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If there had been any doubt about it before, there was no longer: the Montreal Canadiens are the greatest team in hockey history. Last week, completing the job of skating and shooting the Toronto Maple Leafs off the ice, Les Canadiens won the Stanley Cup play-offs in four straight games. The scores: 4-2, 2-1, 5-2, 4-0. It was the fifth consecutive Stanley Cup for Montreal, a feat never equaled.

Montreal is a team of stars and of depth. When it started its championship streak five years ago, the big name was that of Maurice Richard. This year Richard, at 38, is plainly near retirement. But his kid brother, Henri, 24, has become one of hockey's top forwards--and Montreal has a half-dozen other of the N.H.L.'s brighter stars.

But Montreal's real strength lies less in its headlinemakers than in its top-to-bottom power. Said a rival club official last week: "They've got so much talent they can keep guys like Ralph Backstrom and Billy Hicke on the bench for a year. Then when they get in the game, they beat you."

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