It wasn’t just Doctor Mulder who was in the spotlight at the Bell Center on Thursday night. The Canadian organization took the opportunity to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its last conquest of the Stanley Cup.
30 years. Three decades. No one could have predicted such a shortage at the time. Indeed, unique in the team’s illustrious history.
“We celebrate the 30th anniversary of our conquest. On the other hand, knowing that neither the Canadian nor any other Canadian club has won the Stanley Cup in 30 years is nothing to celebrate,” said Serge Savard, general manager of this championship team.
Everyone knows the story of this journey like the back of their hand: the comeback against the Nordiques, the 10 consecutive wins in overtime, the Penguins, champions of the regular calendar, surprised by the Islanders, the illegal curve of Marty McSorley.
A constellation of stars that has often led many to say that the Habs were lucky to win that Stanley Cup. A statement that Savard eventually believed. At least for a while.
“The more I look at this group of players, the more I realize it was the last great Canadian team,” Mr. Savard stressed.
“We had four players who had scored between 80 and 100 points (Damphousse, Muller, Bellows, Lebeau) and by far the best goalkeeper in the league (Roy),” he listed.
The regrets of Brisebois
Photo agency QMI, JOEL LEMAY
In addition, the core of the team was quite young. Only Rob Ramage, Guy Carbonneau and Denis Savard were over 30 years old.
At the other end of the spectrum were Patrice Brisebois, Gilbert Dionne, Kevin Haller and Paul DiPietro, all 22 years old as they accepted the precious trophy.
“Before Serge lost his job (in October 1995), we had a damn good team,” recalls Brisebois, the youngest of the group.
“Besides, you’re a bit naive at 22,” he continued. You are not really aware of the feat you have just accomplished. I had seen the 1970 cut, the 1986 cut. So I told myself there would be others. »
It has to be said that the Montrealer was used to championships. During his junior career, he won the President’s Cup twice with the Laval Titan and added two gold medals to his tally with the junior national team.
“When we won in 1993, I told myself that I was a winner, that I would win more, that I would be the one to make this team win the Stanley Cup,” Brisebois said. It is one of my biggest regrets. »
Male cat
Photo agency QMI, JOEL LEMAY
Despite his 22 years, the young Brisebois exuded confidence. A personality trait that seemed to be innate to him, as evident in the way he approached the ends of this unprecedented journey.
“When we went into extra time I was happy. I knew we would win. Especially with Patrick Roy, I knew that we were playing in the minds of all the other teams. The nice thing about this team was that we never knew who would score the winning goal. But we knew the hero would be someone who was in our locker room. »
Kirk Muller, John LeClair and Guy Carbonneau, twice each, as well as Stéphan Lebeau, Éric Desjardins, Gilbert Dionne and Vincent Damphousse played the heroes this spring.
“There is no better place to win the cup. “As a Quebecer, I realized a dream,” said Desjardins, the only defenseman in NHL history to score a hat trick in the Stanley Cup Final. I still remember the Cup on the ice, the parade and the summer after. It was a busy summer. There are a lot of hangovers. »