Covering the Habs

In the early 1970s, two Toronto newspapers published a magazine that came with their Saturday edition. And on September 11, 1971, they both chose a member of the Montreal Canadiens as their cover story.

On the cover of The Telegram's Weekend Magazine (above), Montreal goalie Ken Dryden is pictured walking with his wife, Linda. A quote from Dryden at the bottom of the cover notes, "How I spent my summer as a Nader Reaider."

After making a major contribution to the Canadiens Cup victory in 1971, Dryden spent his off-season working in Washington for activist Ralph Nader. As a Nader Raider, Dryden worked on a project to aid fishermen who sought to clean-up polluted water.

In the Toronto Daily Star, a future Montreal superstar graced the cover of The Canadian Magazine (above). The bold text next to a photo of Lafleur declared, "The Canadiens Guy Lafleur: A Legend Before His Time."

With the retirement of Jean Beliveau following Montreal's Cup win in 1971, all eyes turned to the rookie from Thurso, Quebec, as Beliveau's replacement. In his final season of junior with the Quebec Remparts, Lafleur's numbers gave credence to the hype surrounding the damage he could do in the NHL. Lafleur played in 62 games with the Remparts and scored 130 goals and 79 assists for 209 points.

As a rookie, Lafleur had a decent campaign (73-29-35-64), but it wasn't until the 1974-75 season that he began to dominate. In the span of one year his point total jumped from 56 ('73-'74) to 119. It included his first 50-plus goal season.