The Montreal Canadiens[note 4] (French: Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially le Club de hockey Canadien (lit. The Canadian Hockey Club)[6] and colloquially known as the Habs,[note 5] are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Since 1996, the Canadiens have played their home games at Bell Centre, originally known as Molson Centre.[7] The team previously played at the Montreal Forum, which housed the team for seven decades and all but their first two Stanley Cup championships.[note 6]
Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the oldest continuously operating professional ice hockey team worldwide, and the only existing NHL club to predate the founding of the NHL. One of the oldest North American professional sports franchises, the Canadiens' history predates that of every other Canadian franchise outside the Toronto Argonauts, as well as every American franchise outside baseball and the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals. The franchise is one of the "Original Six", the teams that made up the NHL from 1942 until the 1967 expansion. The team's championship season in 1992–93 marked the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.[8]
The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup more times than any other franchise, having earned 24 championships, with 23 victories since the founding of the NHL, and 22 since 1927, when NHL teams became the only ones to compete for the Stanley Cup.[9] The Canadiens also had the most championships by a team of any of the four major North American sports leagues until the New York Yankees won their 25th World Series title in 1999.
The Canadiens were founded by J. Ambrose O'Brien on December 4, 1909, as a charter member of the National Hockey Association,[10][11]
the forerunner to the National Hockey League. It was to be the team of the francophone community in Montreal, composed of francophone players, and under francophone ownership as soon as possible.[12] The founders named the team "Les Canadiens," a term identified at the time with French speakers.[13] The team's first season was not a success, as they placed last in the league. After the first year, ownership was transferred to George Kennedy of Montreal and the team's record improved over the next seasons.[14] The team won its first Stanley Cup championship in the 1915–16 season.[15] In 1917, with four other NHA teams, the Canadiens formed the NHL,[16] and they won their first NHL Stanley Cup during the 1923–24 season, led by Howie Morenz.[17] The team moved from the Mount Royal Arena to the Montreal Forum for the 1926–27 season.[18]
The club began the 1930s decade successfully, with Stanley Cup wins in 1930 and 1931. The Canadiens and its cross-town rivals the Montreal Maroons, who stopped playing after the 1937–38 NHL season, declined both on the ice and economically during the Great Depression. Losses grew to the point where the team owners considered selling the team to interests in Cleveland, Ohio, though local investors were ultimately found to finance the Canadiens.[19] The Maroons suspended operations, and several of their players moved to the Canadiens.[20]
The Canadiens won Stanley Cups in 1986, led by rookie star goaltender Patrick Roy,[30] and in 1993, continuing their streak of winning at least one championship in every decade from the 1910s to the 1990s (this streak came to an end in the 2000s).[31] In 1996, the Habs moved from the Montreal Forum, their home during 70 seasons and 22 Stanley Cups, to Molson Centre (now called Bell Centre).[32]
Following Roy's departure in 1995, the Canadiens fell into an extended stretch of mediocrity,[33] missing the playoffs in four of their next ten seasons and failing to advance past the second round of the playoffs until 2010.[34] By the late 1990s, with both an ailing team and monetary losses exacerbated by a record-low value of the Canadian dollar, Montreal fans feared their team would end up relocated to the United States. Team owner Molson Brewery sold control of the franchise and the Molson Centre to American businessman George N. Gillett Jr. in 2001, with the right of first refusal for any future sale by Gillett and a condition that the NHL Board of Governors must unanimously approve any attempt to move to a new city.[35] Led by club president Pierre Boivin, the Canadiens returned to being a lucrative enterprise, earning additional revenues from broadcasting and arena events. In 2009, Gillett sold the franchise to a consortium led by the Molson family which included The Woodbridge Company, BCE/Bell, the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Michael Andlauer, Luc Bertrand and the National Bank Financial Group for $575 million, more than double the $275 million he spent on the purchase eight years prior.[36][37]
For the 2020–21 season, the league moved the Canadiens along with the other six teams from Canada to the North Division. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadiens only played against teams in the division in the regular season to avoid travel restrictions between the United States and Canada. All teams in the division played without fans to begin the season.[42] The Canadiens advanced through the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs 4–3, overcoming a 3–1 Maple Leafs lead in the series. The Canadiens then swept the Winnipeg Jets in the second round, advancing to the Stanley Cup semifinals.[43] The Canadiens defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in the semifinals, clinching an overtime victory in Game 6 of the series, and reaching their first Stanley Cup Finals in 28 years, whilst also being the first Canadian team to reach the Finals since the Vancouver Canucks in 2011.[44] Montreal lost the Finals to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4 games to 1.[45]
In 2021–22, the Canadiens were unable to replicate their success from the prior season, ultimately finishing last in the league for the first time since the 1939–40 season and the first time in the NHL's expansion era, in what was one of the worst seasons in the team's history.[46][47][48] In the process they set team records for most regulation losses (49), most goals against (319), fewest wins (22),[49] and fewest points (55),[49] while their .335 point percentage was the team's third-worst ever, after only 1925–26 (.319) and 1939–40 (.260). As a result, team owner Geoff Molson authorized a "rebuild" of the roster over an extended period, a first in the modern history of the franchise.[50] The Canadiens finished fifth-last in the subsequent 2022–23 season.[51]
The Canadiens organization operates in both English and French. For many years, public address announcements and press releases have been given in both languages, and the team website and social media outlets are in both languages as well. At home games, the first stanza of O Canada is sung in French, and the chorus is sung in English.
