History of the Montreal Canadiens

The History of the Montreal Canadiens is the history of the Montreal Canadiens National Hockey League (NHL) professional ice hockey club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1909, eight years before the founding of the NHL, the Canadiens are the oldest continuously operating club in the NHL.

Founding

In November 1909 industrialist Ambrose O'Brien of Renfrew, Ontario was in Montreal to purchase supplies for a railway contract. Contacted by the owners of the Renfrew Creamery Kings ice hockey team, he agreed to attend the Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) meetings and represent Renfrew in an application to join the league. The CHA team owners rejected Renfrew's application. Outside the meeting room, O'Brien met Jimmy Gardner, manager of the Montreal Wanderers. They discussed forming a new league, the "National Hockey Association" which would include Renfrew, the Wanderers and two teams that O'Brien owned in mining towns Cobalt, Ontario and Haileybury, Ontario. Gardner sold O'Brien on the idea of a team of francophone players based in Montreal to create a natural rivalry for the Wanderers. Gardner is credited with naming the team the 'Canadiens'.Canadiens press release on "Builders Row", December 14, 2006. http://www.canadiens.com/eng/news/redirect.cfm?sectionID=habsNewsDetails.cfm&newsItemID=5465] While the Creamery Kings' owners were opposed to forming a new league, they did agree to sell the team to O'Brien. On December 4, 1909, the league formally started with meetings in Montreal. The Canadiens were financially backed by O'Brien, but it was intended that the club to be transferred to francophone sportsmen in Montreal as soon as possible. [O'Brien(1971), pp. 7–8]

1910-17: National Hockey Association

Les Canadiens played their first game on January 5, 1910, coached by Jack Laviolette.Montreal Canadiens entry at Sports ECyclopedia. http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/montreal/canadiens.html] Before a sellout crowd of 5,000, the Canadiens defeated Cobalt. Meanwhile, the CHA was not doing well with poor attendance for games in Montreal. The CHA owners started discussing a merger with the NHA. The Ottawa Senators of the CHA were holders of the Stanley Cup, and if admitted, would mean that the Cup would be awarded to the league champions. The NHA absorbed Ottawa and the Montreal Shamrocks from the CHA. Unfortunately for the Canadiens, it meant their first win would not count as a new schedule would be started. The Canadiens only won two games at home and none away that season.

After the first season, George Kennedy, owner of the "Club Athlétique Canadien" founded a year earlier, claimed rights to the 'Canadiens' name. Kennedy paid $7,500 to O'Brien to settle the dispute and take over the team.cite web|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7823
title= Canadian Dictionary of Biography online |publisher=Government of Canada Library and Archives|accessdate=2007-04-30|year=2007] There are differing accounts of the transaction. O'Brien is on record as saying that he sold the Canadiens to Kennedy, and once claimed that he sold out too soon. [O'Brien(1971), pg. 26] However, according to "Trail of the Stanley Cup", (Coleman (1964)), the NHA suspended the 'Les Canadiens' franchise and transferred the remains of the Haileybury Hockey Club (including the franchise rights and player contracts) to Kennedy, who then assumed the Montreal Canadiens name. The purpose of structuring the transaction this way is not explained. However, O'Brien's account appears to be more accurate, as none of the Haileybury players ever signed with Kennedy. Instead, Kennedy signed the 'Les Canadiens' players and its player-coach Jack Laviolette and took over the lease of the Jubilee Rink. [Coleman(1966), p. 201.] Newsy Lalonde who had transferred to Renfrew in the first season, returned to the Canadiens. Another version of the events, as stated in Holzman(2002) is that Kennedy received the franchise for free, but had to pay $7,500 for Newsy Lalonde. [Holzman(2002), p. 34]

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." However, the team had been wearing red sweaters since the 1910-11 season. 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, losing to the Seattle Metropolitans. The next year, the Canadiens changed their corporate name to the present "Club de Hockey Canadien", and changed their logo to a red "C" interlocked with a white "H"--the first version of their current logo (which stands for "Club de Hockey Canadien").

