#116 - Serge Savard

Serge Savard (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #116)

Adjusted Stats

1966-1967   Mtl        2 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points      0.00 PPG
1967-1968   Mtl*      74 GP   2 goals     16 assists   18 points    0.25 PPG
1968-1969   Mtl*      80 GP   9 goals     26 assists   35 points    0.43 PPG
1969-1970   Mtl        69 GP   14 goals   22 assists   35 points    0.51 PPG
1970-1971   Mtl*      39 GP   5 goals     10 assists   16 points    0.40 PPG (no Stanley Cup ring for Savard)
1971-1972   Mtl        24 GP   1 goal       8 assists     9 points      0.39 PPG
1972-1973   Mtl*      78 GP   7 goals     32 assists   38 points    0.49 PPG
1973-1974   Mtl        70 GP   4 goals     14 assists   18 points    0.26 PPG
1974-1975   Mtl        82 GP   18 goals   37 assists   55 points    0.67 PPG
1975-1976   Mtl*      73 GP   7 goals     36 assists   43 points    0.60 PPG
1976-1977   Mtl*      80 GP   9 goals     31 assists   40 points    0.50 PPG
1977-1978   Mtl*      79 GP   8 goals     33 assists   40 points    0.51 PPG
1978-1979   Mtl*      82 GP   6 goals     23 assists   30 points    0.36 PPG
1979-1980   Mtl        47 GP   4 goals     7 assists     12 points    0.25 PPG
1980-1981   Mtl        79 GP   3 goals     11 assists   14 points    0.18 PPG
1981-1982   Wpg      48 GP   2 goals     4 assists     5 points      0.11 PPG
1982-1983   Wpg      78 GP   3 goals     13 assists   16 points    0.21 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1967-1968    Mtl*      6 GP     2 goals     0 assists     2 points     0.33 PPG
1968-1969    Mtl*      14 GP   4 goals     6 assists     10 points   0.71 PPG
1971-1972    Mtl        6 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points     0.00 PPG
1972-1973    Mtl*      17 GP   3 goals     7 assists     10 points   0.57 PPG
1973-1974    Mtl        6 GP     1 goal       1 assist      2 points     0.33 PPG
1974-1975    Mtl        11 GP   1 goal       6 assists     7 points    0.67 PPG
1975-1976    Mtl*      13 GP   3 goals     6 assists     9 points     0.67 PPG
1976-1977    Mtl*      14 GP   2 goals      6 assists    8 points     0.57 PPG
1977-1978    Mtl*      15 GP    1 goal      7 assists     8 points    0.52 PPG
1978-1979    Mtl*      16 GP    2 goals     6 assists     8 points    0.51 PPG
1979-1980    Mtl        2 GP      0 goals     0 assists     0 points    0.00 PPG
1980-1981    Mtl        3 GP      0 goals     0 assists     0 points    0.00 PPG
1981-1982    Wpg      4 GP      0 goals     0 assists     0 points    0.00 PPG
1982-1983    Wpg      3 GP      0 goals     0 assists     0 points    0.00 PPG

Career - 1084 GP, 102 goals, 323 assists, 424 points, 0.39 PPG
Career-Highs - 18 goals (74-75); 37 assists (74-75); 55 points (74-75); 0.67 PPG (74-75)
Avg. (16 seasons) - 68 GP, 6 goals, 20 assists, 27 points, 0.39 PPG
Peak Avg. (72-80) - 74 GP, 8 goals, 27 assists, 35 points, 0.47 PPG, 5 Cups

Playoff Career - 130 GP, 19 goals, 45 assists, 64 points, 0.49 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 4 goals (68-69); 7 assists (77-78); 10 points (68-69); 0.71 PPG (68-69)

Accolades - Conn Smythe
All-Star Teams - 1-time 2nd-team
7-time Stanley Cup Champion

As with Scott Stevens and Tim Horton, Serge Savard makes the Pyramid for reasons that have nothing to do with his offensive numbers. They are among the worst of anyone on my hall-of-fame list, but they are irrelevant, because Serge Savard's job was to shut down the opposition, retain the puck, and move it up-ice so that the other wizards on the Canadiens could pot a goal. At that, few were better.

His career +/- is an excellent +36 per 82 games played, although that is hardly surprising considering that Savard spent almost his entire career with a Canadiens team that won Stanley Cups more often than it didn't. Savard wasn't some mere passenger on the team though...he was the defensive glue that allowed more offensive experimentation from Lapointe in the early part of the decade and Robinson in the later half. It's been said time and again (on this blog and elsewhere) that the late-1970s Canadiens were the most defensively-sound team ever assembled, and since that led to an unprecedent run of success, doesn't it stand to reason that we should recognize those who contributed to that defence? That is why Robinson, Lemaire, Lapointe, Gainey and Savard are all no-brainer hall-of-famers. Who cares that in the case of Gainey and Savard, there offensive numbers aren't eye-popping.

With that said, Serge Savard did have it within him to be more of a puck-moving defenceman than he let on, even if he would never be mistaken for Bobby Orr. Contrary to popular belief, the "Savardian spinorama" was actually named for Serge, not Denis (although Denis later demonstrated it many times himself). He became the first defenceman in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe award in 1969, leading the Canadiens to a championship with 10 points in 14 games and sterling defensive play. And his career PPG in the playoffs is about 25% higher than it is in the regular season. This is a man who, like so many of the Habs, stepped it up when it mattered most.

Does Serge Savard deserve to be ranked higher on the Pyramid than Borje Salming, his contemporary? I debated this for a while. Salming has more year-end all-star accolades and was undeniably more talented. Given that their careers coincided in the 1970s, it's clear that those watching at the time thought that Salming deserved recognition for his regular-season work and was the better player. But due to the fates, Salming was saddled with a mediocre Maple Leafs team, while Savard was one of the key leaders (and eventually captain) of one of the greatest teams assembled.

Is this luck, or do we have to factor this stuff in? I lean toward the Bill Simmons "secret" of winning, and there's no doubt that Serge Savard knew it. As captain or alternate-captain, he knew what it took to maintain a team's identity and work ethic. Certainly the Canadiens were an ultra-talented group. But they also got the most out of their third and fourth-liners, and that's why they were so successful. It was players like Savard and Gainey who always knuckled down and shut down the opposition, and I have a lot of admiration for players like that.

Look at Serge Savard's subsequent career as general manager of the Canadiens. He assembled two more Stanley Cup winners, the 1986 and 1993 squads, teams that are generally viewed as among the less-talented to win in the modern era, groups that were just "lucky" in that odd off-year of the dynasty-caliber Oilers and Penguins. Certainly it helps that they had Patrick Roy standing on his head. But when you look at the character players that Savard assembled, the Carbonneaus, the Keanes, the Mullers, you realize that it was no fluke. As a GM, as a captain, and as a player, Savard demonstrated that he innately could recognize (and contained himself) that intagible quality that separates merely good players from those who can truly be called champions.