1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season

1969–70 Montreal Canadiens
Division5th East
1969–70 record38–22–16
Goals for244
Goals against201
Team information
General managerSam Pollock
CoachClaude Ruel
CaptainJean Beliveau
Alternate captainsHenri Richard
Unknown
ArenaMontreal Forum
Team leaders
GoalsJacques Lemaire (32)
AssistsYvan Cournoyer (36)
PointsYvan Cournoyer (63)
Penalty minutesJohn Ferguson (139)
WinsRogie Vachon (31)
Goals against averagePhil Myre (2.27)

The 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 61st season of play. The defending Stanley Cup champions finished sixteen games above .500, but it was not enough to return to the playoffs in the powerful East Division. Montreal finished fifth after losing tiebreaker to the New York Rangers on goal differential, and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1947–48 season, ending their 21-season playoff streak.

This team was the only Canadiens team between the 1948–49 season and the 1993–94 season that missed the playoffs, a span of 46 years. Montreal would go on to win another Cup the following season, becoming the first (and, as of 2024, only) team to win the Stanley Cup, miss the playoffs and win the Cup again in successive campaigns.

Regular season

On April 5, 1970 the Montreal Canadiens, in a desperate race to qualify for the NHL playoffs, the team played away against the Chicago Black Hawks. With 9:30 left in regulation time, Montreal was down by a score of 5–2. The Canadiens' only hope of qualifying for the playoffs was to score three more goals. Montreal coach Claude Ruel pulled his goaltender, Rogatien Vachon, from the net, sending him back out only for faceoffs. Unfortunately, luck ran out as Chicago scored five empty net goals and won the game by a score of 10–2, while the Rangers racked up a 9–5 win over Detroit. Thus, Montreal missed the playoffs for the first time in 22 years.

Final standings

East Division[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Chicago Black Hawks 76 45 22 9 250 170 +80 99
2 Boston Bruins 76 40 17 19 277 216 +61 99
3 Detroit Red Wings 76 40 21 15 246 199 +47 95
4 New York Rangers 76 38 22 16 246 189 +57 92
5 Montreal Canadiens 76 38 22 16 244 201 +43 92
6 Toronto Maple Leafs 76 29 34 13 222 242 −20 71

Record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

Regular season results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 11, 1969 5–1 Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 1–0–0
2 T October 15, 1969 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 1–0–1
3 W October 18, 1969 7–3 New York Rangers (1969–70) 2–0–1
4 T October 19, 1969 1–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 2–0–2
5 T October 22, 1969 3–3 St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 2–0–3
6 L October 25, 1969 0–5 Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 2–1–3
7 W October 26, 1969 8–3 @ New York Rangers (1969–70) 3–1–3
8 L October 29, 1969 1–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) 3–2–3
9 T October 30, 1969 2–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 3–2–4
10 W November 1, 1969 9–2 Boston Bruins (1969–70) 4–2–4
11 T November 5, 1969 2–2 Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) 4–2–5
12 W November 6, 1969 4–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 5–2–5
13 W November 8, 1969 6–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 6–2–5
14 W November 10, 1969 6–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 7–2–5
15 W November 12, 1969 5–0 @ Oakland Seals (1969–70) 8–2–5
16 W November 15, 1969 3–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 9–2–5
17 L November 16, 1969 0–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 9–3–5
18 T November 19, 1969 5–5 Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 9–3–6
19 W November 22, 1969 4–2 Oakland Seals (1969–70) 10–3–6
20 T November 23, 1969 2–2 @ Boston Bruins (1969–70) 10–3–7
21 W November 26, 1969 3–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 11–3–7
22 T November 29, 1969 2–2 Boston Bruins (1969–70) 11–3–8
23 W December 4, 1969 1–0 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 12–3–8
24 L December 6, 1969 3–4 Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) 12–4–8
25 L December 7, 1969 3–6 @ New York Rangers (1969–70) 12–5–8
26 W December 10, 1969 6–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 13–5–8
27 W December 13, 1969 4–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 14–5–8
28 L December 14, 1969 2–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 14–6–8
29 W December 17, 1969 5–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 15–6–8
30 L December 20, 1969 2–3 Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 15–7–8
31 W December 21, 1969 5–2 @ Boston Bruins (1969–70) 16–7–8
32 T December 26, 1969 3–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 16–7–9
33 T December 27, 1969 2–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 16–7–10
34 L December 30, 1969 0–5 St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 16–8–10
35 L December 31, 1969 2–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 16–9–10
36 W January 3, 1970 5–1 Oakland Seals (1969–70) 17–9–10
37 W January 6, 1970 4–3 Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 18–9–10
38 W January 8, 1970 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 19–9–10
39 W January 11, 1970 4–1 New York Rangers (1969–70) 20–9–10
40 W January 14, 1970 4–2 Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 21–9–10
41 L January 17, 1970 0–3 Oakland Seals (1969–70) 21–10–10
42 L January 18, 1970 3–6 @ Boston Bruins (1969–70) 21–11–10
43 W January 22, 1970 4–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) 22–11–10
44 W January 24, 1970 4–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 23–11–10
45 W January 25, 1970 4–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 24–11–10
46 W January 28, 1970 5–4 Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) 25–11–10
47 T January 31, 1970 3–3 Boston Bruins (1969–70) 25–11–11
48 W February 1, 1970 5–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 26–11–11
49 L February 4, 1970 2–5 @ Oakland Seals (1969–70) 26–12–11
50 W February 5, 1970 5–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 27–12–11
51 T February 7, 1970 1–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) 27–12–12
52 W February 8, 1970 3–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 28–12–12
53 T February 11, 1970 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 28–12–13
54 L February 14, 1970 2–5 Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 28–13–13
55 L February 15, 1970 0–2 @ New York Rangers (1969–70) 28–14–13
56 L February 18, 1970 3–5 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 28–15–13
57 W February 21, 1970 5–3 Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 29–15–13
58 W February 22, 1970 1–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 30–15–13
59 W February 25, 1970 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 31–15–13
60 L February 28, 1970 2–3 St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 31–16–13
61 L March 4, 1970 1–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 31–17–13
62 L March 7, 1970 2–4 Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 31–18–13
63 L March 8, 1970 0–2 @ Boston Bruins (1969–70) 31–19–13
64 W March 11, 1970 5–3 New York Rangers (1969–70) 32–19–13
65 W March 14, 1970 6–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 33–19–13
66 T March 15, 1970 3–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 33–19–14
67 T March 18, 1970 2–2 @ Oakland Seals (1969–70) 33–19–15
68 W March 19, 1970 6–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 34–19–15
69 W March 21, 1970 2–0 Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 35–19–15
70 W March 22, 1970 5–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 36–19–15
71 W March 25, 1970 5–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 37–19–15
72 T March 28, 1970 1–1 New York Rangers (1969–70) 37–19–16
73 L March 29, 1970 1–4 @ New York Rangers (1969–70) 37–20–16
74 W April 1, 1970 6–3 Boston Bruins (1969–70) 38–20–16
75 L April 4, 1970 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 38–21–16
76 L April 5, 1970 2–10 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 38–22–16

