THE MOST UNDERRATED CANADIENS OF LAST 40 YEARS

12:25 AM

So I'm sitting in the Jacques Beauchamp lounge at the Bell centre after the first period of the Habs win over the mighty Thrashers and I mention to Red Fisher that his placement of Claude Provost among the top 20 Canadiens of all time had me wishing that I had seen the right winger earlier in his career. I only caught Provost over his last few years when he was a strong defensive winger who gained notoriety for shadowing Bobby Hull and becoming the first ever winner of the Bill Masterton Trophy. I always saw Provost as an under appreciated player until Red set me straight.

So I said to Red, with Ron Reusch also at the table, "How about a list of the top 20 underrated players you've seen?".

After giving it about as much thought as I have recently about Miley Cyrus, Red snapped "Why don't you do it?"

Ok then. Here it is. My list, in reverse order, of the most underrated Habs since 1969.

20. Jeff Hackett. Hard to be an underrated goalie in a Canadiens jersey but I wanted one on the list and Hackett was better than Brian Hayward. Hackett played very well for some terrible teams in his career, including his four plus years in Montreal.

19. Benoit Brunet. A fine career absolutely destroyed by injuries. An elite penalty killer who also flashed some offense.

18. Chris Nilan. Too well known to be underrated? He won't be the last on this list. We all know about Nilan the enforcer and character. But he learned how to play the game, scored 20 goals one year while spending six hours in the penalty box. Had another season of 19 goals and became part of the NHL's best shutdown line with Guy Carbonneau and Bob Gainey.

17. Stephane Lebeau. Often overlooked center of the early 90's featured goal totals of 15, 22, 27 and 31 (& 80 pts) during his first four seasons culminating in the Cup win of 1993.

16. Craig Ludwig. A shot blocking machine who played mean but smart. Perfect partner for the young Chris Chelios.

15. Rick Green. Overrated early in his career after being selected #1 overall by the Washington Capitals in 1976 (terrible draft year). Thrived in Montreal as a support player leaving the spotlight to Chelios, Larry Robinson and others. Smothered forwards like The Blob.

14. Mike Keane. Could check, score and fight. Teammates and coaches appreciated him a lot more than some members of the French media who never forgave him for speaking the truth, "We speak English in this room." Patrick Roy wouldn't go to Denver without him.

13. Lyle Odelein. Can still hear some media types rejoicing the day Odelein was shipped to New Jersey in an effort to try to get Stephane Richer to become a goal scorer again. Odelein, like Nilan, transformed himself from fighter to key player, becoming one of the better NHL defensemen for a five year period including a position on Team Canada for the 1996 World Cup.

12. Brian Skrudland. Non-drafted fierce competitor who was all about work and winning. Huge goal in 1986 Final in overtime tied series heading back to Montreal.

11. Mike McPhee. Pierre McGuire likes to compare Max Pacioretty to McPhee. Younger Hab fans can only hope. McPhee was a big, strong left winger who could skate, check, work the corners and produce offense. Spent a good chunk of his career playing alongside Skrudland.

10. Jimmy Roberts. Had two seperate stints with Habs. Went to expansion Blues where he played defense and forward and tried shadowing Bobby Orr in 1970 final. Returned to Montreal to continue his multi-dimensional role. Very smart guy who was among league's best penalty killers and played on NHL's best checking line with Gainey and...

9. Doug Jarvis. Canadiens of mid-70s had just about everything but a stand out face off man at center. So Sam Pollack traded Greg Hubick (77 total NHL games) to Toronto for Jarvis, who had been the Leafs first round draft pick. Jarvis never missed a game in his seven years in Montreal, became the NHL's all time ironman, no small feat for a guy who's about 5'8", one of its best penalty killers and, yes the best face off guy in the league. Was always on the ice protecting a lead.

8. Murray Wilson. One of the best skaters I've ever seen. Pretty good shot too. His goal and point scoring totals were quite impressive for a guy who usually had limited ice time playing behind guys like Steve Shutt, Gainey and Yvon Lambert. Back problems forced him into early retirement.

7. Petr Svoboda. Skinny defenseman who could skate and move the puck with the best of them. Terribly under appreciated in Montreal perhaps because he always found himself plastered into the boards in Boston. But this guy was so much better than most of us thought at the time. Always had impressive plus/minus stats with a career high +46 in 1987-88. Traded to Buffalo for Kevin Haller. Kevin Haller?

6. Pierre Mondou. Flashy little centerman was an offensive dynamo who racked up three 30 goal seasons before his career was ended by an Ulf Samuelsson hi-stick to the eye.

5, 4, 3. Lambert-Tremblay-Risebrough. That's right the entire line, that would be the third line, some nights the 4th, on that great Montreal dynasty of the late 70's. Lambert didnt skate well but had great balance and used his large frame to set up shop in front of opposing goaltenders on the power play. Mario Tremblay was the "sniper" on the line with four 30 goal seasons while Doug Risebrough-my own personal favorite player of that era-was a smart, rambunctious, highly effective chippy little guy. A mini Bobby Clarke. Had a spectacular season in '76-77 when he scored 22goals and 60 points with very little or no action on the power play. All three guys scared the shit out of many opposing defensemen and would drop their gloves if you looked at then the wrong way. I don't think I've seen a line remotely like them since.

2. Serge Savard. A hall of famer underrated??? Yes. It's difficult to explain just how good Savard was. While Bobby Orr had his mangled knees, Savard suffered a broken leg (same leg) in back to back seasons. He lost some speed but slowed the game down to his pace. Constantly over-shadowed by the bigger, stronger Larry Robinson, Savard should have won at least one Norris trophy. He was-before the arrival of Robinson- the second best defenseman in the NHL behind Orr (yes, better than Brad Park). Savard was Scotty Bowman's go to guy with a lead to protect. And when he played for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series his team went unbeaten.

1. Rejean Houle. A shame his record as GM will taint his Montreal career. Because Houle could do it all. A scoring sensation in Junior, Houle was able to transform himself into one of the NHL's most effective checkers, inheriting Provost's assignment of shadowing Bobby Hull. But after he jumped to the Nordiques of the WHA, Houle regained his scoring touch and returned just in time to catch the final three years of the four year Cup run from '76-'79. And he was one of the best two way forwards in the NHL. He killed penalties. He played on the power play. He played all three forward positions. And he helped set up two of the most important goals in franchise history: Henri Richard's game winner in game 7 in Chicago 1971 and Lambert's game 7 overtime winner at the Forum vs Boston in 1979.

Honorable mention: Brian Engblom, Bill Nyrop, JJ Daigneault, Stephane Quintal, Turner Stevenson and Craig Rivet. Josh Gorges is almost there.

Reusch, clearly with very little to do without a TV show, spent the second period the other night compiling his own list. It included Dick Duff, Ted Harris, Terry Harper, Ralph Backstrom, Gilles Tremblay and Marcel Bonin all of whom played the majority of their careers long before I started watching.

There you have it. Please discuss.