1967–68 Montreal Canadiens season

1967–68 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup champions
East Division champions
Division1st East
1967–68 record42–22–10
Goals for236
Goals against167
Team information
General managerSam Pollock
CoachToe Blake
CaptainJean Beliveau
Alternate captainsHenri Richard
John Ferguson
ArenaMontreal Forum
Team leaders
GoalsJean Beliveau (31)
AssistsBobby Rousseau (46)
PointsJean Beliveau (68)
Penalty minutesJohn Ferguson (117)
WinsRogie Vachon (23)
Goals against averageGump Worsley (1.98)

The 1967–68 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 59th season of play. The Canadiens won their 15th Stanley Cup in club history.

Offseason

Expansion draft

The 1967 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 6, 1967, in the ballroom of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. The Canadiens lost 18 players in the NHL Expansion Draft. General manager Sam Pollock helped Clarence Campbell draw up the rules for the draft.[1] The most notable players lost were Charlie Hodge, Jean-Guy Talbot, Dave Balon and Jim Roberts.[1]

Regular season

On March 3, 1968, Jean Beliveau joined Gordie Howe as the only players to have 1000 career points.[2]

Final standings

East Division[3]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Montreal Canadiens 74 42 22 10 236 167 +69 94
2 New York Rangers 74 39 23 12 226 183 +43 90
3 Boston Bruins 74 37 27 10 259 216 +43 84
4 Chicago Black Hawks 74 32 26 16 212 222 −10 80
5 Toronto Maple Leafs 74 33 31 10 209 176 +33 76
6 Detroit Red Wings 74 27 35 12 245 257 −12 66

Record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

Regular season results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 11, 1967 2–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 1–0–0
2 W October 14, 1967 6–2 Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 2–0–0
3 L October 15, 1967 2–6 @ Boston Bruins (1967–68) 2–1–0
4 T October 18, 1967 2–2 @ New York Rangers (1967–68) 2–1–1
5 W October 19, 1967 1–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 3–1–1
6 W October 21, 1967 4–2 Boston Bruins (1967–68) 4–1–1
7 T October 26, 1967 1–1 New York Rangers (1967–68) 4–1–2
8 W October 28, 1967 4–1 St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 5–1–2
9 L November 1, 1967 0–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 5–2–2
10 L November 4, 1967 1–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 5–3–2
11 T November 5, 1967 1–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 5–3–3
12 L November 8, 1967 2–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 5–4–3
13 T November 11, 1967 3–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 5–4–4
14 L November 12, 1967 1–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 5–5–4
15 W November 15, 1967 5–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 6–5–4
16 L November 18, 1967 1–2 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 6–6–4
17 L November 19, 1967 2–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 6–7–4
18 W November 22, 1967 3–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 7–7–4
19 W November 23, 1967 7–0 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 8–7–4
20 L November 25, 1967 1–3 Boston Bruins (1967–68) 8–8–4
21 L November 29, 1967 1–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 8–9–4
22 T November 30, 1967 1–1 Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 8–9–5
23 L December 2, 1967 2–3 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 8–10–5
24 L December 3, 1967 3–5 @ Boston Bruins (1967–68) 8–11–5
25 T December 7, 1967 2–2 Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 8–11–6
26 T December 9, 1967 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 8–11–7
27 L December 10, 1967 2–3 @ New York Rangers (1967–68) 8–12–7
28 W December 13, 1967 6–2 @ Boston Bruins (1967–68) 9–12–7
29 W December 16, 1967 4–3 Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 10–12–7
30 L December 17, 1967 6–8 @ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 10–13–7
31 W December 20, 1967 5–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 11–13–7
32 W December 23, 1967 4–2 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 12–13–7
33 L December 25, 1967 1–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 12–14–7
34 T December 27, 1967 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 12–14–8
35 W December 28, 1967 6–2 Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 13–14–8
36 W December 30, 1967 2–0 Oakland Seals (1967–68) 14–14–8
37 T January 3, 1968 1–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 14–14–9
38 W January 6, 1968 5–2 New York Rangers (1967–68) 15–14–9
39 W January 7, 1968 4–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 16–14–9
40 W January 10, 1968 4–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 17–14–9
41 W January 11, 1968 4–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 18–14–9
42 W January 13, 1968 5–1 Boston Bruins (1967–68) 19–14–9
43 W January 17, 1968 6–1 Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 20–14–9
44 W January 20, 1968 3–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 21–14–9
45 W January 25, 1968 2–0 @ Boston Bruins (1967–68) 22–14–9
46 W January 27, 1968 5–2 Boston Bruins (1967–68) 23–14–9
47 W January 30, 1968 3–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 24–14–9
48 W February 1, 1968 5–2 New York Rangers (1967–68) 25–14–9
49 W February 3, 1968 5–1 Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 26–14–9
50 L February 4, 1968 0–3 @ New York Rangers (1967–68) 26–15–9
51 W February 7, 1968 4–1 Philadelphia Flyers (1967–68) 27–15–9
52 W February 10, 1968 6–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 28–15–9
53 W February 11, 1968 6–0 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 29–15–9
54 W February 14, 1968 4–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 30–15–9
55 W February 15, 1968 2–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 31–15–9
56 W February 17, 1968 4–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 32–15–9
57 W February 21, 1968 7–2 @ New York Rangers (1967–68) 33–15–9
58 W February 22, 1968 2–1 St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 34–15–9
59 L February 24, 1968 1–6 New York Rangers (1967–68) 34–16–9
60 T February 28, 1968 3–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1967–68) 34–16–10
61 L March 2, 1968 2–3 @ Minnesota North Stars (1967–68) 34–17–10
62 L March 3, 1968 2–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 34–18–10
63 W March 5, 1968 6–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1967–68) 35–18–10
64 W March 6, 1968 2–0 @ Oakland Seals (1967–68) 36–18–10
65 W March 9, 1968 5–0 Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 37–18–10
66 W March 14, 1968 3–1 New York Rangers (1967–68) 38–18–10
67 W March 16, 1968 6–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1967–68) 39–18–10
68 L March 17, 1968 1–3 @ Boston Bruins (1967–68) 39–19–10
69 W March 20, 1968 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 40–19–10
70 W March 23, 1968 7–4 Detroit Red Wings (1967–68) 41–19–10
71 W March 24, 1968 7–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1967–68) 42–19–10
72 L March 27, 1968 0–6 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1967–68) 42–20–10
73 L March 30, 1968 1–2 Boston Bruins (1967–68) 42–21–10
74 L March 31, 1968 2–4 @ New York Rangers (1967–68) 42–22–10

