Sweater Showdown: Montreal wins!

Roch Carrier must have been onto something when he wrote The Sweater.

Like the little boy who longs for his beaten up bleu, blanc et rouge threads, NHL fans are not yet ready to part with the idea of Montreal as the ultimate hockey jersey.

Aside from a brief period during the opening round against Columbus, the Canadiens never trailed in the Sweater Showdown, and captured at least 75 percent of the vote in the following two rounds against Calgary and rival Boston. The Blackhawks offered stiffer competition, trailing by just 10 percent at one point, but could never overtake the Habs.

To give an idea of how revered the Habs' sweater is, the Canadiens media guide devotes seven pages to their threads, documenting every tweak over the years.

From 1909 to 1913, Montreal's uniform underwent major changes every season. Designs included a plain blue and white jersey, a red one with a stylized maple leaf and a white one with diagonal stripes.

During the 1912-13 season, the Canadiens settled on a red, white, and blue, horizontal-striped sweater, which became known as the "Barber Shop" jersey. The Ottawa Senators felt the look was too similar to their own red, white and black striped uniforms. Because of the complaints, Montreal changed its look in midseason, adopting the first version of the sweater we've grown to love over time.

In the 93 years since, Montreal has strayed from its traditional look only twice. In 1918, a fire at Westmount Arena destroyed the team's jerseys, forcing the squad to borrow plain red sweaters with a white stripe for a contest against -- you guessed it -- Ottawa. The other time was during the 1924-25 season, when Montreal, looking to celebrate its 1924 Stanley Cup victory, replaced the CH on the front of their jersey with a globe. But the Habs' logo wasn't completely absent as it was displayed on the sleeves.

Otherwise, very little has changed. Not even a whole new uniform system adopted by the NHL could change the Canadiens' classic look.