People want to clown on the Habs for the historically bad season they just had (and they totally can, as it was an awful season). But this season was so necessary for the Habs to shed the Bergevin era and finally just embrace a full rebuild. The fans have been calling for it for years, and here we are. The future under Hughes/Gorton looks so incredibly bright. A forward core of Suzuki, Caufield, and Wright/Slafkovsky just sounds so exciting and promising. People can laugh all they want, but this is the Montreal Canadiens. They're not gonna stay at the bottom for very long. GHG!

My father, who passed away 3 months ago at the venerable age of 94, worked at the Forum for 30 years. He also worked at a tavern not far away from the Forum. Players from the team would go there to eat and drink in between games. When he retired in 1996, Jean Beliveau himself presented him with a team jersey to commemorate the moment. I've been to so many games, for free mind you, that if they ever found out, I'd probably need to win the lottery to pay it back. My favorite player, which is not mentioned in this video is number 26 Mats Naslund ''Le Petit Viking''. Thank you for this awesome video and the time it took to produce it!

Two types of people in this world; The Habs and the Hab-Nots

The 5 straight cups from the mid 50s is absurd and to add to that they made the finals 10 consecutive seasons... absolutely ridiculous

Our history is so rich that people have serious debates on retiring 31 for Price. It's flabbergasting the amount of greatness that has donned the CH.

While it is true that they won a bunch of cups prior to the expansion, they still won in the "modern" era in 68, 69, 71, 73, 76, 77, 78, 79, 86 & 93. That's 10 cups. If you removed all the cups of the original six era, the Habs would have the 3rd most cups of all the NHL, the two first being the Leafs (13) and the Red Wings (11), and that's with both teams keeping their original six cups in the equation. In the expansion era, they are first with 10, then come Edmonton and Pittsburgh with 5. It's either they almost double the 2nd place (Leafs) with 24 vs 13, or they double the Oilers and Penguins with 10 vs 5. Tldr; The Habs don't even need the original six cups for them to completely outclass the rest of the League.

Started watching hockey here in Wisconsin in the 1967 expansion year and Montreal became my favorite team. Jean Beliveau was my favorite player and when he retired in 1971 along came Guy Lafleur.

Grew up in Buffalo, pre-Sabres. Hockey night in Canada was a weekly highlight. You were either a HABS fan or a Leafs fan. I was, and still am, a Habs fan. Those were the days ! 50's and 60's. Different game: no 2 line passes !

Cleveland Barons sighting in the thumbnail, nice.

Price is one of the very few goaltenders to actually win a Hart Trophy. That alone probably gets him into the HOF. It's some pretty exclusive company.

not including montréal, the longest cup streak is 4. they've tied or beaten it 3 times.

I really enjoy when The Hockey Guy puts on his professor cap and teaches us all about the history of this league and sport. Awesome stuff! Plus the comments section is the best part of this page. Happy 4th folks!

The Montreal Canadiens are a storied franchise; i remember watching them on saturday nights growing up. Their logo iand jerseys are both old school.

As an old Bruins fan I have to agree... the league is much better when the Habs are playing well. I think there is something about loosing something when they left the Forum. There was something special about that old barn. Even as a Bruins fan I am so glad that I was able to experience games there. Even though I usually left that old barn heartbroken.

Grew up as a kid watching the habs in the 70’s with my dad, good times.

Grew up in the 70's watching the Habs win everything. Lived in a town in Ontario that was such a Leafs town, what a dominant team.

