Imagine winning the Stanley Cup in your first five full seasons in the National Hockey League. Imagine doing that after winning two consecutive minor pro championships in the QHL. That was Jean-Guy Talbot.
After winning the Thomas O’Connell Memorial Trophy with the Quebec Aces in 1953-54 and the Shawinigan Falls Cataractes in 1954-55, Talbot arrived in Montreal just in time for the Canadiens to dominate the NHL for the last half of the 1950’s.
Junior and Minor Pro
NHL Career
Hockey Card Collection
Coaching Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Jean-Guy Talbot – Junior and Minor Pro
Talbot played his junior hockey with the Trois Rivieres Reds in the QJHL from 1949-50 to 1951-52. He was born in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, which is now part of Trois Rivieres, Quebec. His pro career took root with the Quebec Aces in 1953-54. The Aces finished fourth in the seven team league during the regular season, four points below .500. However, in the playoffs, Quebec reached the finals against the Turk Broda coached Ottawa Senators.
Ottawa outscored the Aces 23-20 but Quebec came out on top in the best of nine series, five games to four. After game six, the Aces were down four games to two but stormed back with three straight wins to capture the championship. Quebec then advanced to the Edinburgh Trophy finals against the best team from the WHL, the Calgary Stampeders. Calgary came out on top, five games to one.
The following year, Jean-Guy moved to Shawinigan Falls to play for the Cataractes. That year, 1954-55, he also saw his first NHL action, appearing in three games for the Habs. Over 59 regular season QHL games, the defenseman totalled 34 points. Talbot was named a First Team All-Star and the Cataractes finished first overall.
In the playoffs, Shawinigan met with the Montreal Royals in the finals and came out victorious. In the Edinburgh Trophy series against the WHL’s Edmonton Flyers, the Cataractes came out on top, five wins to two.
Jean-Guy Talbot – NHL
Talbot played 1,056 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1954-55 and 1970-71 with the Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars and Buffalo Sabres. Over that time, he scored 43 and assisted on 242 for 285 points from the blue line. In the Stanley Cup playoffs, Jean-Guy played a whopping 150 games and added 30 points.
Jean-Guy Talbot Collection
Along with his five straight Stanley Cup rings with the Habs in the 1950’s, Talbot was on the ice for championships in 1964-65 and 1965-66. Later on in his career, he helped the St. Louis Blues reach the finals in the franchise’s first three years of existence.
Known for his tough but clean style of play, Talbot strayed in 1960-61 when he finished third in the NHL with 143 penalty minutes. He was just 22 minutes behind league leader Pierre Pilote of the Chicago Blackhawks and two minutes behind Reg Fleming, also of the Hawks. In fact, Chicago had five players in the top ten for PIM that season.
At the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, Talbot was taken in the sixth round, 32nd overall by the North Stars. His time in Minnesota didn’t last long and by the end of that 1967-68 season, Jean-Guy was in St. Louis, by way of the Detroit Red Wings. In November, 1970, he was part of a veteran d-man swap with St. Louis grabbing Bob Baun from the Sabres and Talbot going to Buffalo. That would turn out to be his final season in the NHL.
Jean-Guy Talbot – Coaching
Talbot had a brief coaching career between 1971-72 and 1977-78. Over that time, he coached the Denver Spurs in three different professional hockey leagues. In his first year, the Spurs competed in the WHL.
Jean-Guy took over as head coach from Bill McCreary ten games into the 1971-72 WHL season. The team was led offensively by IIHF Hall of Famer Fran Huck. Denver placed first overall in the six team league and captured the playoff championship over the Portland Buckaroos.
Talbot started 1972-73 with the Spurs but left after nine games when the St. Louis Blues called. Jean-Guy replaced Al Arbour as head coach of the Blues and the team finished the year fourth in the eight team West Division. Garry Unger led that St. Louis team in scoring and Fran Huck was on the roster. The Blues fell in the opening round of the playoffs to the Chicago Blackhawks.
55 games into the 1973-74 season, St. Louis dropped Talbot for Lou Angotti. The Blues finished the season below .500 and out of the playoffs.
Talbot then returned to Denver to again coach the Spurs for 1974-75. Now, Denver was competing in the Central Hockey League. Bob McCord was on the Spurs roster. Back in October of 1967, Jean-Guy was traded from Minnesota to Detroit for the same Bob McCord. The Spurs finished third in the eight team CHL and were swept away by the Omaha Knights in the opening round of the playoffs.
In 1975-76, the Spurs entered play in the World Hockey Association. At Talbot’s side as assistant coach was none other than Bob McCord. Unfortunately, Denver played just 41 games before folding, their last two weeks known as the Ottawa Civics. The team was led in scoring by Ralph Backstrom, a teammate of Talbots with the Habs for many years.
After a year off, Jean-Guy got one more kick at the NHL can. He was behind he bench as head coach of the New York Rangers. Despite an overly talented squad with the likes of Phil Esposito, Ron Greschner, Steve Vickers, Don Murdoch, Carol Vadnais and Ron Duguay on the roster, the team placed fourth in the four team Patrick Division. The Rangers then fell in the preliminary round to the Buffalo Sabres and Talbot’s coaching career was over.
Jean-Guy Talbot – Rookie Card
The Jean Guy Talbot rookie card appears as number 53 in the 1955-56 Parkhurst set and is valued as a common card. Of course, he is shown as a member of the Canadiens. That set consisted of 79 cards and featured the rookie card of goaltending legend Jacques Plante.
In a bit of a Topps folly, Talbot’s 1969-70 card states he’s a member of the Blues, a team that he’d been with since 1967-68. Yet, his picture still showed him as a member of the Canadiens. In between the two clubs, he’d also played for the North Stars and Red Wings.
His final card was in 1970-71 and did show him as a member of the Blues. He played just five games with St. Louis that season before moving on the Sabres to finish out his career. He was never shown on cardboard as a member of the young Buffalo squad.
Jean Guy Talbot Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1953-54 | Quebec Aces | QHL | 67 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 58 |
| 1954-55 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1954-55 | Shawinigan Falls Cataracts | QHL | 59 | 6 | 28 | 34 | 82 |
| 1955-56 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 66 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 80 |
| 1956-57 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 59 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 70 |
| 1957-58 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 55 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 65 |
| 1958-59 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 77 |
| 1959-60 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 69 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 60 |
| 1960-61 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 5 | 26 | 31 | 143 |
| 1961-62 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 5 | 42 | 47 | 90 |
| 1962-63 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 70 | 3 | 22 | 25 | 51 |
| 1963-64 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 66 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 83 |
| 1964-65 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 67 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 64 |
| 1965-66 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 59 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 50 |
| 1966-67 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 51 |
| 1967-68 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 32 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 1967-68 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 23 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| 1967-68 | Minnesota North Stars | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1968-69 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 69 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 24 |
| 1969-70 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 75 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 40 |
| 1970-71 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 1970-71 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 57 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 36 |
| NHL Totals | 1056 | 43 | 242 | 285 | 1006 |