Montreal Canadiens

Founding

In November 1909, industrialist Ambrose O'Brien of Renfrew, Ontario, was in Montreal to purchase supplies for a railway contract. At the request of the Renfrew Creamery Kings hockey team, he attended the Eastern Canada Hockey Association (ECHA) meetings, held at the Windsor Hotel, to represent Renfrew in its application to join the league. At the meeting, the ECHA team owners rejected Renfrew's application. Later that day the ECHA's owners chose to disband their league and form the Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) in a bid to exclude the Montreal Wanderers, who had upset the other owners when they moved into a smaller arena that would reduce the visiting team's share of gate receipts. In the lobby of the hotel, O'Brien met Jimmy Gardner, manager of the Wanderers, and discussed forming a new league which would include Renfrew, the Wanderers, and two teams that O'Brien owned in the Ontario mining towns of Cobalt and Haileybury. Gardner suggested that O'Brien start a team of francophone players based in Montreal, forming a rivalry with the Wanderers. As a result, the National Hockey Association (NHA) was founded on December 2, 1909, and Les Canadiens were created two days later, initially financed by O'Brien with the intent of transferring ownership to francophone sportsmen in Montreal as soon as possible.

At the time, francophone teams were not considered to be good enough to play with the top anglophone teams: the Montreal Gazette warned potential fans of the new team not to get too excited, as "French-Canadian players of class are not numerous". The Canadiens stocked their team with francophone stars including Newsy Lalonde, Georges Poulin and Didier Pitre. Before being allowed to play, Pitre had to resolve a lawsuit with the Montreal Nationals, to whom he was already under contract.

1910–17: National Hockey Association

Half-length view of an ice hockey player in his late twenties. He has short black hair and a serious look. He is wearing a sweater with the letter C surrounded by a maple leaf on the chest.
The Canadiens played their first game on January 5, 1910, coached by Jack Laviolette. Before a sellout crowd of 3,000, they defeated Cobalt 7–6 in overtime. The victory was erased from the history books shortly after, as the CHA collapsed after only two weeks of play, and the NHA chose to restart the season after absorbing the CHA's Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Shamrocks. The Canadiens' first game of the new season was played January 19, a 9–4 loss to the Renfrew Creamery Kings. They lost three more games before finally recording their first victory of the new season on February 7, when they defeated the Haileybury Hockey Club by a score of 9–7. They won only two of their 12 games that season, and finished last in the eight-team league.

George Kennedy, owner of the Club Athlétique Canadien (CAC), claimed rights to the "Canadiens" team name following the season. He settled the dispute by buying the team from O'Brien for $7,500. That same year, the team adopted its now-famous red sweater with a blue stripe across the front. In the middle of the stripe was an elongated red C encompassing a red A to represent the CAC.

The Canadiens reached the playoffs for the first time in 1913–14 when they tied the Toronto Blueshirts for the league lead with 26 points. The two teams played a two-game series for the championship, with the winner based on total goals. Georges Vezina shut out the Blueshirts 2–0 in the first game, but the Canadiens were defeated 6–0 in the second and lost the series. Two years later, in 1915–16, the Canadiens won the NHA championship, the O'Brien Cup, with a 16–7–1 record, three wins better than the second place Senators. The title earned the Canadiens their first berth in the Stanley Cup Finals, where they faced the Portland Rosebuds of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). With the best-of-five series tied at two wins apiece, the deciding game was held at Westmount Arena in Montreal on March 30, 1916. Montreal's Goldie Prodgers scored the winning goal with less than four minutes to play, giving the Canadiens their first Stanley Cup championship.

In 1916, the CAC faced financial difficulty after a January fire destroyed its gymnasium and the Montreal Canadians lacrosse team failed. Kennedy separated the hockey club from the CAC and incorporated it in March 1916 as "Le club de Hockey Canadien". The Canadiens changed their logo to a red "C" interlocked with a white "H". The H in the logo stands for "hockey," though the long standing misconception that it stands for "Habitants" led to the team being nicknamed "the Habs".

