Paul-Marcel Raymond

This is Paul-Marcel Raymond. He is one of the least known Habs in Montreal Canadiens history, but he was always a fixture in the Montreal hockey scene.

Raymond was the son of Jack Raymond, who served as the Habs telegrapher. In fact, it was pretty rare that he would get to see his son play with the Habs, as he was buried in some room transcribing notes from the game.

Raymond was a right winger for the Montreal Canadiens over parts of four seasons. He broke into the NHL in the 1932-33 season, playing in 16 contests, although he barely played. A bad flu cost him a lot of weight off of his already slender frame. He never registered a point or even a penalty minute. The following year was very similar, although he got into 29 contests and even bulged the net once.

In1934-35 Raymond returned for 20 more games and contributed his only other career goal. He was destined for a long career in the minor leagues, although he did return for 11 games in 1938-39.

Though his NHL career may not have amounted to a whole lot. As a teenager he was a notable amateur hockey and lacrosse star in Montreal, known for his speed. He was a brilliant stickhandler and playmaker, though his stats suggest he become a more rounded shooter as his pro career advanced.

For much of the 1940s he played senior hockey with the famed Montreal Royals. He also served in the military. It seems he later worked the administration offices of the Montreal Forum and then worked for French CBC television/radio as director of sports services.

Born on February 27th, 1913, Paul-Marcel Raymond, a noted lover of grand opera, passed away on April 4th, 1995.

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Tony Demers

Tony Demers made some big headlines over his lifetime. Unfortunately the biggest were for all the wrong reasons.

Born in Chambly Basin Quebec, Tony's professional career actually began in Britain of all places. He played with the Southampton Kings in the top British league in 1937-38 after playing very little junior hockey in the Montreal area.

The following year Tony returned to Quebec, playing in the QPHL as well as 6 games with the Montreal Canadiens. It wasn't until 1940-41 that Tony made the Habs full time. He scored 13 goals and 23 points in 46 games in his only full NHL season.

Tony's NHL career was interrupted by World War II as he enlisted in 1942. Based in Quebec, Tony was able to get short leaves to play a total of 15 games in the NHL with the Habs during his 2 full seasons lost to the War.

Upon Tony's discharge from the army, Tony found himself in a New York Ranger jersey, as he was sent to the Big Apple in exchange for Phil Watson. Tony's stay in New York was brief, just one game, as he spent most of the 1943-44 season in the minors with the Providence Reds (AHL)

Tony returned to Quebec the following year to play in the QPHL. He dominated the "Q" over the next 5 seasons, scoring a league leading 50 goals and 62 goals in 1945-46 and 1947-48 respectively. He also was a standout in the playoffs, and the 1949 Most Valuable Player.

However that great 1949 season was his last. Late in 1949 he was convicted of beating his girlfriend to death. Tony served 8 years of his 15 year sentence at St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary before being granted parole in 1959.

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Garry Blaine

Gerry Blaine was a nice junior hockey player. He played in the Manitoba Junior League with St. Boniface, a junior team sponsored by the Montreal Canadiens. That junior team almost captured junior hockey's most cherished prize, the Memorial Cup, in 1953, but fell short to the Barrie Flyers. The Flyers boasted the likes of Don McKenney, Doug Mohns, and a young Don Cherry!

A very interesting incident occurred between Blaine and Cherry. Cherry of course went onto a career as minor league tough guy and later coach and broadcaster who controversially promoted fighting and rough hockey.

Well, in game 5 of the Memorial Cup final in 1953, Blaine became very angry at one of the Barrie players, and began chasing him around the ice in order to fight him, but the player ran away scared and unwilling to drop the gloves.

Hal Sigurdson of the Winnipeg Free Press remembered the story in a 1996 article, and claimed it was Cherry who had cowardly hid.

"Blaine's teammate, Ab McDonald....says it was Cherry. So does former provinicial cabinet minister Larry Desjardins, who was general manager of Blaine's St. Boniface Canadiens at the time."

Gerry Blaine himself isn't sure.

"To be honest, I'm not sure," he said. "Orval Tessier had just slashed our goaltender, Hal Dalkie and I drilled him. When he went down I tried to pick him up, but he turtled. I'd never seen a guy do that before. Anyways, I heard another of their players chirping so I went after him. he took off and I chased him. When I asked our guys who it was they told me his name was Don Cherry."

Like Cherry, Blaine would only go on to play one game in the National Hockey League. Total Hockey suggests the once promising winger fell victim to the "Demon Rum"..

