What happened to Denis Savard?

[McGuillicuddy]

There may be a simple answer to this that I haven't heard, but I'm wondering why there was such a sudden decrease in his point production when he went to Montreal? In his last year in Chicago Savard was on a 100+ point pace (80 pts in 60 GP, 1.33 PPG) and had been for every year before that other than his rookie season. His first season in Montreal he puts up a 'measly' (by the standard he had set for himself) 59 points in 70 games (0.84 PPG) and never really comes close to discovering his Chicago form. That seems like too big a drop over 1 season to be just the normal decline on the back side of his prime. I have to assume that Montreal expected much more from him when they made the deal!

Was there more to this? Was it a drop in teammate quality? A nagging injury? Unhappy in Montreal? Just wondering...

 

[Sticks and Pucks]

I believe Montreal's defensive system may have had something to do with the decrease in point production.

 

[McGuillicuddy]

Hm. Hadn't thought of the defensive system. That's a very stifling system!

 

[double5son10]

As mentioned by other posters, Pat Burn's system was a defense first system, to the point of stifling offensive creativity. There were also nagging injuries for Savard, particularly in his final year in Montreal.
Yet I believe the biggest reason was that Savard never found cohesion with any Montreal linemates, certainly not to the extent that he'd had in Chicago w/ Larmer and Secord. When he first came to Montreal there was a lot of talk about Savard and Stephane Richer becoming a great scoring partnership, but they never clicked. They were a little too similar--they both liked to carry the puck, beating the opposition by stickhandling through the defense as opposed to going to the net without the puck, so they never really complemented each other. Savard had a better partnership w/ Kirk Muller, but really outside the 92-93 season when they added Damphousse and Bellows there was an absence of finishers in the Montreal lineup for Savard to setup. Then Savard was injured for a 1/4 of the teams games that Cup winning season and he never got on track.
Personally, I always felt it was a mistake that Montreal's management didn't resign him as I think he still had a lot to give. His performance for the Blackhawks in the 94-95 playoffs kind of bears me out. Sadly for Habs' fans this was a period when Serge Savard/Ronald Corey seemed to think they needed no depth at center. Didn't resign Savard, traded Stephane Lebeau for Ron Tugnutt (who was awful in Mtl.) and shipped out Carbonneau for a recycled jockstrap. But I digress.

 

[Jinsell]

What most surprising is how great Denis Savard's performance was in 1989-90. This was a time when he was unhappy because Mike Keenan was making his life miserable yet his on-ice performance was still pretty damn good.

After a well-publicized feud throughout 1988-89 and into 1989-90, it was clear Keenan wanted Savard out of town and got his wish on June 29, 1990 when Chicago traded him to Montreal for Chris Chelios and a 2nd Round Draft Pick (Mike Pomichter, who never made it to the NHL).

At the time, the trade was a shock. Many felt Montreal got the better of the deal, as Savard had a solid year in 1989-90 whereas Chelios had had an off year due to injuries.

Looking back though, it's clear the Hawks won this trade fairly handily. Chelios ended up be the Blackhawks best blue liner for the next decade. Sure, Savard won a Cup with Montreal but he did not live up to expectations for reasons listed above.

Of course, all of this never would have happened had the Montreal Canadiens drafted Denis Savard like they should have back in 1980 instead of Doug Wickenheiser, but I digress.

 

[Big Phil]

He had some moments of brilliance in Montreal. It wasn't like in his prime in Chicago in the 1980s but he still has a few of his spinorama goals as a Hab. Mind you, he was in his 30s on Montreal too. Not to mention he played a lot of hockey as a Blackhawk. He played lots in the playoffs too. Maybe the wear and tear had an effect on him because he never got back to his 1980s prime when he went to Tampa or back to Chicago again. Trottier did the same thing shortly after he turned 30, and he was stronger than Savard and more suited to long playoff runs. Being a smaller player like Savard didn't help either, not a lot of guys his size last that long. And remember, Chicago had a lot of good runs in the postseason in the 1980s. Savard was "the man" on those teams. It takes a toll.