The NHA met its demise in the winter of 1917 following several long-running disputes between Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone and the league's other four teams over who owned the rights to various players. Kennedy especially disliked Livingstone, and the two nearly came to blows numerous times during league meetings. However, the Canadiens, Wanderers, Senators and Quebec Bulldogs discovered that while they were united in their distaste for Livingstone, the league constitution didn't allow them to simply vote him out. To solve this problem, on November 26 they created a new league, the National Hockey League (NHL), and didn't invite Livingstone to join them. They nominally remained members of the NHA and had enough votes to suspend the league's operations, effectively leaving Livingstone in a one-team league. Kennedy was the dominant force in the new league; he not only owned the Canadiens but had fronted Tommy Gorman the money he'd used to buy the Senators. However, the four teams realized it would be unthinkable not to have a team from Toronto in their league. They also needed a fourth team to balance the schedule after financial difficulties forced the Bulldogs to suspend operations (as it turned out, they wouldn't take the ice until 1919). With this in mind, they granted a "temporary" franchise to the Toronto Arena Company, which eventually evolved into the Canadiens' bitter rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

1917–32: early National Hockey League

Joe Malone recorded five goals for the Canadiens in their NHL debut, a 7–4 victory over the Senators, en route to a league leading 44 goal season. The fledgling league nearly collapsed on January 2, 1918, after a fire destroyed the Montreal Arena, home to both the Wanderers and the Canadiens. The Canadiens relocated to the 3,000-seat Jubilee Arena, but the Wanderers ceased operations, reducing the NHL to three teams. Playing a revamped split season schedule, Montreal won the first half title, but lost the league championship to second half winning Toronto by a score of 10–7 in a two-game, total goals series.

The Canadiens won the NHL championship against the Senators in 1918–19, and traveled west to meet the PCHA champion Seattle Metropolitans for the Stanley Cup. The series is best remembered for its cancellation due to the Spanish flu pandemic. Several players from both teams became ill, prompting health officials in Seattle to cancel the sixth, and deciding, game. With his entire team either in the hospital or confined to bed, Kennedy attempted to borrow players from the PCHA's Victoria Aristocrats, only to be turned down by PCHA president Frank Patrick. With no way to field a team, Kennedy announced he was forfeiting the game—and the Cup—to the Metropolitans. However, the Metropolitans turned it down; coach Pete Muldoon felt that with the Canadiens decimated by the flu, it wouldn't be sportsmanlike to claim the title. Star defenceman Joe Hall never recovered, and died on April 5, 1919.

During the following summer, the Jubilee Rink burned down, forcing the Canadiens to build Mount Royal Arena as a replacement. The team also lost their star player Malone, who had been on loan from the dormant Bulldogs as Quebec rejoined the league in 1919–20. Kennedy died in 1921; he had never recovered from the 1919 flu. His widow sold the team to Leo Dandurand, former player Joseph Cattarinich and Louis A. Letourneau.

Regarded as one of the NHL's first superstars, Howie Morenz made his debut in 1923–24 alongside Aurel Joliat. The club placed second in the league to Ottawa, but defeated the Senators in the playoffs to win the league championship and reach the Stanley Cup final. Montreal hosted the 1924 Stanley Cup Finals against the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). The Canadiens won the best-of-three series in two games, and captured their second Stanley Cup. Morenz was the offensive star of the series, scoring a hat trick in game one and a goal in game two.

The Montreal Forum, which in later decades became synonymous with the Canadiens, was opened in 1924 to house the expansion Montreal Maroons. The Canadiens were invited to inaugurate the arena as the natural ice surface at the Mount Royal Arena was not ready to host NHL games. The team played the first game in Forum history on November 29, 1924, a 7–1 victory over the Toronto St. Patricks. The Canadiens took residence at the Forum in 1926, sharing it with the Maroons until the latter ceased operations in 1938.

For the 1924–25 season, the Canadiens celebrated their world champion status with a special jersey design. The team moved their CH logo to their sleeves and played with a large world globe logo crest on their jersey fronts. Montreal finished third in the league standings and defeated Toronto in the semi-final. The players on the first place Hamilton Tigers refused to participate in a playoff series unless they were paid an additional $200 each. When they failed to relent on their demands, NHL president Frank Calder suspended the entire team, and declared the Canadiens to be the league champions. The Habs thus traveled to the Pacific Coast to play the WCHL's Victoria Cougars in the 1925 Stanley Cup Final. The Cougars won the best-of-five series 3–1; it was the last time a non-NHL team won the Stanley Cup.

