1995–96 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1995–96 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 87th season. Two notable events happened during the season. The Canadiens moved from their long-time home Montreal Forum to the new Molson Centre. The other was the trade of star goaltender Patrick Roy. The club qualified for the playoffs, but lost in the first round to the New York Rangers.

1995–96 Montreal Canadiens
Division	3rd Northeast
Conference	6th Eastern
1995–96 record	40–32–10
Home record	23–12–6
Road record	17–20–4
Goals for	265
Goals against	248
Team information
General Manager	Serge Savard (Oct) Rejean Houle
Coach	Jacques Demers (Oct) Mario Tremblay
Captain	Mike Keane (Oct-Dec) Pierre Turgeon (Dec-Apr)
Alternate captains	Vincent Damphousse Lyle Odelein
Arena	Montreal Forum and Molson Centre
Team leaders
Goals	Pierre Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse (38)
Assists	Pierre Turgeon (58)
Points	Pierre Turgeon (96)
Penalty minutes	Lyle Odelein (230)
Plus/minus	Peter Popovic (+21)
Wins	Jocelyn Thibault (23)
Goals against average	Jocelyn Thibault (2.83)

Offseason

Regular season

• At the beginning of the season, Mike Keane (who was named as the 23rd captain of the Montreal Canadiens, near the end of last season) was subject to media scrutiny after speaking to Mathias Brunet of La Presse (a French language newspaper). Keane declared that he had no intention of learning French.[1]
• October 17, 1995: Canadiens president Ronald Corey fired General Manager Serge Savard, and his assistants Andre Boudrias and Carol Vadnais.[2] Head coach Jacques Demers was also relieved of his duties, while assistant coach Charles Thiffault was reassigned.
• October 21, 1995: Ronald Corey hired Rejean Houle to become the new general manager of the Canadiens. Mario Tremblay was hired as the new head coach, and Yvan Cournoyer was hired as an assistant coach.[3] Tremblay had been Roy's roommate during his rookie season.[4]
• In his first 15 starts with Tremblay as head coach, Patrick Roy had 12 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. The one tie came against the Colorado Avalanche.[5] Despite the start, incidents occurred with Tremblay in Edmonton. Tremblay spotted Roy in the hotel bar, and Tremblay told Roy that he wanted him to leave the hotel bar.[6] A conflict ensued in Montreal when Tremblay told Roy that he was not allowed to visit the trainer's room and speak to teammates unless he was injured.[5]
• November 28, 1995: The Canadiens were playing the Detroit Red Wings on the road. The day before the match, Mario Tremblay spoke to Mario Leclerc of Le Journal de Montreal. Tremblay mentioned that he was resentful of current Red Wings head coach Scotty Bowman. The first five years of Tremblay's career were played under Bowman, and Tremblay told Leclerc that Bowman always threatened to send him to the minors.[7] When Leclerc approached Cournoyer, he stated that he did not want to speak about Bowman.[8] The Canadiens lost the game by a score of 3-2. The next day, the Journal de Montreal had a headline that stated, Bowman has the last word.[8]
• February 5, 1996: Patrick Roy played the Canadiens for the first time since he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.[9] Roy stopped 37 of 39 shots in a 4–2 win. After the game, Roy took the game puck and flipped it to Canadiens head coach Mario Tremblay.[10]

Tremblay Incident

• On December 2, 1995 Montreal's head coach Mario Tremblay elected to keep Roy in the goal until he conceded 9 goals on 26 shots during an 11–1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.[11] This was the last straw for Roy in what was already a contentious relationship with the rookie head coach. Friction between the two dated back to Roy's rookie year, when Tremblay used to needle the young Quebecer on his broken English and was critical of Roy through much of his career. The two had almost come to blows in a Long Island coffee shop before Tremblay was announced as a coach and his first appearance in the dressing room was greeted with snickers from Roy. They almost fought a second time after Tremblay fired a shot at Roy's throat during practice.
• When Roy was replaced midway through the second period, as he was storming off the ice, Roy could be seen on-camera [12] telling Habs team President Ronald Corey that this was the last game he would ever play for Montreal, later elaborating by saying that he would not play for Montreal as long as Tremblay was coach.

The Roy Trade

• On December 6, four days after the incident, he was traded to Colorado (along with Canadiens captain Mike Keane) in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko, a deal known in Montreal as "Le Trade".[13] Roy's relationship with the Canadiens remained strained until 2008, when it was announced Roy's #33 jersey would be retired. The trade benefited Colorado as Roy helped the Avalanche qualify for the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals. The Avalanche swept the Panthers 4–0.

Final Game at the Forum

• On March 11, 1996, the Montreal Canadiens played their last game at the Montreal Forum, defeating the Dallas Stars 4–1 on a Monday night. The game was televised on TSN and TQS in Canada, and on ESPN in the United States. After the game, many previous hockey greats were presented to the crowd. The largest ovation of the night was left at the end for legendary Canadiens star Maurice "Rocket" Richard, at over 16 minutes in length.