Awards History: Art Ross: Elmer Lach (1948) + Bernie Geoffrion (1955/61) + Jean Beliveau (1956) + Dickie Moore (1958/59) + Guy Lafleur (1976/77/78) Bill Masterton: Claude Provost (1968) + Henri Richard (1974) + Serge Savard (1979) + Saku Koivu (2002) + Max Pacioretty (2012) + Carey Price (2022) Calder: Russ Blinco (1934) + John Quilty (1941) + Bernie Geoffrion (1952) + Ed Litzenberger (1955) + Ralph Backstrom (1959) + Bobby Rousseau (1962) + Jacques Laperriere (1964) + Ken Dryden (1972) Conn Smythe: Jean Beliveau (1965) + Serge Savard (1969) + Ken Dryden (1971) + Yvan Cournoyer (1973) + Guy Lafleur (1977) + Larry Robinson (1978) + Bob Gainey (1979) + Patrick Roy (1986/1993) Frank J. Selke: Bob Gainey (1978/79/80/81) + Guy Carbonneau (1988/89/92) Hart Memorial: Herb Gardiner (1927) + Howie Morenz (1928/31/32) + Aurel Joliat (1934) + Babe Siebert (1937) + Toe Blake (1939) + Elmer Lach (1945) + Maurice Richard (1947) + Jean Beliveau (1956/64) + Bernie Geoffrion (1961) + Jacques Plante (1962) + Guy Lafleur (1977/78) + Jose Theodore (2002) + Carey Price (2015) Jack Adams: Scotty Bowman (1977) + Pat Burns (1989) James Norris: Doug Harvey (1955/56/57/58/60/61) + Tom Johnson (1959) + Jacques Laperriere (1966) + Larry Robinson (1977/80) + Chris Chelios (1989) + P.K. Subban (2013) King Clancy Memorial: Saku Koivu (2007) Lady Bing: Toe Blake (1946) + Mats Naslund (1988) Lester B. Pearson/Ted Lindsay: Guy Lafleur (1976/77/78) + Carey Price (2015) Maurice "Rocket" Richard: None Vezina: George Hainsworth (1927/28/29) + Bill Durnan (1944/45/46/47/49/50) + Jacques Plante (1956/57/58/59/60/62) + Charlie Hodge (1964/66) + Gump Worsley (1966/68) + Rogie Vachon (1968) + Ken Dryden (1973/76/77/78/79) + Bunny Larocque (1977/78/79) + Richard Sevigny (1981) + Denis Herron (1981) + Patrick Roy (1989/90/92) + Jose Theodore (2002) + Carey Price (2015) William M. Jennings: Rick Wamsley and Denis Herron (1982) + Brian Hayward and Patrick Roy (1987/88/89) + Patrick Roy (1992) + Carey Price (2015)

I used to have a book I think that had the words Cold Wars in the title, which was about the Canadiens-Maple Leafs rivalry in the 1960s when they won 9 our of the 10 cups. I haven't been able to find it since. Larry Robinson was another great player who wasn't a first round pick at number 20 in the second round in 1971. With Hainesworth, Durnan, Plante, Dryden, Roy, and Price, the Canadiens have to have the best goaltending of any franchise all time. Jean Beliveau makes my all time team. Not as the first line center, but definitely as the captain. The Canadiens were in a lot of trouble financially in the 1930s and they asked the NHL to suspend operations for a season which was turned down.

We'll never see domination like it in the NHL ever again, at least not with the way the league's currently structured. It's also what makes modern teams like Tampa, Pittsburgh, and Chicago's success so remarkable.

Rich history the Habs have. Respect.

Big shout out to Knuckles Nilan! Pure class and I love listening to his podcast.

The ONLY reason montreal been bad for about 30 years is because they are trying to live up to the expectations EVERY year. Other teams REBUILD at some point but montreal NEVER EVER wanted to do that ''the fan base* wouldnt want that'' the media says , its damn time we rebuild for real this time, montreal better not try to go for a playoff run next year by adding free agents like they always try, keeping us in the middle , never getting good rookies and carey price keeping us alive for so long did not help, all that for only ONE shot at the cup and we did not even win it...? that was a waste of 30 years

I'm 5 seconds in and I know the Habs have a long history but my brain exploded just looking at the board

I will add McGill University does not get so many mentions when Canadiens are the topic of discussion. Once again you are giving a complete piece on a podcast, well done⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Even post-1967, they have twice as many Stanley Cups won as the teams that have won the next most (10). Edmonton and Pittsburgh are tied for second,with 5, and Detroit and the Islanders are next,with 4.

Fun facts about the Habs: 1. Multiple nicknames: Habs (in english), les Glorieux, le Tricolore, la Sainte-Flanelle, le CH, etc. 2. Ken Dryden played only 8 years (all with Montreal), but ended his career with... 6 Stanley Cups. 3. In the 50's, a penalty did not end after a goal on the powerplay. The Canadiens were so dominant, they scored frequently multiple goals in the same 2 minutes penalty. So the league changed the rule to end the penalty after one goal. 4. From the beginning of the NHL up to 90's, the Canadiens won at least a cup every decade. 5. The player with the most Stanley Cup rings in the history of the NHL is Henri «Pocket Rocket» Richard with 11 rings. All with Montreal. 6. The Habs won 6 Stanley Cups in the same decade (70's). 7. The season 1976-77: 60 wins, 8 losses, 12 ties, 132 points in 80 games (all in regular time, no OT at that time). And obviously, they won the cup. 8. Three NHL trophies has been named after a member of the Habs: Georges Vezina, Frank J. Selke and Maurice «Rocket» Richard.

Shannon, just remember, the Bruins traded Ken Dryden to the Habs.

The Wins list needs to included an Honorable Mention for George Vezina (lol).

2021 Western Conference 🏆 Champs 😂👍

first ever hockey game was also in Montreal in 1875

Let's not forget George Vezina. Or that both the Rocket Richard and Vezina trophies are in the name of Canadiens players (might seem obvious, but it is still notable I think).

Another solid one! Thanks a lot for all the great work!