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John Kordic

John Kordic was, for a short while, hockey's most feared enforcer with a bright future ahead of him. However numerous personal tragedies not only cost him his fame and fortune, but also his life.

John was a wild fighter who had the rare ability to throw punches with either hand. Many opponents would tie up Kordic's right hand only to have John surprise them by pummeling them with his equally lethal left hand.

People enjoyed watching John fight. He always made a big production of every fisticuff by taking off his sweater and elbow pads before punishing his opponent.

Kordic began his career by playing junior hockey in the WHL. In 1983, he won a Memorial Cup with the Portland Hawks. Although primarily a left winger in the pros, Kordic was a stand out defenseman with the Winter Hawks for 2 1/2 seasons. Half way during his last year of junior he was traded to Seattle where he finished the season incredibly (23-58-81 with 227 PIM). He was named to the WHL All Star Team.

He was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 1983 and spent some time in the minors before being called up to the Habs in April, 1986. A couple of other youngsters were called up late that season. Patrick Roy provided goaltending not seen in Montreal since the days of Ken Dryden. Claude Lemieux came out of nowhere to timely score significant goals. And Kordic supplied the Habs with that genuine enforcer to protect their smaller players. The pieces to the championship puzzle were set and Montreal won a surprise Cup in 1986.

Kordic became a fan favorite in Montreal rather quickly. He signed a huge 2 year contract and seemed to be on top of the world. However soon after Kordic begain experimenting with cocaine and steroids. He also was a very heavy drinker who would stay out all night in Montreal bars.

By 1988 his drinking and substance abuce wore thin with the Montreal management, and they succeeded in trading him in on of the sweetest deals in NHL history. The Habs sent Kordic and a 6th round pick to Toronto in exchange for Russ Courtnall - a speedy, skilled playmaking center/right winger.

Kordic had trouble adjusting to his new surroundings in Toronto and he was the object of media and fan criticism because he had been traded for a skillful player like Courtnall who was excelling in Montreal. By December, Kordic had created much chaos by breaking his stick over Keith Acton's head. The unsuspecting Acton ended up with a broken nose. Kordic was suspended for ten games.

Kordic's troubles really began to escalate once his father died. His drinking, drug use and steroid experimentation all increased and Kordic spent most of his time in the pressbox and minors before being traded to Washington in January of 1991.

It was in Washington when Kordic finally received some help. The Capitals put him up in Alcoholics Anonymous but he failed to make any progress. The Caps released him at the end of the season.

Kordic was signed by the Quebec Nordiques for the 1991-92 season but it was a similar story there too. The Nords brought in Kordic to help out their own problem-child in Bryan Fogarty. The thought was the two were serious about recovery and the two could help each other fight the battle. But the idea (not exactly the greatest one to start with) failed miserably.

On August 8, 1992, John Kordic died from a cardiac arrest. High on cocaine, Kordic had been fighting with a number of police officers in the Quebec hotel. The officers were trying to remove the already agitated Kordic. The excitement of the scuffle combined with prolonged drug use caused Kordic's heart to stop.

Many questions were raised after Kordic's death, specifically how the NHL and the teams could have better prevented this tragic story.

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Don Smith

Donald Smith was a steady all-around hockey player. He started with Cornwall in 1905 and played with them for three years. Don spent a year in the MHL and one in the OPHL before joining the Shamrocks in the NHA.

Smith skated with Renfrew only for the 1911-12 season, centering a line with Odie Cleghorn and Bobby Rowe. Don was noted for being a clean player, leaving the rough stuff to his teammates. He preferred to concentrate on scoring the goals.

1911-12 was Smith's best season. He finished third on the scoring list with 28 goals in 16 games. At the end of the season Renfrew dropped from the league and Don headed for the west coast, suiting up with Victoria.

Don returned to the NHA and the Montreal Canadiens in 1913. There he remained except for one season with the Wanderers. After returning from duty in WWI, Smith rejoined the Habs, this time in the National Hockey League, and played in 12 games, scoring 1 goal.

Smith retired after that one NHL season in 1921. Well liked by the fans for his hockey skill, Don was never fortunate enough to play on a Stanley Cup winner.

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Alex Singbush

This is Alex Singbush, one of the least known Montreal Canadiens of all time.