Georges Vezina collapsed during the first game of the 1925–26 season. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis and never played again, succumbing to the illness in March 1926. In his honour, the team donated a new award to the league, the Vezina Trophy, to be given to the goaltender who allowed the fewest goals over the course of the season. The first recipient was his replacement, George Hainsworth. Vezina was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame upon its creation in 1945.

During the 1927–28 season, Morenz became the first player in NHL history to score 50 points in a single season. Morenz was the first NHL player to score a second Stanley Cup winning goal, with the Canadiens' victory in the 1930 Stanley Cup Finals over the Boston Bruins. The Bruins, who finished with a 38–5–1 record and at one point during the season went 23 games without a defeat, lost consecutive games to Montreal in the finals, 3–0 and 4–3. The Canadiens became the fourth team in Stanley Cup history to repeat as champions, defeating the Chicago Black Hawks in five games to capture the 1931 Stanley Cup Championship.
1932–46: Howie Morenz and Rocket Richard
Two rows of seven hockey players pose while on the ice. A small group of fans observe in the background.

Attendance was in decline across the league as the Great Depression took hold. The Habs posted a losing record in 1932–33, leading to still smaller crowds. Averaging only 2,000 fans per game, the team sold Morenz to the Chicago Black Hawks in 1934 as part of an effort to cut costs. The move was not a popular one, and fans voiced their opinion of the deal by giving Morenz a standing ovation when he scored against the Canadiens on the last day of the 1934–35 season.

With losses of $60,000 over the previous two seasons, the Canadiens were put up for sale in 1935. Dandurand and Cattarinich entered negotiations to sell the club and move it to Cleveland, Ohio, but a syndicate of local Montreal businessmen led by Maurice Forget and Ernest Savard stepped forward to buy the team and prevent the transfer. The Canadiens struggled on the ice, finishing with the worst record in the league in 1935–36. The new owners asked Cecil Hart to coach the team, in the hopes that he would bring the Habs back to respectability. Hart agreed with one stipulation: that the Canadiens bring back Morenz. The team agreed, and acquired an overjoyed Morenz in a trade with the New York Rangers.
Upper body of a young man in a suit and tie with slicked back hair and a serious look on his face

Morenz's return to Montreal lasted less than a season: in January 1937, while being checked by Chicago's Earl Seibert, his skate caught on the ice and Morenz broke his leg in four places. He never recovered, and died of a coronary embolism on March 8. Aurel Joliat offered a different explanation of his death: "Howie loved to play hockey more than anyone ever loved anything, and when he realized that he would never play again, he couldn't live with it. I think Howie died of a broken heart." On the day of his funeral, 50,000 people filed past Morenz's casket at centre ice of the Montreal Forum to pay their last respects to the man the media called "the Babe Ruth of hockey". A benefit game in November 1937 raised $20,000 for Morenz's family as the NHL All-Stars defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6–5. Morenz was one of the first players elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame when it was created in 1945.

The Canadiens continued to finish near the bottom of the league standings for several seasons. The low point came in 1939–40: Babe Siebert, who was named the Habs' coach following his retirement as a player in 1939, drowned before the season began, and Pit Lepine was named as his replacement. With an aging roster, the Canadiens finished last, winning only 10 games. That team's .260 winning percentage is still the worst in franchise history. Largely due to the team's poor play, the Canadiens only drew 3,000 fans per game, leading Savard and his partners to consider suspending operations at least for the duration of World War II. Instead, they sold the franchise to the team's landlord, the Canadian Arena Company.

At this point, relief arrived from an unexpected quarter—Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe. The Depression had already forced three teams to either shut down outright or suspend operations never to return. Additionally, the New York Americans had been wards of the league since 1936, and it was considered to be only a matter of time before they folded (they eventually did, in 1942). Smythe did not want to see the Canadiens fold, and suggested that the Arena Company hire the Maple Leafs' former coach, Dick Irvin. Irvin was a proven winner, having led the Maple Leafs to seven finals and one Cup in nine years. The Arena Company readily accepted Smythe's suggestion, and turned to Irvin to lead the once-proud team's revitalization.

