The 'Montreal Canadiens' () are a professional
ice hockey team based in
Montreal,
Quebec,
Canada. They are members of the
Northeast Division of the
Eastern Conference of the
National Hockey League (NHL). The franchise is officially known as 'Le Club de Hockey Canadien'. Other French nicknames for the team include ''Le Canadien'', ''Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge'', ''La Sainte-Flanelle'', ''Le Tricolore'', ''Les Glorieux'', ''Les Habitants'' and ''Le Grand Club''. In English, the main nickname is the ''Habs'' (coming from "Les
Habitants").
The Canadiens are one of the teams known as the '
Original Six', the teams of the NHL, before the 1967 expansion. They have won more
Stanley Cups (24, the first in 1916, before the NHL existed) than any other NHL team; the
Toronto Maple Leafs have the second most with a total of 13.
[1] On a percentage basis,
as of 2006, this makes them the third most historically successful major pro sports team in North America, having won 25% of all NHL/NHA Stanley Cup championships. Only the
Boston Celtics of the
NBA (26.2 %) and the
New York Yankees of
Major League Baseball (25.5%) have higher success rates.
The Canadiens play their home games at the
Bell Centre, which was previously named the Molson Centre up until 2003.
[2] Former homes of the team include
Jubilee Rink,
Montreal Westmount Arena,
Mount Royal Arena and the famous
Montreal Forum. The Forum was considered a veritable shrine to hockey fans everywhere,
[3] and housed the team for seven decades and all but two of their Stanley Cup championships.
The team's Championship season in
1992-93 still marks the last time that a Canadian team won the
Stanley Cup, in a current span of thirteen seasons (fourteen years, due to the NHL lockout season).
[4]
Franchise history
Founded in 1909, eight years before the founding of the NHL, the Canadiens are the oldest continuously operating club in the league. The
Ottawa Senators club can trace its history to 1884, (playing in the Montreal Winter Carnival hockey tournament that year) but it was bought out by the NHL in 1935 and discontinued operations until 1992. The
Toronto Maple Leafs can trace their roots to the same starting date of 1909, but a new franchise was created in 1917, separate from the 1909 franchise.
1910-17: Before the National Hockey League
Before there was an NHL, there was a Montreal Canadiens team. They were founded on
December 4,
1909 as a charter member of the league's forerunner, the
National Hockey Association (NHA). The league's founder,
Renfrew mining tycoon
Ambrose O'Brien had his Renfrew ice hockey team turned down for membership in the new
CHA along with the
Montreal Wanderers, run by
Jimmy Gardner. Together they conceived the idea of forming a new league, the NHA. Mr. Gardner sold Mr. O'Brien on the idea of a team of French-Canadian players to create a natural rivalry with the
Montreal Shamrocks and the Wanderers. Mr. Gardiner suggested that Mr. O'Brien name the team the 'Canadiens'.
[5] Les Canadiens played their first game on
January 5,
1910, coached by
Jack Laviolette.
[6]
After that first season,
George Kennedy, owner of the "Club Athlétique Canadien" founded a year earlier, claimed rights to the Canadiens name. To settle the dispute, a complex deal was worked out in the spring of 1910. Les Canadiens suspended operations for the
1910-11 NHA season (the franchise rights were taken over a year later by the
Toronto Blue Shirts), while Kennedy's team joined the NHA as its second Montreal franchise and assumed the Montreal Canadiens name (the Shamrocks had folded after the season). Kennedy took over the franchise rights of the
Haileybury Hockey Club. The Haileybury team had also been owned by O'Brien, but folded after the season when it became obvious that the mining town was too small to support a big-league hockey team; the remains of the club were sold to Kennedy as part of the deal with O'Brien.
[7] To this day, however, the Canadiens claim descent from the original "Les Canadiens" franchise.
Georges Vézina, Canadiens goaltender from 1910 to 1925
The
1914-15 NHA season was the Canadiens' first in their famous red sweaters with a blue stripe across the middle and a red "C" inside the stripe. The only difference between these uniforms and today's was that the "C" was interlocked with an "A." However, the team had been wearing red sweaters since the 1910-11 season. In
1916 the Canadiens beat the
Portland Rosebuds of the
Pacific Coast Hockey Association to win their first Stanley Cup, and they returned to the finals the following season, only to lose to the
Seattle Metropolitans. The next year, the Canadiens changed their corporate name to the present "Club de Hockey Canadien", and adopted the first version of their current logo (which stands for "'C'lub de 'H'ockey").
