MONTREAL — “We’ve got a habit of killing drummers.”

Who guitarist and main creative force, Pete Townshend was pointing to drummer Kenny Jones with pride when he made that remark at the Forum Wednesday night.

Callous though it may have sounded, the group’s late and zany drummer Keith Moon would probably have appreciated the remark because not for 10 years has the group played with such energy and enthusiasm.

And Jones, formerly with Rod Stewart’s Faces, provided most of that energy.

Moon, who died of an alcohol and drug overdose two years ago had, according to bassist John Entwistle, been difficult to play with during his later years.

As a friend, Townshend, Entwistle and singer Roger Daltrey miss Moon, but at the same time they credit Jones with pumping enthusiasm back into The Who and bringing the band out of semi-retirement.

Certainly, for guys in their middle thirties paying their first visit in five years to Montreal, The Who has still got what it takes.

Although the early part of their North American tour was marred by the December 1979 deaths of 11 Cincinnati fans, Townshend, Daltrey, Entwistle and Jones continued touring. The shock of those deaths nearly pushed The Who back into retirement from the concert circuit, but they persevered.

Wednesday night’s Forum show before a well behaved capacity crowd of 18,000 revealed a physically tamer band — no guitar or speaker smashing like in the old days, but a definite high octane two hours of rock music nonetheless.

The set opened with Substitute, and included other nostalgia numbers such as My Generation, I Can See For Miles, Can’t Explain and a few songs from Townshend’s rock opera Tommy.

Eleven years ago at the Woodstock music festival, Townshend threw his guitar into the audience. Last night only Roger Daltrey’s tambourines and harmonicas went into the crowd.

Aided by keyboard player John Bundrick and a three-piece horn section, The Who proved themselves still capable of playing hard driving rock music — enough to make a goodly number of new wavers pack up forever.

Daltrey’s acrobatic microphone is still in fine form, but Entwistle’s massive contribution is still very much in the background because of the typically quiet bassist attitude he adopts — almost static and never apparently excitable.

Townshend with his familiar circular strumming motions and jumping around, made an effort to brighten up the band’s overall stage presentation now the flamboyant Moon has gone.

But in the final analysis, the music speaks for itself. The Who can still play better than most bands, new or old wave. And after 16 years that’s no mean feat.