By 1943, the war effort had a devastating effect on many rosters. The Red Wings lost nine players and the Maple Leafs lost six to the military. The Rangers lost ten players and had to be persuaded by the other teams not to suspend operations. In contrast, the Canadiens lost only one key player in Ken Reardon. Young phenom Maurice Richard tried to enlist, but was turned down due to his medical history. Canadiens General Manager Tommy Gorman reportedly ensured his players obtained jobs in key wartime industries to avoid conscription.

Led by the "Punch Line" of Richard, Toe Blake and Elmer Lach, the Habs won their fifth Stanley Cup in 1944, losing only five games in the regular season. In 1944–45, the team won 38 games and lost only eight, and Richard was the focus of the media and fans as he attempted to be the first player in league history to score 50 goals in a 50-game season. Richard set a single-game scoring record, recording five goals and three assists in a 9–1 victory over Detroit on December 28, 1944. He later broke Joe Malone's goal scoring record when he scored his 45th goal, after which opposing teams did all they could to prevent him from reaching the 50 goal mark. He was slashed, elbowed and held as no team wanted to be known as the one that gave up the milestone goal. Richard finally scored his 50th goal in Boston at 17:45 of the third period of Montreal's final game of the season. The record, previously considered nearly impossible to achieve, elevated Richard to the status of provincial hero in Quebec.

Maurice Richard

1946–67: the Original Six

Prior to the expansion of the NHL in 1967, the league was reduced to six franchises, which would become known after 1967 as the "Original Six". Frank Selke replaced Tommy Gorman as general manager of the Canadiens in 1946, and held the post until 1964. Selke spent several years attempting to sign teenage star Jean Beliveau to play for the Canadiens. Beliveau played brief stints with the Habs in 1950 and 1952, but his loyalty to the Quebec Aces of the Quebec Senior Hockey League led him to turn the Canadiens down repeatedly when they pressed him to move to Montreal full time. The Canadiens finally bought the entire Quebec senior league in 1953 and turned it professional in order to bring Beliveau into the fold, and he signed a five-year contract for $100,000. He spent his entire 18-year, Hall of Fame NHL career with the Habs.

In March 1955, Richard was suspended for the remainder of the season, including the playoffs, after he received a match penalty for slashing Boston's Hal Laycoe and subsequently punching a linesman who intervened. The suspension touched off a wave of anger toward league president Clarence Campbell, who was warned not to attend a scheduled game in Montreal after receiving numerous death threats, mainly from French-Canadians accusing him of anti-French bias. Campbell dismissed the warnings, and attended the March 17 game as planned. His presence at the game was perceived by many fans as a provocation and he was booed and pelted with eggs and fruit. An hour into the game, a fan lobbed a tear-gas bomb in Campbell's direction, causing fire officials to clear the building. Fans leaving the Forum were met by a growing mob of angry demonstrators who overwhelmed the 250 police officers on the scene and rioted outside of the Forum. Seventy people were arrested, 37 people injured, 50 stores were looted and $100,000 in property damage was reported as a result of the melee, which became known as l'affaire Richard, or the Richard Riot. The incident highlighted the growing cultural gap between French Quebec and English Canada and the riot is often described as an early manifestation of Quebec's Quiet Revolution.

The following day, Richard went on a French-language Montreal radio station to ask the fans to stop rioting and instead to support the Canadiens in the playoffs. He also said he would accept his punishment and return the following year to win the Cup. While the Canadiens were defeated in the 1955 Stanley Cup Finals, Richard led Montreal to the 1956 Stanley Cup as he promised.

The 1955–56 season was the first as head coach for Toe Blake, who was hired to help control Richard's temper. The 1956 victory began an unprecedented streak of five consecutive Stanley Cups for the Canadiens from 1956 to 1960; the 1960 final was Montreal's tenth consecutive appearance in the championship series. Richard, the first player to score 500 career goals in NHL history, retired in 1960 with 544 career goals and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961. The customary three-year waiting period was waived in honour of his accomplishments.

