Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. They compete in the National Hockey League as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The club's official name is le Club de hockey Canadien. The team is frequently referred to in English and French as the Habs. French nicknames for the team include Les Canadiens, Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, La Sainte-Flanelle, Le Tricolore, Les Glorieux, Le CH, Le Grand Club and Les Habitants.
Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team worldwide, and the only existing NHL club to predate the founding of the NHL. One of the oldest North American professional sports franchises, the Canadiens' history predates that of every other Canadian franchise outside football as well as every American franchise outside baseball and the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals. The franchise is one of the "Original Six" teams, a description used for the teams that made up the NHL from 1942 until the 1967 expansion. The team's championship season in 1992–93 was the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.
The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup more times than any other franchise. They have won 24 Stanley Cup championships, 23 of them since the founding of the NHL and 22 of them since 1927, when NHL teams became the only ones to compete for the Stanley Cup. On a percentage basis, as of March, 2019, the franchise has won 25.0% of all Stanley Cup championships contested in the post-1926 NHL Stanley Cup era, making it the most successful professional sports team of the traditional four major sports of Canada and the United States. As of March, 2019, the Boston Celtics have the highest percentage of National Basketball Association championships with 23.3%, and in Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees have the highest percentage with 23.5%. The Canadiens also had the most championships by a team of any of the four major North American sports until the New York Yankees won their 25th World Series title in 1999.
Since 1996, the Canadiens have played their home games at Bell Centre, originally known as Molson Centre. The team previously played at the Montreal Forum which housed the team for seven decades and all but their first two Stanley Cup championships.

History

The Canadiens were founded by J. Ambrose O'Brien on December 4, 1909, as a charter member of the National Hockey Association,
the forerunner to the National Hockey League. It was to be the team of the francophone community in Montreal, composed of francophone players, and under francophone ownership as soon as possible. The team's first season was not a success, as they placed last. After the first year, ownership was transferred to George Kennedy of Montreal and the team's fortunes improved over the next seasons. The team won its first Stanley Cup championship in the 1915–16 season. In 1917, with four other NHA teams, the Canadiens formed the NHL, and they won their first NHL Stanley Cup during the 1923–24 season, led by Howie Morenz. The team moved from the Mount Royal Arena to the Montreal Forum for the 1926–27 season.
The club began the 1930s decade successfully, with Stanley Cup wins in 1930 and 1931. The Canadiens and its then-Montreal rival, the Montreal Maroons, declined both on the ice and economically during the Great Depression. Losses grew to the point where the team owners considering selling the team to interests in Cleveland, Ohio, though local investors were ultimately found to finance the Canadiens. The Maroons still suspended operations, and several of their players moved to the Canadiens.
in 1962.|alt=Five men playing hockey in a crowded arena.
Led by the "Punch Line" of Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Toe Blake and Elmer Lach in the 1940s, the Canadiens enjoyed success again atop the NHL. From 1953 to 1960, the franchise won six Stanley Cups, including a record five straight from 1956 to 1960, with a new set of stars coming to prominence: Jean Beliveau, Dickie Moore, Doug Harvey, Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, Jacques Plante and Richard's younger brother, Henri.
The Canadiens added ten more championships in 15 seasons from 1965 to 1979, with another dynastic run of four-straight Cups from 1976 to 1979. In the 1976–77 season, the Canadiens set two still-standing team records – for most points, with 132, and fewest losses, by only losing eight games in an 80-game season. The next season, 1977–78, the team had a 28-game unbeaten streak, the second-longest in NHL history. The next generation of stars included Guy Lafleur, Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Pete Mahovlich, Jacques Lemaire, Pierre Larouche, Steve Shutt, Bob Gainey, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe and Larry Robinson. Scotty Bowman, who would later set a record for most NHL victories by a coach, was the team's head coach for its last five Stanley Cup victories in the 1970s.
has been the Canadiens' home venue since 1996. The arena is here seen in 2008, with banners celebrating the Montreal Canadiens centennial.|alt=Façade of the Bell Centre. On the wall is a banner celebrating the Canadiens centennial, featuring two players, one in black and white and one in colour, and the Canadiens logo in front of a "100".
The Canadiens won Stanley Cups in 1986, led by rookie star goaltender Patrick Roy, and in 1993, continuing their streak of winning at least one championship in every decade from the 1910s to the 1990s. In 1996, the Habs moved from the Montreal Forum, their home during 70 seasons and 22 Stanley Cups, to Molson Centre.
Following Roy's departure in 1995, the Canadiens fell into an extended stretch of mediocrity, missing the playoffs in four of their next ten seasons and failing to advance past the second round of the playoffs until 2010. By the late 1990s, with both an ailing team and monetary losses exacerbated by a record-low value of the Canadian dollar, Montreal fans feared their team would end up relocated to the United States. Team owner Molson Brewery sold control of the franchise and the Molson Centre to American businessman George N. Gillett Jr. in 2001, with the right of first refusal for any future sale by Gillett and a condition that the NHL Board of Governors must unanimously approve any attempt to move to a new city. Led by president Pierre Boivin, the Canadiens returned to being a lucrative enterprise, earning additional revenues from broadcasting and arena events. In 2009, Gillett sold the franchise to a consortium led by the Molson family which included The Woodbridge Company, BCE/Bell, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Michael Andlauer, Luc Bertrand and the National Bank Financial Group for $575 million, more than double the $275 million he spent on the purchase eight years prior.
During the 2008–09 season, the Canadiens celebrated their 100th anniversary with various events,
including hosting both the 2009 NHL All-Star Game,
and the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
The Canadiens became the first team in NHL history to reach 3,000 victories with their 5–2 victory over the Florida Panthers on December 29, 2008.