Logo worn from 1913-17
1917-32: The Early National Hockey League
The Canadiens and four other NHA teams pulled out of the NHA to form the NHL in
1917. This stemmed from a long-running dispute with
Toronto Blue Shirts owner
Eddie Livingstone. Kennedy and his allies had the votes to throw Livingstone out of the league, but rather than risk a long court battle, they simply created a new league and left Livingstone in the NHA all by himself. Kennedy was the dominant force in the new NHL; he not only controlled the Canadiens but had loaned
Tommy Gorman the money he needed to purchase the then-troubled
Ottawa Senators. They moved out of the Jubilee Rink to share the
Montreal Arena with the Wanderers, only to return to Jubilee after the Montreal Arena burned down in January 1918. During this season,
Joe Malone scored 44 goals--a record that would last for 27 years. Longtime goaltender
Georges Vezina notched the league's first shutout, blanking the Toronto Arenas 9-0 on
February 18. They finished in a first-place tie with the Arenas, but lost a playoff in what would be the first of many playoff battles with the team that would later become the
Maple Leafs.
The next year, they once again faced Seattle for the
Stanley Cup, but tragedy struck with the series tied at two games apiece. Seattle was struck by the worldwide
Spanish flu pandemic, and many players on both teams fell sick. On the day of the deciding fifth game, nearly every player on the Canadiens was either hospitalized or confined to bed. With most of his other players either overseas or frozen in critical jobs due to
World War I, Kennedy could not find any replacements.
Logo used (1917-19, 1921-22)
PCHA president
Frank Patrick vetoed a request to use players from the
Victoria Cougars. The last game was canceled, and Kennedy then offered to forfeit the series--and the Cup--to the Metropolitans. However, Seattle coach
Pete Muldoon felt it wouldn't be fair to accept the victory under the circumstances. As a result, the 1919 series is officially listed as a no-decision. The Canadiens went through a series of troubles after the series. Player-coach
Newsy Lalonde was sick for over a month after the series, and star forward
Joe Hall died five days after the series was abandoned. In the Summer of 1919, the Canadiens' home Jubilee Rink burned down, and they had to build
Mount Royal Arena as a replacement. The team also lost their star player Malone, who had been on loan from the dormant
Quebec Bulldogs. That team returned to the ice in
1919-20. Kennedy died in 1921; he had never recovered from the 1919 flu bug. His widow sold the team to
Leo Dandurand, former player
Joseph Cattarinch and
Louis A. Letourneau.
Logo used (1919-21)
With rookie
Howie Morenz completing a line between
Aurel Joliat and
Billy Boucher, the Canadiens once again reached the top in
1924, defeating both the
Calgary Tigers (of the
Western Canada Hockey League) and the
Vancouver Maroons (of the PCHA) in a convoluted playoff format. In
1925, the Habs lost to the
Victoria Cougars (now the
Detroit Red Wings) in the last year of the old Western Hockey League challenging for the Stanley Cup. The Canadiens lost Vezina to
tuberculosis in late 1925, and finished last in the league. The following season, the Canadiens signed a suitable replacement in
George Hainsworth, who would win the newly created
Vezina Trophy, which was awarded to the goalie who allowed the fewest goals scored. Hainsworth would be the winner of that prize for the next few years.
The
1926-27 season was the Canadiens' first in the
Montreal Forum. They moved there full-time due to constant problems getting acceptable ice at the Mount Royal Arena.
Generally, however, the Habs stumbled in the playoffs until they won their third Stanley Cup in
1930, defeating the seemingly invincible
Boston Bruins (who had lost a mere six games in a 44-game schedule). The "Flying Frenchmen" once again beat the regular-season champion Bruins in the
1931 playoffs, then beat the
Ottawa Senators and
Chicago Black Hawks to win their fourth Cup.
1932-67: The end of Morenz and the Original Six
The Canadiens' stars (Morenz and Joliat) faded out in the early 1930s, and they had the worst record in the league by the
1935-36 NHL season. Stunned by such a horrible performance, the NHL gave the Habs rights to all French Canadian players for two years. They had the second-best record in the NHL in
1936-37, but were stunned by the death of Morenz on
March 8,
1937 at the age of 34. On
January 28,
1937 Morenz suffered multiple fractures of his leg from a hit by
Earl Seibert of the
Blackhawks, and developed blood clots in his fractured leg which led to a
stroke.
