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Franchise history

1911-32: The Early National Hockey League

Before there was an NHL, there was a Montreal Canadiens team. They were founded on December 4, 1909 as a charter member of the league's forerunner, the National Hockey Association (NHA). The league's founder, mining tycoon Ambrose O'Brien, believed the new league needed a French-Canadian team to create a natural rivalry with the Montreal Shamrocks and Montreal Wanderers. The NHA's other founder, Jimmy Gardiner, suggested that O'Brien name the team the Canadiens. The team played its first game on January 5, 1910, coached by Jack Laviolette.

The next season, O'Brien sold the Canadiens to sports promoter George Kennedy, who renamed the team the "Club Athlétique Canadien." This would remain the corporate name until 1917.Kennedy also changed the primary colour of the team sweaters from blue to red.

The 1914-15 NHA season was the Canadiens' first in their famous red sweaters with a blue stripe across the middle and a red "C" inside the stripe. The only difference between these uniforms and today's was that the "C" was interlocked with an "A."

In 1916 the Canadiens beat the Portland Rosebuds of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association to win their first Stanley Cup, and they returned to the finals the following season, only to lose to the Seattle Metropolitans. The next year, the Canadiens adopted the first version of their current logo.

The Canadiens and four other NHA teams pulled out of the NHA to form the NHL in 1917. This stemmed from a long-running dispute with Toronto Blue Shirts owner Eddie Livingstone. Kennedy and his allies had the votes to throw Livingstone out of the league, but rather than risk a long court battle, they simply created a new league and left Livingstone in the NHA all by himself.

Kennedy was the dominant force in the new NHL; he not only controlled the Canadiens but had loaned Tommy Gorman the money he needed to purchase the then-troubled Ottawa Senators. They moved out of the Jubilee Rink to share the Montreal Arena with the Wanderers, only to return to Jubilee after the Montreal Arena burned down in January 1918. During this season, Joe Malone scored 44 goals--a record that would last for 27 years. Longtime goaltender Georges Vezina notched the league's first shutout, blanking the Toronto Arenas 9-0 on February 18. They finished in a first-place tie with the Arenas, but lost a playoff in what would be the first of many playoff battles with the team that would later become the Maple Leafs.

The next year, they once again faced Seattle for the Stanley Cup, but tragedy struck with the series tied at two games apiece. Seattle was struck by the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic, and many players on both teams fell sick. On the day of the deciding fifth game, nearly every player on the Canadiens was either hospitalized or confined to bed. With most of his other players either overseas or frozen in critical jobs due to World War I, Kennedy could not find any replacements.

PCHA president Frank Patrick vetoed a request to use players from the Victoria Cougars. The last game was canceled, and Kennedy then offered to forfeit the series--and the Cup--to the Metropolitans. However, Seattle coach Pete Muldoon felt it wouldn't be fair to accept the victory under the circumstances. As a result, the 1919 series is officially listed as a no-decision. Player-coach Newsy Lalonde was sick for over a month after the series, and star forward Joe Hall died five days after the series was abandoned.

In addition to Hall's death, the next season they lost Malone, the league's leading scorer. Malone had been on loan from the dormant Quebec Bulldogs, but that team returned to the ice in 1919-20.

In the summer of 1919, the Jubilee Rink burned down, and the Canadiens built Mount Royal Arena as a replacement.

Kennedy died in 1921; he had never recovered from the 1919 flu bug. His widow sold the team to Leo Dandurand, former player Joe Cattarinch and Louis Letourneau.

With rookie Howie Morenz completing a line between Aurel Joliat and Billy Boucher, the Canadiens once again reached the top in 1924, defeating both the Calgary Tigers (of the Western Canada Hockey League) and the Vancouver Maroons (of the PCHA) in a convoluted playoff format. In 1925, the Habs lost to the Victoria Cougars (now the Detroit Red Wings) in the last year of the old Western Hockey League challenging for the Stanley Cup.

The Canadiens lost Vezina to tuberculosis in late 1925, and finished last in the league. The following season, the Canadiens signed a suitable replacement in George Hainsworth, who would win the newly created Vezina Trophy, which was awarded to the goalie who allowed the fewest goals scored. Hainsworth would be the winner of that prize for the next few years.

The 1926-27 season was the Canadiens' first in the Montreal Forum. They moved there full-time due to constant problems getting acceptable ice at the Mount Royal Arena.