Team identity

The Canadiens organization operates in both English and French. For many years, public address announcements and press releases have been given in both languages, and the team website and social media outlets are in both languages as well. At home games, the first stanza of O Canada is sung in French, and the chorus is sung in English.

Crest and sweater design

One of sport's oldest and most recognizable logos, the classic 'C' and 'H' of the Montreal Canadiens was first used together in the 1917–18 season, when the club changed its name to "Club de hockey Canadien" from "Club athlétique Canadien", before evolving to its current form in 1952–53. The "H" stands for "hockey", not "Habitants," a popular misconception. According to NHL.com, the first man to refer to the team as "the Habs" was American Tex Rickard, owner of the Madison Square Garden, in 1924. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the "H" on the Canadiens' sweaters was for "Habitants". In French, the "Habitants" nickname dates back to at least 1914, when it was printed in Le Devoir to report a 9–3 win over Toronto on the 9th of February.
The team's colours since 1911 are blue, red, and white. The home sweater 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 waistline. The main road sweater is mainly white with a red and blue stripe across the waist, red at the end of both arm sleeves red shoulder yokes. The basic design has been in use since 1914 and took its current form in 1925, generally evolving as materials changed. Because of the team's lengthy history and significance in Quebec, the sweater has been referred to as 'La Sainte-Flanelle'.
The Canadiens used multiple designs prior to adopting the aforementioned design in 1914. The original shirt of the 1909–10 season was blue with a white C. The second season had a red shirt featuring a green maple leaf with the C logo, and green pants. Lastly, the season before adopting the current look the Canadiens wore a "barber pole" design jersey with red, white and blue stripes, and the logo being a white maple leaf reading "CAC", "Club athlétique Canadien". All three designs were worn during the 2009–10 season as part of the Canadiens centenary.
The Canadiens' colours are a readily identifiable aspect of French Canadian culture. In the short story "The Hockey Sweater", Roch Carrier described the influence of the Canadiens and their jersey within rural Quebec communities during the 1940s.
The story was later made into an animated short, The Sweater, narrated by Carrier.
A passage from the short story appears on the 2002 issue of the Canadian five-dollar bill.

Motto

Nos bras meurtris vous tendent le flambeau, à vous toujours de le porter bien haut.

To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high.

The motto is from the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae, which was written in 1915, the year before the Canadiens won their first Stanley Cup championship. The motto appears on the wall of the Canadiens' dressing room as well as on the inside collar of the new Adidas 2017–18 jerseys.

Mascot

Beginning in the 2004–05 NHL season, the Canadiens adopted Youppi! as their official mascot, the first costumed mascot in their long 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 Washington Nationals. With the switch, Youppi became the first mascot in professional sports to switch leagues.