The 1942 Canadiens
The Canadiens were once again mired in mediocrity for several more seasons. The low point came in
1939-40, with a horrendous 10-win season--still the worst in franchise history. This led to talk that the Canadiens might fold. An unlikely saviour arrived in the form of Maple Leafs owner
Conn Smythe. The Depression had already claimed several teams, and Smythe felt that the league might not have been able to survive the loss of its oldest franchise. He persuaded the
Canadian Arena Company, which had bought the Canadiens in 1935, to hire Leafs coach
Dick Irvin, who had taken the Leafs to the finals six times in eight years.
Irvin didn't take long to turn the Canadiens around. His efforts bore fruit when, led by the "Punch Line" of
Maurice "Rocket" Richard,
Toe Blake and
Elmer Lach, the Habs lifted the Cup again in
1944 after losing only five games in the regular season. The sophomore Richard proved he was not "small, fragile and too brittle for the
National Hockey League", as GM
Tommy Gorman, after
Richard's rookie year, concernedly voiced. If anything, he was Morenz's successor as one of hockey's preeminent superstars. Like Morenz, Richard was a great goal-scoring forward — and both Richard and Morenz were quite physical. Richard, in fact, became the first NHL player to hit 1000 career penalty minutes.
In
1945, Richard made NHL history by becoming the first player to score 50 goals in one season, reaching the mark on the final night of the season —
50 goals in 50 games. Despite their power, the Habs lost to the
Toronto Maple Leafs in the semi-finals. The team was to be invigorated in the
1946 playoffs, winning their sixth Stanley Cup. But in 1947, despite Rocket Richard winning the
Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL
Most Valuable Player, the Habs lost in the
Stanley Cup Final against the nemesis Maple Leafs.
Logo used (1926-53)
In 1957, brothers Tom and
Hartland Molson, owners of the
Molson brewery, purchased the team. The 1950s were by far the most successful decade for the Canadiens, and it is believed by many that the Habs of this era were the best team in NHL history. Between
1951 and
1960, the Canadiens made the finals every year, winning six times (including a record five straight between
1956 and
1960). Toe Blake succeeded Irvin as coach in 1955, and they added more of the league's great players such as
Jean Beliveau (nicknamed ''Le Gros Bill''),
Dickie "Digger" Moore,
Doug Harvey,
Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, goalie
Jacques Plante (who, in
1959, became the first goalie to regularly wear a mask on
November 1 in a 3-1 win at the
New York Rangers, but not without some resistance, even from coach Toe Blake), "Rocket" Richard, and his younger brother,
Henri, who became known as the "Pocket Rocket" — many thought the Habs were merely placating the elder Richard when his brother was signed.
Montreal fell into a state of unbridled love, if not obsession, with the Habs team. At no time was this more evident than when Rocket Richard was suspended for the rest of the season on
March 13,
1955, for assaulting an official in the aftermath of a stick fight in a game against the
Bruins. Montrealers rioted in the streets at the following game (on
March 17, at home versus the
Detroit Red Wings), causing millions of dollars in damage. The Canadiens had to forfeit the game, and went on to lose in the finals to the Red Wings. The previous year, the Habs had also fallen at the hands of the Red Wings, when Harvey (considered one of the best defencemen of all time) redirected a clearing attempt by the Red Wings' Tony Leswick into the Montreal net past Canadiens goalie
Gerry McNeil. In 1956 the Canadiens established a "farm team" in Peterborough, Ontario, now the
Peterborough Petes of the
Ontario Hockey League.
Despite Rocket Richard's retirement in 1960, the Canadiens looked ready to win yet another, a ''sixth'' straight Cup in
1961; but they were stunned in the playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks (who eventually won the
Stanley Cup behind the goal-producing genius of
left-winger Bobby Hull) in the semi-finals. The Canadiens continued to suffer (relative) playoff frustration until they won the Cup again in
1965, in
Yvan Cournoyer's rookie season, and repeated in
1966.
1967-86: Expansion era
Canada's centennial year of 1967 was momentous for the country, and more importantly for the city of Montreal. A
world's fair,
Expo 67, was held in Montreal, and the Canadiens had promised to deliver the Stanley Cup to the Quebec Pavillion of the Canadian Showcase. The Stanley Cup final that year pitted the Canadiens against the Maple Leafs. Montreal was an overwhelming favorite, especially since Toronto featured two 30+-year-old goaltenders,
Terry Sawchuk and
Johnny Bower. However, the Leafs won in an upset, and instead of displaying the Cup in the Quebec Pavillion, the Habs had to watch the Leafs parade the Cup in downtown Toronto.
