Canadiens All-Era Team: Prewar Years

The 1934-35 team (left) had Joliat (third from right), who'd won the Hart Trophy in '33-34. IHA/Icon SMI The Canadiens Century   Features Michael Farber: Keepers of the Flame Michael Farber: This City Is Hockey All-Era Teams The Prewar Years The Postwar Years The 1960s The 1970s The 1980s and 90s The 2000s and beyond

John Gagnon
Right wing, 1930-40
The Black Cat was small (5' 5") but played huge for Montreal over 10 seasons, especially in the '31 Stanley Cup finals, when he scored the Cup-winning goal against Chicago. Gagnon lit the lamp 115 times and assisted on 137 goals in 406 games with the Canadiens.

Howie Morenz
Center, 1923-34, '36-37
The three-time Hart Trophy winner was the greatest playmaker of his time. He once held the NHL's goal-scoring record and was the game's most popular player. His appearances south of the border were instrumental in the league's growth in the United States, earning him the title of the Babe Ruth of Hockey. Morenz died on March 8, 1937, following complications from breaking a leg in a game on Jan. 28.

Aurèle Joliat
Left wing, 1922-38
The greatest left wing of his era and one of the league's toughest players of all time, Joliat scored 270 goals and 460 points in 644 games for the Canadiens, winning the Hart Trophy in 1934. Joliat would win three Stanley Cups with Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, skating alongside Morenz while wearing his trademark black cap.

Sylvio Mantha
Defenseman, 1923-36
Mantha started as a forward, an experience that was critical to his becoming one of the best two-way defensemen of the NHL's first half-century. Durable (538 games in 13 Montreal seasons) and skilled (141 points), Mantha was at the heart of three Stanley Cup champs, sharing the glory in '30-31 with his younger brother, Georges.

Albert Leduc
Defenseman, 1925-33, '34-35
Speedy, strong and tough, Leduc was known as the Battleship in nine seasons with Montreal, scoring 56 goals. He then became a minor league player-coach, counting a young Hector (Toe) Blake among his charges.

Georges Vèzina
Goaltender, 1910-25
The netminder for Les Habs' first two Stanley Cup teams, the Chicoutimi Cucumber was hockey's iron man, playing in 328 straight regular-season games (and 39 more in the playoffs) over 16 seasons in the National Hockey Association and the early years of the NHL.