Rivalries

The Canadiens have developed strong rivalries with two fellow Original Six franchises, with whom they frequently shared divisions and competed in post-season play. The oldest is with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who first faced the Canadiens as the Toronto Arenas in 1917. The teams met 15 times in the playoffs, including five Stanley Cup finals. Featuring the two largest cities in Canada and two of the largest fanbases in the league, the rivalry is sometimes dramatized as being emblematic of Canada's English and French linguistic divide. From 1938 to 1970, they were the only two Canadian teams in the league.
The team's other Original Six rival are the Boston Bruins, who since their NHL debut in 1924 have played the Canadiens more than any other team in both regular season play and the playoffs combined. The teams have played 34 playoff series, seven of which were in the finals.
The Canadiens also had an intraprovincial rivalry with the Quebec Nordiques during its existence from 1979 to 1995, nicknamed the "Battle of Quebec."

Broadcasting

Montreal Canadiens games are broadcast locally in both the French and English languages. CHMP 98.5 is the Canadiens' French-language radio flagship. As of the 2017–18 season, the team's regional television in both languages, and its English-language radio rights, are held by Bell Media. CKGM, TSN Radio 690, is the English-language radio flagship; it acquired the rights under a seven-year deal which began in the 2011–12 season. In June 2017, Bell Media reached a five-year extension.
Regional television rights in French are held by Réseau des sports under a 12-year deal that began in the 2014–15 NHL season. A sister to the English-language network TSN, RDS was the only French-language sports channel in Canada until the 2011 launch of TVA Sports, and was also the previous national French rightsholder of the NHL; as a result, the Canadiens forwent a separate regional contract, and allowed all of its games to be televised nationally in French as part of RDS's overall NHL rights.
With TVA Sports becoming the national French rightsholder in the 2014–15 season through a sub-licensing agreement with Sportsnet, RDS subsequently announced a 12-year deal to maintain regional rights to Canadiens games not shown on TVA Sports. As a result, games on RDS are blacked out outside the Canadiens' home market of Quebec, Atlantic Canada and parts of Eastern Ontario shared with the Ottawa Senators. At least 22 Canadiens games per season, including all playoff games, are televised nationally by TVA Sports.
TSN2 assumed the English-language regional television rights in the 2017–18 season, with John Bartlett on play-by-play, and Dave Poulin, Mike Johnson and Craig Button on colour commentary. All other games, including all playoff games, are televised nationally by Sportsnet or CBC. Bartlett returned to Sportsnet over the 2018 off-season, and was succeeded by Bryan Mudryk.
English-language regional rights were previously held by Sportsnet East, under a 3-year deal that expired after the 2016–17 season; the games were called by Bartlett and Jason York. Prior to this deal, TSN held the rights from 2010 through 2014; the games were broadcast on a part-time channel with Dave Randorf on play-by-play.

Season-by-season record

This is a list of the last five seasons completed by the Canadiens. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Montreal Canadiens seasons.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	Finish	Playoffs
2015–16	82	38	38	6	82	221	236	6th, Atlantic	Did not qualify
2016–17	82	47	26	9	103	226	199	1st, Atlantic	Lost in First Round, 2–4
2017–18	82	29	40	13	71	209	264	6th, Atlantic	Did not qualify
2018–19	82	44	30	8	96	249	236	4th, Atlantic	Did not qualify
2019–20	71	31	31	9	71	212	221	5th, Atlantic	TBD

Players and personnel

Current roster

Honoured members

Retired numbers

The Canadiens have retired 15 numbers in honour of 18 players, the most of any team in the NHL. All of the honourees were born in Canada. Howie Morenz was the first honouree, on November 2, 1937. The NHL retired Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 for all its member teams at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game.

No.	Player	Position	Tenure	Date of honour
1		G	1952–1963	October 7, 1995
2		D	1947–1961	October 26, 1985
3		D	1941–1956	December 4, 2009
4		C	1950–1971	October 9, 1971
5		RW	1950–1964	March 11, 2006
5		D	1968–1982	November 8, 2014
7		C	1923–1937	November 2, 1937
9		RW	1942–1960	October 6, 1960
10		RW	1971–1985	February 16, 1985
12		LW	1951–1963	November 12, 2005
12		RW	1963–1979	November 12, 2005
16		C	1955–1975	December 10, 1975
16		C	1940–1954	December 4, 2009
18		D	1966–1981	November 18, 2006
19		D	1972–1989	November 19, 2007
23		LW	1973–1989	February 23, 2008
29		G	1970–1979	January 29, 2007
33		G	1984–1995	November 22, 2008

