. Like you, it was the first game at the Forum for my friends, while I was into triple digits.

I lived on Lambert Closse that year and the Forum was my second home. Often watched the first period at home then bought cheap tickets from scalpers late in the first or during the intermission. Or just bought standing room tickets. Man I loved standing room.

I left Montreal in '96 and have only seen one game at the Bell Centre, back in '06. I get my Habs fix by driving to Buffalo these days, with my son. I owe him a trip to Montreal to see a home game.

My avatar is Suzuki signing my son's Guelph Storm t-shirt, on the ice after winning the OHL championship. Suzuki has always been a class act.