The Great White North takes its hockey seriously and when someone attempts to put together an all-time Canadian starting lineup, it always sets the table for some heated discussion. Earlier this week, the Instagram account NHL History released Chicago Blackhawks‘ great defenseman Duncan Keith‘s list.
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There’s no denying that he’s made some excellent choices. No one can argue with selecting “the Great One” Wayne Gretzky, “le Magnifique” Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr—even Canadiens fans will admit how much of a dominant force he was.
I believe some debate can be had on the other three selections however. Don’t get me wrong, Raymond Bourque was a great defenseman but he doesn’t stand out to me as much as Bobby Orr does. He might have the most points for a blueliner in NHL history, but there’s more to it than that. I would argue Larry Robinson has made quite the case for himself over his storied career.
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As for Connor McDavid, there’s no doubt he’s a generational player, but I don’t think he’s done enough yet to displace Sidney Crosby. The 37-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins captain currently sits 10th in the NHL in all-time scoring and should overtake Joe Sakic in ninth place this upcoming season. On top of being a proven offensive contributor, he has proven himself to be quite the leader and a clutch player as well, Vancouver 2010 golden goal anyone?
However it’s not those selections that prompted me to write this article, but the goaltender’s. Keith selected former Montreal Canadiens keeper Carey Price and considering he played against him for years, it makes sense. During those years, the Habs’ netminder was often voted the best goalie in the league by his peers.
There’s no arguing that Price dominated at one stage and he is the goaltender who has won the most games with the Montreal Canadiens, but for an all-time lineup, I believe you have to look at more than that. Who will perform when everything is on the line? Who’s truly going to show up when the going gets tough?
No disrespect to Price, he did perform admirably at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi backstopping a stacked Canadian team to the gold medal, but in 2021, the one year in which he manage to guide the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup final, he seemed out of gas and couldn’t shake it off. I’m not putting the loss on him, but only saying he couldn’t seal the deal.
Related: Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price Won Gold for Canada
Meanwhile, even though Patrick Roy never medaled on the international scene, the one time he played in the Olympics he had wonderful stats and couldn’t get through to the final thanks to Dominik Hasek’s incredible muzzling of the Canadian offense. Even with that “blemish” on his file though, Patrick Roy remains the only player to have won three Conn Smythe Trophies and he has done it with two different teams in three different decades. That to me is the ultimate proof of a player’s dominance and his ability to win when it really matters.
For these reasons, if I had to make a single change to Keith’s lineup, it would be in goal and St. Patrick would stand in his rightful place, among the greatest Canadian hockey has offered so far.
Related
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How the Olympics Affected the Montreal Canadiens’ Head Coach
Canadiens’ Carey Price Won Gold for Canada
Canadiens: The Kostitsyn Brothers and the 2010 Olympics
Canadiens: Slafkovsky’s Games
Canadiens: Captain Koivu’s Finnish Final
Canadiens: Alex Kovalev the Golden Russian and the 1992 Olympics
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