DESPITE BEING SLOWED BY INJURIES THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, LEFT WINGER BRIAN SAVAGE REACHED THE 20 GOAL BENCHMARK ON FOUR OCCASIONS WITH THE CANADIENS.

Born in Sudbury, ON, Brian Savage, Canada’s fifth-best golfer in his category at the age of 16, might well have made a name for himself in that sport’s professional tour if hockey hadn’t been his first love.

An eighth-round choice, taken 171st overall by Montreal in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft, Savage spent three years in the U.S. collegiate ranks with the Miami University of Ohio Redskins.

The left-winger made his professional debut in 1993-94 with the Fredericton Canadiens, picking up 27 points in only 17 games. Breaking into the NHL later that same season, Savage made six appearances with the big club, three of them in the postseason.

The 1994-95 campaign saw Savage make the move to Montreal on a permanent basis. Attracting notice around the league both for a powerful wrist shot and a knack for setting the table for his teammates, Savage skated in 37 games for the Habs and added 19 points to his career total.

Over the next six years, Savage developed into one of the team’s steadiest offensive contributors. Despite several stretches in the sick bay, the most serious caused by a career-threatening neck injury in 1999-2000 that limited him to only 38 games, the talented left-winger reached the 20-goal plateau four times.

Playing a rare injury-free schedule in 1996-97, he lit the lamp 23 times and added 37 assists. Only Vincent Damphousse and Mark Recchi bested Savage’s 60-point performance that season.

Prominent on Savage’s career highlight reel is the night of October 7th, 1996 when he became the first Canadiens player to complete a hat trick in their present home, then named The Molson Centre. Also featured is the game in Long Island on April 8th, 1999, when putting four goals and a pair of helpers onto the score sheet against the Islanders made Savage the first Canadiens player to record six points in a road game since Joe Malone in 1917.

After eight seasons in a Canadiens sweater, Savage was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes in January of 2001 with Sergei Berezin coming the other way. Later dealt to the Blues, he ended the 2003-04 season with St. Louis and hung up his skates following a final campaign with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2005-06.

In 461 games in a Montreal uniform, Savage scored 155 goals and assisted on 130 others for 185 points.