I've heard comments about the Montréal championships during the original 6 Era. There were only 6 teams so hard could it have been. The thing is, arguably the best players in the world were on those 6 teams

Merci beaucoup pour cette vidéo !

This is why THG is the number one location (not even close) for hockey talk. A Bruins fan (still not sure how given that 2011 heartbreak they inflicted on the Canucks) who can speak with complete fairness and indeed admiration about Boston's historical rival. So well researched and explained. As an aside: I have to feel a bit for Bruins fans as there is no way in any other world where they should have only 3 Cups since 1941. I can't recall any examples where the Habs lost a Cup they had no business losing. I agree that the Habs should be back to respectability in a couple of years. Whether they will become Cup contenders depends on a lot of things. I would like THG to cover which teams have been good at trades. I have tended to feel, perhaps as a Habs fan that for a good chunk of history Montreal was just plain terrible at it. I don't mean trades where the players performed post-trade in an unexpected fashion. I think the Canucks and the Flames haven't been good in that department either.

Perhaps the most intriguing franchise if you combine success with popularity and historic characters in hockey. Here in Sweden when I grew up Canadian teams didn't have the same fanbase as "over there", people cheered for NYR, Det, Pit, Chi or LA. Roy was one of my childhood heroes, I had posters, his OPC RC, tried to copy his style (which was strictly forbidden over here) and I followed him he got traded to Avs, gloating for years at Mtl's misery following his departure. To me Mtl is synonymous with great goaltending and Price is reminiscent of that and the great, and unfortunately the only, tradition that continued. My personal opinion on Mtl over the past 30 years is at best average to god awful GM'ing and coaching. The draft picks are often a swing and a miss or seemingly poorly developed. Looking back there were several points in the 90's and 00's where Mtl could have built great teams if handled right (NYI comes to mind). It must be tough to be a Habs fan under the age of 35-40 but I'm sure one day you will have a team that can bring the cup home to Montreal again.

Thanks!

a special mention for HOF Joe Hall from the Habs, who died from the spanish flu during the 1919 Stanley Cup Final. another special mention to HOF Georges Vezina, who died from tuberculosis in 1926. the legendary tender played his last game vomiting blood on the ice and collapse in his goal. he then came back in the dressing room a couple days later to say goodbye forever to his teammates, tears rolling down his cheeks. For me, the mens are more important than the logo. Always.

Love live the Rocket!

Habs fan, obviously. I'm just so happy we're getting some damn talent in all places. It's felt like fot years we've been bogged in this defence-first, underdog, hard nosed style with little exciting offense. No smooth-skating, puck-moving defenceman no no no. Just big, physical dmen. Relied on Price being the best goalie in the world for years to have any success. Watching the Avs this year and the Lightning stomp us in the finals last year makes you really feel the lack of star talent. We haven't had a legit first line center for way too long (and I love Suzuki but he's too young for all that pressure). Weber held the whole d-core together. I couldn't be happier to just suck. Honestly. It was so much better than being mediocre. I was excited for every loss. Especially once MSL came in and the young stars started scoring more. I could care less if we lose, just want to see some progress from young talent. Gorton did an amazing job with the Rangers, replaced the King with Igor. I couldn't be happier with the direction this team is going finally. We won't be down here long. GHG!

You didn't mention the riots! lol I guess that could be a video of its own! :)

Grew up cheering for anyone but les Canadiens, I was raised a fan of the underdogs and they were anything but. For my first 20 years of watching the NHL they won the Cup 12 times. And then on April 11th, 1981 the Edmonton Oilers swept them out of the playoffs in three straight games with the third game at home in the Northlands Coliseum and I was there. Still the best underdog NHL win I've ever seen.

Love my Les Habitants

The Voodoo 🤣🤣🤣 I remember them from the 90’s 😂😂😂

Can we get a review of shoresy? I ain't seen folks chirp that good In a long while

The monster!

Can you do a mock draft?

Can you do a video on cap recapture?

16:16 Slip. It is Eric Chouinard, not Guy Chouinard (actually his father). In 97/98 Eric Chouinard linemate with the Quebec Remparts in the QJMHL was a guy named Simon Gagné. Almost everyone in Quebec thought Eric was a better than Simon, so much so that Montreal drafted Chouinard at no.16 and Gagné went to Philly at no.22 and went on playing 14 seasons in the NHL and won a cup in LA in 2014.

Shannon,what would you think of teams issuing numbers starting with 0 (00-09) for goaltenders?

I miss the flying Frenchmen Canadiens

Cool thing is... We will be part of the conversation as time goes on. Hopefully win some games??

That's a picture of Cleveland Barons vs Montreal Canadiens, no doubt who won that game

07:40 They should found a new league because everyone hates Gary Bettman.

