On Saturday, B/R Open Ice took to X and analyzed the 12-foot jump of American gold medal gymnast Simone Biles.
The page used Canadiens’ forward Cole Caufield as a unit of measurement, indicating that Biles’ vertical clears 2.15 Caufields.
Caufield measures in at roughly five-foot-eight, meaning he’s on the shorter size for an NHL player, but that’s not news to any hockey fan. This article will take a look at four notably short key contributors from the Canadiens’ past and present and their impact on the St Flanelle.
Cole Caufield 5’8
Why don’t we start with Caufield, given that his stature is what galvanized this article’s existence?
The American forward has always put up impressive numbers. From his U13 days to his 100 points in 64 games for the U.S. National U18 Team—72 of which were goals by the way—Caufield has outperformed his peers.
After putting up 58 goals and 82 points in 57 games in the U.S. National Team Development Program, scouting reports came out stating he was a “Hyper-Skilled but undersized winger [that] brings all the offensive tools you can handle.” Caufield was no doubt the best goal scorer in the 2019 draft, and the Canadiens committed to selecting him 15th overall.
Post draft, he played in the NCAA with the University of Wisconsin’s Badgers putting up 36 points in as many games as a freshman and 52 points in 31 games as a sophomore. After his 52-point campaign in 2020-21, he got the call from the big leagues to join the Canadiens for their playoff run. Caufield turned heads in the Spring run, accumulating 12 points in 20 games. His game 6 goal against the Vegas Golden Knights still sticks out in the minds of the Habs fanbase.
Three years ago, Cole Caufield was a 20 year old rookie, who had just finished his college hockey career, playing in the NHL conference finals. The Habs were one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals.
Big game. Big moment. Elite sniper.pic.twitter.com/eNtAh7YcTi
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) June 24, 2024
While Caufield has yet to surpass the 30-goal plateau in his short NHL career, he put up his best point total last year with 65 in 82 games. The attacker has also cemented himself as a first line winger along with captain Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Next up is the former Canadiens captain Brian Gionta. The American entered into the Guinness Book of World Records in 2008, posing alongside Zdeno Chara as the then shortest and tallest active players in the NHL.
When the Canadiens signed him as a…