Generally, however, the Habs stumbled in the playoffs until they won their third Stanley Cup in 1930, defeating the seemingly invincible Boston Bruins (who had lost a mere six games in a 44-game schedule). The "Flying Frenchmen" once again beat the regular-season champion Bruins in the 1931 playoffs, then beat the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Black Hawks to win their fourth Cup.

1932-67: The end of Morenz and the Original Six

The Canadiens' stars (Morenz and Joliat) faded out in the early 1930s, and they had the worst record in the league by the 1935-36 NHL season. Stunned by such a horrible performance, the NHL gave the Habs rights to all French Canadian players for two years. They had the second-best record in the NHL in 1936-37, but were stunned by the death of Morenz on March 8, 1937 at the age of 34. On January 28, 1937 Morenz suffered multiple fractures of his leg from a hit by Earl Seibert of the Blackhawks, and developed blood clots in his fractured leg which led to a stroke.

The Canadiens were once again mired in mediocrity for several more seasons. The low point came in 1939-40, with a horrendous 10-win season--the worst in franchise history. This led to talk that the Canadiens might fold. An unlikely saviour arrived in the form of Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe. The Depression had already claimed several teams, and Smythe felt that the league might not have been able to survive the loss of its oldest franchise. He persuaded the Canadian Arena Company, which had bought the Canadiens in 1935, to hire Leafs coach Dick Irvin, who had taken the Leafs to the finals six times in eight years.

Irvin didn't take long to turn the Canadiens around. His efforts bore fruit when, led by the "Punch Line" of Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Toe Blake and Elmer Lach, the Habs lifted the Cup again in 1944 after losing only five games in the regular season. The sophomore Richard proved he was not "small, fragile and too brittle for the National Hockey League", as GM Tommy Gorman, after Richard's rookie year, concernedly voiced. If anything, he was Morenz's successor as one of hockey's preeminent superstars. Like Morenz, Richard was a great goal-scoring forward — and both Richard and Morenz were quite physical. Richard, in fact, became the first NHL player to hit 1000 career penalty minutes.

In 1945, Richard made NHL history by becoming the first player to score 50 goals in one season, reaching the mark on the final night of the season — 50 goals in 50 games. Despite their power, the Habs lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the semi-finals. The team was to be invigorated in the 1946 playoffs, winning their sixth Stanley Cup. But in 1947, despite Rocket Richard winning the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL Most Valuable Player, the Habs lost in the Stanley Cup Final against the nemesis Maple Leafs.

In 1957, brothers Tom and Hartland Molson, owners of the Molson brewery, purchased the team. The 1950s were by far the most successful decade for the Canadiens, and it is believed by many that the Habs of this era were the best team in NHL history. Between 1951 and 1960, the Canadiens made the finals every year, winning six times (including a record five straight between 1956 and 1960). Toe Blake succeeded Irvin as coach in 1955, and they added more of the league's great players such as Jean Béliveau (nicknamed Le Gros Bill), Dickie "Digger" Moore, Doug Harvey, Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, goalie Jacques Plante (who, in 1959, became the first goalie to regularly wear a mask on November 1 in a 3-1 win at the New York Rangers, but not without some resistance, even from coach Toe Blake), "Rocket" Richard, and his younger brother, Henri, who became known as the "Pocket Rocket" — many thought the Habs were merely placating the elder Richard when his brother was signed.

Montreal fell into a state of unbridled love, if not obsession, with the Habs team. At no time was this more evident than when Rocket Richard was suspended for the rest of the season on March 13, 1955, for assaulting an official in the aftermath of a stick fight in a game against the Bruins. Montrealers rioted in the streets at the following game (on March 17, at home versus the Detroit Red Wings), causing millions of dollars in damage. The Canadiens had to forfeit the game, and went on to lose in the finals to the Red Wings. The previous year, the Habs had also fallen at the hands of the Red Wings, when Harvey (considered one of the best defencemen of all time) redirected a clearing attempt by the Red Wings' Tony Leswick into the Montreal net past Canadiens goalie Gerry McNeil. In 1956 the Canadiens established a "farm team" in Peterborough, Ontario, now the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League.

Despite Rocket Richard's retirement in 1960, the Canadiens looked ready to win yet another, a sixth straight Cup in 1961; but they were stunned in the playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks (who eventually won the Stanley Cup behind the goal-producing genius of left-winger Bobby Hull) in the semi-finals. The Canadiens continued to suffer (relative) playoff frustration until they won the Cup again in 1965, in Yvan Cournoyer's rookie season, and repeated in 1966.

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 as expected, 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.

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 Habs 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).

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.

The 1992-93 Canadiens team posing with the Stanley Cup. No team from Canada has won it since.