1917-32: The Early National Hockey League

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 Blueshirts 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 had 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 Toronto 9-0 on February 18, 1918. They won the first half of the regular season, qualifying for the playoffs against Toronto, but lost the 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.

The Canadiens went through a series of troubles after the series. 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 the summer of 1919, the Canadiens' home Jubilee Rink burned down, and they had to build Mount Royal Arena as a replacement. The team also lost their star player Malone, who had been on loan from the dormant Quebec Bulldogs. That team returned to the ice in 1919-20. Kennedy died in 1921; he had never recovered from the 1919 flu bug. His widow sold the team to Leo Dandurand, former player Joseph Cattarinich and Louis A. Letourneau.

The 1923–24 Canadiens saw the debut of Howie Morenz completing a line between Aurel Joliat and Billy Boucher. The club placed second in the league to Ottawa, but defeated the Senators in the playoff to reach the Stanley Cup final. Montreal would host the 1924 Stanley Cup Finals against the WCHL Calgary Tigers, but had to play game two in Ottawa which had artificial ice. The Canadiens defeated the Tigers 2–0 (6–1, 3–0) to win their second Stanley Cup. Morenz was the offensive star of the series, scoring a hat-trick in game one and a goal in game two.

For the 1924–25, the Canadiens celebrated their world champion status with a special jersey design. The team moved their CH logo to their sleeves and played with a large world globe logo crest on their jersey fronts. The team would make the finals again to defend the title. This year would be a simple two-team playoff as the WCHL and PCHA merged into a single league, the WHL. The team lost to the Victoria Cougars (the future Detroit Red Wings) in the 1925 Stanley Cup Finals, played in Victoria 2–3 (2–5, 1–3, 4–2, 1–6).

In the first game of the 1925–26 NHL season, Vezina collapsed and would not play again, succumbing to tuberculosisin March 1926. In his honour, the team donated a new trophy, the Vezina Trophy, which was awarded to the goaltender who allowed the fewest goals scored. The team without Vezina would finish last. Two changes occurred in the 1926-27 season. The club would find a replacement for Vezina in George Hainsworth. After four years of poor ice conditions in the natural-ice Mount Royal Arena, the Canadiens joined the Maroons in the artificial-ice Montreal Forum.

The Canadiens returned to respectability but 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) in the 1930 Stanley Cup Finals. The Bruins did not lose two games in a row all season, but were swept by the Canadiens in two straight of a best-of-thre series (3–0, 4–3). It would be the last best-of-three series in the Finals.

The Canadiens became the second NHL team to repeat as champions in 1931. Canadiens met and defeated the regular-season champion Bruins, and the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs. In the 1931 Stanley Cup Finals, the Canadiens faced the Chicago Black Hawks, who were making their first Cup finals appearance. The Canadiens won the best-of-five series 3–2 (2–1, 1–2(2OT), 2–3(3OT), 2–1, 2–1) to win their fourth Stanley Cup.

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

Near bankruptcy in 1935, the Canadiens ownership changed hands when Canadian Arena Company bought the club from Leo Dandurand and Joseph Cataranich for $165,000. Dandurand and Cattaranich had bought the club for $11,000 in 1921. [Leonetti, Mike(2004), p. 21] Canadian Arena Company was controlled by Senator Raymond, who owned the Maroons. When the Maroons folded in 1938, many of the Maroons players were transferred to the Canadiens. This put the Canadiens under the management of William Northey of the Arena Company.

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 only 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--still 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 Canadiens management 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 1944-45, 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 1950-51 and 1955-56, the Canadiens made the finals every year, winning six times (including a record five straight between 1955-56 and 1959-60). Toe Blake succeeded Irvin as coach in 1955, and they added more of the league's great players such as Jean Beliveau (nicknamed "Le Gros Bill"), Dickie "Digger" Moore, Doug Harvey, Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, goaltender Jacques Plante (who, in 1959-60, became the first goaltender 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), Maurice "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 goaltender 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.

