Yes, it's summer... But it might be a good time to raise our hats to those obscure heroes. Those players who never take a shift off, who are willing to jump head first to block a shot, whose work ethic has never been questioned and who are always there to defend their teammates. They might not be the most talented, but you know they will always play with heart, giving their 110% and that you can always count on them in crucial games.
My top 10
1- Steve Bégin
2- Tom Kostopoulos
3- Josh Gorges
4- Saku Koivu
5- Garth Murray
6- Mathieu Darche
7- Mike Komisarek (as much as I hate him now, he was a warrior in Montreal)
8- PK Subban
9- Chris Higgins
10- Francis Bouillon
HM : Ryan White, Roman Hamrlik, Brian Gionta, Tomas Plekanec
When I see warrior, I think Koivu. He's a warrior every single shifts... and what's even more admirable is that he can step up an extra notch when the playoff comes.
Maybe I'd disagree with the order but the guys listed do deserve respect. We talk a lot about bergevin adding character and all that but we've been fortunate to see him great character guys here. Koivu was the bomb, Kosto would take a beating for anyone, begin was fearless and so was boullion. Guys like Komisarek, even if you hate him, was GREAT in montreal. Higgins always cared, he wanted to win. The list goes on and on.
1. Josh Gorges
2. Saku Koivu
3. Steve Begin
4. Tom Kostopolous
5. Glen Metropolit
6. Mike Komisarek
7. Garth Murray
8. Francis Bouillion
9. Ryan White
10. Roman Hamrlik
Yes, it's summer... But it might be a good time to raise our hats to those obscure heroes. Those players who never take a shift off, who are willing to jump head first to block a shot, whose work ethic has never been questioned and who are always there to defend their teammates. They might not be the most talented, but you know they will always play with heart, giving their 110% and that you can always count on them in crucial games.
My top 10
1- Steve Bégin
2- Tom Kostopoulos
3- Josh Gorges
4- Saku Koivu
5- Garth Murray
6- Mathieu Darche
7- Mike Komisarek (as much as I hate him now, he was a warrior in Montreal)
8- PK Subban
9- Chris Higgins
10- Francis Bouillon
HM : Ryan White, Roman Hamrlik, Brian Gionta, Tomas Plekanec
What's your top 10?
Hal Gill, Hamrlik and Gorges should be tied at #2. God knows how many pucks they blocked for us. Koivu should be #1. Plek should be somewhere in the top 10
That list is fairly complete, and fairly sad. Little wonder the team has been in the NHL hinterland for so long. So lacking size and skill in combination, and so lacking "warrior".
I wonder how good a team made of warriors only would do. Example :
Scott Hartnell - Mike Richard - Dustin Brown
Ryan Callahan - David Backes - Alex Burrows
Ryan Smyth - Steve Ott - Cal Clutterbuck
Tom Kostopoulos - Jordin Tootoo - Shawn Thornton
Not sure about the D... I don't know how good they would do, but they would certainly be hard to play against!
He wasn't the type of guy to put his body on the line to block a shot but he never took a shift off here and always worked his hardest. He wasn't a wrecking force by any mean but he was one of the guys on this team in the past decade that no one wanted to mess with. You knew that if an opposing playing hurt one of our players, Sheldon Souray was gonna kick his ass.
9 - Brian Gionta
He's been told his whole life that he was to small to make it to the NHL but he never listened to those critics and just focused on his main goal which was to make it to the NHL. He's not afraid of going on the corners against players twice his size and he has the heart of a lion. He's our captain and there's no doubt that he's a source of inspiration and a true warrior.
8 - Francis Bouillon
Probably one of the smallest defenseman in the league but he's strong like a bull. He's willing to do anything to make his team win: throw big hits, block shots or even fight. I remember in 2008-2009 during the playoffs: even tho he was injured, he kept bugging Bob Gainey to dress him for the games although he clearly wasn't able to compete. A true warrior.
7 - Roman Hamrlik
He wasn't flashy by any means, he didn't wow you but he always got the job done and you knew what you were getting with him every night. He was as solid as they come defensively and wasn't afraid to block shots.
6 - Steve Begin
He didn't have a whole lot of talent but the guy had a lot of heart. You have to be really brave to throw yourself in front of a Chara slapshot like that knowing how much it'll hurt. I will always remember when he returned in the playoffs after falling badly into the boards face first.