The Leafs have never been to the final since then, and with expansion in
1968, the Canadiens handily defeated the fledgling
St. Louis Blues in the finals during each of the next two seasons. The Canadiens missed out on a playoff spot in
1970 on the final day of the regular season, thanks to a tiebreaker. Entering the final games of the season, the Canadiens held a two point lead over the
New York Rangers, plus a 242-237 edge in goals scored. The Rangers played their last regular season game first, and beat the
Detroit Red Wings 9-5 to pull even in points and take a 246-242 goal lead. This led to an unusual incident in which, since the Canadiens would make the playoffs if they scored five or more goals in their final game regardless of the outcome, Montreal coach
Claude Ruel pulled his goaltender with eight minutes remaining against the Black Hawks with Chicago leading 5-3. Chicago tallied three empty net goals, but Montreal failed to score again.
[1] Since Toronto missed out as well, it meant both the only time in NHL history no Canadian teams made the playoffs, as well as the only time between
1948 and
1995 that Montreal missed the playoffs — an unprecedented stretch of nearly 50 seasons.
Quickly, though, the Habs got back to their winning ways in
1971, defeating the Black Hawks to capture yet another Stanley Cup in goalie
Ken Dryden's rookie season (starting a career where he would average an astonishing two goals allowed per game), in addition to long-time Leafs' star
Frank Mahovlich's first in a Canadiens uniform. After
1969-70, captain
Jean Beliveau, who retired in 1971, had only stayed on for the one last season at the insistence of
General Manager Sam Pollock, who knew there had to be a veteran leader in Montreal.
Dryden had only played six regular-season games in '70-'71, but
Al MacNeil, who had replaced Ruel midway through the season, made what was considered a wise choice in sticking with Dryden -- who had had a perfect record in those six games and a 1.65 GAA -- as the Habs dispatched the mighty Bruins in the first round. Despite his Cup triumph, MacNeil resigned amidst accusations that he showed favourtism toward the Habs' English-speaking players, including an ongoing dispute with Henri Richard.
After losing in the quarter-finals to the
New York Rangers in
1972 (
Guy Lafleur's rookie season as well as Dryden's official one), they would once again win the Cup over Chicago in
1973.
Dryden would sit out the season in a contract dispute, although the official line was that he was completing his law degree. The Canadiens were upset by the Rangers in the first round in
1974, and would lose out to the
Buffalo Sabres in the semi-finals in
1975. In
1976, under the leadership of
head coach Scotty Bowman, they went on to win the Cup again, thwarting the
Philadelphia Flyers' hopes for a third consecutive championship. The series was widely hailed as a victory for skilled play over the thuggish tactics of the "Broad Street Bullies". The team was led by Lafleur (who was in the midst of six straight 50-goal seasons, the league's first ever six-consecutive-time 50-goal ''and'' 100-point scorer), Cournoyer, Dryden,
Frank Mahovlich's brother
Pete,
Steve Shutt,
Serge Savard,
Guy Lapointe and
Larry Robinson (the last three of whom a powerful triumvirate of All-Star defencemen dubbed "The Big Three"). In
1976-77 the Canadiens would set a modern-day record by only losing eight games in an 80-game season. The Canadiens would then go on to win three more consecutive Cups to close out the 1970s.
The Canadiens nearly scuttled the deal between the NHL and
World Hockey Association, in which four WHA teams--the
Hartford Whalers (now the
Carolina Hurricanes),
Edmonton Oilers,
Quebec Nordiques (now the
Colorado Avalanche) and
Winnipeg Jets (now
Phoenix Coyotes)--were due to join the NHL. The Canadiens, along with the NHL's other two Canadian teams (the Leafs and
Vancouver Canucks) were not pleased at the prospect of splitting television revenue with three new teams. A boycott of
Molson products was staged in Edmonton and Winnipeg, although it is debatable what, if any, effect it had.
Most of the Canadiens' best players were retired or traded by the early 1980s (the major exceptions being
Bob Gainey, Robinson, and Lafleur). They would, however, pick up star Swedish left-winger
Mats Naslund, as well as
Guy Carbonneau in the early 1980s. By the
1985-86 NHL season, they once again had a top goalie in rookie
Patrick Roy, and another All-Star in sophomore
Chris Chelios, manning the blue line. Gainey, Carbonneau, Chelios, Naslund, Robinson and Roy would lead the Canadiens to their only
Stanley Cup of the decade that season, defeating the
Calgary Flames.