Goaltender Jacques Plante had been wearing a mask during practices for some time, but did not wear it during games due to the objections of Blake and Selke who held the traditional view that players should not wear facial protection. That changed on November 1, 1959, after he was struck in the face early in a game at Madison Square Garden. As teams did not dress backup goaltenders during this time, the game was delayed 20 minutes while doctors frantically stitched Plante up. When Blake asked him if he was ready to return to play, Plante refused to return to the ice unless he was allowed to wear a mask. Blake was livid, but agreed only if Plante removed the mask when his face was healed. Wearing the mask, Plante led the Canadiens on an 18 game unbeaten streak. He finally removed the mask at Blake's urging and promptly lost the next game. Defeated, Blake relented. Plante's mask became a permanent fixture as he led the Canadiens to their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup. Other goalies followed Plante's lead soon after.

When the NHL instituted the NHL Amateur Draft in 1963, the Canadiens were given the option to replace their regular first selection with two "Cultural Picks" that could be used to draft up to two French-Canadian players before any other team made any selections. The team used one cultural pick in 1968, and both in 1969, when it drafted Rejean Houle and Marc Tardif, two top prospects. This option was eliminated after the 1969 draft.

Selke retired in 1964 and was succeeded by Sam Pollock. Often named the best general manager in NHL history, Pollock led the Canadiens to nine Stanley Cup championships in his 14 years at the helm of the team. One of his key tactics was trading aging stars to expansion teams for draft picks, which led to the team drafting future Hall of Famers Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson and Ken Dryden. The Canadiens won consecutive titles in 1965 and 1966, and entered the 1967 Stanley Cup Final against Toronto as a heavy favourite. The City of Montreal was so confident in the Canadiens that they had already built a space for the Stanley Cup on the Expo 67 site, but the Canadiens fell to the Maple Leafs, in the last NHL finals of the Original Six era.

1967-86: Expansion era

Canada's centennial year of 1967 was momentous for the country, but more importantly the city of Montreal. A world's fair, Expo '67 was set for Montreal, and the Canadiens 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.

Jean Béliveau

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 Béliveau, 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 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).

Patrick Roy

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." He was traded to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche along with Mike Keane for Jocelyn Thibault, Andrei Kovalenko, and Martin Rucinsky.

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 Béliveau 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, with the superb plays of Alexei Kovalev, the Canadiens won the final three games, to again upset the Bruins. But 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 José Théodore 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 December of 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.

The near future and beyond

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.

Carey Price

1996-2009: new home and new owners

Several ice hockey players in red uniforms line up around the near half of a large circle on the ice, opposed on the other side by several in white uniforms. A player from each team stands at the centre of the circle, joined by a referee wearing a vertically striped black and white uniform.

Five days after the closing of the Montreal Forum, the Canadiens played its first game at the Molson Centre (since renamed the Bell Centre). With a capacity of 22,500, the Bell Centre claims to be the largest indoor arena in North America. In the inaugural game, Montreal defeated the Rangers 4–2, with the first goal scored by Vincent Damphousse. The Canadiens struggled to achieve playoff success in the new arena: by 2002, they had won only a single playoff round since their 1993 championship.

Montreal finished in last place in the Northeast Division in 1998–99 and missed the playoffs. Their 75 points was the lowest total in 40 years. The season concluded with rumours of the team being sold and relocated if it did not receive government subsidies to help alleviate pressures from Quebec's tax system and the record-low value of the Canadian dollar. The Canadiens denied the report, however Molson hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to examine its future involvement in sports. Montreal missed the playoffs again the next two seasons, and annual losses of $10–$12 million and a desire to focus on its core brewing business led Molson to put the franchise up for sale in the summer of 2001.

When no local buyers emerged for the team and a proposed Canadian government assistance program for the six remaining Canadian teams was canceled following public disapproval, it was feared that the Canadiens would follow the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques in relocating to the United States. American businessman George N. Gillett Jr. purchased an 80.1% share of the team and 100% of the Molson Centre for $275 million. As part of the deal, Molson retained 19.9% of the team and were granted the right of first refusal for any future sale by Gillett; in addition, the NHL board of governors would be required to unanimously approve any attempt to move to a new city.

