1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 61st season of play. The Canadiens placed fifth in the East division and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1947–48 season, ending their 21-season playoff streak. This team was also the only Canadiens team between the 1948–49 season and the 1993–94 season that missed the playoffs, a span of 46 years.

1969–70 Montreal Canadiens
Division	5th East
1969–70 record	38–22–16
Goals for	244
Goals against	201
Team information
General Manager	Sam Pollock
Coach	Claude Ruel
Captain	Jean Beliveau
Alternate captains	Henri Richard
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Jacques Lemaire (32)
Assists	Yvan Cournoyer (36)
Points	Yvan Cournoyer (63)
Penalty minutes	John Ferguson (139)
Wins	Rogie Vachon (31)
Goals against average	Phil Myre (2.27)

Regular season

April 5, 1970 – The Montreal Canadiens were in a desperate race to qualify for the NHL playoffs. The Canadiens hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. With 9 minutes and 30 seconds left in the third period, Montreal was down by a score of 5–2. Montreal's only hope of qualifying for the playoffs was to score three more goals. Canadiens coach Claude Ruel removed his goalie, Rogatien Vachon from the net. Vachon would return to the net only for faceoffs. Chicago would score five empty net goals and win the game by a score of 10–2. Montreal would miss the playoffs for the first time in 22 years.

Final standings

East Division[1]

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Chicago Black Hawks	76	45	22	9	250	170	+80	99
2	Boston Bruins	76	40	17	19	277	216	+61	99
3	Detroit Red Wings	76	40	21	15	246	199	+47	95
4	New York Rangers	76	38	22	16	246	189	+57	92
5	Montreal Canadiens	76	38	22	16	244	201	+43	92
6	Toronto Maple Leafs	76	29	34	13	222	242	−20	71

Schedule and results

Regular season results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 11, 1969	5–1	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	1–0–0
2	T	October 15, 1969	2–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	1–0–1
3	W	October 18, 1969	7–3	New York Rangers (1969–70)	2–0–1
4	T	October 19, 1969	1–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	2–0–2
5	T	October 22, 1969	3–3	St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	2–0–3
6	L	October 25, 1969	0–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	2–1–3
7	W	October 26, 1969	8–3	@ New York Rangers (1969–70)	3–1–3
8	L	October 29, 1969	1–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	3–2–3
9	T	October 30, 1969	2–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	3–2–4
10	W	November 1, 1969	9–2	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	4–2–4
11	T	November 5, 1969	2–2	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	4–2–5
12	W	November 6, 1969	4–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	5–2–5
13	W	November 8, 1969	6–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	6–2–5
14	W	November 10, 1969	6–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	7–2–5
15	W	November 12, 1969	5–0	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70)	8–2–5
16	W	November 15, 1969	3–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	9–2–5
17	L	November 16, 1969	0–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	9–3–5
18	T	November 19, 1969	5–5	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	9–3–6
19	W	November 22, 1969	4–2	Oakland Seals (1969–70)	10–3–6
20	T	November 23, 1969	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	10–3–7
21	W	November 26, 1969	3–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	11–3–7
22	T	November 29, 1969	2–2	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	11–3–8
23	W	December 4, 1969	1–0	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	12–3–8
24	L	December 6, 1969	3–4	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	12–4–8
25	L	December 7, 1969	3–6	@ New York Rangers (1969–70)	12–5–8
26	W	December 10, 1969	6–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	13–5–8
27	W	December 13, 1969	4–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	14–5–8
28	L	December 14, 1969	2–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	14–6–8
29	W	December 17, 1969	5–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	15–6–8
30	L	December 20, 1969	2–3	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	15–7–8
31	W	December 21, 1969	5–2	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	16–7–8
32	T	December 26, 1969	3–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	16–7–9
33	T	December 27, 1969	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	16–7–10
34	L	December 30, 1969	0–5	St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	16–8–10
35	L	December 31, 1969	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	16–9–10
36	W	January 3, 1970	5–1	Oakland Seals (1969–70)	17–9–10
37	W	January 6, 1970	4–3	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	18–9–10
38	W	January 8, 1970	3–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	19–9–10
39	W	January 11, 1970	4–1	New York Rangers (1969–70)	20–9–10
40	W	January 14, 1970	4–2	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	21–9–10
41	L	January 17, 1970	0–3	Oakland Seals (1969–70)	21–10–10
42	L	January 18, 1970	3–6	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	21–11–10
43	W	January 22, 1970	4–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	22–11–10
44	W	January 24, 1970	4–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	23–11–10
45	W	January 25, 1970	4–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	24–11–10
46	W	January 28, 1970	5–4	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	25–11–10
47	T	January 31, 1970	3–3	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	25–11–11
48	W	February 1, 1970	5–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	26–11–11
49	L	February 4, 1970	2–5	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70)	26–12–11
50	W	February 5, 1970	5–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	27–12–11
51	T	February 7, 1970	1–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	27–12–12
52	W	February 8, 1970	3–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	28–12–12
53	T	February 11, 1970	3–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	28–12–13
54	L	February 14, 1970	2–5	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	28–13–13
55	L	February 15, 1970	0–2	@ New York Rangers (1969–70)	28–14–13
56	L	February 18, 1970	3–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	28–15–13
57	W	February 21, 1970	5–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	29–15–13
58	W	February 22, 1970	1–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	30–15–13
59	W	February 25, 1970	3–2	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	31–15–13
60	L	February 28, 1970	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	31–16–13
61	L	March 4, 1970	1–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	31–17–13
62	L	March 7, 1970	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70)	31–18–13
63	L	March 8, 1970	0–2	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70)	31–19–13
64	W	March 11, 1970	5–3	New York Rangers (1969–70)	32–19–13
65	W	March 14, 1970	6–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70)	33–19–13
66	T	March 15, 1970	3–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	33–19–14
67	T	March 18, 1970	2–2	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70)	33–19–15
68	W	March 19, 1970	6–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70)	34–19–15
69	W	March 21, 1970	2–0	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70)	35–19–15
70	W	March 22, 1970	5–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70)	36–19–15
71	W	March 25, 1970	5–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70)	37–19–15
72	T	March 28, 1970	1–1	New York Rangers (1969–70)	37–19–16
73	L	March 29, 1970	1–4	@ New York Rangers (1969–70)	37–20–16
74	W	April 1, 1970	6–3	Boston Bruins (1969–70)	38–20–16
75	L	April 4, 1970	1–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	38–21–16
76	L	April 5, 1970	2–10	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70)	38–22–16

