Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens de Montréal
2023–24 Montreal Canadiens season
Conference Eastern
Division Atlantic
Founded 1909
History Montreal Canadiens
1910–1917 (NHA)
1917–present (NHL)
Home arena Bell Centre
City Montreal, Quebec
Colours Red, white, blue[1][2][3]
     
Media English
French
Owner(s) Molson family (majority owner)
(Geoff Molson, chairman)[4]
General manager Kent Hughes
Head coach Martin St. Louis
Captain Nick Suzuki
Minor league affiliates Laval Rocket (AHL)
Trois-Rivières Lions (ECHL)[5]
Stanley Cups 24 (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)[note 1]
Conference championships 8 (1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1992–93)[note 2]
Presidents' Trophies 0[note 3]
Division championships 24 (1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1936–37, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1991–92, 2007–08, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17)
Official website Official website

The Montreal Canadiens are an ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). Their nickname is the "Habs" (short for the French "Habitants", early settlers in Quebec from France). They have won the Stanley Cup championship 24 times, more than any other team.

History

The Canadiens (who use the French spelling of "Canadian") were formed in 1909, as part of the National Hockey Association.

Early games

They won their first Stanley Cup in 1916, with star players such as Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde and goaltender Georges Vezina. The Canadiens joined the NHL in 1917; Canadien Joe Malone won the first NHL scoring title (Art Ross Trophy). They won the Cup again in 1924, with players such as Billy Boucher. Howie Morenz was a big star in the early years of the NHL. He was a great skater. Morenz won the Hart Trophy, as the league's top player, three times. Goalie George Hainsworth played at the same time, and along with others such as Aurel Joliat, they won the Stanley Cup in 1930 and 1931.

It took 13 years before they won the Cup again. A young Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, star goalie Bill Durnan,Hector "Toe" Blake, and Elmer Lach led the Canadiens to the cup again in 1944, as well as 1946. Richard scored 50 goals in a 50-game season in 1944-45. No one did that again for 36 years. He led the NHL in goals five times.

Later games

The Montreal Canadiens celebrating
The Montreal Canadiens celebrating

The Canadiens became a very powerful team in the 1950s. Led by legendary center Jean Beliveau, Doug Harvey (who won seven Norris Trophies as best defence, six on Montreal), Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, Dickie Moore, Jacques Plante (who won seven Vezina Trophies for goalies), and Richard (along with his younger brother, Henri, the "Pocket Rocket"), the team won the Cup in 1953, and five times in a row, 1956 through 1960. They won again in 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969.

New members

New players led the team in the 1970s: Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Larry Robinson, and Yvon Cournoyer led them to the cup in 1971, 1973, and four times in a row, 1976 through 1979. By 1979, they had won the Stanley Cup 16 times in 27 years.

Personnel

Team captains

References

  1. ↑ Pickens, Pat (June 13, 2021). "Niagara Falls lighting up red, white and blue for Canadiens". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  2. ↑ NHL Public Relations (February 10, 2020). "NHL and Montreal Canadiens unveil 2020 NHL Draft logo". Canadiens.com (Press release). NHL Enterprises, L.P. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Team Information - Centre Bell" (PDF). 2019–20 Montreal Canadiens Media Guide (PDF). NHL Enterprises, L.P. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Administration". Canadiens.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  5. ↑ "The Canadiens announce affiliation with the new ECHL Trois-Rivières club". Montreal Canadiens Official Website. January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  • Mouton, Claude (1987). The Montreal Canadiens. Toronto, ON: Key Porter Books. ISBN 155013051X.

Notes

  1. ↑ While the Montreal Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups, they have actually won 27 league championships, as the Stanley Cup predates the NHA/NHL and was an inter-league championship prior to 1926. The Canadiens won two titles with the National Hockey Association, winning a Stanley Cup in 1916 and losing in 1917. The Canadiens have won 25 league titles in the National Hockey League, winning 23 Stanley Cups. As NHL champion, Montreal failed to win the Stanley Cup in 1919, when the Spanish flu cancelled the Stanley Cup finals against the Seattle Metropolitans of Pacific Coast Hockey Association, and in 1925, when they lost in the Stanley Cup to the Western Canada Hockey League's Victoria Cougars.
  2. ↑ Though the Canadiens won the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and advanced into the Stanley Cup Finals in 2021, this does not count as a conference championship. Due to restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 NHL season saw a realignment of teams into new divisions, without any conferences.
  3. ↑ The Presidents' Trophy was not introduced until 1985. Had the trophy existed since league inception, the Canadiens franchise would have won 21 Presidents' Trophies.

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