The Hockey News

The beauty of the Winter Classic pitting the Boston Bruins against the Montreal Canadiens — aside from the obvious rivalry — is the alumni lists are long and incredibly talented. The alumni lists also span generations, which means stars of the 1980s can play alongside those who hung up the skates as few as two seasons ago. Sunday evening, legendary Canadiens bench boss Jaques Demers announced the roster for Montreal’s alumni team at the Winter Classic, and there are several legendary names among the ranks. One of the highlights, though, is seeing the likes of 1970s star blueliner Larry Robinson suiting up on the same team as those who made their names in the 1990s and 2000s, such as Alexei Kovalev and Jose Theodore.









(Images via L'Antichambre/Twitter) The team’s top line of Benoit Brunet, Guy Carbonneau and Mike Keane were all members of the 1992-93 Canadiens Cup-winning team, which was the last Stanley Cup won by a Canadian team. Beyond the top line, there are four other members of the 1992-93 team: Oleg Petrov and defensemen Eric Desjardins, Patrice Brisebois and Lyle Odelein. Montreal’s 1985-86 championship club is also well represented on the alumni squad with seven members named to the roster. Beyond Robinson and Carbonneau, the alumni squad also features Mats Naslund, Stephane Richer, Chris Nilan, Gaston Gingras and Rick Green. There are only players on the entire roster who didn’t win a Stanley Cup either in Montreal or during their careers, including Kovalev, Donald Audette and Stephane Quintal. Combined, the roster has won 24 Stanley Cups with the Canadiens, with Robinson leading the way with six. He and Shutt were members of the four-straight championships from 1975-76 to 1978-79, with Robinson adding the 1972-73 and 1985-86 Cups to his total in Montreal. Robinson is one of the most storied players in Habs history, having played 17 seasons and more than 1,200 games in Montreal. It should be fun to watch Jose Theodore strap on the pads once again for the Canadiens in the alumni game. Theodore had, without a doubt, his best seasons of his professional career in Montreal during the early 2000s. Before Carey Price was capturing MVP awards and the Vezina Trophy, it was Theodore who nabbed both the Hart and Vezina during the 2001-02 season. Kovalev is the highest scorer on the roster having tallied 430 goals and 1,029 points in his career. The alumni game is scheduled for Dec. 31, the day before the Canadiens and Bruins are set to play the Winter Classic at the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

The Hockey News