1986-present — The Modern NHL
The Montreal Canadiens won their league-leading 24th (and, to date, last)
Stanley Cup against the
Los Angeles Kings in 1993, during the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup. That playoff season, the Canadiens won an NHL-record 10 consecutive overtime games. They also tied an NHL-record by winning 11 consecutive games in one playoff year (the record is shared by the
Pittsburgh Penguins and the
Chicago Blackhawks - both teams won 11 in a row the previous year).
But in
1995, the Canadiens missed the playoffs for the first time in 25 years, and only the third time in 54 years. In December of that year, when the Canadiens lost 11-1 at home to the
Detroit Red Wings, then-head coach
Mario Tremblay refused to pull
Patrick Roy from the net until after the ninth goal, despite the goalie's repeated pleas. After he was pulled, Roy, approached then team president
Ronald Corey and told him, "This is my last game in a Montreal Canadiens uniform."
[8][9] He was traded to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion
Colorado Avalanche along with
Mike Keane for
Jocelyn Thibault,
Andrei Kovalenko, and
Martin Rucinsky.
The 1992-93 Canadiens team posing with the Stanley Cup. No team from Canada has won it since.
On
March 11,
1996, the Canadiens defeated the
Dallas Stars, 4-1 in the final game at the historic
Montreal Forum. The final goal at the Forum was scored by
Andrei Kovalenko. The Stars were chosen as the final Forum opponent because their captain,
Guy Carbonneau, and their general manager,
Bob Gainey, were both former Canadien captains. Following the game, a moving closing ceremony was held, in which each living Canadiens captain, wearing an up-to-date version of the uniform with his old number on it, passed a torch, the older one to the younger one:
Butch Bouchard to
Maurice Richard to
Jean Beliveau to
Henri Richard to
Yvan Cournoyer to
Serge Savard to Gainey to Carbonneau to
Pierre Turgeon, the then-captain. (Three living former captains were unavailable because they were still active with other teams:
Mike Keane with the Avalanche,
Kirk Muller with the
New York Islanders, and
Chris Chelios with the
Chicago Blackhawks).
The team moved into the new Molson Centre (renamed Bell Centre for
2003-04) the following Saturday, defeating the
New York Rangers, 4-2. However, the Canadiens missed the playoffs three straight seasons between
1999 and
2001. There was even brief talk of the team moving, especially after American investor
George N. Gillett Jr. was the only interested buyer when the
Molson family sold the team in 2001. After no acceptable offers came from Canadian interests, the NHL allowed Gillett to buy the team, provided that he promise to keep it in Montreal until 2021.
In the fall of 2001, it was revealed that centre
Saku Koivu, who had been with the team since
1995, had cancer and would miss the season. However, he came back to win the
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perservance, sportmanship and dedication to hockey, register two assists in the last three games and, along with the surprising strong play of goalie
Jose Theodore (who won the
Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award,
Hart Trophy and
Vezina Trophy that season), inspired the team for a run to the
2002 playoffs as the final seed in the Eastern Conference. They upset the
Boston Bruins in the first round, before bowing to the
Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.
On
November 22,
2003, the Canadiens participated in the
Heritage Classic, the first outdoor hockey game in the history of the NHL. The Canadiens defeated the
Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in front of more than 55,000 fans — an NHL attendance record — at
Commonwealth Stadium in
Edmonton. The team seemed to turn a corner at that point, and finished the season in the 7th playoff seed in the
Eastern Conference. The team would again play the Bruins in the playoffs, for a record 30th time. Coming back from a 3-1 deficit, the Canadiens won the final three games to again upset the Bruins. The Canadiens were swept away in second round by the eventual Stanley Cup champions
Tampa Bay Lightning.
On
January 13,
2006,
Claude Julien was fired as coach, and replaced on an interim basis by
Bob Gainey, the team's general manager. Later on in the season, Montreal starting goalie
Jose Theodore was traded to the
Colorado Avalanche after numerous disappointing starts, in return for goalie
David Aebischer. The Canadiens narrowly made the playoffs, but lost in 6 games to the eventual champion
Carolina Hurricanes.
In the
2006-07 NHL season,
Guy Carbonneau took over as head coach of the team.
[10]
In December 2006, as the founder of the Montreal Canadiens,
John Ambrose O'Brien was an inaugural inductee in the team's newly created 'Builders Row' in the
Bell Centre. As well, the team inducted special advisor William Northey, former team president
Donat Raymond and former owners
Leo Dandurand,
Joseph Cattarinich,
Louis A. Letourneau and
Senator Hartland de Montarville Molson.
[11]
The near future and beyond
The Montreal Canadiens unveiled this 100th anniversary logo to be used in 2008-09.