Crest and sweater design
Early logos used by the Canadiens
Logo used from 1909 to 1910
Logo used from 1912 to 1913
Original design of the "CHC" logo. (1917–19, 1921–22)
One of sport's oldest and most recognizable logos, the classic 'C' and 'H' of the Montreal Canadiens was first used together in the 1917–18 season, when the club changed its name to "Club de hockey Canadien" from "Club athlétique Canadien",[52] before evolving to its current form in 1952–53. The "H" stands for "hockey", not "Habitants," a popular misconception.[53] According to NHL.com, the first man to refer to the team as "the Habs" was American Tex Rickard, owner of the Madison Square Garden, in 1924. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the "H" on the Canadiens' sweaters was for "Habitants".[54] In French, the "Habitants" nickname dates back to at least 1914, when it was printed in Le Devoir to report a 9–3 win over Toronto on the ninth of February.[55][56]
The team's colours since 1911 are blue, white and red. The home sweater 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 waistline. The main road sweater is mainly white with a red and blue stripe across the waist, red at the end of both arm sleeves red shoulder yokes. The basic design has been in use since 1914 and took its current form in 1925, generally evolving as materials changed.[57] Because of the team's lengthy history and significance in Quebec, the sweater has been referred to as 'La Sainte-Flanelle' (the holy flannel sweater).
Since 2015, the Canadiens' home red sweater is the only uniform in the league to feature the French language version of the NHL shield logo (LNH) on the neck collar, in acknowledgment of Montreal's French Canadian heritage. The road white sweater retains the English NHL shield logo.[58]
The Canadiens used multiple designs prior to adopting the aforementioned design in 1914. The original shirt of the 1909–10 season was blue with a white C. The second season had a red shirt featuring a green maple leaf with the C logo, and green pants. Lastly, the season before adopting the current look the Canadiens wore a "barber pole" design jersey with red, white and blue stripes, and the logo being a white maple leaf reading "CAC", "Club athlétique Canadien".[57] All three designs were worn during the 2009–10 season as part of the Canadiens centenary.[59]
In the 2020–21 season, the Canadiens unveiled a "Reverse Retro" alternate uniform in collaboration with Adidas. The uniform was essentially the same as their regular red uniform, but with blue as the primary colour and red as the stripe colour.[60] A second "Reverse Retro" uniform was released in the 2022–23 season, again using the same template but with red relegated to the logo only and featuring a light blue base with white/dark blue/white stripes.[61]
The Canadiens' colours are a readily identifiable aspect of French Canadian culture. In the short story "The Hockey Sweater", Roch Carrier described the influence of the Canadiens and their jersey within rural Quebec communities during the 1940s.[62]
The story was later made into an animated short, The Sweater, narrated by Carrier.[63]
A passage from the short story appears on the 2002 issue of the Canadian five-dollar bill.[64][65]
Motto
Nos bras meurtris vous tendent le flambeau, à vous toujours de le porter bien haut.
To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high.
The motto is from the poem "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae, which was written in 1915, the year before the Canadiens won their first Stanley Cup championship. The motto appears on the wall of the Canadiens' dressing room as well as on the inside collar of the new Adidas 2017–18 jerseys.[66]
Mascot
The Canadiens mascot, Youppi!, poses for photographs at a Rogers Media event
Beginning in the 2004–05 NHL season, the Canadiens adopted Youppi! as their official mascot, the first costumed mascot in their long 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 2004–05 and became the Washington Nationals. With the switch, Youppi became the first mascot in professional sports to switch leagues. He is also the first mascot in professional sports to get ejected from a game.[67] In June 2020, Youppi became the first mascot from a Canadian-based club to be honoured in The Mascot Hall of Fame. Youppi's induction in the Mascot Hall of Fame was decided by a long voting process, which included the public vote.[68][69]
In 2022, the Canadiens introduced an "unofficial official mascot" for its Reverse Retro series of games that season.[70]
The Canadiens have developed strong rivalries with two fellow Original Six franchises, with whom they frequently shared divisions and competed in postseason play. The oldest is with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who first faced the Canadiens as the Toronto Arenas in 1917. The teams met 16 times in the playoffs, including five Stanley Cup Finals. Featuring the two largest cities in Canada and two of the largest fanbases in the league, the rivalry is sometimes dramatized as being emblematic of Canada's English and French linguistic divide.[71][72] From 1938 to 1970, they were the only two Canadian teams in the league.