Prior to the 2001–02 season, the club announced that captain Saku Koivu had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and would miss the entire season. Koivu managed to return with three games left in the regular season, and along with goaltender Jose Theodore, who would win the Hart Memorial Trophy that year, led the Canadiens into the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. The eighth-seeded Canadiens upset the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, and Koivu led the team in playoff scoring with 10 points in 12 games. In recognition of his tenacity in returning from cancer treatment, the league voted Koivu as the Masterton Trophy winner for dedication and perseverance.

The first outdoor hockey game in NHL history, the Heritage Classic, was held on November 22, 2003, in Edmonton, Alberta at Commonwealth Stadium. The Canadiens defeated the Oilers 4–3, in front of an NHL-record crowd of 57,167, who braved temperatures of −20 °C (−4 °F). The success of the Heritage Classic led to the creation of the Winter Classic, an annual outdoor game held since 2008.

The 2004–05 NHL lockout cancelled the season entirely. After the Montreal Expos franchise departed for Washington, D.C., in 2005, the Canadiens acquired former Expos mascot Youppi to serve as their first-ever mascot. Having missed the playoffs in 2006–07, the Canadiens rebounded to win their first division title in 15 years in 2007–08, as well as their first regular season conference title since 1989.

Since 2009: Molson family acquires team

Ownership of the Canadiens once again passed to the Molson family in 2009 after Gillett sold the team, Bell Centre, and Gillett Entertainment Group to a partnership headed by Geoff Molson and including his brothers Andrew and John. The sale price was estimated at over $600 million. On the ice, during the 2010 playoffs, the team reached the Stanley Cup conference finals for the first time since 1993, upsetting the top-seeded Washington Capitals and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the first two rounds; the Habs lost the conference finals to the Philadelphia Flyers.

The NHL revived the Heritage Classic concept, with the Canadiens facing the Calgary Flames at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on February 20, 2011. The Flames defeated the Canadiens, by a score of 4–0, before a crowd of 41,022 spectators. The 2011 Heritage Classic was the second outdoors game held during the 2010–11 season, following the 2011 NHL Winter Classic.
The Canadiens have retired 15 numbers, honouring 17 players. Howie Morenz's number 7 was the first jersey to be retired, shortly after his death in 1937. Maurice Richard's number 9 followed in 1960; his 544 career goals are a franchise record. Henri Richard, brother of Maurice, was honoured in 1975 with the retirement of his number 16, after 21 seasons and 11 Stanley Cups with the Canadiens. Henri holds the franchise games-played record with 1256.

Jean Beliveau's number 4 was retired in 1971 after he left the game as the all-time leading scorer in Stanley Cup Playoff history. Beliveau was offered but declined the position of Governor General of Canada in 1994; he is the only hockey player known to have been asked to serve in this capacity. Guy Lafleur's number 10 followed in February 1985 after his first retirement. Lafleur was a six-time All-Star with the Canadiens, and won three scoring titles and two most valuable player awards. Also in 1985, Doug Harvey's number 2 was raised to the rafters. The defenceman won six Norris Trophies as top defenceman in seven years between 1955 and 1961. Jacques Plante's number 1 was retired on October 17, 1995. Plante revolutionized the way goaltenders played the game, and he leads the Canadiens with 314 career wins.

Leading up to their centennial year, the Canadiens retired the jerseys of several players. They began with three former greats during the 2005–06 season. Montreal first retired the number 12 in honour of both Dickie Moore and Yvan Cournoyer. Moore was a member of the Canadiens' dynasty of 1956–1960, while Cournoyer won ten titles between 1965 and 1979. Bernie Geoffrion was the third player honoured by the Canadiens. Nicknamed "Boom Boom", Geoffrion was considered the innovator of the slapshot. He died on March 11, 2006, the same day his number 5 was retired.