A major announcement about the one hundred year anniversary of ''Les Habs'' was made on
October 2,
2005. On
October 15 of that year, to begin the
Montreal Canadiens Centennial countdown, it was announced that three more jersey numbers would be retired —
Dickie Moore's and
Yvan Cournoyer's number 12 on
November 12 before their game against the
Toronto Maple Leafs, and the number 5 worn by
Bernard "Boom Boom" Geoffrion on
March 11,
2006 prior to their contest against the
New York Rangers, the other team he played for after a two-year retirement — the first since moving from "The Forum" during a "Legends Night" ceremony, with one additional number to be hoisted to the rafters in each of the three following seasons. Sadly, Geoffrion would die on the very day his number was to be retired.
On
September 23,
2006, the Montreal Canadiens announced the retirement of number 18 for
Serge Savard, on
November 18,
2006, and number 29 for
Ken Dryden, on
January 29,
2007.
[12][13]
The Canadiens also announced ambitious plans for their Centennial year of 2008-09, including plans to bid on hosting the
World Junior Hockey Championships (which were since awarded to
Ottawa), the
NHL All-Star Game (which they were awarded) and the
NHL Draft. On
January 23,
2007, it was announced that the 2009
NHL All-Star Game would indeed be held in Montreal.
[14] The team's management has pledged to be a
Stanley Cup contender in time for 2009.
Team colours and mascot
One of sports' oldest and most recognizable logos, the classic 'C' and 'H' of the Montreal Canadiens was first used together in the 1917-18 season before evolving to its current form in 1952-53. The 'H' does not stand for 'Habs' or ''Habitants'', as this is a misconception stemming from an error by an English language newspaper reporter in the 1950s. It actually stands for 'Hockey', as in 'Club de Hockey Canadien', the official name of the team.
The first logo was a large green maple leaf with a white 'C' in 'Old English' script as all of the NHA O'Brien franchises had similar logos. As the team ownership changed, the logo evolved into today's famous logo.
After being bought in 1911 by George Kennedy, the logo was first changed to a star-like logo of the letters CAC, standing for Club Athletique Canadien. This was then changed to a large C, with an A inside.
After being bought by original Canadien player Leo Dandurant, the team regained their original name, Club de Hockey Canadien, and the H replaced the A. Thus the CH, standing for Club de Hockey Canadien (or CHC) logo was born.
The current team colours are red, blue and white, and they can all be seen on the home, road and third jerseys. The home jersey, which was the team's road jersey from 1970 until 2003 when the
NHL decided to switch home and road jerseys,
[15] is predominantly red in colour. There are four blue and white stripes, one across each arm, one across the chest and the other across the waist. The main road jersey is the team's former home jersey, it is mainly white with a red and blue stripe across the waist, red at the end of both arm sleeves and the shoulders are also draped with red.The third jersey is white in colour with a similar design to the home jersey, except that the three stripes are blue and red, with a single red stripe dabbing the end of each arm sleeve. The third jersey design is based upon the white sweater worn by the Canadiens in the mid-1940s; as a vintage design, it sports a solid red crew collar, as opposed to the blue-white-blue striped V-neck on the home and road jerseys.
The Canadiens' famous colours are an important part of French Canadian culture. In the short story ''
The Hockey Sweater'' by
Roch Carrier a young Quebecois boy is accidentally given the jersey of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. The poem was later made into an animated short; a quote from it appears on the
Canadian five dollar bill.
Because of the team's rich history and significance, the jersey is referred to by many as ''La sainte flanelle'' (the holy flannel sweater).
Beginning in the
2004-05 NHL season, the Canadiens adopted a furry, orange creature named
Youppi as their official mascot, the first in their 90+ year history. Youppi was the longtime mascot for the
Montreal Expos baseball team, but was dropped from the franchise when they moved to
Washington, D.C. in 2004 and became the
Nationals. With the switch, Youppi became the first mascot in professional sports to switch leagues.
[16]
Seasons and records
Season by season results
''This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Canadiens. For the full season-by-season history, see
Montreal Canadiens seasons''
'''Note:' GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes''
| Season | GP | W | L | T1 | OTL | GF | GA | PTS | PIM | Finish | Playoffs |
| 2001-02 | 82 | 36 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 207 | 209 | 87 | 974 | 4th, Northeast | Lost in Conference Semifinals, 2-4 (Hurricanes) |
| 2002-03 | 82 | 30 | 35 | 8 | 9 | 206 | 234 | 77 | 900 | 4th, Northeast | Did not qualify |
| 2003-04 | 82 | 41 | 30 | 7 | 4 | 208 | 192 | 93 | 1039 | 4th, Northeast | Lost in Conference Semifinals, 0-4 (Lightning) |
| 2004-05 | ''Season cancelled due to 2004-05 NHL Lockout'' |
| 2005-061 | 82 | 42 | 31 | — | 9 | 243 | 247 | 93 | 1312 | 3rd, Northeast | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Hurricanes) |
| 2006-07 | 82 | 42 | 34 | — | 6 | 245 | 256 | 90 | 1312 | 4th, Northeast | Did not qualify |
:
1 As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).
Franchise scoring leaders
These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.
