Serge Savard

Serge Savard
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1986
Born	(1946-01-22) January 22, 1946 Landrienne, QC, CAN
Height	6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight	210 lb (95 kg; 15 st 0 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Left
Played for	Montreal Canadiens Winnipeg Jets
National team	Canada
Playing career	1966–1983

Serge Aubrey "The Senator" Savard, OC, CQ (born January 22, 1946) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenceman, most famously with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the Senior Vice President, Hockey Operations with the Montreal Canadiens. He is also a local businessman in Montreal, and is nicknamed the Senator.

Playing career

Savard played minor league hockey with the Montreal Junior Canadiens, then with the Omaha Knights. After playing with the Montreal Jr. Canadiens, 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. 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 player of the Original Six era, as Wayne Cashman and his Boston Bruins advanced to the next round of the playoffs, while Winnipeg did not.

The "Savardian Spin-o-rama", which is a quick pivoting turn with the puck done in order to evade opponents, was coined by sportscaster Danny Gallivan and named after Serge Savard, and not Denis Savard (who was adept at the same manoeuvre) as is often thought.^[1]

Savard played for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. Team Canada was 4-0-1 when Savard was in the starting lineup. He did not play in the opening loss at the Forum in Montreal but was in the starting lineup for games 2 and 3 in Toronto and Winnipeg (a win and tie, respectively). He suffered a hairline fracture in his leg which forced him to sit out Canada's losses in games 4 and 5. He returned to the lineup for games 6, 7, and 8, all wins for Canada.^[2]

Post-playing career

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

In 1994 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2004 he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec. He is currently the chairman of the annual Canada Day festivities in Montreal. He lived a few years in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec. His son Marc ran for the Liberal Party in the riding of Saint-Bruno-Saint-Hubert in the 2005 federal election but lost.

In 1998, he was ranked number 81 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

He is a partner in a firm of real-estate developers, "Thibault, Messier, Savard & Associates", based in Montreal.

In September 2004, Savard was arrested in Montreal under suspicion of drunk driving. He pleaded not guilty in November 2004, but would later plead guilty in May 2006.^[3]

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

In April 2012 after the dismissal of Pierre Gauthier, Montreal Canadiens Owner Geoff Molson called upon Savard to assist and advise him in the team's search for a new General Manager.

Also, he was part owner in a resort called El Senador located in Cayo Coco, Cuba until it was sold in 2005. The name was a reference to his nickname.

Awards

Won 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 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy — 1979
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame — 1986
In 1998, he was ranked number 81 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

			Regular season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1963–64	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA-Jr.	56	3	31	34	72	17	1	7	8	30
1965–65	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA-Jr.	56	14	33	47	81	7	2	3	5	8
1964–65	Omaha Knights	CPHL	2	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	1	4
1965–66	Montreal Junior Canadiens	OHA-Jr.	20	8	10	18	33	10	1	4	5	20
1966–67	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	2	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1966–67	Houston Apollos	CPHL	68	7	25	32	155	5	1	3	4	17
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

International

Year	Team	Event	GP	A	Pts
1972	Canada	SS	5	2	2
1976	Canada	CC	7	3	3
1979	NHL All-Stars	Exhib.	3	0	0
Senior totals			15	5	5

References

"One on One with Serge Savard" by Kevin Shea, December 16, 2003, retrieved August 10, 2006

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Serge Savard

Preceded by Yvan Cournoyer	Montreal Canadiens captain 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 1983–95	Succeeded by Rejean Houle

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