Since the 1981-82 season, the Montreal Canadiens have awarded one of their own with the honour of joining the legends as a Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy winner. The Jacques Beauchamp Molson Trophy is for a player who did not win any award but played a dominant role with the team during the regular season. It is named after long-time reporter Jacques Beauchamp, who wrote for Montreal publication Montréal-Matin for a quarter century, and the local media determines the winner.
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Jake Allen became the first goaltender in franchise history to claim the honour in the 2020-21 season, followed by Alexander Romanov and David Savard in the subsequent years. They joined 37 past winners, which includes greats like Craig Ludwig, Petr Svoboda, Mike Keane, and Stephane Quintal. In recent memory, names like Phillip Danault, Paul Byron, and Josh Gorges all won multiple times, painting a picture of what it means to be a Beauchamp-Molson Trophy winner.
With this upcoming season on the horizon, we look at three candidates who can likely challenge for the prize of being the Canadiens’ unsung hero. We draw the line at one forward, one defenceman, and one goaltender, making an argument for why they would be a suitable winner and what they mean to the team in their current role.
Brendan Gallagher
The honey badger himself, Brendan Gallagher, has etched a place in Canadiens fans’ hearts as one of the biggest leaders in the modern era. Regardless of never becoming the team’s captain, Gallagher has carried himself like one, playing every shift with his heart on his sleeve and leaving nothing on the ice but his blood and sweat. He’s battled through injuries, playing through a number of them while most would leave the ice, and continues to be a voice in the locker room and on the ice.
Over 11 years, Gallagher has gone from a quick-witted, sharp-tongued kid playing on a line with Alex Galchenyuk and Brandon Prust to a more humble and grizzled veteran. Despite his back-to-back 30-goal seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19, his honours are limited to one NHL All-Rookie Team and one Molson Cup win in 2017-18. At 31, his days as a top-contributing player are behind him, but his service as a leader to the youth and everyone around him makes him a viable candidate this year.
Mike Matheson
Ahead of this season, Mike Matheson‘s importance to the club was emphasised when he became an alternate captain in the offseason. In his first year following the trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins, Matheson recorded eight goals and 34 points in 48 games despite missing the first eight weeks due to an abdominal muscle strain. He instantly became a fixture on the Canadiens’ top pairing and excelled at both ends of the ice. A native of Quebec playing for his former agent in Kent Hughes, Matheson looked like he was finally home.
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His offensive prowess caught many off guard initially, as his 34 points was a career-high, surpassing the prior season’s total by three points while playing nearly a third less. Considering the Canadiens acquired him for Ryan Poehling and Jeff Petry and then re-acquired Petry to trade him once more, this transaction may go down as one of Hughes’ finest moves of his short career as general manager.
A win for Matheson would be the 18th time a defenseman wins this award and continue the trend for a third consecutive year. If he can avoid a devastating injury to start the season, Matheson would be an excellent nominee for the Beauchamp-Molson Trophy, making things interesting for the local media. A local guy thriving under the pressure of the Montreal system during a rebuilding phase where the team doesn’t expect to make the playoffs? That’s something they’ll take into consideration.
Samuel Montembeault
Speaking of locals thriving in Montreal, Samuel Montembeault is worthy of a mention and would become the second goaltender in franchise history to win the award. Allen, who serves as Montembeault’s tandem partner, received the honour three seasons ago after posting a .907 save percentage (SV%) in 29 games. Over the past two seasons, Montembeault and Allen have battled for playing time, sharing the crease at a nearly equal pace.
Montembeault set a career-high last season with a .901 SV%, the first time he hit the .900 plateau. He doubled his win total from eight to 16 while playing two more games and developed into a capable goaltender who could steal a game or two. At 26, there’s still plenty of time for him to grow and become a number-one goaltender for the Canadiens, and this season may be the year he earns that privilege. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent after this year, so it’s the perfect time for Montembeault to turn on the jets while also winning the Beauchamp-Molson Trophy.
Analysing the winners of the past decade, it’s simple to determine a pattern of what the local media looks for when deciding on a winner. Players who exemplify leadership, play with a gutsy attitude, never take a shift off, and are a pleasure to work with in post-game scrums. It’s not unreasonable to think that players like Rafael Harvey-Pinard or Michael Pezzetta could join the mix, and they certainly could make a case for themselves.
Let The Hockey Writers know in the comments who you believe could take this year’s honour, whether it’s one of our three candidates or someone else.