'''Note:' Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game
''Updated at completion of 2006–2007 season''
Individual records
Career
★ Most Seasons:
Henri Richard, 20
★ Most Games: Henri Richard, 1256
★ Most Goals:
Maurice Richard, 544
★ Most Assists:
Guy Lafleur, 728
★ Most Points: Guy Lafleur, 1246 (518G, 728A)
★ Most Penalty Minutes:
Chris Nilan, 2248
★ Most Shutouts:
George Hainsworth, 75
★ Most Consecutive Games Played:
Doug Jarvis, 560
★ Most Stanley Cups:
Henri Richard, 11
★
Season
★ Most Goals in a season:
Steve Shutt &
Guy Lafleur, 60 (1976-77; 1977-78)
★ Most Powerplay goals in a season:
Yvan Cournoyer, 20 (1966-67)
★ Most Assists in a season:
Pete Mahovlich, 82 (1974-75)
★ Most Points in a season:
Guy Lafleur, 136 (1976-77)
★ Most Penalty Minutes in a season:
Chris Nilan, 358 (1984-85)
★ Most Points in a season, defenceman:
Larry Robinson, 85 (1976-77)
★ Most Points in a season, rookie:
Mats Naslund;
Kjell Dahlin, 71 (1982-83; 1985-86)
★ Most Wins in a season:
Jacques Plante;
Ken Dryden, 42 (1955-56 & 1961-62; 1975-76)
★ Most Shutouts in a season:
George Hainsworth, 22 (1928-29)
★
★ Most Goals in a season, defenceman:
Guy Lapointe, 28 (1974-75)
Current roster
As of August 28, 2007 [2]
| Forwards |
|---|
| # | | 'Player' | Position | Shoots | Acquired | Place of Birth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| '6' | | Tom Kostopoulos | RW | R | 2007 | Mississauga, Ontario |
| '11' | | Saku Koivu – 'C' | C | L | 1993 | Turku, Finland |
| '14' | | Tomas Plekanec | C | L | 2001 | Kladno, Czechoslovakia |
| '20' | | Bryan Smolinski | C | R | 2007 | Toledo, Ohio |
| '21' | | Christopher Higgins | C | L | 2002 | Smithtown, New York |
| '22' | | Steve Begin | LW | L | 2003 | Trois-Rivieres, Quebec |
| '27' | | Alexei Kovalev – 'A' | RW | L | 2004 | Tolyatti, U.S.S.R. |
| '40' | | Maxim Lapierre | C | R | 2003 | Saint-Leonard, Quebec |
| '46' | | Andrei Kostitsyn | LW | L | 2003 | Navapolatsk, U.S.S.R. |
| '57' | | Garth Murray | LW | L | 2005 | Regina, Saskatchewan |
| '73' | | Michael Ryder | RW | R | 1998 | Bonavista, Newfoundland |
| '84' | | Guillaume Latendresse | RW | L | 2005 | Sainte-Catherine, Quebec |
Leaders
Team captains
★
Jack Laviolette, 1909-10
★
Newsy Lalonde, 1910-11
★ Jack Laviolette, 1911-12
★ Newsy Lalonde, 1912-13
★
Jimmy Gardner, 1913-15
★
Howard McNamara, 1915-16
★ Newsy Lalonde, 1916-22
★
Sprague Cleghorn, 1922-25
★
Billy Coutu, 1925-26
★
Sylvio Mantha, 1926-32
★
George Hainsworth, 1932-33
★ Sylvio Mantha, 1933-36
★
Albert "Babe" Siebert, 1936-39
★
Walter Buswell, 1939-40
★
Toe Blake, 1940-48
★
Bill Durnan, 1948
(January - April)
★
Emile Bouchard, 1948-56
★
Maurice Richard, 1956-60
★
Doug Harvey, 1960-61
★
Jean Beliveau, 1961-71
★
Henri Richard, 1971-75
★
Yvan Cournoyer, 1975-79
★
Serge Savard, 1979-81
★
Bob Gainey, 1981-89
★
Guy Carbonneau &
Chris Chelios, 1989-90
(co-captains)
★ Guy Carbonneau, 1990-94
★
Kirk Muller, 1994-95
★
Mike Keane, 1995
(April-December)
★
Pierre Turgeon, 1995-96
★
Vincent Damphousse, 1996-99
★
Saku Koivu, 1999-present
Head coaches
★
Jean-Baptiste "Jack" Laviolette, 1909–10
★
Adolphe Lecours, 1910–11
★
Napoleon Dorva, 1911-13
★
James Henry "Jimmy" Gardner, 1913-15
★
Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde, 1915-21
★ Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde
