POLL — Who should have their number retired first - Toe Blake or Carey Price?

[Lafleurs Guy]

Dryden had better players in his era. Lafleur was simply the best player, the big 3 at defense was the best of all and we can add Shutt, Lemaire, Cournoyer, Gainey, Risebrought, Lambert, Wilson, Mahovlich, Nyrop, etc. An all star team, like the Oilers have been between '84 to '90.
The two Cups of Roy it wasn't expected. They barely qualified for a PO spot in '86 when Roy was a rookie 18yrs old. Habs in 86-93 were better than the Price era but by a little notch. When Price was 18 yrs, he had a similar team than Roy in '86. Price between 18-22 yrs had Koivu, Markov and Kovalev. Not a total disaster in offence.

Roy’s two cups weren’t expected for sure, but nobody expected the Oilers or Pens to be eliminated either.

 

[Bring Bak Damphousse]

Price falls into the same category as Markov and Koivu. Great players, but no cup. No cup, no retirement.

Seems absurd to hold players in a 30 team league, to the same standards as guys who compiled cups in a 6 team league. Cup or no cup I’m having a hard time thinking of another former hab that literally put the team on his back year after year the way Price has.

 

[Whitesnake]

This is the Montreal Canadiens. Retiring a jersey should not be treated like it would be for any other teams. Unfortunately for Carey, it s a no for me. Hall of Fame? Sure.

Dick Duff is in the Hall of Fame. But Dick Duff didn't see his jersey being retired by the Leafs.

I wouldn't retire Toe Blake's number as well. Not enough playing time.

I already thought that we compensated for our mediocrity on tohe ice by removing way too man jerseys. Gainey wouldn't be up there. Same for Bouchard. Same For Geoffrion. But can't put the genie in the bottle...but I'd wait till we actually have a guy that you could not see wearing the player's number. That's my criteria. At one point, wearing the 31 won't matter too much. Yet, there is NO way ANYBODY could have worn the 10. Geez, John Chabot was wearing 29 after Dryden and nobody cared...

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

This is the Montreal Canadiens. Retiring a jersey should not be treated like it would be for any other teams. Unfortunately for Carey, it s a no for me. Hall of Fame? Sure.

Dick Duff is in the Hall of Fame. But Dick Duff didn't see his jersey being retired by the Leafs.

I wouldn't retire Toe Blake's number as well. Not enough playing time.

I already thought that we compensated for our mediocrity on tohe ice by removing way too man jerseys. Gainey wouldn't be up there. Same for Bouchard. Same For Geoffrion. But can't put the genie in the bottle...but I'd wait till we actually have a guy that you could not see wearing the player's number. That's my criteria. At one point, wearing the 31 won't matter too much. Yet, there is NO way ANYBODY could have worn the 10. Geez, John Chabot was wearing 29 after Dryden and nobody cared...

I don’t agree but your logic is consistent.

I have a broader standard than you do. I can’t imagine not retiring somebody like Dryden. I mean his resume is insane. And he won ALL his cups with us too. I don’t think it should be limited to only three or four players. There are too many legends here and they deserve to be recognized in my opinion. But I understand what you’re saying.

 

[Whitesnake]

I don’t agree but your logic is consistent.

I have a broader standard than you do. I can’t imagine not retiring somebody like Dryden. I mean his resume is insane. And he won ALL his cups with us too. I don’t think it should be limited to only three or four players. There are too many legends here and they deserve to be recognized in my opinion. But I understand what you’re saying.

We could have made a wall of Champions. You could have freakin made statues of all of them. But for me, and I guess just for me, retiring a number if SOLELY and ONLY about not being able to see it with somebody's name on it. That's it. We clearly could have done it for 23. Because of time, we could have done it for Morenz too. And at one point with Savard as well. To me, the 4 easiest that YOU have to retire were Béliveau, both Richard and Lafleur. I mean, those guys, it's just impossible and unfair for a player to wear those numbers. Then, comes the other top tier....like Roy...could a goalie ever wear 33? Without the pressure that goes with it. What about Robinson? And unfortunately, time would have made people easily wear Harvey's 2. And maybe even Plante 1. But it's debatable. Maybe at one point, you still need to acknowledge the past in jersey retirements as well.