Season standings

Northeast Division

No.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
1	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	49	29	4	362	284	102
2	Boston Bruins	82	40	31	11	282	269	91
3	Montreal Canadiens	82	40	32	10	265	248	90
4	Hartford Whalers	82	34	39	9	237	259	77
5	Buffalo Sabres	82	33	42	7	247	262	72
6	Ottawa Senators	82	18	59	5	191	291	41

Eastern Conference[14]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	45	24	13	282	208	103
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	82	49	29	4	362	284	102
3	New York Rangers	ATL	82	41	27	14	272	237	96
4	Florida Panthers	ATL	82	41	31	10	254	234	92
5	Boston Bruins	NE	82	40	31	11	282	269	91
6	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	40	32	10	265	248	90
7	Washington Capitals	ATL	82	39	32	11	234	204	89
8	Tampa Bay Lightning	ATL	82	38	32	12	238	248	88
9	New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	37	33	12	215	202	86
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	82	34	39	9	237	259	77
11	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	33	42	7	247	262	73
12	New York Islanders	ATL	82	22	50	10	229	315	54
13	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	18	59	5	191	291	41

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

#	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	Oct 7, 1995	1–7	Philadelphia Flyers	0–1–0
2	L	Oct 11, 1995	1–6	@ Florida Panthers	0–2–0
3	L	Oct 12, 1995	1–3	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	0–3–0
4	L	Oct 14, 1995	1–4	New Jersey Devils	0–4–0
5	L	Oct 20, 1995	0–2	@ New York Islanders	0–5–0
6	W	Oct 21, 1995	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–5–0
7	W	Oct 23, 1995	6–3	Los Angeles Kings	2–5–0
8	W	Oct 25, 1995	7–2	Florida Panthers	3–5–0
9	W	Oct 27, 1995	4–1	@ Hartford Whalers	4–5–0
10	W	Oct 28, 1995	5–3	Chicago Blackhawks	5–5–0
11	W	Oct 31, 1995	3–1	@ Boston Bruins	6–5–0
12	L	Nov 1, 1995	2–5	@ Washington Capitals	6–6–0
13	W	Nov 4, 1995	4–1	Boston Bruins	7–6–0
14	L	Nov 8, 1995	2–3 OT	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	7–7–0
15	W	Nov 11, 1995	4–0	@ Calgary Flames	8–7–0
16	W	Nov 12, 1995	4–2	@ Vancouver Canucks	9–7–0
17	W	Nov 15, 1995	4–1	@ Edmonton Oilers	10–7–0
18	W	Nov 18, 1995	5–1	Ottawa Senators	11–7–0
19	W	Nov 20, 1995	4–3 OT	Hartford Whalers	12–7–0
20	L	Nov 22, 1995	2–4	@ Hartford Whalers	12–8–0
21	T	Nov 25, 1995	2–2 OT	Colorado Avalanche	12–8–1
22	L	Nov 28, 1995	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings	12–9–1
23	L	Nov 29, 1995	4–5	@ St. Louis Blues	12–10–1
24	L	Dec 2, 1995	1–11	Detroit Red Wings	12–11–1
25	W	Dec 6, 1995	4–2	New Jersey Devils	13–11–1
26	L	Dec 7, 1995	5–7	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	13–12–1
27	T	Dec 9, 1995	2–2 OT	New York Rangers	13–12–2
28	W	Dec 12, 1995	6–5	@ Winnipeg Jets	14–12–2
29	W	Dec 15, 1995	4–1	@ Chicago Blackhawks	15–12–2
30	L	Dec 16, 1995	2–4	Philadelphia Flyers	15–13–2
31	W	Dec 18, 1995	3–2	Hartford Whalers	16–13–2
32	L	Dec 20, 1995	1–2	@ Buffalo Sabres	16–14–2
33	W	Dec 22, 1995	4–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	17–14–2
34	W	Dec 23, 1995	1–0	Pittsburgh Penguins	18–14–2
35	L	Dec 26, 1995	0–4	@ Washington Capitals	18–15–2
36	L	Dec 28, 1995	1–3	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	18–16–2
37	W	Dec 30, 1995	4–1	@ Ottawa Senators	19–16–2
38	L	Jan 3, 1996	4–7	@ New York Rangers	19–17–2
39	T	Jan 4, 1996	2–2 OT	@ New York Islanders	19–17–3
40	L	Jan 6, 1996	6–7	Buffalo Sabres	19–18–3
41	T	Jan 8, 1996	3–3 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning	19–18–4
42	T	Jan 10, 1996	2–2 OT	Vancouver Canucks	19–18–5
43	W	Jan 12, 1996	6–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	20–18–5
44	T	Jan 13, 1996	3–3 OT	St. Louis Blues	20–18–6
45	W	Jan 17, 1996	3–0	@ Ottawa Senators	21–18–6
46	L	Jan 22, 1996	1–4	Tampa Bay Lightning	21–19–6
47	W	Jan 25, 1996	6–2	@ Florida Panthers	22–19–6
48	W	Jan 27, 1996	4–1	Winnipeg Jets	23–19–6
49	W	Jan 28, 1996	5–4	Boston Bruins	24–19–6
50	W	Jan 31, 1996	5–3	Washington Capitals	25–19–6
51	L	Feb 1, 1996	2–3 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers	25–20–6
52	W	Feb 3, 1996	4–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	26–20–6
53	L	Feb 5, 1996	2–4	@ Colorado Avalanche	26–21–6
54	W	Feb 7, 1996	4–2	@ Dallas Stars	27–21–6
55	L	Feb 10, 1996	3–5	Ottawa Senators	27–22–6
56	W	Feb 12, 1996	3–0	San Jose Sharks	28–22–6
57	T	Feb 15, 1996	2–2 OT	@ New York Rangers	28–22–7
58	W	Feb 17, 1996	5–1	Calgary Flames	29–22–7
59	L	Feb 21, 1996	3–5	@ Hartford Whalers	29–23–7
60	L	Feb 23, 1996	5–6	@ New Jersey Devils	29–24–7
61	W	Feb 24, 1996	7–3	Pittsburgh Penguins	30–24–7
62	L	Feb 26, 1996	4–7	@ San Jose Sharks	30–25–7
63	L	Feb 28, 1996	2–5	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	30–26–7
64	L	Mar 2, 1996	4–5	@ Los Angeles Kings	30–27–7
65	W	Mar 9, 1996	3–2	Ottawa Senators	31–27–7
66	W	Mar 11, 1996	4–1	Dallas Stars	32–27–7
67	T	Mar 13, 1996	1–1 OT	@ New Jersey Devils	32–27–8
68	W	Mar 16, 1996	4–2	New York Rangers	33–27–8
69	W	Mar 18, 1996	3–2	Buffalo Sabres	34–27–8
70	W	Mar 20, 1996	3–2	Hartford Whalers	35–27–8
71	W	Mar 22, 1996	4–1	@ Buffalo Sabres	36–27–8
72	L	Mar 23, 1996	5–6	Edmonton Oilers	36–28–8
73	W	Mar 25, 1996	4–1	New York Islanders	37–28–8
74	L	Mar 27, 1996	0–1 OT	Washington Capitals	37–29–8
75	W	Mar 28, 1996	4–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins	38–29–8
76	W	Mar 30, 1996	3–1	@ Ottawa Senators	39–29–8
77	L	Apr 1, 1996	4–6	Buffalo Sabres	39–30–8
78	L	Apr 3, 1996	1–4	Boston Bruins	39–31–8
79	T	Apr 4, 1996	3–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins	39–31–9
80	W	Apr 6, 1996	2–1	Florida Panthers	40–31–9
81	L	Apr 11, 1996	2–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers	40–32–9
82	T	Apr 13, 1996	5–5 OT	New York Islanders	40–32–10