Serge Savard's number 18 was retired on November 18, 2006. Known for the "Savardian spin-a-rama", where he protected the puck by spinning around to avoid opponents, Savard also served as the team's general manager for ten years. His defensive partner Larry Robinson's number 19 was retired one year later, as was Bob Gainey's number 23. Gainey was considered one of the game's elite defensive forwards, winning four Selke Trophies and five Stanley Cups before serving as coach and general manager of the team. Patrick Roy's number 33 was retired on November 22, 2008. Roy's jersey retirement was a return "back to the Canadiens family" for the Hall of Fame goaltender, who had not maintained a relationship with the organization after his trade demand in 1995. Emile Bouchard's number 3, and Elmer Lach's number 16 were retired on December 4, 2009, as part of the team's centennial celebration. (Lach had played as 16 before Richard did.)

Builders Row

The Canadiens created "Builders Row" in 2006 to honour the off-ice members of the club who helped lead the team to success. Seven people were initially inducted: team founder Ambrose O'Brien, former owners Leo Dandurand, Joseph Cattarinich, Louis A. Letourneau, and Hartland Molson, former team president Donat Raymond, and special advisor William Northey. In 2008, the team added its three legendary coaches to the Row: Dick Irvin Sr., Toe Blake, and Scotty Bowman. The three served a combined 36 years behind the Canadiens' bench from 1940 to 1979.
Hockey Hall of Famers
The Hockey Hall of Fame was created in 1945 with twelve initial inductees, including two Canadiens: Howie Morenz and Georges Vezina. Morenz was considered hockey's first superstar, and in 1950 was voted the top hockey player of the half-century. Vezina perfected the "stand up" style of goaltending in an era when goaltenders were not allowed to drop to their knees to cover the puck, and became the standard by which future goaltenders judged themselves.

Maurice Richard, inducted in 1961, and Jean Beliveau, inducted in 1972, are two of ten players for whom the selection committee has waived the otherwise mandatory three-year waiting period before being eligible for induction. Defenceman Doug Harvey was unanimously elected in 1973, one year after being denied entry due to his drinking habits. Angered by the snub, Harvey refused his induction, stating that he planned to go fishing instead of attending the induction ceremony. Guy Lafleur was one of three players in NHL history (along with Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux) to return to playing after being elected. Lafleur, who had first retired in 1984 after growing frustrated with the Canadiens' defense-focused system, returned to the league days after his 1988 election, playing for the New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques before finally retiring in 1991.
As of 2009, over 50 former Canadiens players have been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Home

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1939 - 1940	1938 - 1939	1937 - 1938	1935 - 1937	1932 - 1935
1931 - 1932	1927 - 1931	1925 - 1927	1924 - 1925	1922 - 1924
1921 - 1922	1919 - 1921	1917 - 1919	1916 - 1917	1914 - 1916
1913 - 1914	1912 - 1913	1911 - 1912	1910 - 1911	1909 - 1910

2007 - Present	2003 - 2007	1979 - 2003	1977 - 1979	1975 - 1977
1973 - 1975	1962 - 1973	1961 - 1962	1960 - 1961	1958 - 1960
1946 - 1958	1946 - 1947	1945 - 1946	1944 - 1945	1941 - 1944
1937 - 1941	1935 - 1937	1932 - 1935	1931 - 1932	1927 - 1931
1925 - 1927	1924 - 1925	1922 - 1924	1921 - 1922	1919 - 1921
1917 - 1919	1916 - 1917	1914 - 1916	1913 - 1914	1912 - 1913
1911 - 1912	1910 - 1911	1909 - 1910

2009 - 2010*	2009 - 2010*	2008 - 2009*	2008 - 2009*	2008 - 2009*
2008 - 2009*	2006 - 2007	2003 - 2006	2003 - 2004	1991 - 1992
1912 - 1913 Against Ottawa

* Represents Centennial Anniversary

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;

Franchise Individual Records (Skaters)

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 Consecutive Games Played: Doug Jarvis: 560

Season
Most Goals in a Season: 60, Steve Schutt (1976-77) Guy Lafleur (1977-78)
Most Powerplay goals in a season: 20, Yvan Cournoyer (1966–67)
Most Powerplay goals in a season, defenceman: 19, Sheldon Souray (2006–07)*
Most Assists in a season: 82, Pete Mahovlich (1974–75)
Most Points in a season: 136, Guy Lafleur (1976–77)
Most Penalty minutes in a season: 358, Chris Nilan (1984–85)
Most Points in a season, defenceman: 85, Larry Robinson (1976–77)
Most Points in a season, rookie: 71, Mats Naslund (1982–83); Kjell Dahlin (1985–86)
Most Goals in a season, defenceman: 28, Guy Lapointe (1974–75)