1967-79: Expansion era and the 70s dynasty

Canada's centennial year of 1967 was momentous for the country, and more importantly for the city of Montreal. A world's fair, Expo 67, was held in Montreal, and the Canadiens had promised to deliver the Stanley Cup to the Quebec Pavilion 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 in an upset, and instead of displaying the Cup in the Quebec Pavilion, 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 1967, 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 5-2. Chicago tallied five empty net goals, but Montreal failed to score again. [http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/sports/story.html?id=267319e2-3e42-4ef3-8918-8a1273956fad&k=86740] 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 goaltender 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 Beliveau, 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 what was considered a 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. He was replaced by St. Louis Blues coach and Montreal native Scotty Bowman.

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. While they won a division title in 1975--the first of eight in a row--they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup finalist Buffalo Sabres in the semi-finals. Henri Richard retired after that season, ending 33 consecutive seasons of a Richard being on the Habs roster.

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 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. Bowman left the team after the fourth consecutive Cup triumph. Earlier in the decade, he'd been promised the general manager's post when Sam Pollock retired, but the Molsons went back on their word.Hunter(1997), p.]

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. However, when word got out that Molson was standing in the way of Edmonton, Quebec City and Winnipeg joining the NHL, consumers in those cities staged a massive boycott of Molson products. This forced the Habs to reverse themselves two weeks after the first vote and support the final deal.

1980s and 90s: transitions

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 goaltender 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.

The Montreal Canadiens won their most recent, league-leading 24th 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 goaltender'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."cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/news/2001/02/20/sayitaintso_canadiens|title=King is Dethroned; Hockey, Canadiens-style, is not without its warts|publisher=The Montreal Gazette|year=2001|accessdate=2007-02-14] cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/michael_farber/news/2003/05/27/farber_royretro|title=Career For The Ages|publisher=Sports Illustrated|year=2003|accessdate=2007-02-14] He was traded to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche along with Mike Keane for Jocelyn Thibault, Andrei Kovalenko, and Martin Rucinsky.

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 Beliveau 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. The team's owner, the Molson brewery, decided to refocus on its core business and sell the Canadiens (the Molson Centre was subsequently also put up for sale). After being unable to entice any Canadian investors to make an offer,Citation
last = Fisher
first = Red
title = Gillett says the right things: New owner pays tribute to Habs' history, but dreams for the future exaggerated
newspaper = Montreal Gazette
pages = B.5
year = 2001
date = 2001-02-01] Molson sold an 80.1% interest in the team and 100% of the Molson Centre to American investor George N. Gillett Jr. for CAD $275 million.Citation
last = Todd
first = Jack
title = NHL board unanimous: Habs are Gillett's
newspaper = Montreal Gazette
pages = E.1
year = 2001
date = 2001-06-20] As part of the deal, Molson received the right of first refusal should the team be sold by Gillett, and the NHL board of governors would be required to unanimously approve any move to a new city.Citation
last = Davenport
first = Jane
last2 = Gyulai
first2 = Linda
title = 'I'll restore Habs': New owner looks ahead to that 25th Stanley Cup
newspaper = Montreal Gazette
pages = A.1
year = 2001
date = 2001-02-01 ]

Under new ownership in the 21^st century

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, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, register two assists in the last three games and, along with the surprising strong play of goaltender 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, the Canadiens won the final three games to again upset the Bruins. However, in second round, the Canadiens were no match for the eventual Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning which swept the Habs in four games.

On October 15, 2005, as part of the leadup to the celebrations for the Montreal Canadiens centennial, 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. The retirement ceremony went ahead as planned at the request of his family.

