2006–07 Montreal Canadiens season

NHLTeamSeason
Season=2006–07
Team=Montreal Canadiens
Conference=Eastern
ConferenceRank=10th
Division=Northeast
DivisionRank=4th
Record=42–34–6
GoalsFor=245
GoalsAgainst=256
GeneralManager=Bob Gainey
Coach=Guy Carbonneau
Captain=Saku Koivu
AltCaptain=Alexei Kovalev (Feb-Apr)
Craig Rivet (Oct-Feb)
Sheldon Souray
Arena=Bell Centre
GoalsLeader=Michael Ryder (30)
AssistsLeader=Saku Koivu (53)
PointsLeader=Saku Koivu (75)
WinsLeader=Cristobal Huet (19)
GAALeader=Cristobal Huet (2.81)The 2006–07 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 97th season, 89th in the National Hockey League. The club did not qualify for the playoffs.

Pre-season

The Canadiens were only minimally active in offseason transactions, with forwards Sergei Samsonov and Mike Johnson and defenceman Janne Niinimaa representing the only additions. Forwards Jan Bulis, Richard Zednik and Mike Ribeiro moved to other teams: Bulis via free agency to Vancouver, Zednik via a trade to Washington, and Ribeiro via a trade to Dallas (for Niinimaa).

Regular season

The club intended to build on a 2005–06 season in which it took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes to six games in the first round of the playoffs. Behind the leadership of goaltender Cristobal Huet and captain Saku Koivu, the Canadiens poised themselves to join the elite of the Eastern Conference.

However, the team failed to keep its momentum for the whole season. Cristobal Huet's injury on February 15, 2007 forced the Canadiens to use backup goaltenders Jaroslav Halák and David Aebischer. Despite Halák's decent performance, the Canadiens could not clinch a playoff spot. They were eliminated on April 8, after a 6–5 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the season's last game.

On January 9, 2007, the NHL announced that Sheldon Souray had been voted by the fans to start at defence in the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas. [ [http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=9182 TSN : NHL - Canada's Sports Leader ] ]

eason standings

December

Record for Month 8–4–2 (Home 5–1–1 Away 3–3–1)

March

Record for Month 8–5–0 (Home 6–0–0 Away 2–5–0)

Goaltending

"Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average"

Free Agents Lost

Awards and Records

* Saku Koivu, King Clancy Memorial Trophy

External links

* [http://www.canadiens.com/ Official site of the Montreal Canadiens]

ee also

*2006–07 NHL season

References

*Team standings: [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings NHL standings] on espn.com
*Game log: [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/teams/schedule?team=mon Montreal Canadiens game log] on espn.com
*Season Stats: [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/teams/stats?team=mon] on espn.com

Goaltenders:

hockey team player|no=30|name=Aebischer•hockey team player|no=39|name=Huet•

Defensemen

hockey team player|no=6|name=Niinimaa•hockey team player|no=8|name=Komisarek•hockey team player|no=25|name=Dandenault•hockey team player|no=26|name=Gorges•hockey team player|no=32|name=Streit•hockey team player|no=44|name=Souray•hockey team player|no=51|name=Bouillon•

Forwards

hockey team player|no=11|name=Koivu•hockey team player|no=14|name=Bonk•hockey team player|no=15|name=Samsonov•hockey team player|no=20|name=Johnson•hockey team player|no=21|name=Higgins•hockey team player|no=22|name=Begin•hockey team player|no=27|name=Kovalev•hockey team player|no=35|name=Plekanec•hockey team player|no=40|name=Lapierre•hockey team player|no=46|name=Kostitsyn•hockey team player|no=47|name=Downey•hockey team player|no=57|name=Murray•hockey team player|no=62|name=Milroy•hockey team player|no=73|name=Ryder•