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Yvan Cournoyer RW 72 27 36 63 23 10 0 4
Jacques Lemaire C 69 32 28 60 16 13 0 5
Bobby Rousseau RW 72 24 34 58 30 5 2 4
Mickey Redmond RW 75 27 27 54 61 3 0 2
Henri Richard C 62 16 36 52 61 2 0 4
Jean Beliveau C 63 19 30 49 10 3 0 1
Ralph Backstrom C 72 19 24 43 20 1 0 2
Jacques Laperriere D 73 6 31 37 98 2 1 1
John Ferguson LW 48 19 13 32 139 6 0 7
Serge Savard D 64 12 19 31 38 5 3 2
Terry Harper D 75 4 18 22 109 0 0 0
Claude Provost RW 65 10 11 21 22 0 0 1
J.C. Tremblay D 58 2 19 21 7 1 0 0
Ted Harris D 74 3 17 20 116 0 0 0
Pete Mahovlich C 36 9 8 17 51 0 0 2
Christian Bordeleau C 48 2 13 15 18 0 0 0
Larry Mickey RW 21 4 4 8 4 3 0 2
Marc Tardif LW 18 3 2 5 27 1 0 0
Lucien Grenier RW 23 2 3 5 2 0 0 1
Bobby Sheehan C 16 2 1 3 2 0 0 0
Dick Duff LW 17 1 1 2 4 0 0 0
Larry Pleau C 20 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
Jean Gauthier D 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Rejean Houle W 9 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Phil Roberto RW 8 0 1 1 8 0 0 0
Guy Charron C 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paul Curtis D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jude Drouin C 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Fran Huck C 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Guy Lapointe D 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Phil Myre G 10 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Rogie Vachon G 64 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gump Worsley G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Rogie Vachon 3697 64 31 18 12 162 2.63 4
Phil Myre 503 10 4 3 2 19 2.27 0
Gump Worsley 360 6 3 1 2 14 2.33 0
Team: 4560 76 38 22 16 195 2.57 4

[3]

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

See also: 1969 NHL amateur draft
Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 1 Réjean Houle  Canada Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
1 2 Marc Tardif  Canada Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
3 32 Bobby Sheehan  United States St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
4 44 Murray Anderson  Canada Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
5 56 Gary Doyle  Canada Ottawa 67's (OHA)
6 63 Guy Delparte  Canada London Knights (OHA)
6 68 Lynn Powis  Canada Denver Pioneers (NCAA)
7 74 Ian Wilkie  Canada Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
7 75 Dale Power  Canada Peterborough Petes (OHA)
8 79 Frank Hamill  Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
9 83 Gilles Drolet  Canada Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
10 84 Darrel Knibbs  Canada Lethbridge Sugar Kings (AJHL)

See also

References

  1. ^ "1969–1970 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1969-70 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.