Hockey Hall of Fame

The Montreal Canadiens have an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Sixty-five inductees from the players category are affiliated with the Canadiens. Thirty-seven of these players are from three separate notable dynasties: 12 from 1955 to 1960, 11 from 1964 to 1969, and 13 from 1975 to 1979. Howie Morenz and Georges Vezina were the first Canadiens given the honour in 1945, while Guy Carbonneau was the most recently inducted, in 2019. Along with players, a number of inductees from the builders category are affiliated with the club. The first inductee was Vice-President William Northey in 1945. The most recent inductee was Pat Burns in 2015.
In addition to players and builders, five broadcasters for the Montreal Canadiens were also awarded the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame. The first two recipients of the award were Danny Gallivan and Rene Lecavalier in 1984. The other three award recipients include Doug Smith, Dick Irvin Jr., and Gilles Tremblay.

Team captains

Jack Laviolette, 1909–1910
Newsy Lalonde, 1910–1911
Jack Laviolette, 1911–1912
Newsy Lalonde, 1912–1913
Jimmy Gardner, 1913–1915
Howard McNamara, 1915–1916
Newsy Lalonde, 1916–1922
Sprague Cleghorn, 1922–1925
Billy Coutu, 1925–1926
Sylvio Mantha, 1926–1932
George Hainsworth, 1932–1933
Sylvio Mantha, 1933–1936
Albert "Babe" Siebert, 1936–1939
Walter Buswell, 1939–1940
Toe Blake, 1940–1948
Bill Durnan, 1948
Emile Bouchard, 1948–1956
Maurice Richard, 1956–1960
Doug Harvey, 1960–1961
Jean Beliveau, 1961–1971
Henri Richard, 1971–1975
Yvan Cournoyer, 1975–1979
Serge Savard, 1979–1981
Bob Gainey, 1981–1989
Guy Carbonneau and Chris Chelios, 1989–1990
Guy Carbonneau, 1990–1994
Kirk Muller, 1994–1995
Mike Keane, 1995
Pierre Turgeon, 1995–1996
Vincent Damphousse, 1996–1999
Saku Koivu, 1999–2009
Brian Gionta, 2010–2014
Max Pacioretty, 2015–2018
Shea Weber, 2018–present
Head coaches
Joe Cattarinich and Jack Laviolette, 1909–1910
Adolphe Lecours, 1911
Napoleon Dorval, 1911–1913
Jimmy Gardner, 1913–1915
Newsy Lalonde, 1915–1921
Leo Dandurand, 1921–1926
Cecil Hart, 1926–1932
Newsy Lalonde, 1932–1934
Newsy Lalonde and Leo Dandurand, 1934–1935
Sylvio Mantha, 1935–1936
Cecil Hart, 1936–1938
Cecil Hart and Jules Dugal, 1938–1939
Albert "Babe" Siebert, 1939
Alfred "Pit" Lepine, 1939–1940
Dick Irvin, 1940–55
Hector "Toe" Blake, 1955–1968
Claude Ruel, 1968–1970
Al MacNeil, 1970–1971
Scotty Bowman, 1971–1979
Bernie Geoffrion, 1979
Claude Ruel, 1979–1981
Bob Berry, 1981–1984
Jacques Lemaire, 1984–1985
Jean Perron, 1985–1988
Pat Burns, 1988–1992
Jacques Demers, 1992–1995
Mario Tremblay, 1995–1997
Alain Vigneault, 1997–2000
Michel Therrien, 2000–2003
Claude Julien, 2003–2006
Bob Gainey, 2006
Guy Carbonneau, 2006–2009
Bob Gainey, 2009
Jacques Martin, 2009–2011
Randy Cunneyworth, 2011–2012
Michel Therrien, 2012–2017
Claude Julien, 2017–present

Source:

