A MOBILE DEFENSEMAN WITH A SMOOTH SKATING STRIDE, JEAN-CLAUDE TREMBLAY SPARKLED AS THE TEAM’S POWER PLAY QUARTERBACK FOR 11 SEASONS IN MONTREAL.

Jean-Claude Tremblay patrolled the Montreal blue line for over a decade, earning five Stanley Cup Championships along the way. The Bagotville, Quebec native first attracted attention as a 17-year old, potting 71 goals in the 1956-57 campaign.

He finished his junior career with the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens, coached by a young Scotty Bowman and managed by Sam Pollock. Featuring a lineup littered with future Habs, the Hull-Ottawa squad won the 1958 Memorial Cup. By that time, Tremblay was a defenseman converted to left wing when teammate Claude Ruel suffered a career-ending eye injury.

After playing portions of the schedule with the big club the two previous years, Tremblay made the opening night roster for the 1961-62 season. When he left 11 years later, Tremblay was one of the NHL’s premier performers.

A superb skater – fast, mobile and blessed with innate hockey smarts – Tremblay was an offensive threat able to make precise passes through traffic to teammates in full flight. On December 29, 1962, he picked up four assists in a single period.

Forgoing the more robust style of play preferred by most defensemen, Tremblay rarely lay on the body, going about things with a bit more finesse than most of his peers. A magician with his stick, Tremblay effortlessly stripped enemy forwards of the puck, turning it back up the ice to begin the counter attack.

Agile and elusive, once Tremblay had the puck, rarely did opponents get it back. He quarterbacked the most potent power play in the league and often seemed to kill entire penalties on his own, weaving his way through whole teams for the duration of his team’s penalty.

Dedicated to his craft, Tremblay spent countless hours refining his skills and adding to his bag of tricks. He developed a long lob that he occasionally released from centre ice, sometimes embarrassing unsuspecting goalies.

A regular season stalwart, Tremblay took his game to another level in the playoffs. In 1965, he picked up 10 points en route to his first Stanley Cup. The following year, he went one better as the Habs repeated as Cup Champs.

Tremblay scored three times in the 1967-68 postseason. His last goal clinched the Stanley Cup for the Habs and completed a sweep of the Blues. Montreal met and beat St. Louis the following year as well.

In 1970-71, Tremblay reached scoring heights not seen by a defenseman since Doug Harvey. His 63 points in the regular season combined with another 17 in the playoffs earned him the nickname “J.C. Superstar”, as well as a fifth mention on the Stanley Cup.

The 1971-72 season was Tremblay’s last with the Habs and followed the pattern he had set the year before, with a 57-point harvest.

Retiring after seven seasons with the WHA’s Quebec Nordiques, Tremblay crossed the Atlantic and moved to Switzerland. He rejoined the Canadiens organization in 1985, where he spent a decade as the club’s European scout.

Jean-Claude Tremblay died in 1994, falling victim to kidney cancer at the age of 55.