Sorry if we discussed this before, but I'm curious of people's (esp. Habs fans') opinions.
So, c. 1989, in Chicago, Mike Keenan started pestering Serge Savard --- repeatedly --- to talk about obtaining Chelios for the Blackhawks. Savard said 'no' several times. Then, something changed circa spring 1990. It might have been that Chelios' rumor-mill vis-a-vis Ronald Corey's wife was too much to deal with, or maybe there was some actual fire there (not just smoke) and the player shagged the boss's wife. The "official" story from Serge Savard is that there was concern about Chelios' leg after he appeared in only 27 games during 1989-90. And then there are rumors about the pressure Chelios was under from law enforcement in Montreal, etc., etc. So, anyway, they traded him in early summer 1990.
Why did Montreal want Savard just then (10 years too late, some would soon say)? Montreal had just had a somewhat disappointing 1989-90 season, where they'd fallen to third in the division from first, and they'd dropped 23 points in the standings. Part of the reason for their 1989 Cup Finals' loss is that the club suddenly couldn't score in games 4, 5, and 6. The offence ran dry. The team offence fell off in 1989-90 (from 5th overall to 12th), but maybe the bigger point of concern was the playoff series vs. Boston, in which the Habs mustered 11 (non-empty net) goals in five games, losing the series. So, they felt the need for more offence up front. So, they acquired Savard.
Being generous about it, Savard was now a 29-year-old veteran of ten seasons, joining a defence-first team, and he went on to produce nearly 180 points in 210 games, which isn't too shabby. But as he'd just come off a 107-point pace season with Chicago (which, if not for missed games, might have placed him as high as 7th in NHL scoring), his returns with Montreal (esp. 59 points in 70 games, in year one) seemed disappointing.
By 1992-93, the Habs were building up a very deep core of players, with the wealth spread around four lines. Savard's stats dropped a bit more with just 16 goals in 63 games (though still getting almost 5 points every 6 games). The final blow was an injury to his ankle that kept him out of most of the 1993 Cup Final (they lost the one game he appeared in, and won the other four).
What's the tale of the tape here? Was Savard a big bust in his home province, or did contemporary accounts judge him too harshly? Is this one of those trades where it's impossible to fairly account for one guy's play in consideration of the other guy's (Chelios') huge contribution to his team? Or, did Savard just lose some of his mojo when he shaved off that porn-stache?
Small CBC feature on Savard / The Canadiens here, from late 1990:
So, c. 1989, in Chicago, Mike Keenan started pestering Serge Savard --- repeatedly --- to talk about obtaining Chelios for the Blackhawks. Savard said 'no' several times. Then, something changed circa spring 1990. It might have been that Chelios' rumor-mill vis-a-vis Ronald Corey's wife was too much to deal with, or maybe there was some actual fire there (not just smoke) and the player shagged the boss's wife. The "official" story from Serge Savard is that there was concern about Chelios' leg after he appeared in only 27 games during 1989-90. And then there are rumors about the pressure Chelios was under from law enforcement in Montreal, etc., etc. So, anyway, they traded him in early summer 1990.
Why did Montreal want Savard just then (10 years too late, some would soon say)? Montreal had just had a somewhat disappointing 1989-90 season, where they'd fallen to third in the division from first, and they'd dropped 23 points in the standings. Part of the reason for their 1989 Cup Finals' loss is that the club suddenly couldn't score in games 4, 5, and 6. The offence ran dry. The team offence fell off in 1989-90 (from 5th overall to 12th), but maybe the bigger point of concern was the playoff series vs. Boston, in which the Habs mustered 11 (non-empty net) goals in five games, losing the series. So, they felt the need for more offence up front. So, they acquired Savard.
Being generous about it, Savard was now a 29-year-old veteran of ten seasons, joining a defence-first team, and he went on to produce nearly 180 points in 210 games, which isn't too shabby. But as he'd just come off a 107-point pace season with Chicago (which, if not for missed games, might have placed him as high as 7th in NHL scoring), his returns with Montreal (esp. 59 points in 70 games, in year one) seemed disappointing.
By 1992-93, the Habs were building up a very deep core of players, with the wealth spread around four lines. Savard's stats dropped a bit more with just 16 goals in 63 games (though still getting almost 5 points every 6 games). The final blow was an injury to his ankle that kept him out of most of the 1993 Cup Final (they lost the one game he appeared in, and won the other four).
What's the tale of the tape here? Was Savard a big bust in his home province, or did contemporary accounts judge him too harshly? Is this one of those trades where it's impossible to fairly account for one guy's play in consideration of the other guy's (Chelios') huge contribution to his team? Or, did Savard just lose some of his mojo when he shaved off that porn-stache?
Small CBC feature on Savard / The Canadiens here, from late 1990:
