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Too Many Retired Numbers?


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http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2014/06/20/more-habs-numbers-to-be-retired-after-lapointe/

So, now Lapointe's #5 will be hanging up there.

I confess to mixed feelings. I think the Habs have slid from being uniquely demanding in their criteria for jersey-retirement - as befits the greatest organization in the history of the sport - to retiring the numbers of "really good" rather than Great (with a capital "g") players. This is in no way to slag Lapointe, Bouchard, Moore/Cournoyer, Lach, or even Gainey - all were tremendous players, crucial cogs in Cup champion-teams - but these guys are just not the stuff of myth in the fashion of Morenz, Lafleur, Robinson, the Rocket, Dryden, or Roy. It seems to be yet another way in which that Habs have slipped to being just like any other organization, lowering their standards from the very loftiest.

I feel that having your jersey retired by the Montreal Canadiens should be one of the most signal, rarest honours in hockey. Therefore it should go to only the rarest, most signal players.

Discuss?

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I believe that all the sweaters that were retired are in the hall of fame. I know there are some in the hall of fame that are not retired. So ipso facto it is harder to get your jersey retired by Montreal than it is to get in the hall of fame. The thing is that we were very fortunate for a time in our history where we had the greatest players on earth playing for us. They won 4 or 5 cups in a row (2 seperate ocasions). Since 1993 there are very few candidates for either honor and other than Patrick I don't think there is anyone who would come close to having his jesey retired by the habs.

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I'm fine with it. We're not the Vancouver canucks retiring Linden and Naslund. These are hall of famers and Stanley Cup winners for us. If we have to start giving players three digit sweaters that means we've won more cups and have more hall of fame inductees. Not a bad thing.

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1,2,3,4 and 5 in a row are gone now. I have mixed feelings too, but I'd probably feel better about it if I was actually alive when these players were inducted. I just worry like cukes that too many are starting to be inducted.

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1,2,3,4 and 5 in a row are gone now. I have mixed feelings too, but I'd probably feel better about it if I was actually alive when these players were inducted. I just worry like cukes that too many are starting to be inducted.

We're having this discussion when the number being retired isn't being taken out as an option since we're just double retiring the number.

Here's my thing. Take the Toronto Maple Leafs. They don't retire numbers but merely "honour" them, which they do for everyone from Darryl Sittler to Tie Domi. I'll use Dave Keon for example, since he's a guy who hates the fact the Leafs don't retire numbers. He's a Hall of Fame, Stanley Cup winning defenceman who collected Calder and Lady Byng trophies while also being an eight time all-star. He wore #14 in Toronto. Do you know who has worn it since he made the HOF? Dave Andreychuk, Miroslav Frycer, Jonas Hoglund and Matt Stajan. Aside from Andreychuk, none of these guys should have been wearing number 14 because none of them could ever compare to what Keon meant to the Leafs. Why put the pressure on them?

Again, Montreal isn't the Vancouver Canucks retiring Trevor Linden's number or even the New York Rangers for retiring Adam Graves number. These are the all-time best that wore the CH. Nobody is talking about retiring #25 Vincent Damphousse even if I immediately hate every player that wears it and am glad nobody has since Dandeneault. Nobody is talking about retiring Saku Koivu's #11 and if they do feel free to slap them upside the head for me. Nobody is talking about retiring Jose Theodore's $60 just because he won the Hart and Vezina with us. The standards are quite high and if it turns out we have 40 numbers retired? That's a great thing. That means we just added another 20 Hall of Famers.

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The operative thing to do is place these retired jerseys in "hall of excellence" or someplace such and every half century or century regroup and put the numbers back into circulation.

We have that here in Sunrise. The "Den of Honor." There are some real heavyweights commemorated:

-Jody Hull

-Paul Laus

-Olli Jokinen

-Two years of Pavel Bure

-Luongo

They really need to do something. Maybe a takeover, like the Palm Beach Sheffif's Office did to the West Palm Beach police.

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Put the numbers back in circulation? Can't wait to see a hockey player shot on the ice for wearing #9 again.

After a half century or century, I believe I said----- most people will have never see them play

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After a half century or century, I believe I said----- most people will have never see them play

Won't matter, it is a tradition, the longer time goes by the better their legend gets. Would take a man with huge cojones to wear #9. And he would be dead man with big cojones. :)

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You already do have ads on players; with Nike-Reebok on all the gear and lots of adds on helmets/gloves/sticks, so if want to get real tacky with them like Soccer/euro-hockey, is no big deal.

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I think too many are making a big fuss over nothing. It's not like we're retiring a "new" number, we're just retiring the same number a second time. Let's not forget that Lapointe was the third member of a trio of Defensemen that is still being talked about today as one of the greatest collection of d-men in the entire HISTORY of the NHL. He won 6 Stanley cups and was a crucial member of our last great dynasty.

Like Habs rule mentioned, my guess this is probably the last number to be retired for a long time. Since the early 90's, nobody on the Habs should have his number retired (except for King Patrick of course).

BY comparison, you should check out how many numbers the Yankees have retired...they have quite a bit....and we're in the same boat as them. So we have nothing to worry about!


Would take a man with huge cojones to wear #9. And he would be dead man with big cojones. :)

Good one!!! And very true! :rofl:;):D:clap: :clap: :clap:

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Every retired number up there has the resume to justify it...and as long as that is the case, I don't see an issue. The Habs just have a disporportionate number of Hall-of-Famers amongst their alumn...it's a nice 'problem' to have :)

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So Rick Green finally gets his number retired.

It has been a long wait for all these guys, some I never heard of.

5

Gerard Desaulniers (1951)

Lulu Denis (1951)

Bert Hirschfeld (1951)

Bernie Geoffrion (1951-1964)

Gilles Tremblay (1968-1969)

Guy Lapointe (1971-1982)

Rick Green (1983-1989)

Gerald Diduck (1991)

Alain Cote (1991-1992)

Rob Ramage (1993-1994)

Christian Proulx (1994)

Stephane Quintal (1996-2004)

:)

There are lots of names under all the numbers, But under #9 there is only one, and that is as it should be.

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