Big Bird

[M. Beaux-Eaux]

Robinson was complete package on the ice and special for a lot of reasons

RED FISHER
The Gazette

January 24, 2005

Among the 24 Stanley Cups the Canadiens have won, none stands out as much as the one in 1970-71. It came after the season they missed the playoffs, which was a big disappointment. They had won in 1969, but on the second-to-last day of the season they were in third place, yet lost out in a goal average on the last day. But the team rebounded the next year, beating what was one of the great teams in the NHL.

"Nobody gave them much of a chance against Boston in the first round," GM Sam Pollock told me recently. "They had finished first, we had finished third. They had 121 points, we had 97. They had Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito at their best. They had won the Cup the year before and it seemed that nobody would be able to beat them."

- tinyurl.com/5h9dp

[Montrealer]

Thanks, Mr. B - I had missed this one.

Robinson was special for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was that while he punished people with his body, he cared deeply for the players alongside him and always regarded the opposition with respect. "Team" was what he was all about. So was winning, which is why in recent years there has been an increasing outcry for Robinson's jersey to join those of seven other Canadiens whose numbers have been retired.

It was a question I put to current Canadiens owner George Gillett during a team practice in Calgary.

"I've talked to some of the players whose numbers have been retired," Gillett said. "They've told me the standards have gone down."

"You mean somebody like Robinson, who was voted to the all-time Canadiens team of the last half-century, doesn't deserve to have his number retired?" he was asked.

Gillett merely shrugged.

The next day in Vancouver, Gillett did some backchecking. "I heard you loud and clear in Calgary yesterday," he said. "Loud and clear ..."

That was two years ago, so maybe the message wasn't sufficiently "loud and clear." The fact is, though, that Robinson's number almost surely would have been retired this season - if there had been one.

DAMNIT, START THE SEASON NOW! RETIRE #19!

*ahem*