and
Leo Dandurand, 1921-22
★ Leo Dandurand, 1922-26
★
Cecil Hart, 1926-32
★ Edouard Lalonde, 1932-34
★ Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde
and Leo Dandurand, 1934-35
★
Sylvio Mantha, 1935-36
★ Cecil Hart, 1936-38
★ Cecil Hart and
Jules Dugal, 1938-39
★
Albert "Babe" Siebert, 1939
★
Alfred "Pit" Lepine, 1939-40
★
Dick Irvin, 1940-55
★
Hector "Toe" Blake, 1955-68
★
Claude Ruel, 1968-71
★
Al MacNeil, 1971
★
Scotty Bowman, 1971-79
★
Bernie Geoffrion, 1979
★ Claude Ruel, 1979-81
★
Bob Berry, 1981-84
★
Jacques Lemaire, 1984-85
★
Jean Perron, 1985-88
★
Pat Burns, 1988-92
★
Jacques Demers, 1992-95
★
Mario Tremblay, 1995-97
★
Alain Vigneault, 1997-00
★
Michel Therrien, 2000-03
★
Claude Julien, 2003-06
★
Bob Gainey, 2006
(January - May) (interim coach)
★
Guy Carbonneau, 2006 - ''present''
Honoured Members
Pro Hockey Hall of Famers
In the
Hockey Hall of Fame, the Canadiens boast the most enshrined Hall-of-Famers with forty-two. All of their inductees are from
Canada with the exception of former Defenceman
Joe Hall, who was from
England. Thirty-six of these players are from three separate notable dynasties: 12 from 1955-1960, 11 from 1964-1969 and 13 from 1975-1979.
Howie Morenz and
Georges Vézina were the first Canadiens given the honour in 1945, while
Patrick Roy and
Dick Duff were the last to be inducted in 2006.
Retired numbers
The Canadiens have retired twelve numbers in their history, the most of any team in the
National Hockey League, and the fourth highest total of any North American professional sports franchise. All of the honourees are Canadian born.
Howie Morenz was the first honouree on
November 2,
1937, while
Ken Dryden was the most recent to have his number retired on
January 29,
2007.
Larry Robinson is scheduled to be honored on
November 19,
2007, while
Bob Gainey is scheduled to be honored on
February 23,
2008.
[17]
''
★ 99
Wayne Gretzky, number retired league-wide
February 6,
2000''
References
1. Stanley Cup Champions and Finalists
2. Molson Centre renamed Bell Centre
3. The end of an era (The Montreal Forum)
4. The Complete List of Stanley Cup Champions
5. Canadiens press release on "Builders Row", December 14, 2006. http://www.canadiens.com/eng/news/redirect.cfm?sectionID=habsNewsDetails.cfm&newsItemID=5465
6. Montreal Canadiens entry at Sports ECyclopedia. http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/montreal/canadiens.html
7. Charles L. Coleman, ''Trail of the Stanley Cup'', Kendall/Hunt (1964), p. 201.
8. King is Dethroned; Hockey, Canadiens-style, is not without its warts
9. Career For The Ages
10. Canadiens usher in Carbonneau era
11. Post Game Story - Founder John Ambrose O'Brien
12. Dryden and Savard earn ultimate tribute
13. Dryden, Savard paid tribute
14. Montreal will host 2009 NHL All-Star events
15. NHL 'quacked' up with hockey jersey switch
16. Canadiens adopt Youppi! as their mascot
17. Montreal Canadiens - Retired Numbers
See also
★
Montreal Canadiens notable players and award winners
★
Montreal Junior Canadiens
★
Bruins-Canadiens Rivalry
★
List of Montreal Canadiens presidents
★
List of NHL players
★
List of NHL seasons
★
List of Stanley Cup champions
★
List of Montreal Canadiens goalies
External links
★
Official website of the Montreal Canadiens
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