Mr. Singbush hailed from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. He played his junior hockey in Winnipeg before heading to Ontario's Nickel Belt region to find work and play senior hockey with the Sudbury Refinery ORC. In three seasons there he made quite a name for himself as a rugged bruiser of the blue line. He was always a penalty minute leader, leading the entire Nickel Belt Hockey League with 64 PIMs in just 17 games in 1938-39.

There is always a need for physical defenders, and the 5'11" 180lb Singbush cashed in when he had a pro offer from the New Haven Eagles of the IAHL. He would play the better part of 4 seasons in New Haven (and part of a season with the Philadelphia Ramblers).

Meanwhile NHL rosters were being depleted due to World War II. Many of the players joined the Canadian military. That opened up jobs for players in the minor leagues. Players like Alex Singbush. The Montreal Canadiens purchased his contract and employed him on their blue line alongside the likes of Ken Reardon.

Singbush played in 32 games that season, collecting 5 assists but no goals. He was relatively well behaved, by his standards, collecting just 15 penalty minutes. He added another 4 PIMs in 3 playoff games, but no points.

In fact, the most interesting numbers of Alex Singbush's NHL career may be his jersey numbers. For some reason he used three different numbers in his only NHL campaign - 10, 18 and 21.

After that season Montreal sold his rights off to the Washington Lions of the AHL. He also spent some time with the Providence Reds before returning to Sudbury to play senior hockey. He also briefly played with Hull in the Quebec Senior Hockey League.

Alex Singbush retired from hockey in 1946. He passed away on March 8th, 1969.

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Bill Nyrop

Ken Dryden wasn't the only scholar on the Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s. Defenseman Bill Nyrop was equally as cerebral off the ice.

Bill always went his own way. He won the Stanley Cup in each of his first three NHL seasons and then suddenly retired. Despite teammates and coaches efforts to try changing his mind he decided not to play anymore. Bill eventually returned to the NHL for one season in 1981-82 after a three season absence from the hockey scene.

Bill had a very solid four year career at the University of Notre Dame between 1970-74. In 1972-73 he was named to the WCHA 2nd All-Star team and to the 1st NCAA West All-American team. Prior to that All-Star season he had been picked by Montreal in the 1972 Amateur Draft. (66th overall). Bill wasn't the fastest player around but he was a very smart player who was very efficient in front of his own net where he used his great size very well.

After spending almost two seasons in the AHL with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, he got his chance to play for the Canadiens late during the q975-76 season. In the 19 games for Montreal Bill was a solid +21 and won himself a regular spot on the Canadiens blueline, winning the Stanley Cup immediately.

In September 1976 Bill had the honor to represent USA in the Canada Cup tournament where he was one of the steadiest players on the squad.

In 1976-77 Bill once again won the Stanley Cup with Montreal. He had a rock solid +42 rating (14th best overall) and scored 22 points during the regular season. In his third season Montreal once again won the Stanley Cup.  Three seasons and three Cup titles was more than most players could ever dream of. This was Bill's best season, as he achieved a career high of 26 points and a +56 rating (7th best overall).

Then Bill suddenly decided to walk away from it all despite being offered a very lucrative contract.  Bill stunned a lot of people by his decision but he was an independent thinker and very confident of what he was doing. He opted to return to school to pursue a law degree.

Late in 1980 Montreal traded his rights to Minnesota. Minnesota's GM Lou Nanne began to persuade Bill on returning back to hockey. Bill finally agreed on trying out with the North Stars. He was tested during a tournament in Stockholm (Sweden) in September 1980, named the Dagens Nyheter Cup (DN-Cup). There he impressed the North Stars staff enough to earn himself a spot on the team.

But it wasn't until the following season that Stars convinced Bill to come out of retirement for good. Bill played very well for Minnesota during that 1981-82 season. He had the third best +/- figure (+14) in only 42 games. Bill had however indicated to Nanne that he would probably only play one season, so Nanne traded Bill to Calgary so he could get something in return.

Bill never reported to Calgary, instead he went over to Europe briefly where he played for the German team Kolner Haie in 1982-83. After that he quit hockey for good to finish his law degree.

After nine years out of the hockey scene Bill returned in 1992 as the coach and owner of the West Palm Beach Blaze. He led the Blaze to three Sunshine League titles before selling the team in 1995. He was going to remain in the league as a coach for the West Palm Beach Barracudas of the Southern League.

But in September 1995 Bill was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Tests showed that an aggressive form of cancer had started in his colon and then had spread to his liver and lungs within two months. Bill underwent chemotherapy treatments to keep the illness in remission as long as possible.

