Jean-Guy Talbot, one of 12 Montreal Canadiens players to win five consecutive Stanley Cups between 1956 and 1960, has died. He was 91 years old.
The news was first reported by several media outlets early Friday morning. Shortly after 10 a.m., the Canadiens’ management released a press release outlining Talbot’s career with the Habs.
Canadians are saddened to learn of the death of former defenseman Jean-Guy Talbot.
Our thoughts are with his loved ones during this time of mourning.https://t.co/YrtubJqW66
— Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) February 23, 2024
Born in Cap-de-la-Madeleine on July 11, 1932, Talbot played for 17 seasons in the NHL, with five different teams, between 1954 and 1971.
Talbot also served as head coach with the St. Louis Blues, between 1972 and 1974, and with the New York Rangers, in 1977-1978. He held a similar role in the now defunct World Hockey Association for 41 games in 1975-76.
During his playing career, Talbot participated in 1066 games and amassed 285 points, including 43 goals, and 1014 penalty minutes. He also played in 151 playoff games with the Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues, and collected 30 points and 142 penalty minutes.
In 801 games with the Canadian, between 1954 and 1967, he scored 36 goals and 245 points, and had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup on two other occasions, in 1965 and 1966.
“I hold the record for the most Stanley Cups for a defenseman in the history of the National Hockey League with eight. With seven, Jean-Guy is next,” noted Serge Savard during a telephone interview with La Presse Canadienne Friday morning.
Talbot had his best campaign in 1961-62, amassing five goals and 47 points in 70 games, a performance that earned him his only selection to the NHL’s first all-star team.
That same season, he finished in third place in the voting for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the best defenseman, behind his former teammate Doug Harvey, then with the New York Rangers, and Pierre Pilote, of the Chicago Black Hawks.
After a loss in the Stanley Cup final in 1967 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Talbot was left unprotected by the Canadian in anticipation of the National Hockey League expansion draft, which would welcome six new teams to the autumn of that same year.
“I expected it, I was warned. I was one of the oldest defenders on the team and the Canadian had already [Jacques] Laperrière and Jean-Claude Tremblay,” Talbot confided during an interview he gave to The Canadian Press in 2019.
Talbot was claimed by the Minnesota North Stars but only played four games with that team before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings.
Submitted on waivers after appearing in 32 games with the Red Wings, Talbot was claimed by the Blues, one of the six expansion teams, on January 13, 1968, then managed by Scotty Bowman.
In St. Louis, Talbot reconnected with old teammates from his years with the Habs, including Harvey, Dickie Moore and goaltender Jacques Plante, all of whom had played key roles in the Canadiens’ dynasty of the late 1950s. .
Talbot helped the Blues reach the Stanley Cup Final in each of those three seasons. However, the Missouri team was the victim of three sweeps, the first two against the Canadian and the third, against the Boston Bruins.
On May 10, 1970, he was on the ice for Bobby Orr’s famous overtime winning goal in Game 4 of the Finals at the Boston Garden.
This goal from Orr allowed the Bruins to complete a sweep of this final four of seven series.
In an interview in 2019, Talbot returned to this match in particular but also to his years in St-Louis, when the Blues were going to participate in the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 1970.
“They’re not bad memories. We knew we wouldn’t win a single one! » had launched Talbot, laughing heartily, when the journalist from La Presse Canadienne had apologized for reminding him, precisely, of these “bad memories”.
“I was telling the guys, ‘You know we can’t beat them. It’s impossible. We will work hard, we can give them a hard time and we will see how things go. We’re going to have fun. They won’t have fun.” », he also remembered when looking back at the 1970 final against the Bruins.
As luck would have it, the Boston Bruins were the Blues’ opponents in the 2019 final. A series that the Blues would win in seven games, including the decisive victory on the Bruins’ ice on June 12, 2019.
During this interview with The Canadian Press, Talbot also said he really enjoyed his years in St. Louis.
“St. Louis was a very beautiful city. The Salomons, the owners, were very good people, they were close to the players. They were always next to us, they took care of us. I liked St. Louis. I really, really liked it. »