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 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 the 2006-07 NHL season, Guy Carbonneau took over as head coach of the team. The Canadiens were near playoff contention for most of the year but were eliminated after losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 in the last game of the season, moving them out of the eighth and final playoff spot.

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.

On September 23, 2006, the Montreal Canadiens announced the retirement of number 18 for Serge Savard, on November 18, 2006, and number 29 for Ken Dryden, on January 29, 2007.^[10][11]

The Canadiens also announced ambitious plans for their Centennial year of 2008-09, including plans to bid on hosting the World Junior Hockey Championships (which were since awarded to Ottawa), the NHL All-Star Game and the NHL Draft. On January 23, 2007, it was announced that the 2009 NHL All-Star Game would indeed be held in Montreal.^[12] The team's management has pledged to be a Stanley Cup contender in time for 2009, but after missing the playoffs in the 2006-07 NHL season, the team has a long way to go in fulfilling that promise.

Team colors and mascot

The current home, road and vintage jerseys used in the season

One of sports' oldest and recognizable logos, the classic 'C' and 'H' of the Montreal Canadiens was first used together in the 1917/18 season, before evolving to its current form in 1952/53. A common misconception is that the 'H' stands for 'Habs', but in fact, it stands for 'Hockey', as in 'Club de Hockey Canadien', the official name of the team. The original name of the team was 'Club Athletique Canadien', which is why their logo had an 'A' in place of an 'H' from.

The current team colours are red, blue and white, and they can all be seen on the home, road and third jerseys. The home jersey, which was the team's road jersey until 2003 when the NHL decided to switch home and road jerseys,^[13] 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 waist. The main road jersey is the team's former home jersey, it is mainly white with a red and blue stripe across the waist, red at the end of both arm sleeves and the shoulders are also draped with red.

The third jersey is white in color with a similar design to the home jersey, except that the three stripes are blue and red, with a single red stripe dabbing the end of each arm sleeve.

The Canadiens' famous colours are an important part of French Canadian culture. In the short story The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier a young Quebecois boy is accidentally given the jersey of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. The poem was later made into an animated short, a quote from it appears on the Canadian five dollar bill.

Because of the team's rich history and significance, the jersey is referred to by many as La Sainte-Flanelle (the holy sweater).

Beginning in the 2004-05 NHL season, the Canadiens adopted a furry, orange creature named Youppi as their official mascot, the first in their 90+ year 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 Nationals. With the switch, Youppi became the first mascot in professional sports to switch leagues.^[14] 

Leaders

Team captains

Head coaches

Individual records

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 Shutouts: George Hainsworth, 75
• Most Consecutive Games Played: Doug Jarvis, 560
• Most Stanley Cups: Henri Richard, 11*

All Times Scorers

Rank	Name	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
1	Guy Lafleur	961	518	728	1246	381
2	Jean Béliveau	1125	507	712	1219	1029
3	Henri Richard	1256	358	688	1046	928
4	Maurice Richard	978	544	421	965	1285
5	Larry Robinson	1202	197	686	883	706
6	Yvan Cournoyer	968	428	435	863	255
7	Jacques Lemaire	853	366	469	835	217
8	Steve Shutt	871	408	368	776	400
9	Bernard Geoffrion	766	371	388	759	636
10	Elmer Lach	664	215	408	623	478

Season

• Most Goals in a season: Steve Shutt & Guy Lafleur, 60 (1976-77; 1977-78)
• Most Powerplay goals in a season: Yvan Cournoyer, 20 (1966-67)
• Most Assists in a season: Pete Mahovlich, 82 (1974-75)
• Most Points in a season: Guy Lafleur, 136 (1976-77)
• Most Penalty Minutes in a season: Chris Nilan, 358 (1984-85)
• Most Points in a season, defenceman: Larry Robinson, 85 (1976-77)
• Most Points in a season, rookie: Mats Naslund; Kjell Dahlin, 71 (1982-83; 1985-86)
• Most Wins in a season: Jacques Plante; Ken Dryden, 42 (1955-56 & 1961-62; 1975-76)
• Most Shutouts in a season: George Hainsworth, 22 (1928-29)*

                                          RETIRED NUMBERS

99 Wayne Gretzky, C, 1979-99 (Retired NHL wide; no banner hanging in the Bell Centre)

 