To which degree is Robinson close to Lemaire? 5th in scoring vs 7th and 8th for Lemaire and Shutt. Nobody cares if Lemaire's jersey isn't retired. Freakin Ryan Poehling wear that number...how hard was it for him and how much people were saying that it was just unfair to Lemaire? What about Shutt? Now...yeah, we had Caufield who wears it fine..but before that..Steve Bégin...and nobody cared. With Lemaire and Shutt...you are talking about easy hall of famers. And yet, no talks about jersey retirements. You still need to stop at some point.

 

[70Stang]

#22 Steve Schutt should be next number retired.

 

[peate]

The more I read this thread, the more I realize how dumb retiring a jersey # can be. Have a team HOF with busts and a quick bio. A Ring of honour for the top of the top. 8-10 players, but let the numbers back in. I know who Maurice Richard is, Guy, Gros Bill, etc.

Take down the laundry. No player is gonna have the balls to wear #9, but maybe someday. A good young d-man wants #5? It's yours, better play to earn it. The next p'tit gars de chez nous superstar wants to wear 10? If the fans love him, that won't change. Nobody is gonna scream bloody murder.

Would you have gone insane if Carey decided to wear #1? On the contrary, I think it would be cool.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

We could have made a wall of Champions. You could have freakin made statues of all of them. But for me, and I guess just for me, retiring a number if SOLELY and ONLY about not being able to see it with somebody's name on it. That's it. We clearly could have done it for 23. Because of time, we could have done it for Morenz too. And at one point with Savard as well. To me, the 4 easiest that YOU have to retire were Béliveau, both Richard and Lafleur. I mean, those guys, it's just impossible and unfair for a player to wear those numbers. Then, comes the other top tier....like Roy...could a goalie ever wear 33? Without the pressure that goes with it. What about Robinson? And unfortunately, time would have made people easily wear Harvey's 2. And maybe even Plante 1. But it's debatable. Maybe at one point, you still need to acknowledge the past in jersey retirements as well.

To which degree is Robinson close to Lemaire? 5th in scoring vs 7th and 8th for Lemaire and Shutt. Nobody cares if Lemaire's jersey isn't retired. Freakin Ryan Poehling wear that number...how hard was it for him and how much people were saying that it was just unfair to Lemaire? What about Shutt? Now...yeah, we had Caufield who wears it fine..but before that..Steve Bégin...and nobody cared. With Lemaire and Shutt...you are talking about easy hall of famers. And yet, no talks about jersey retirements. You still need to stop at some point.

I wouldn’t retire every HOFer. Dryden and Robinson? Absolutely. If they aren’t retired then…

It should be reserved for the true superstars of the game. Fortunately we have a lot of players who qualify.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

The more I read this thread, the more I realize how dumb retiring a jersey # can be. Have a team HOF with busts and a quick bio. A Ring of honour for the top of the top. 8-10 players, but let the numbers back in. I know who Maurice Richard is, Guy, Gros Bill, etc.

Take down the laundry. No player is gonna have the balls to wear #9, but maybe someday. A good young d-man wants #5? It's yours, better play to earn it. The next p'tit gars de chez nous superstar wants to wear 10? If the fans love him, that won't change. Nobody is gonna scream bloody murder.

Would you have gone insane if Carey decided to wear #1? On the contrary, I think it would be cool.

I wouldn’t ever want to see those jerseys worn again. And how do you know who’s going to wear it? Maybe some goon takes number 9. No thanks. John Kordic wore Sittler and Mahovolich’s number in TO for example. A total embarrassment. Imagine if over the years the Kostitsyns wore numbers 4 and 10. Or if Douglas Murray wore number 2. It’d be totally embarrassing for us.

And… it’s awesome seeing those legends hanging from the ceiling. It’s a constant reminder of the legends that have come through here.

Finally, these players should be remembered. Morenz for example is remembered in part because of the jersey retirement. He’s long gone but should not be forgotten. Neither should any of these guys. That’s what jersey retirement is: immorality. Legend for life AND beyond.

Montreal does it the right way. It’s awesome.

 

[Bombshell11]

I'm just going to leave this here:

 

[JianYang]

Well I can easily make a stronger case for Koivu.

Just these points are enough imho:
-10 years captaincy, equal with Beliveau
-Ranked 10th in points, in habs history
-Ranked Second in playoff points from 1994-2022 (Pleks has 1 more point with 33 more games)
-Cancer Survivor
-Loved by fans

Extras:
-He continued a tradition of excellence
-He kept the "flambeau bien haut"
-He was leading by example

I think when you combine the on ice and off ice stuff, koivu is the most important player the Habs have had in decades.

