Serge Savard

As player

As General Manager

Serge Aubrey Savard, (born January 22, 1946 in Landrienne, Quebec) is a former professional defenceman , most famously with the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL. .

Playing career

Savard played junior hockey with the Montreal Junior Canadiens, then played minor pro with the Omaha Knights and the Houston Apollos. He started playing with the Montreal Canadiens in 1966. In 1968–69, his second full NHL season, he led the Canadiens to a second consecutive Stanley Cup win, becoming the first defencemen to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player.

He broke his leg and missed the end of the 1969-70 NHL season , which was a major factor in the Canadiens missing the playoffs. The next season he broke his leg again but was able to make it back in the 1971-72 NHL season and after.

In seventeen seasons with the Canadiens, Savard played on eight Stanley Cup championship teams: 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. In 1979, he won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance and dedication to the game. Savard played the last two seasons of his career with the Winnipeg Jets before retiring in 1983. Savard was the second last active player of the Original Six era after Wayne Cashman.

The "Savardian Spin-o-rama", which is a quick pivoting turn with the puck done in order to evade opponents, was coined by Danny Gallivan and named after Serge Savard, and not Denis Savard (who was adept at the same manoeuvre) as is often thought.

Post-playing career

After Savard retired as a player, he was named the general manager of the Canadiens, also serving as Manager of the minor league Sherbrooke Canadiens. Savard won the Calder Cup with Sherbrooke in 1985. In the 1986 and in the 1993 the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup under Savard.

In 1998, he was ranked number 81 on the List of 100 greatest hockey players by The Hockey News.

On November 18, 2006, the Montreal Canadiens retired his jersey number (18) in a special ceremony at Bell Centre.

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1963–64	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA		56	3	31	34	0		—	—	—	—	—
1964–65	Omaha Knights	CPHL		2	0	0	0	0		4	0	1	1	4
1965–65	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA		56	14	33	47	0		—	—	—	—	—
1965–66	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA		46	9	12	21	72		—	—	—	—	—
1966–67	Houston Apollos	CPHL		68	7	25	32	155		5	1	3	4	17
1966–67	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1966–67	Quebec Aces	AHL		—	—	—	—	—		1	0	0	0	2
1967–68	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		67	2	13	15	34		6	2	0	2	0
1968–69	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		74	8	23	31	73		14	4	6	10	24
1969–70	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		64	12	19	31	38		—	—	—	—	—
1970–71	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		37	5	10	15	30		—	—	—	—	—
1971–72	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		23	1	8	9	16		6	0	0	0	10
1972–73	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		74	7	32	39	58		17	3	8	11	22
1973–74	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		67	4	14	18	49		6	1	1	2	4
1974–75	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		80	20	40	60	64		11	1	7	8	2
1975–76	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		71	8	39	47	38		13	3	6	9	6
1976–77	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		78	9	33	42	35		14	2	7	9	2
1977–78	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	8	34	42	24		15	1	7	8	8
1978–79	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		80	7	26	33	30		16	2	7	9	6
1979–80	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		46	5	8	13	18		2	0	0	0	0
1980–81	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	4	13	17	30		3	0	0	0	0
1981–82	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		47	2	5	7	26		5	0	0	0	2
1982–83	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		76	4	16	20	29		3	0	0	0	2
NHL totals				1040	106	333	439	592		130	19	49	68	88

Awards

• Won the Conn Smythe Trophy - 1969
• Named an NHL Second-Team All-Star - 1979
• Played in 4 NHL All-Star games (1970, 1973, 1977, 1978)
• Played in the 1979 Challenge Cup
• Won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy - 1979
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame - 1986

Preceded by Yvan Cournoyer	Montreal Canadiens captains 1979 - 81	Succeeded by Bob Gainey
Preceded by Glenn Hall	Winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy 1969	Succeeded by Bobby Orr
Preceded by Irving Grundman	General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens 1983 – 1995	Succeeded by Réjean Houle