So it may seem trivial but Montréal only won 12 cups during the original six era. Prior to 1926 the Stanley Cup was awarded to the champion of an interleauge playoffs, simular to modern major junior hockey in Canada. It was a transition from the challenge cup era that ended in 1914. The first 2 habs cup wins were won in the interleauge era and the remaining 10 were won after the 1967 expansion. It is my understanding that Montréal only used thier Quebecios drafting rights twice. It also cost them other picks. Power plays use to continue after the team with the advantage scored but because Montréal would routinely rack up multiple goals and completely dominate thier opponents the NHL changed the rules. Montréal's secret to succes for many years was the extensive farm system and scouting staff that only Toronto could comepte with. When Conn Smythe fired Frank Selke for trading one of his favorite players, the fate of the 2 dominant franchises changed forever and it didn't favor Toronto in the long run. Also, if you tally all the Stanley Cups won by different teams from Montréal it would be about 52 if my memory serves me correct but I am not 100% on the exact number.

The new forum they say suck and so does molson on beer . So local were not happy about molson beer as the only beer sponsor

The New York Yankees of hockey

For the history video, please put a « é » in Montréal !

Boom boom

Only 19 minutes.. bahh.. Boston fan.. Hehe.. should have put 'best former picks draft picks traded(and not play a game)' I can think of 2 pretty quickly.. Still remember 2010 Halak's run.. talking about Hal Gill's masterclass shot blocking.. compared to Josh Gorges Reminded me of Zednik's injury (not the cut) from the boston goon McLaren. Koivu and the 'smurf line (petrov/bure) .. we had so many smurf lines.. Gionta/Gomez/Cammy Miss the forum and happy to have visited it many times as a kid and adult. I always got off Atwater metro to walk down Ste.Cath and always passed the forum to peer in.

You forgot to mention the marrons to

Larry robinson has the best +/- for a career

MTL draft picks before 1980 had a tough lineup to crack.. just look at that 70's team that just utterly dominated the NHL.. I remember watching that team from 76-79 and swearing as they pretty much had their way with everyone. That lineup today just seems like it was half full of Hall of Famers... and the '74 draft... well, please that draft was probably the worst in the NHL ever. I think only 5 decent players even came out and most of them were late round accidents... NO HOFers... I think this year "surprised" so many because the '20 season go covered up by the covid shutdown play in round.. where they were like a point above buffalo.. the cutoff... and '21 where they went to the finals.. except if they had the normal alignment, they would not even have made the playoffs.. instead when on the finals run and now everyone thinks they were in for greatness when it was Carey really pulling a Dom Hasek in the sabres run losing to the Stars... Still, I still have fond memories of that late 70's team... yeah, they beat my Sabres.. but that was a great team.. probably, their greatest even will all of their history.

Fun fact: the Leafs had more cups in original 6 than Habs.

Yvan Cournoyer, not Yvon Cornoyer

I thought there was a berube who got the most penalty minutes ?

Fisher didn’t even make it to the AHL!

This video could have been 3 hours long.

This board looks a bit bigger lol

COURNOYER!

The montreal canadiens are the best hockey team in the world

Boston fan lol well Hans have handed the bruins many times but as for winning the most cups canaidiens won alot more than all other teams

how many hofers does this team have

oh crap sorry Shannon i messed up...i clicked like AT THE BEGINNING of the video rather than the end....i'll do better next time ^^....also, this video shows everyone WHY the idea of finishing last to rebuild is not a popular one with the long time fans since its mostly perceived as a loser mentality

2014 and 2015 drafts sucked for us in the 1st rnd

oh yes the new york yankees of pro hockey lol

I have followed this team since the mid50's and have seen amazing entertainment from them. Hockey was a religion and the fanbase did not accept anything less that a Stanley Cup every year. That changed when Sam Pollack left. Terrible ownership led to horrible management and the fanbase accepts very poor quality now. Your fanbase makes a great franchise because they push the ownership into doing things right. When Montreal ruled the NHL no player was treated above the club. Bob Gainey changed that with Carey Price, someone who the club should have gotten rid of 5 years ago but he had a cult behind him who still believes he is the best in the planet. No player is bigger than the club. The Rocket was pushed out when his legs went and the Rocket was 10 times better than Price ever was. Beliveau was the scoring leader of the club the year he retired and had his last Cup as a player. These stars had no fan clubs. Fan clubs for players should be banned by the team if they want to be great. Price was a hot and cold goaltender during his career except for 2014-15. It took 7 years for him to reach the summit but it didn't take long for him to drop to average.

For me, being born in early 1980. In my life time (42 years) Montreal is just another team. There are a lot of teams that have been far away so much better than the Habs in my life time. Not to take anything away from the franchise, but 2 cups in 42 years (mostly due to Patrick Roy) is a big disappointment.

not much history here. lol

People lose their minds because Shannon says 23 cups instead of 24. Meanwhile I just hope I see the Canucks get one before I kick the 🪣