Playoffs

Stanley Cup finals

This was the first Stanley Cup after the 1967 expansion. Montreal defeated Boston and Chicago to advance to the finals as the East Division champion. St. Louis would defeat Philadelphia and Minnesota to advance to the finals as the West Division champion.

Date Visitors Score Home Score Notes
May 5 Montreal 3 St. Louis 2 OT
May 7 Montreal 1 St. Louis 0
May 9 St. Louis 3 Montreal 4 OT
May 11 St. Louis 2 Montreal 3

Montreal wins the series 4–0.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Jean Beliveau C 59 31 37 68 28 9 0 3
Bobby Rousseau RW 74 19 46 65 47 7 1 5
Yvan Cournoyer RW 64 28 32 60 23 7 1 4
Gilles Tremblay LW 71 23 28 51 8 7 1 2
Dick Duff LW 66 25 21 46 21 6 0 8
Ralph Backstrom C 70 20 25 45 14 3 0 5
Claude Provost RW 73 14 30 44 26 2 3 3
Jacques Lemaire C 69 22 20 42 16 3 1 3
John Ferguson LW 61 15 18 33 117 0 0 3
J. C. Tremblay D 73 4 26 30 18 1 0 1
Henri Richard C 54 9 19 28 16 2 0 3
Jacques Laperriere D 72 4 21 25 84 1 0 0
Ted Harris D 67 5 16 21 78 0 0 1
Serge Savard D 67 2 13 15 34 1 0 0
Mickey Redmond RW 41 6 5 11 4 1 0 0
Terry Harper D 57 3 8 11 66 0 0 1
Claude Larose RW 42 2 9 11 28 0 0 0
Danny Grant RW 22 3 4 7 10 0 0 0
Carol Vadnais D 31 1 1 2 31 0 0 0
Bryan Watson D 12 0 1 1 9 0 0 0
Garry Monahan LW 11 0 0 0 8 0 0 0
Rogie Vachon G 39 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Gump Worsley G 40 0 0 0 10 0 0 0

Goaltending

Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Rogie Vachon 2227 39 23 13 2 92 2.48 4
Gump Worsley 2213 40 19 9 8 73 1.98 6
Team: 4440 74 42 22 10 165 2.23 10

Playoffs

Scoring

Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Yvan Cournoyer RW 13 6 8 14 4 3 0 1
Jacques Lemaire C 13 7 6 13 6 2 0 2
Jean Beliveau C 10 7 4 11 6 3 0 1
Claude Provost RW 13 2 8 10 10 1 0 1
J. C. Tremblay D 13 3 6 9 2 0 1 1
Henri Richard C 13 4 4 8 4 1 0 0
John Ferguson LW 13 3 5 8 25 0 0 1
Ralph Backstrom C 13 4 3 7 4 0 0 2
Dick Duff LW 13 3 4 7 4 0 0 1
Bobby Rousseau RW 13 2 4 6 8 0 0 1
Gilles Tremblay LW 9 1 5 6 2 0 0 0
Claude Larose RW 12 3 2 5 8 0 0 0
Jacques Laperriere D 13 1 3 4 20 0 0 0
Ted Harris D 13 0 4 4 22 0 0 0
Danny Grant RW 10 0 3 3 5 0 0 0
Serge Savard D 6 2 0 2 0 0 2 1
Terry Harper D 13 0 1 1 8 0 0 0
Mickey Redmond RW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rogie Vachon G 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Carol Vadnais D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gump Worsley G 12 0 0 0 10 0 0 0

Goaltending

Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Gump Worsley 672 12 11 0 21 1.88 1
Rogie Vachon 113 2 1 1 4 2.12 0
Team: 785 13 12 1 25 1.91 1

[5]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1967 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 8 Elgin McCann  Canada Weyburn Red Wings (WCJHL)

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p. 189, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0.
  2. ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 214.
  3. ^ "1967–1968 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  4. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  5. ^ "1967-68 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
  6. ^ a b National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 220.
  7. ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 222.

Bibliography

  • National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5.