The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1967-68 and 1968-69.
In 1969-70. center Guy Charron made his NHL debut with the Habs. Montreal missed the playoffs that season, the only time between 1948-49 and 1994-95 the Habs were absent from postseason play.
It was a bad omen of what was to come for Charron during his 734-game NHL career.
43 yrs ago, Guy Charron's hatty led Wings to 11-2 win vs. Seals who might've responded with curse on Charron who'd never reach NHL playoffs. pic.twitter.com/BPRDOkIv87
— O-Pee-Chee Stars (@opeecheestars) October 22, 2016
He holds a record that no player will covet or ever desire to break. Charron owns the mark for most career NHL games without playing a Stanley Cup game.
The Shleprock of the skates and sticks crowd, Charron the player was to the NHL what Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is to NCAA bowl games. He answered the bell every year and got his bell rung.
They say timing is everything and Charron was the master of bad timing.
On this day in 1971: The #RedWings trade Frank Mahovlich to MTL for Mickey Redmond, Bill Collins and Guy Charron. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/iph3qDMQSw
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 13, 2018
In 1970-71, Montreal won the Cup again, minus Charron. He’d been dealt to the Detroit Red Wings during the season. Charron also did tours of duty with the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals, finishing last seven times.
He felt snakebit, disillusioned, certain that if it weren’t for bad luck, he’d have no luck at all.
He signed with the #Caps in ‘76-77. And his career took off here. He scored 36, 38 & 28 goals his first 3 seasons & played a franchise high 245 straight games. He played 734 career games. But never played in the playoffs.
In honor of Guy Charron.
15 days until Opening Night. pic.twitter.com/Co1vRQHwAk
— Rob Carlin (@RobCarlinNBCS) September 17, 2019
“Frustration?” Charrons asks. “God yes, I’ve had few of those in my time.”
There were close calls. Detroit missed the postseason by four points in 1971-72 and by two points in 1972-73. In 1980-81, Charron‘s final NHL campaign, Toronto won the last game of the regular season to slip into the final playoff spot, one point ahead of Charron‘s Capitals.