The Canadiens also had an intraprovincial rivalry with the Quebec Nordiques during their existence from 1979 to 1995, nicknamed the "Battle of Quebec."
Montreal Canadiens games are broadcast locally in both the French and English languages. CHMP 98.5 is the Canadiens' French-language radio flagship.[75] As of the 2017–18 season, the team's regional television in both languages, and its English-language radio rights, are held by Bell Media.[76]CKGM, TSN Radio 690, is the English-language radio flagship; it acquired the rights under a seven-year deal which began in the 2011–12 season.[77] In June 2017, Bell Media reached a five-year extension.[76]
Regional television rights in French are held by Réseau des sports (RDS) under a 12-year deal that began in the 2014–15 NHL season.[78] A sister to the English-language network TSN, RDS was the only French-language sports channel in Canada until the 2011 launch of TVA Sports,[79] and was also the previous national French rightsholder of the NHL; as a result, the Canadiens forwent a separate regional contract, and allowed all of its games to be televised nationally in French as part of RDS's overall NHL rights.[80]
With TVA Sports becoming the national French rightsholder in the 2014–15 season through a sub-licensing agreement with Sportsnet,[80] RDS subsequently announced a 12-year deal to maintain regional rights to Canadiens games not shown on TVA Sports. As a result, games on RDS are blacked out outside the Canadiens' home market of Quebec, Atlantic Canada and parts of Eastern Ontario shared with the Ottawa Senators.[78] At least 22 Canadiens games per season (primarily through its Saturday night La super soirée LNH), including all playoff games, are televised nationally by TVA Sports.[81][82]
English-language regional rights were previously held by Sportsnet East (with CJNT City Montreal as an overflow channel), under a 3-year deal that expired after the 2016–17 season; the games were called by Bartlett and Jason York. Prior to this deal, TSN held the rights from 2010 through 2014; the games were broadcast on a part-time channel with Dave Randorf on play-by-play.[87][75][88]
Season-by-season record
This is a list of the last five seasons completed by the Canadiens. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Montreal Canadiens seasons.
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Some of the retired numbers at Bell Centre, photographed in 2010
The Canadiens have retired 15 numbers in honour of 18 players,[91] the most of any team in the NHL. All honourees were born in Canada and were members of at least two Stanley Cup winning Canadiens teams. Howie Morenz was the first honouree, on November 2, 1937.[92] The NHL retired Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 for all its member teams at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game.[93]
The Montreal Canadiens have an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Thirty-seven of these players are from three separate notable dynasties: 12 from 1955–1960, 11 from 1964–1969, and 13 from 1975–1979. Howie Morenz and Georges Vezina were the first Canadiens given the honour in 1945, while Guy Carbonneau was the most recently inducted, in 2019. Along with players, a number of inductees from the builders category are affiliated with the club. The first inductee was vice president William Northey in 1945. The most recent inductee was Pat Burns in 2014.[94]
Maurice 'The Rocket' Richard is the Canadiens' all-time leader in goals. The trophy awarded annually to the NHL's leading goal scorer is named in honour of Richard.[97]
^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.
^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.
^The Presidents' Trophy was not introduced until 1985. Had the trophy existed since league inception, the Canadiens franchise would have won 21 Presidents' Trophies.
^Even in English, the French spelling Canadiens is always used instead of Canadians. The French spelling of Montréal is also sometimes used in English-speaking media.
^Other nicknames for the team include Le Canadien, Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, La Sainte-Flanelle, Le Tricolore, Les Glorieux (or Nos Glorieux), Le CH, Le Grand Club, Les Plombiers, and Les Habitants (from which "Habs" is derived).
^Davenport, Jane; Gyulai, Linda (February 1, 2001), "'I'll restore Habs': New owner looks ahead to that 25th Stanley Cup", The Gazette, Montreal, pp. A.1
^National Film Board of Canada Production (2008). "The Sweater". NFB – Collection. National Film Board of Canada Production. Archived from the original on February 18, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2008.
^"The Spirit of Hockey". CBC Archives. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2008. Archived from the original on August 8, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2008.
^"The Virtual Hot Stove". Hockey: A People's History. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2008. Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2008.
