Underrated Habs Player: Doug Jarvis

Keep in mind, Jarvis played on a team with legends like Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden, and Steve Shutt, just to name a few of the team’s Hall-of-Famers at the time. You can have all the pure skill in the world, but if a team lacks a few gritty defensive forwards that can shut down the other teams’ top players, you won’t be able to build a dynasty. 

Jarvis played the role of the responsible defensive forward alongside Hall-of-Fame Bob Gainey. The duo helped the Canadiens have the top penalty kill for the majority of the time during Jarvis’s seven seasons with the Habs. Even though Jarvis was tasked with being a defensive specialist for the Canadiens during the dynasty, he was still able to produce offensively when given the chance. 

During the 1981-82 season, he scored a career-high 20 goals and 48 points in 80 games. For a player who was almost exclusively used in defensive situations, those numbers were impressive from Jarvis. Of course, it was after the years where the Habs were a powerhouse, but being able to be more than just a pure checking forward showed just how valuable he could be to his team.

After that season, he was traded in the off-season along with defenseman Rod Langway and forward Craig Laughlin to the Washington Capitals for defenseman Rick Green and forward Ryan Walter. It was a trade that helped transform the Capitals into a playoff team. Playing in Washington allowed Jarvis to show just how valuable a player he could be for a team. 

Jarvis even won the Frank Selke Trophy as the league’s top defensive forward with the Capitals during the 1983-84 season. During his time in Montreal, he was behind the league’s best defensive forward in Bob Gainey, so he would always come behind him in the Frank Selke Trophy voting each season. 

However, if it wasn’t for how strong a faceoff specialist Jarvis was, maybe Gainey wouldn’t have been seen as good as he was. Nonetheless, Gainey was still a Hall-of-Fame talent on the defensive side of the game either way, but being a winger he couldn’t control the start of a penalty kill. Unfortunately, we don’t have the exact faceoff percentage as they weren’t tracked in the late 1970s or 1980s; however, he was given the nicknames like “faceoff wizard” and “the king of the dot” for his faceoff abilities. This was a huge part in helping the Canadiens win 4 straight Stanley Cups between 1976 and 1979. 

The part of Jarvis’ game that was the most impressive was his availability to the Canadiens during his seven seasons with them. He never missed a single game and eventually broke the record for most consecutive games with 964 throughout his entire career. It took until the 2021-22 season for Keith Yandle to break his Ironman streak. 

Jarvis finished his Habs career with 560 straight games, scoring 91 goals and 245 points through seven seasons with the club. He still holds the Ironman streak with the Canadiens, but if Nick Suzuki continues to stay healthy, he will pass him in a little more than a season. 

For those who remember him as a Hab, what were your thoughts on Doug Jarvis’ role?