First-round draft picks

1963: Garry Monahan
1964: Claude Chagnon
1965: Pierre Bouchard
1966: Phil Myre
1967: Elgin McCann
1968: Michel Plasse, Roger Belisle, and Jim Pritchard
1969: Rejean Houle, and Marc Tardif
1970: Ray Martynuik, and Chuck Lefley
1971: Guy Lafleur, Chuck Arnason, and Murray Wilson
1972: Steve Shutt, Michel Larocque, Dave Gardner, and John Van Boxmeer
1973: Bob Gainey
1974: Cam Connor, Doug Risebrough, Rick Chartraw, Mario Tremblay, and Gord McTavish
1975: Robin Sadler, and Pierre Mondou
1976: Peter Lee, Rod Schutt, and Bruce Baker
1977: Mark Napier, and Norm Dupont
1978: Danny Geoffrion, and Dave Hunter
1979: None
1980: Doug Wickenheiser
1981: Mark Hunter, Gilbert Delorme, and Jan Ingman
1982: Alain Heroux
1983: Alfie Turcotte
1984: Petr Svoboda, and Shayne Corson
1985: Jose Charbonneau, and Tom Chorske
1986: Mark Pederson
1987: Andrew Cassels
1988: Eric Charron
1989: Lindsay Vallis
1990: Turner Stevenson
1991: Brent Bilodeau
1992: David Wilkie
1993: Saku Koivu
1994: Brad Brown
1995: Terry Ryan
1996: Matt Higgins
1997: Jason Ward
1998: Eric Chouinard
1999: None
2000: Ron Hainsey and Marcel Hossa
2001: Mike Komisarek, and Alexander Perezhogin
2002: Chris Higgins
2003: Andrei Kostitsyn
2004: Kyle Chipchura
2005: Carey Price
2006: David Fischer
2007: Ryan McDonagh, and Max Pacioretty
2008: None
2009: Louis Leblanc
2010: Jarred Tinordi
2011: Nathan Beaulieu
2012: Alex Galchenyuk
2013: Michael McCarron
2014: Nikita Scherbak
2015: Noah Juulsen
2016: Mikhail Sergachev
2017: Ryan Poehling
2018: Jesperi Kotkaniemi
2019: Cole Caufield
Franchise individual records

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten-point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

– current Canadiens player

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

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	P/G
Guy Lafleur	RW	961	518	728	1,246	1.30
Jean Beliveau	C	1,125	507	712	1,219	1.08
Henri Richard	C	1,256	358	688	1,046	0.83
Maurice Richard	RW	978	544	421	965	0.99
Larry Robinson	D	1,202	197	686	883	0.73
Yvan Cournoyer	RW	968	428	435	863	0.89
Jacques Lemaire	C	853	366	469	835	0.98
Steve Shutt	LW	871	408	368	776	0.89
Bernie Geoffrion	RW	766	371	388	759	0.99
Saku Koivu	C	792	191	450	641	0.81

Player	Pos	G
Maurice Richard	RW	544
Guy Lafleur	RW	518
Jean Beliveau	C	507
Yvan Cournoyer	RW	428
Steve Shutt	LW	408
Bernie Geoffrion	RW	371
Jacques Lemaire	C	366
Henri Richard	C	358
Aurele Joliat	LW	270
Newsy Lalonde	C	266

Player	Pos	A
Guy Lafleur	RW	728
Jean Beliveau	C	712
Henri Richard	C	688
Larry Robinson	D	686
Jacques Lemaire	C	469
Andrei Markov	D	453
Saku Koivu	C	450
Yvan Cournoyer	RW	435
Maurice Richard	RW	421
Elmer Lach	C	408

Sources:,

Records – skaters

;Career

Most seasons: 20, Henri Richard
Most games: 1,256, Henri Richard
Most goals: 544, Maurice Richard
Most assists: 728, Guy Lafleur
Most points: 1,246, Guy Lafleur
Most penalty minutes: 2,248, Chris Nilan
Most consecutive games played: 560, Doug Jarvis

;Season

Most goals in a season: 60, Steve Shutt ; Guy Lafleur
Most powerplay goals in a season: 20, Yvan Cournoyer
Most powerplay goals in a season, defenceman: 19, Sheldon Souray *
Most assists in a season: 82, Pete Mahovlich
Most points in a season: 136, Guy Lafleur
Most penalty minutes in a season: 358, Chris Nilan
Most points in a season, defenceman: 85, Larry Robinson
Most points in a season, rookie: 71, Mats Naslund ; Kjell Dahlin
Most goals in a season, defenceman: 28, Guy Lapointe

* Indicates a league record.
Source:

Records – goaltenders