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In Hainsight: Former Hab Got the Call from the Hall |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Pierre Turgeon is the only former Montreal Canadiens in this year’s class of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Rouyn-Noranda native was the 1st overall pick of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft and started his career with the Buffalo Sabres.
After 4 seasons in Buffalo, he was traded to the New York Islanders in a blockbuster deal which saw Pat Lafontaine head the other way. In April 1995, Islanders GM Don Mahoney wanted to change the direction of his team which needed new leadership, he sent fan favorite Turgeon to the Canadiens alongside with Vladimik Malakhov in return for Habs captain Kirk Muller, veteran blueliner Matthew Schneider and Craig Darby. Turgeon only played 104 regular-season games with the Tricolore before being sent to St-Louis in exchange for Shayne Corson, Murray Baron and a 5th round pick which the Habs used to select Gennady Razin (a defenseman who never made it to the NHL but had a 12-year career in the KHL and its previous incarnation). Turgeon stayed in St-Louis for 5 years before signing with Dallas as a free agent and then with Colorado.
In 1294 games, Turgeon racked up 1327 points, his best season saw him put 132 points on the board, 15 short of the Isles team record of 147 set by Mike Bossy in 1981-1982. In his only complete season with the Habs in 1995-1996, Turgeon recorded 96 points in the regular season and 6 points in a first-round 6 game elimination at the hands of the New York Rangers. Turgeon currently stands 34th all-time in NHL points. Even with his impressive skills and offensive flair, the center only captured one individual award, the Lady Bing Trophy in 1993 but those days were dominated by the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux it must be said.
Sadly, he’s one of those excellent players who never managed to capture the Stanley Cup, and some argue that he shouldn’t have been named to the Hall of Fame for that reason. Personally, I think that’s a flawed argument, today, there are 32 teams and not 6. Plenty of great players will never have the opportunity to lift the Cup, but that shouldn’t prevent them from being celebrated for their own accomplishment.
While Turgeon only played 104 games with the Canadiens, he was still named team captain after Mike Keane was traded to the Colorado Avalanche alongside face of the franchise Patrick Roy in December 1995. Back then, the Canadiens had a very solid center line featuring Turgeon, hometown hero Vincent Damphousse and Finnish rookie Saku Koivu. Unfortunately, on top of trading goaltending icon Patrick Roy, rookie general manager Réjean Houle also decided that he didn’t need that many centers and sacrificed him in a trade with St-Louis to bring Shayne Corson back to Montreal. Both trades were awful and explain why there were very dark days ahead for the Canadiens…
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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