But the hall of fame doesn't count off ice stuff, and all the injury rehabs, or that koivu played on crappier teams than price. He's not going in. Alot of the the things you listed are internal accomplishments, after all.

Out of the recent Habs, I think Shea Weber and carey price will get in. Markov and koivu will not.

Price probably has the best case for jersey retirement out of the recent Habs cosidering the chapter for the older generations closed in the 100th anniversary celebrations, but it's not an easy decision. We can let this marinate for a few years, and see how we feel about it at that point. Sometimes, time has a way of making decisions like these more clear.

 

[peate]

I wouldn’t ever want to see those jerseys worn again. And how do you know who’s going to wear it? Maybe some goon takes number 9. No thanks. John Kordic wore Sittler and Mahovolich’s number in TO for example. A total embarrassment. Imagine if over the years the Kostitsyns wore numbers 4 and 10. Or if Douglas Murray wore number 2. It’d be totally embarrassing for us.

And… it’s awesome seeing those legends hanging from the ceiling. It’s a constant reminder of the legends that have come through here.

Finally, these players should be remembered. Morenz for example is remembered in part because of the jersey retirement. He’s long gone but should not be forgotten. Neither should any of these guys. That’s what jersey retirement is: immorality. Legend for life AND beyond.

Montreal does it the right way. It’s awesome.

I know your feelings and respect them. First, I wouldn't let just any player pick a retired #. Kordic with # 9 would never happen. That one is near untouchable. But many are available without disrespecting the player. 1-2-3-5-6-8-11- and so on. Connor Bédard with # 12 would be magic. We just have too many legends.

 

[Whitesnake]

I wouldn’t ever want to see those jerseys worn again. And how do you know who’s going to wear it? Maybe some goon takes number 9. No thanks. John Kordic wore Sittler and Mahovolich’s number in TO for example. A total embarrassment. Imagine if over the years the Kostitsyns wore numbers 4 and 10. Or if Douglas Murray wore number 2. It’d be totally embarrassing for us.

And… it’s awesome seeing those legends hanging from the ceiling. It’s a constant reminder of the legends that have come through here.

Finally, these players should be remembered. Morenz for example is remembered in part because of the jersey retirement. He’s long gone but should not be forgotten. Neither should any of these guys. That’s what jersey retirement is: immorality. Legend for life AND beyond.

Montreal does it the right way. It’s awesome.

Not sure how old you are...I don't pay attention to that..lol, but what was your take of John Chabot wearing Dryden 29? Gino Odjick wore 29. What was your take of O'Byrne wearing Bouchard's 3? Freakin Brad Brown wore 3. And for guys who still don't have their jersey retired yet have the numbers to do so, what was your take on Bégin wearing Shutt's 22? Or Poehling wearing Lemaire's 25?

Do you know when a jersey needs to be retired? It's when they AUTOMATICALLY were as soon as they stopped playing. Nobody wore Richard, Béliveau and Lafleur number as soon as they stopped playing. The jersey retired ITSELF because of the greatness of the player.So I guess the No7 for Morenz fit that bill too. The fact that nobody wore that number since 1937 is TOTALLY warranted to see his jersey be retired. And I guess same will be said for Robinson.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Not sure how old you are...I don't pay attention to that..lol, but what was your take of John Chabot wearing Dryden 29? Gino Odjick wore 29. What was your take of O'Byrne wearing Bouchard's 3? Freakin Brad Brown wore 3. And for guys who still don't have their jersey retired yet have the numbers to do so, what was your take on Bégin wearing Shutt's 22? Or Poehling wearing Lemaire's 25?

Do you know when a jersey needs to be retired? It's when they AUTOMATICALLY were as soon as they stopped playing. Nobody wore Richard, Béliveau and Lafleur number as soon as they stopped playing. The jersey retired ITSELF because of the greatness of the player.So I guess the No7 for Morenz fit that bill too. The fact that nobody wore that number since 1937 is TOTALLY warranted to see his jersey be retired. And I guess same will be said for Robinson.

Not old enough to have paid attention. But as I said, if Dryden’s not retired nobody should be. Number 19 worn by someone other than Robinson? I’d barf.

Shutt, Lemaire? HOFers but I don’t think I’d retire them. Shutt certainly had a great peak but he wasn’t among the best for a long period of time. And both Lemaire and Shutt benefited hugely from playing with Lafleur. Shutt has some black ink and is a better candidate but even he surprisingly never finished top 20 in Hart voting.