What's up with Montreal is they no longer have dynasties since they don't get to pick any two players out of Quebec before other teams make any picks, like they used to get into the 70's.
Not true. It was not the draft "privileges" that existed for a handful of years that built the Canadiens 1970's dynasty or the success in the original six. It had nothing to do with their dynasties to be quite frank. The importance of these privileges in the success of Montreal is an urban myth perpetuated by jealous Leafs fans.
Yes Montreal had rights to all players in the 50 mile range, but these same rights existed for the Leafs through the Original Six Era. This certainly helped Montreal, and is a factor no longer available to them - if you want to point to something that has hurt them that is it. But that is nothing that was not available to Toronto either,
For players outside the 50 mile range, they were free to sign with anybody. Montreal was able to get talent from the province with them, but any team in the league could have signed them at a young age, and assigned them to a junior team they sponsored. That was the way it worked.
The draft loophole you referred to was a short period, for which there was little talent available in the draft anyway, because teams had already claimed young talent and placed them on their junior teams. Look at the 63-69 drafts... little talent, little benefit to Montreal or any team. This is because it overlapped with the sponsorship era. Do you ever wonder why Bobby Orr was never drafted, despite the fact that he was only 15 years old when the NHL draft started? Its because he had already had his NHL rights acquired.
The only player of any merit Montreal acquired this way for their 70's Dynasty was Rejean Houle. Are you going to say Rejean Houle was the reason the Habs had dynasties? And since the draft only started in 1963 (when teams were actually choosing not to make picks) I think its hard to connect it to the original six era, don't you think?
The draft loophole is a convenient excuse created by Leafs fan years ago. Fact is it was born out of jealousy, because the city of Montreal was producing far better players then city of Toronto throughout that time, when both teams had the exact same advantage to build its teams.
Let's look at the players on who some consider the greatest team ever (the 77 Canadiens who were 60-8-12) and see how they acquired their players.
Guy Lafleur 136 points - 1971 #1 pick (LEGITIMATELY)
From Wiki: The Habs' astute General Manager, Sam Pollock, was keen to find a way to trade with the California Golden Seals to obtain their first round draft pick. He persuaded Seals owner Charlie Finley to trade the Seals' pick and François Lacombe in return for Montreal's first round pick and a veteran Ernie Hicke. It turned out to be one of the most lopsided deals in NHL history. However, during the 1970-71 season, the Los Angeles Kings were playing even more poorly than the hapless California Seals. The Kings were in danger of "beating" the Seals out for last place, and if this happened Pollock would lose his first overall pick. Pollock cleverly traded the aging but still valuable Ralph Backstrom to the Kings for two insignificant players. Backstrom's presence lifted the Kings out of last place, the Seals finished at the bottom, granting the Habs the first pick. Pollock hesitated between Lafleur and Marcel Dionne, but chose Lafleur with his overall no.1 pick
Steve Shutt, 60 goals, 1972, 4th overall pick
Larry Robinson, 85 points, 1971,2nd round pick
Guy Lapointe - Within 50 miles
Jacques Lemaire - Within 50 miles
Pete Mahovlich - Acquired as a stuggling 23 year old minor leaguer.
Doug Risebrough - 1974 1st Round
Yvan Cournoyer - Free Agent. (Sponsored - Any Team Could have Signed Him)
Yvon Lambert - Acquired from Detroit via Trade
Rejean Houle - Acquired 1st Overall in 1969 Draft (Via Loophole)
Mario Tremblay - 1974 1st Round
Serge Savard - From Montreal
Doug Jarvis - Drafted by Toronto in 1975 (Traded for Him)
Bob Gainey - 1973 1st Round
Murray Wilson - 1971 1st Round
Bill Nyrop - 1972 5th Round
Jim Roberts - Acqured from Minor Leagues in Mid 60's
Pierre Bouchard -1965 5th Overall
Ken Dryden - Acquired from Boston in Trade
The Core of the Team was built through great drafts in 1971-1975 and shrewd trades. This had nothing to do with draft loopholes. The next biggest factor was veteran players acquired with regional rights (Cournoyer, Lemaire, Savard) but the Leafs had the same opportunity at such an advantage.
The 1970's dynasty had nothing to do with this draft loophole nor with the Habs superiority over the Leafs in the original six era While it did exist, it is a myth and incorrect to link it to the success, unless you consider Rejean Houle one of the all time greats.