Goalie Kelly Dyer, who played for Bill with the Blaze was one of the last of his players to talk to him:
" We talked on Christmas (1995)," Dyer said, "and he said, ' Kelly, what I wouldn't do for a pair of skates and a sheet of ice ' "

Bill's former roommate from the Montreal days Doug Jarvis said: " There was always more to Bill than being a player. He was always reading books so he could expand his thinking. "

Only two months before Bill passed away he said that he never became bitter: " I've been lucky to do a lot of interesting things and to meet a lot of interesting people. There's nothing to be bitter about. "

It was hard to believe that this 43-year old who only months before he passed away had biked 1,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean to Yellowstone Park looking and feeling better than anytime before, would soon be gone. Only a couple of hours into the new year (1996) Bill died in his fathers home in Minneapolis.

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Billy Coutu

Billy Coutu is chiefly remembered as the first player ever to be expelled from the NHL for life for his conduct.

Coutu broke in the NHA in 1916-17 and was an NHL original when the new league was formed in 1917-18. He was an aggressive defenseman, and when Sprague Cleghorn became his defense partner, they terrorized the rest of the league.

In the 1923 NHL playoffs, Cleghorn and Coutu played so viciously in the opener against Ottawa injuring several Senators with their sticks and elbows, that their own manager-coach Leo Dandurand suspended them for the second and deciding game without waiting for the league to act.

When Sprague Cleghorn was sold to Boston after the 1924-25 season, Coutu was named captain of the Canadiens for a short time. When the Canadiens finished last, they traded Coutu to Boston for Amby Moran. The trade reunited him with Cleghorn, but the big prize was the Bruins getting Eddie Shore in 1926-27. Mind you, Shore may not have been too fond of Coutu. In their first practice together Coutu reportedly "body slammed" Shore and the two banged heads so badly that Shore's ear was severed. Shore supposedly visited several doctors trying to find someone who would reattach the ear. Shore, refusing anesthetics, used a mirror to carefully watch doctors reattach the ear to his satisfaction.

With Shore and Lionel Hitchman as the main defense and Cleghorn and Coutu as substitutes, the Bruins had a formidable defense that took them to the Stanley Cup finals in 1927, losing to Ottawa.

In the final game, the series was spoiled by the disgraceful brawl near the end of the game when tempers frayed. Hooley Smith viciously cross-checked Harry Oliver in the face, knocking him unconscious. Eddie Shore came to Oliver's rescue and pounded Smith to a bloody pulp. Then Hitchman and Buck Boucher got into a classic hammer and tongs fist fight, and then it was Coutu's turn to get into the act. He punched referee Jerry LaFlamme, knocking him down, and tackled Billy Bell, the other referee, as he was coming to
LaFlamme's aid. For this, Coutu was expelled from the National Hockey League for life by NHL president Frank Calder, and fined $100, a big sum in those days. Smith was suspended for one month the following season and fined $100. Hitchman and Boucher were fined $50 and given match penalties. Jimmy Herberts, a scorer on the Bruins, was fined $50 for intimidating the two referees.
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Coutu, as the result of his expulsion, was sold to New Haven of the Canadian-American league. He played well in his first season there, and led the league in penalty minutes. However, he was again in trouble that  year, 1927-28, when he hit George Redding of the Boston Tigers over the head with his stick, cutting him badly.

Coutu move on to play for Newark and then the Minneapolis Millers of the AHA before retiring after the 1930-31 season. Sprague Cleghorn was a successful coach with the Providence Reds, so the Montreal Maroons hired him and the Reds needed a coach. On Cleghorn's advice, they hired Coutu, and he coached the Reds to first place and the league championship.

Leo Dandurand had been trying for years to get Coutu reinstated to the NHL, and finally in 1932-33, he succeeded. For whatever reason, however, Coutu never did return to the NHL.

Coutu's name was always a source of confusion. Hockey history has somehow commonly referred to him as Billy Couture. It is possible this is due to the way the family pronounced Coutu - "Coo-chee."

Born in 1891, Billy Coutu died February 25th,1977. Interestingly, he is related to Howie Morenz and the three generations of NHL Geoffrions - Boom Boom, Dan and Blake. The mother of Howie Morenz's wife was the sister-in-law of Coutu. Boom Boom married Morenz's sister, and their son Dan was a 1st round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens. Blake became the first 4th generation player in NHL history when he debuted in the NHL in 2011.

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