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 goaltender Jose Theodore was traded to the Colorado Avalanche after numerous disappointing starts, in return for goaltender 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.cite web|url=http://www.canadiens.com/eng/news/redirect.cfm?sectionID=habsNewsDetails.cfm&newsItemID=5021|title=Canadiens usher in Carbonneau era|publisher=MontrealCanadiens.com|year=2006|accessdate=2006-05-10] The Canadiens retired number 18 for Serge Savard, on November 18, 2006, and number 29 for Ken Dryden, on January 29, 2007. [cite web|url=http://www.canadiens.com/eng/news/redirect.cfm?sectionID=habsNewsDetails.cfm&newsItemID=5176|title =Dryden and Savard earn ultimate tribute|publisher = Montreal Canadiens|year=2006|accessdate = 2006-09-23] [cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2006/09/20/dryden-savard-canadiens.html|title = Dryden, Savard paid tribute|publisher = CBC Sports|year = 2006|accessdate=2006-09-23]

In December 2006, as the founder of the Montreal Canadiens, John Ambrose O'Brien was an inaugural inductee in the team's newly created 'Builders Row' in the Bell Centre. As well, the team inducted special advisor William Northey, former team president Donat Raymond and former owners Leo Dandurand, Joseph Cattarinich, Louis A. Letourneau and Senator Hartland de Montarville Molson. cite web|url=http://www.canadiens.com/eng/stats/redirect.cfm?sectionID=habsNewsDetails.cfm&gameID=5430|title= Post Game Story - Founder John Ambrose O'Brien|publisher=Club de hockey Canadien, Inc.|accessdate=2007-04-30|year=2007]

Continuing the celebration of Canadien greats leading up to the Habs' centennial year, the Canadiens retired number 19 for Larry Robinson, on November 19, 2007, and number 23 for Bob Gainey, on February 23, 2008.

Logos and jersey design

Logo

In its first years, the team changed its logo nearly every season. The first logo was simply a large C on a white stripe in 1909-10. In 1910-11, the logo was changed to a large green maple leaf with a white 'C' in 'Old English' script. The logo changed yet again in 1911 to a white maple leaf with the letters CAC over it, standing for Club Athletique Canadien. In 1912, it changed to a large C, with an A inside, similar to the current style.

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. The 'H' stands for 'Hockey', as in 'Club de Hockey Canadien', the official name of the team. The 'H' does not stand for 'Habs' or Habitants; this misconception stems from an error by an English language newspaper reporter. According to NHL.com, the first man to refer to the team as "the Habs" was Tex Rickard, owner of Madison Square Garden, in 1924. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the "H" on the Canadiens' sweaters was for "Habitants."cite web |url=http://proicehockey.about.com/od/history/f/canadiens_habs.htm |title=Why are the Montreal Canadiens called the Habs? |publisher=About.com |year=2008 |accessdate=2008-04-30] .

Jerseys

The current team colours are red, blue and white. The home jersey, which was the team's road jersey from 1970 until 2003 when the NHL decided to switch home and road jerseys, [16] 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.

Until 2007, the Canadiens used a "third jersey". The third jersey is white in colour 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 third jersey design is based upon the white sweater worn by the Canadiens in the mid-1940s; as a vintage design, it sports a solid red crew collar, as opposed to the blue-white-blue striped V-neck on the home and road jerseys.

The Canadiens' famous colours are an important part of French Canadian culture. In the short story The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier a young Québécois 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 flannel sweater).

ee also

* List of Stanley Cup champions
* History of the National Hockey League

References

*cite book |title=The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol.1 1893–1926 inc. |last=Coleman |first=Charles L. |year=1966 |publisher=National Hockey League
*cite book |title=Champions: The Illustrated History of Hockey's Greatest Dynasties |last=Hunter |first=Douglas |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1997 |publisher=Triumph Books |location=Chicago |isbn=1572432166
*cite book |title=The Habs |last=McFarlane |first=Brian |year=1996 |publisher=Stoddart Publishing |location=Toronto |isbn=077372981X
*
*cite book |title=Canadiens Legends |last=Leonetti |first=Mike |coauthors=Beliveau, Jean |publisher=Raincoast Books |year=2004
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External links