                                         HALL OF FAME PLAYERS

Hall of Fame

Name Induction Date Howie Morenz Apr 1945 Georges Vézina Apr 1945 Aurele Joliat Apr 1947 Newsy Lalonde Jun 1950 Joe Malone Jun 1950 Sprague Cleghorn Apr 1958 Herb Gardiner Apr 1958 Sylvio Mantha Sep 1960 Maurice Richard Jun 1961 Joe Hall Jun 1961 George Hainsworth Jun 1961 Jack Laviolette Aug 1962 Didier Pitre Aug 1962 Albert "Babe" Siebert Jun 1964 Bill Durnan Jun 1964 Hector Blake Jun 1966 Ken Reardon Jun 1966 Emile Bouchard Jun 1966 Elmer Lach Jun 1966 Tom Johnson Jun 1970 Jean Beliveau Jun 1972 Bernard Geoffrion Jun 1972 Doug Harvey Jun 1973 Dickie Moore Jun 1974 Jacques Plante Jun 1978 Henri Richard Jun 1979 Lorne Worsley Jun 1980 Frank Mahovlich Jun 1981 Yvan Cournoyer Jun 1982 Ken Dryden Jun 1983 Jacques Lemaire Jun 1984 Bert Olmstead Jun 1985 Serge Savard Jun 1986 Jacques Laperriere Jun 1987 Guy Lafleur Sep 1988 Bud O’connor Sep 1988 Bob Gainey Sep 1992 Guy Lapointe Jun 1993 Steve Shutt Jun 1993 Larry Robinson Nov 1995 Patrick Roy Nov 2006 Dick Duff Nov 2006

                                                          HOME ARENAS

Montreal Canadiens Home Arenas
Centre Bell 1260 de la Gauchetière Street West Montreal, Quebec H3B 5E8 (514) 932-3720; (800) 363-8162
Owner:	George N. Gillett Jr.
Capacity:	21,273 TOTAL - 136 private boxes - 2,500 Club Seats - Prestige Section (first eight rows)
Dimensions of Rink:	200' x 85'
Press Box:	140 work stations on a circular catwalk.
Radio & TV:	- 50 stations in a work room at ice level. - Five television studios. - Eight broadcast booths for TV & Radio.
Opened:	15-Mar-1996
First Official Game:	March 16, 1996, win against New York Rangers 4-2
Montreal Forum 2313 St. Catherine Street West Montreal, Quebec
Owner:	The Molson Companies Ltd.
Capacity:	16,259 (Seats) + 1,700 (Standing Room) = 17,959 Total
Dimensions of Rink:	200' x 85'
Press Box:	Suspended above ice, along West Side
Radio & TV:	Suspended above ice, along East Side
Opened:	29-Nov-1924
First Official Game:	November 29, 1924, win against Toronto St. Pats
Last Official Game:	March 11, 1996, win against Dallas Stars 4-1
Arena Capacity:	17,959
Largest pro crowd:	19,040 (Regular Season); Jan. 7, 1974 vs. Philadelhia
	19,005 (Playoffs); May 8, 1973 vs. Chicago
Original Forum
Owner:	Canadian Arena Company
Capacity:	9,000 Seats
Site:	Atwater & Ste Catherine
First Game:	Nov. 29, 1924; MTL 7, Tor 1
Attendance:	8,000
Original Cost:	$1.5 Million
Renovations:
1949	Capacity increased to 12,500
1968	Modernized, Air-Conditioned
	Capacity increased to 16,500
	Cost of $10,000,000
	Opened Nov 2, 1968
Jubilee Rink
Capacity:	3,500
Site:	Corner of Ste Catherine & Moreau
First Game:	Jan 5, 1910; Mtl 7, Cobalt 6
Last Season:	1918 (After Fire at Westmount Arena)
Westmount (Montreal) Arena
Capacity:	6,000
Site:	Few hundred feet west of Atwater, site of current Forum
First Game:	Dec. 19, 1917; Mtl 7, Ott 4
Last Game:	Jan 2nd, 1918 (Fire)
Mount Royal Arena
First Game:	Jan. 10, 1920; Mtl 14, Tor 7
Last Season:	1925-1926

                    

Conference	Eastern
Division	Northeast
Founded	December 4, 1909 (first game played January 5, 1910)
History	Montreal Canadiens 1909-present
Arena	Bell Centre
City	Montreal, Quebec
Local Media Affiliates	English CJAD (800 AM) French RDS CKAC (730 AM)
Team Colours	Bleu, blanc, et rouge (Blue, white, and red)
Owner	George N. Gillett, Jr.
General Manager	Bob Gainey
Head Coach	Guy Carbonneau
Captain	Saku Koivu
Minor League Affiliates	Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL)
Stanley Cups	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,