When the NHL held the always eagerly awaited Draft lottery, it was confirmed that the Montreal Canadiens would be drafting fifth overall for the second year running. Since 1963, the Canadiens have drafted fifth overall seven times, and looking at the picks, the fifth spot doesn’t always produce a gem, but can be franchise-altering when it does. Let’s look at the players Montreal drafted at that position over the years.
Canadiens’ Fifth-Overall Picks in the 1960s
The Canadiens’ first fifth-overall pick came in 1965 when Sam Pollock was in charge. That year, the man in charge for over 14 years picked shut-down defenseman Pierre Bouchard. The son of Emile “Butch” Bouchard, whose number is in the rafters of the Bell Center, had good genes; his father had played for 15 years and was the team’s captain for eight seasons, and won four Cups with the “Bleu, Blanc, Rouge”. The younger Bouchard was part of the dominant 1970s Canadiens. Along with Bill Nyrop, he formed the shutdown pair while the Big Three (Serge Savard, Larry Robinson, and Guy Lapointe) were a constant offensive threat.
In his time with the Canadiens, Bouchard played 489 games, scoring 16 goals, 66 assists for a total of 82 points. He also spent 379 minutes in the sin bin, had a cumulative plus-135 rating, and most importantly, won five Stanley Cups. The rugged defenseman left the Canadiens in the 1978 Waiver Draft. Canadiens general manager Irving Grundman did not put him on his protection list, but behind the scenes the Washington Capitals said that if they drafted Bouchard as their first pick, they would trade him back to Montreal if Montreal would give them Rod Schutt in return. However, NHL president John Ziegler blocked the trade because Bouchard could not be traded to Montreal or anyone else without first clearing waivers. Grundman has misread the rules; Bouchard played parts of four seasons with the Capitals before retiring in 1981-1982.
The following year at the 1966 Draft, Pollock opted for goaltender Phil Myre, who only played parts of three seasons with the Canadiens posting a record of 49 wins, 19 losses, and six ties. In the 1970-1971 season, Myre saw more action as Rogatien Vachon was injured, but in the playoffs they decided to use Ken Dryden and the rookie would go on to write quite a chapter In the Canadiens’ history. The Habs won the Stanley Cup that year and Myre got a ring, but his name wasn’t engraved on the Cup.
As for Myre, he failed to get a spot with the…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…