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Dookie: Here We Go Steelers said 06/27, 11:08 AM
Well instead of arguing which Canadian team was better, I'll go outside the Canadians dynasty and into the start of another dynasty:

the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers Team

Besides having a great team, this Oiler team had better individuals than the Canadians club you boast (it is close though and I mean no disrespect the great Habs teams)

Oilers credentials:
Stanley Cup Champs (Losing 4 games in the entire playoffs and sweeping 2 series as well)
They defeated the Islanders who were looking to win their 5th straight cup. The Canadians didn't defeat as great a foe in their cup finals win.

The Oilers broke the NHL record for goals in a season with 446. They averaged an NHL Record 5.58 goals per game. They had 3 50 goal scores and 4 100 point players

Greyzky had 205 points and won the Art Ross.
Besides the Art Ross, Gretzky won the Hart Memorial, Lester B. Pearson, Plus/Minus Award, and was named the NHL first Line Center
Messier won the Conn Smythe

Besides arguably the greatest player ever playing for the Oilers, they had Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr

This Oilers team started the Oiler dynasty and had the greatest NHL player of all time leading them

Dookie: Here We Go Steelers said 06/27, 03:23 PM
Seeing as we were going by individual season and not by a collective team, I picked the Oilers. The fact they only won 2 before 85 is irrelevant and immaterial.

"They beat both the Islanders & the Bobby Orr's Bruins in the playoffs that year."
--Not the Islanders that had won 4 straight cups before then.


You want to look at individuals, let's do it...

Let's examine the NHL's all time leaders in a couple categories:

First off, let's look at Points
1. Wayne Gretzky 2,857 pts
2. Mark Messier 1,887 pts
10. Paul Coffey 1,531 pts
16. Jari Kurri 1,398 pts
...
23 Guy Lafleur 1,127 pts

Goals
1. Wayne Gretzky 894
7. Mark Messier 694
17. Jari Kurri 601
. . .
20. Guy Lafeur 560

Goaltending Wins
9. Grant Fuhr 403
12. Andy Moog 372
. . .
Ken Dryden 258 wins


Hmm, so in every category I have at least 2 players (including my back up goalie) before we have 1 of your guys.

You might have had more HOFers, but I had much much better QUALITY of hall of fame players.

That Oilers team was the start of the new NHL, with emphasis on scoring and speed.

Dookie: Here We Go Steelers said 06/28, 11:43 AM
Dryden did only play 7 seasons, but you can't use it as a positive in this sense, and you can't take it away from my guys that they actually had longevity.

A team is made up of individuals, and my individuals trump yours. Also, it was only the Oilers 5th year of existence in the league. The fact they built up a dynasty in only 5 years is amazing and must be considered.

"As for the Oilers they were arguably a better TEAM after Gretzky left when they won their last cup in 89-90 with Messier leading them"
--1. 89-90 was outside the years defined
2. You actually think a team is better after the greatest player to play leaves them?

The Oilers did have to play another round since the Canadians earned the first round bye in 76/77. So the Oilers actually had 3 more wins in their playoff run.

While the Canadiens did have a great team, the Oilers were the better team. They scored at an unheard of rate of 5.58 goals per game. They had the greatest players all time in Gretzky. They had 2 of the top 20 players in Kurri and Messier. They had one of the best offensive defensemen in Coffey. They had 2 of the top goalies all time in wins in Moog and Feur. Top team of their era