The overwhelming emotion, recalls Bernie Federko more than two decades later, was one of resignation. That, and fear.
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Best winning percentage
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Pct.
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Team, year, record
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.875
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Boston, '29-30, 38-5-1
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.830
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Montreal, '43-44, 38-5-7
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.825
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Montreal, '76-77, 60-8-12
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.806
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Montreal, '77-78, 59-10-11
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.800
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Montreal, '44-45, 38-8-4
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"I remember being called up, Brian (Sutter) and I, in '76, and the team just happened to be going into Montreal," says the Hall of Fame center, now a Blues' TV analyst. "The Blues had beaten the Canadiens 7-1 here in town earlier that season, only one of eight losses Montreal would suffer all year.
"And our guys were actually laughing, kind of nervous-like, in the locker room about how bad it was going to be that night, because of what they'd done to them earlier on. Almost like a fighter waiting to get knocked out, wondering when the other guy is going to load up and hit you with that one big shot. And sure enough …
"The feeling, and you could sense it, was 'We have nothing to lose, but we also have no chance.'
"That Canadiens team might've been the greatest ever. Oh, it had everything. Three defensemen with tremendous size and tremendous skill – Robinson, Lapointe and Savard. Stars – Lafleur, Lemaire, Shutt. Grinders – Gainey, Jarvis. And backed up by a goalie like Dryden? Well, how in hell were you going to beat them?"
No one back then could.
And even factoring in the advances in size and strength and speed made over 22 years, Federko questions whether or not anyone today would have a prayer, either.
Still, the 2000-2001 Blues are off to a momentous enough first half to make people wonder if maybe they couldn't be the NHL's first .800 team since that obscenely-talented Canadiens aggregation accomplished the feat in '77-78 (.806).
The Blues don't flat-out scare anyone, though. All they do is beat you. Their strength lies in a collective thought-pattern, in skating and in puck pursuit. "Those Canadiens teams could beat you any way at all," says Federko. "The Blues today beat you playing one way. But they play that way very, very well."
St. Louis has been flirting with the .800 mark virtually since November. Their 35-game start of 26-5-4 (.800) was tied for the fourth best in history, trailing only the 1929-30 Bruins (.871), the '79-80 Flyers (.829) and the '44-45 Canadiens (.814).
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1977-78 Montreal Canadiens
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Player
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Pos.
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Pierre Bouchard
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D
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Rick Chartraw
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D
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Yvan Cournoyer*
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RW
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Ken Dryden*
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G
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Brian Engblom
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D
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Bob Gainey*
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LW
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Rejean Houle
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LW/RW
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Doug Jarvis
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C
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Guy Lafleur*
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RW
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Yvon Lambert
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LW
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Guy Lapointe*
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D
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Michel Larocque
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G
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Pierre Larouche
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C
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Jacques Lemaire*
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C
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Gilles Lupien
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D
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Pierre Mondou
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C
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Bill Nyrop
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D
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Doug Risebrough
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C
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Larry Robinson*
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D
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Serge Savard*
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D
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Steve Shutt*
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LW
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Mario Tremblay
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RW
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Murray Wilson
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LW
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Scott Bowman*
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Coach
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Sam Pollock*
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GM
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* – Member of the Hall of Fame
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The '76-77 Canadiens, losers of only eight games all season, were also at .800 after 35 starts, finishing at .835.
"We're really not concerned with .800," said Blues' head coach Joel Quenneville. "Realistically, to even think about taking eight of every next 10 points is a bit of a stretch. Let's face it, we've had a pretty favorable schedule up to this point. Well, we've got 17 games this month, and we're missing Pav (Pavol Demitra). This is going to be a good test for us.
"You'd like to think you could keep up that sort of pace, of course, but to set it as a goal, to consciously try and shoot for it, wouldn't be very smart. Our aim is to win our division. That's our focus."
Expecting this St. Louis team to remotely match up to those mid-to-late '70s Montreal giants would be outright lunacy, of course – who would you take, Dryden or Turek? Lafleur or Turgeon? – but, regardless, Quenneville's troops, despite back to back losses to Ottawa and Nashville this week, still have an outside opportunity to reach to a level within a single season that few have managed before it.
Minnesota general manager Doug Risebrough is in a unique position to assess the Blues' chances. Two decades ago, he was a gap-toothed, sneering, indomitable muckraking center for those dominating Canadiens teams.
"We never felt superior to anyone else, no," he said. "Scotty (Bowman) wouldn't allow it. Scotty made you feel you'd have to give the last breath in your body just to make the playoffs. And that's a big reason why we were so successful. No one took anything for granted. You guys get tired of hearing it, I know, but the old one-shift, one-period, one-game cliche is as true today as it was back then. Breaking down the game, not getting caught up in what you could do, is how you reach high levels. Nobody just sets out at the start of the year trying to be an .800 team. That would be foolish.
"Can it be done? It's possible. Frankly, I'm surprised no one has done it since. But, as I said, you've got to be able to scale the season down into games, not hit any big ruts, stay healthy … there are so many factors involved."
Risebrough does see certain parallels between the '01 Blues and '78 Habs. "Like those Montreal teams, St. Louis right now has the necessary amount of role players. There are guys there willing to play seven hard minutes a night, like we had. There are guys willing to go out, do the dirty work, and maybe draw that penalty that wins you a tight one-goal game, like we had. Their depth isn't equal to what ours was, but they play a good, sound overall game, like we did.
"The way the season ended for them last year, being upset in the playoffs, has obviously got them spurred to have a big season this year. Which is in their favor.
"I really like they way they've built the team there. They play the way a lot of teams in this league wish they could, but can't."
After 37 games, the Blues lead the way in fewest losses (7) and are tied for most wins (26). Clearly, to reach .800 they're going to have to reel off another couple of torrid months to at least give themselves a shot heading into the home stretch.
"There are still 45 or so games left, a long ways," cautions Federko, "but what these guys do is give themselves a chance every game. They just don't take nights off. And I believe that's their greatest attribute. That, and not being satisfied.
"How can you compare the 2001 St. Louis Blues with the 1978 Montreal Canadiens? This team has two great defensemen – Al (MacInnis) and Chris (Pronger). Montreal had three. And certainly they had more stars up front.
"Is it tougher today for a team to finish .800 than back then? It's all relative. Great players then would've been great players now. And if people argue that the league is watered down today, well, all the teams have been affected that way. It's just as hard to win, or to dominate."
The issue is not really '70s Habs vs. turn-of-the-century Blues, anyway. It's about a consistently high level of achievement over a very long haul. Considering that neither the rock-solid Islander championship teams nor the flash-n-dash Oilers of Gretzky and Messier could manage to finish a season at .800, the chances of the Blues accomplishing the feat are slim. But, stranger things have happened.
"We're not in that league," says Quenneville flatly, harkening back to the Lafleur-Dryden-Lemaire-Savard-Lapointe-Robinson-led Canadiens. "Those Montreal teams were definitely a cut above everyone else at that time. We're still in the process trying to establish something here. Besides, that ('78) Canadiens got something that we value far more than finishing at .800 anyway."
And what might that be?
"The Stanley Cup."
George Johnson covers the NHL for the Calgary Herald. His NHL column appears every week during the season on ESPN.com.
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