5 - Mike Komisarek
When the guy was on his game, you couldn't ask for a better shutdown defenseman than that. There's a reason why he lead the league in hits and blocked shots in 2007-2008. He was a leader, he intimidated the opponent by delivering vicious hits and he would always standing in your shooting lane to block your shot. He never took a shift off but he was never the same after the Lucic fight...*sigh*
4 - Doug Gilmour
He was clearly past his prime but he didn't care, he gave all he had every single shift. The man is an icon and I'll always remember this moment.
3 - Tom Kostopoulos
If you were to look up the picture of heart in the dictionnary you'd see the face of this man getting his ass handed to him. He was a true fan favorite and he knew what his role consisted of. He always finished his check and he was the first one to come to a teammate's defense.
2 - Josh Gorges
Personally he's probably my favorite current player on the roster I'll try to stay unbiased. The man has been a true trooper ever since he put on the Bleu Blanc Rouge jersey in 2007. Josh Gorges is what any team in the NHL needs, a true leader willing to put his body through unimaginable pain in order to win the most glorious trophy of all sport: the Stanley Cup. He is a true machine at blocking shots.
1 - Saku Koivu
I don't think there's any other person who deserves this position more than him. He's been through so much adversity his whole career but he kept his head up and never complained. You knew come playoff time that Saku Koivu was gonna do all his best for his team to win.
When I see warrior, I think Koivu. He's a warrior every single shifts... and what's even more admirable is that he can step up an extra notch when the playoff comes.
According to longevity and overall accomplishment, probably. But if Koivu had played only 2-3 years in Montreal, I don't think we would remember him as the best warrior since 12 years. I made my ranking according to one criteria only : "warriorship". Koivu is definitely in the top 4, but Bégin/Kostopoulos are more the kind of players I had in mind when making this thread.
One guy who wasn't the greatest player for us but played with a ton of heart too was Mathieu Dandenault. A couple plays I remember with him were when he tackled Samuelson after he was going after Koivu and the time he broke his arm and still stayed out and was blocking shots. Likely wouldn't make the top 10 but would probably be over Darche.
Koivu definitely has to be number one and Gorges at number two.
One guy who wasn't the greatest player for us but played with a ton of heart too was Mathieu Dandenault. A couple plays I remember with him were when he tackled Samuelson after he was going after Koivu and the time he broke his arm and still stayed out and was blocking shots. Likely wouldn't make the top 10 but would probably be over Darche.
Koivu definitely has to be number one and Gorges at number two.
According to longevity and overall accomplishment, probably. But if Koivu had played only 2-3 years in Montreal, I don't think we would remember him as the best warrior since 12 years. I made my ranking according to one criteria only : "warriorship". Koivu is definitely in the top 4, but Bégin/Kostopoulos are more the kind of players I had in mind when making this thread.
Battled trough cancer, stick in the eye ... Never took a shift off. He is maybe THE ultimate warrior in the league.
Gorges comes second. For obvious reasons.
Begin Third. Obvious reasons.
Hamrlik comes 4th. I remember him at 36 playing 28 minutes a night and on intermissions he'll just lean on the boards because he was so tired.
<Gorges (all-heart/smart warrior)
<Subban (skilled/fast warrior)
<Bouillon (warrior that always wants to win...huge fan of Cube)
<Moen (warrior a la young Shayne Corson, so glad we signed him for more years was it 2 or 3 more? hope it's 3 since there may be a lockout)
<White (old-school warrior)
<Begin (team player/warrior)
<Souray (king of clearing the net)
<Koivu (heart and consistent work ethic)
<Gilmour (wasn't here long but we all know he was a warrior)
<Hamrlik (iron-man/ice-time warrior)
HM: Komisarek (hated him for going to Toronto, then again...he is a AHLer/borderline NHLer with the Leafs at an expensive price!! He was a warrior dman for the Habs for awhile, but looked inconsistent and sometimes played awful D -''cafouillage tout partout/all over the place/can't play d for his life'' in his last 2 seasons as a Hab, imo).
The future...hopefully we will have more warriors in the future...examples:
<Galchenyuk
<Ellis
<Tinordi
<Thrower Dietz
I was at that game. Hard to believe it was fours years ago.
Crazy i was at that game too and i live in edmonton. It was the first game i ever saw live in montreal. I prolly just sat in my seat for over 30 mins afterwards soaking it all in.
Craig Rivet was a warrior, even though he sucked his last year with us. Still can't believe he got us Pac and Gorges.
I liked Rivet and defended him against my french friends. I'll always remember his breakaway goal out of the penalty box against the Avalanche on Jose Theodore's first game back to Montreal.
was it 2 or 3 more? hope it's 3 since there may be a lockout)
