Along the way to Le Mirage Golf Club in Terrebonne, pennants were displayed, including the black and white one featuring photos of Guy Lafleur and former goalkeeper Michel “Bunny” Larocque.

“They are gone, but in a way they are not. They were part of the group and our conversations [lundi] evening,” philosophized Ken Dryden, specifying that the players had been invited to a private dinner on the eve of the golf tournament held on Tuesday.

“Guy was such a spectacular player, he was the best player in the league in the late 1970s,” Dryden added of the missing players. And “Bunny” was an excellent goalie, all the players on the team had confidence in him when he was in front of the net.

This meeting, organized by Serge Savard, brought together the 14 living members who won the Stanley Cup four times in a row with the Canadiens from 1976 to 1979.

In addition to the memories of their two friends who have passed away but who still remain in their minds, the presence of head coach Scotty Bowman, honorary president of the event, was notable. As was that of Dryden, who became very close to Savard through their collaboration in organizing the 1950s^e Anniversary of the centenary series two years ago.

Photo credit: TOMA ICZKOVITS

“Let’s just say I know him better today than at the end of his career,” Savard said of the famous goalkeeper. We are closer than before.”

“Everyone is happy”

The esprit de corps was still palpable around the golf course 45 years after the conquest in 1979, while the 5^e The Serge Savard Invitation edition aimed to raise funds to support student-athletes at the University of Sherbrooke.

“Everyone is happy to see each other again,” Savard said, and was especially happy to have found and brought along Rick Chartraw, who lives in Australia. There are a lot of emotions. We talked about Guy on Monday night, but what stood out most was that everyone talked about what a good team player he was. Even though he was the best player, he didn’t try to get one step ahead of the others.

Photo credit: TOMA ICZKOVITS

“He was a guy like the others, that’s why we won four Stanley Cups in a row,” Yvan Cournoyer said of the famous number 10, who died on April 22, 2022. I miss him very much, we were friends, not just former teammates.”

A different era

Scotty Bowman was always up to date with developments in the NHL and felt like he was dreaming when he saw all of his former players reunited.

“With payroll today, that would be impossible to achieve,” he suggested with a laugh. You can have two or three stars, but not that many.”

Photo credit: TOMA ICZKOVITS

Aside from complimentary comments about Lafleur and Larocque, Mr. Bowman took the time to honor the memory of Sam Pollock, Ronald Caron and Claude Ruel, without forgetting Eddy Palchak, the former equipment manager.

Finally, the former head coach also insisted on an explanation about “Bunny” Larocque, who unfortunately died of brain cancer in 1992 at the age of 40.

“It was tough for him because Ken played most of the games, but he was good for our team,” he said.

“I wouldn’t say he was underrated in the 1970s,” Dryden said. “He was really good and everyone knew he was really good.”

LIST OF 14 FORMER CANADIAN PLAYERS WHO WON THE 1976, 1977, 1978 AND 1979 CUPS:

Scotty Bowman (Head Coach)

Ken Dryden

Serge Savard

Yvan Cournoyer

Guy Lapointe

Larry Robinson

Doug Jarvis

Bob Gainey

Steve Shutt

Jacques Lemaire

Mario Tremblay

Rick Chartraw

Yvon Lambert

Doug Risebrough

What they said:

“It’s a real joy to be here, pure joy, it’s a very, very good group.” –Ken Dryden

“Even Rick Chartraw came from Australia and there is Doug Risebrough, who we haven’t seen for a long time. It brings back incredible memories.” – Yvan Cournoyer

“We didn’t know how good we were back then. Scotty [Bowman] He kept us on the right track and I have great respect for him.” – Serge Savard

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