Suzuki would also become the fifth different Canadiens player with at least 100 points in a season, joining Guy Lafleur, who did it six times, Peter Mahovlich (twice), Naslund and Steve Shutt.
“It’s a pretty small group when you think about all the history in that organization,” Naslund said, “but Jean (Beliveau) and Maurice (Richard) didn’t play enough games to get to 100 points. I would have thought that Jacques Lemaire would be part of the 100-point club since he was one of the best forwards on those dynasty teams from the 70s.”
Lemaire flirted with the 100-point plateau three times, finishing with 95 in 1972-73, 92 in 1974-75 and 97 in 1977-78.
Naslund said he believes there’s two keys to open the door to a 100-point season.
“You have to play practically every game, and you need to rely on a good power play,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to have that. I played 80 games and I beefed up my stats on the power play.”
Of his 110 points, 50 came with the man-advantage. Of Suzuki’s 94 points, 40 have come on the power play. And Suzuki has stayed far away from the trainer’s room — not only has he played all 76 of Montreal’s games this season, he has played in every single one of the Canadiens’ past 531 since the start of the 2019-20 season, the second longest active iron-man streak in the NHL, behind Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns, who played his 1,000th consecutive game Saturday.
Naslund was reminded of the fact he was the childhood hero of Montreal coach Martin St. Louis.
“That’s the sign that you’re getting old,” Naslund joked. “When you become the coach’s favorite player growing up and not the players’ favorite.”