Franchise Individual Records (Goalies)

Career
Most games played: 556, Jacques Plante
Most shutouts: 75, George Hainsworth
Most wins: 314, Jacques Plante

Season
Most games in a season: 72, Carey Price (2010–11)
Most wins in a season: 42, Jacques Plante (1955–56 & 1961–62); Ken Dryden (1975–76)
Most shutouts in a season: 22, George Hainsworth (1928–29)*

* Indicates a league record.

Team Awards

Stanley Cup:
1915–16, 1923–24, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1943–44, 1945–46, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1992–93

O`Brien Cup:
1915–16, 1916–17, 1918–19, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1936–37, 1946–47

Prince of Wales Trophy:
1923–24, 1924–25, 1943–44, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1955–56, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1992–93

Individual Awards

Art Ross Trophy
Elmer Lach: 1947-48
Bernie Geoffrion: 1954-55, 1960-61
Jean Beliveau: 1955-56
Dickie Moore: 1957-58, 1958-59
Guy Lafleur: 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
Claude Provost: 1967-68
Henri Richard: 1973-74
Serge Savard: 1978-79
Saku Koivu: 2001-02
Max Pachioretty: 2011-12

Calder Memorial Trophy
Johnny Quilty: 1940-41
Bernie Geoffrion: 1951-52
Ed Litzenberger: 1954-55
Ralph Backstrom: 1958-59
Bobby Rousseau: 1961-62
Jaques Laperriere: 1963-64
Ken Dryden: 1971-72

Conn Smythe Trophy
Jean Beliveau: 1964-65
Serge Savard: 1968-69
Ken Dryden: 1970-71
Yvan Cournoyer: 1972-73
Guy Lafleur: 1976-77
Larry Robinson: 1977-78
Bob Gainey: 1978-79
Patrick Roy: 1985-86, 1992-93

Frank J. Selke Trophy
Bob Gainey: 1977-78, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81
Guy Carbonneau: 1987-88, 1988-89. 1991-92

Hart Memorial Trophy
Herb Gardiner: 1926-27
Howie Morenz: 1927-28, 1930-31, 1931-32
Aurel Joliat: 1933-34
Babe Siebert: 1936-37
Toe Blake: 1938-39
Elmer Lach: 1944-45
Maurice Richard: 1946-47
Jean Beliveau: 1955-56, 1963-64
Bernie Geoffrion: 1960-61
Jaques Plante: 1961-62
Guy Lafleur: 1976-77, 1977-78
Jose Theodore: 2001-02

Jack Adams Award
Scotty Bowman: 1976-77
Pat Burns: 1988-89

James Norris Memorial Trophy
Doug Harvey: 1954-55, 1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-60, 1960-61
Tom Johnson: 1958-59
Jacques Laperriere: 1965-66
Larry Robinson: 1976-77, 1979-80
Chris Chelios: 1988-89

King Clancy Memorial Trophy
Saku Koivu: 2006-07

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
Toe Blake: 1945-46
Mats Naslund: 1987-88

Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award
Jose Theodore: 2001-02
Christobal Huet: 2005-06

Lester B. Peason/Ted Lindsay Award
Guy Lafleur: 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78

Vezina Trophy
George Hainsworth: 1926-27, 1927-28, 1928-29
Bill Durnan: 1943-44, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1946-47, 1948-49, 1949-50
Jacques Plante: 1955-56, 1956-57, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1961-62
Charlie Hodge: 1963-64
Charlie Hodge & Gump Worsley: 1965-66
Rogatien Vachon & Gump Worsley: 1967-68
Ken Dryden: 1972-73, 1975-76
Ken Dryden & Michel Larocque: 1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-76
Denis Herron, Michel Larocque & Richard Sevigny: 1980-81
Patrick Roy: 1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-92
Jose Theodore: 2001-02

William M. Jennings Trophy
Denis Herron & Rick Wamsley: 1981-82
Brian Hayward & Patrick Roy: 1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89
Patrick Roy: 1991-92