STANLEY CUP : Canadiens Have Tradition on Their Side

The tradition-rich Montreal Canadiens began their 31st Stanley Cup final Sunday night proud of their history but not relying on it.

The 23 titles won by previous Canadien clubs, more than any professional sports team, provide a positive atmosphere. It’s the current team, though, that must try to keep the Calgary Flames from winning their first.

“We try to isolate the team of the particular year or the game that’s being played from the tradition and from the stories or from the demands of the people and concentrate on the game at hand,” said forward Bob Gainey, a member of five Cup winners with Montreal.

“Normally, when you have a character team and a good club and if you can satisfy yourself, then all those other things take care of themselves,” he added. “You don’t have to spend time and energy trying to live up to tradition.”

But what a tradition.

Georges Vezina, the goalie on the first Cup-winning Canadien team in 1916, has a trophy named after him.

Jean Beliveau, a 10-time champion with the Canadiens, is the highest scorer in Stanley Cup finals history.

Henri Richard, a member of 11 championship clubs with Montreal in his 20-year NHL career, has earned more Stanley Cup rings than any player.

“It’s good to have that feeling around the dressing room,” Montreal Coach Pat Burns said. “It’s good to have that feeling on the bench or on the ice. Of course, that tradition is there.

“In Montreal, there’s only one way, and that’s to win.”

But Vezina is no longer around to stop shots, Beliveau to score points and Richard to collect rings.

“It’s how you’re competing today that matters,” said Doug Risebrough, an assistant coach with Calgary who was on four championship teams with Montreal from 1976 through 1979. “What happened in the seventh game in the third period of a game 40 years ago, I don’t know how that makes any difference.”

“We respect tradition, we admire tradition, but we don’t stand around in awe of tradition,” Terry Crisp, Calgary’s second-year coach, said. “We’ve got a job to do.”

After winning those four consecutive Cups, the Canadiens suffered a rare, prolonged lapse. Although they had the best record in the Adams Division in four of the next six seasons, they got back to the conference championships only once.

Their six-year absence from the Cup finals was their longest since a 12-year drought ended in 1944.

The Canadiens had only the seventh best record in 1985-86, but won the Cup in a five-game series against Calgary. Three of their four victories were by one goal and 15 of their players are still with the team.

They had the fifth-best record in 1986-87, but lost the Wales Conference final, and the second best last season, but lost the division final. They were second in points this season, two behind Calgary’s 117.

Although only Gainey and defenseman Larry Robinson remain from the 1976 champions, Montreal is a dominant team again. It still has one impressive streak intact: nine titles since its last loss in the Cup finals to Toronto in 1967.

With the pressure to continue winning, “I’m fortunate to have guys that are involved with that tradition,” said Burns, Montreal’s rookie coach.

Crisp, who wasn’t with the Flames in the 1986 finals, said Montreal’s past has no bearing on his players’ present task of starting a tradition of their own.

“All they know is they’re meeting the Montreal Canadiens in 1989 and here’s where it’s at right now,” Crisp said. “Twenty-three Stanley Cups, no Stanley Cups, ghosts. They’re going to pull on their jerseys and play and we’re going to pull on our jerseys and play.

“That’s what it really boils down to.”