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Yvan Cournoyer	RW	72	27	36	63	23	10	0	4
Jacques Lemaire	C	69	32	28	60	16	13	0	5
Bobby Rousseau	RW	72	24	34	58	30	5	2	4
Mickey Redmond	RW	75	27	27	54	61	3	0	2
Henri Richard	C	62	16	36	52	61	2	0	4
Jean Beliveau	C	63	19	30	49	10	3	0	1
Ralph Backstrom	C	72	19	24	43	20	1	0	2
Jacques Laperriere	D	73	6	31	37	98	2	1	1
John Ferguson	LW	48	19	13	32	139	6	0	7
Serge Savard	D	64	12	19	31	38	5	3	2
Terry Harper	D	75	4	18	22	109	0	0	0
Claude Provost	RW	65	10	11	21	22	0	0	1
J.C. Tremblay	D	58	2	19	21	7	1	0	0
Ted Harris	D	74	3	17	20	116	0	0	0
Pete Mahovlich	C	36	9	8	17	51	0	0	2
Christian Bordeleau	C	48	2	13	15	18	0	0	0
Larry Mickey	RW	21	4	4	8	4	3	0	2
Marc Tardif	LW	18	3	2	5	27	1	0	0
Lucien Grenier	RW	23	2	3	5	2	0	0	1
Bobby Sheehan	C	16	2	1	3	2	0	0	0
Dick Duff	LW	17	1	1	2	4	0	0	0
Larry Pleau	C	20	1	0	1	0	0	1	0
Jean Gauthier	D	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Rejean Houle	W	9	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Phil Roberto	RW	8	0	1	1	8	0	0	0
Guy Charron	C	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paul Curtis	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jude Drouin	C	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Fran Huck	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Guy Lapointe	D	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Phil Myre	G	10	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Rogie Vachon	G	64	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gump Worsley	G	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Rogie Vachon	3697	64	31	18	12	162	2.63	4
Phil Myre	503	10	4	3	2	19	2.27	0
Gump Worsley	360	6	3	1	2	14	2.33	0
Team:	4560	76	38	22	16	195	2.57	4

[2]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

• Jacques Laperriere, Defence, NHL Second Team All-Star

Transactions

Roster

1969–1970 Montréal Canadiens Roster
Goaltenders 1 – Gump Worsley  29 – Phil Myre  30 – Rogie Vachon		Defencemen 2 – Jacques Laperrière  3 – Jean-Claude Tremblay  10 – Ted Harris  11 – Jean Gauthier  17 – Guy Lapointe  18 – Serge Savard  19 – Terry Harper  26 – Paul Curtis		Wingers 8 – Dick Duff  8 – Larry Mickey  11 – Rejean Houle  11 – Phil Roberto  11 – Marc Tardif  12 – Yvan Cournoyer  14 – Claude Provost  15 – Bobby Rousseau  17 – Lucien Grenier  21 – Guy Charron  22 – John Ferguson  23 – Christian Bordeleau  24 – Mickey Redmond  25 – Jacques Lemaire		Centres 4 – Jean Béliveau –C 6 – Ralph Backstrom  11 – Bobby Sheehan  16 – Henri Richard  20 – Pete Mahovlich  21 – Fran Huck  26 – Jude Drouin  26 – Larry Pleau  GM: Sam Pollock Coach: Claude Ruel

Draft picks

See also: 1969 NHL Amateur Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	1	Rejean Houle	Canada	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
1	2	Marc Tardif	Canada	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
3	32	Bobby Sheehan	United States	St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
4	44	Murray Anderson	Canada	Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
5	56	Gary Doyle	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHA)
6	63	Guy Delparte	Canada	London Knights (OHA)
6	68	Lynn Powis	Canada	Denver Pioneers (NCAA)
7	74	Ian Wilkie	Canada	Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
7	75	Dale Power	Canada	Peterborough Petes (OHA)
8	79	Frank Hamill	Canada	Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
9	83	Gilles Drolet	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
10	84	Darrel Knibbs	Canada	Lethbridge Sugar Kings (AJHL)

See also

• 1969–70 NHL season

References

External links

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

1. "1969–1970 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
2. "1969-70 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.