Montreal Canadiens’ Conn Smythe Trophy Winners – The Hockey Writers – Montreal Canadiens

As the Stanley Cup Final is slowly crawling toward its conclusion, a new Conn Smythe Trophy winner will soon be crowned. While the Montreal Canadiens are not in the Final, they have had their fair share of Cup Finals and Conn Smythe winners over the years. Let us have a look at the Canadiens’ previous playoffs MVP in net and on the blue line.

Roy and Dryden Clutch in Net

We could argue for a long time about who the Canadiens’ top goaltender was, but one thing’s certain these two would be in the conversation. Thankfully arguing for one or the other is not our purpose today; we can just revel in the glory of these two amazing goalies.

When anyone thinks about Ken Dryden, the first thing that comes to mind is his stoic pose in front of his net when the puck was in the opponent’s zone or play was stopped. He oozed confidence in that pose, and it could be intimidating.

When he won his only Conn Smythe, he played in all 20 games the Canadiens played and had a 12-8 record, posting a 3.01 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. Those numbers — especially the GAA — might not seem impressive but remember goaltenders had much smaller equipment back then. Having played just six games before the playoffs, the outstanding goaltender was still a rookie when the following season started and to no one’s surprise, he won the Calder Trophy awarded each year to the NHL’s best rookie. He remains the only rookie to have won the Conn Smythe Trophy before the Calder.

Related: Canadiens’ Ken Dryden – Truly One of a Kind

Dryden had a short hockey career; having won everything he left to seek new challenges in the legal field, later becoming a politician and a successful writer. He has written tons of hockey books, and if you have not read them, I highly recommend Game Change: The Life and Death of Steve Montador and the Future of Hockey which talks about the fact the game needs to change if players are to remain healthy.

As for Patrick Roy, he led the Canadiens to two Stanley Cups they had no business winning and without “Saint-Patrick” they would still be stuck on 22 Cups. Just like Dryden, he was a rookie when he conducted the Canadiens to their 23^rd Cup with a 15-5 record, a 1.93 GAA, and a .923…