Playoffs

NY Rangers vs. Montreal
Date	Away	Home
April 16	Montreal 3	2 NY Rangers	OT
April 18	Montreal 5	3 NY Rangers
April 21	NY Rangers 2	1 Montreal
April 23	NY Rangers 4	3 Montreal
April 26	Montreal 2	3 NY Rangers
April 28	NY Rangers 5	3 Montreal
NY Rangers wins series 4–2

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Pierre Turgeon	C	80	38	58	96	44	19	17	1	6
Vincent Damphousse	C	80	38	56	94	158	5	11	4	3
Mark Recchi	RW	82	28	50	78	69	20	11	2	6
Martin Rucinsky	LW	56	25	35	60	54	8	9	2	3
Saku Koivu	C	82	20	25	45	40	-7	8	3	2
Valeri Bure	RW	77	22	20	42	28	10	5	0	1
Patrice Brisebois	D	69	9	27	36	65	10	3	0	1
Andrei Kovalenko	RW	51	17	17	34	33	9	3	0	3
Brian Savage	LW	75	25	8	33	28	-8	4	0	4
Vladimir Malakhov	D	61	5	23	28	79	7	2	0	0
Turner Stevenson	RW	80	9	16	25	167	-2	0	0	2
Lyle Odelein	D	79	3	14	17	230	8	0	1	0
Stephane Quintal	D	68	2	14	16	117	-4	0	1	1
Benoit Brunet	LW	26	7	8	15	17	-4	3	1	4
Peter Popovic	D	76	2	12	14	69	21	0	0	0
Oleg Petrov	RW	36	4	7	11	23	-9	0	0	2
Marc Bureau	C	65	3	7	10	46	-3	0	0	1
Chris Murray	RW	48	3	4	7	163	5	0	0	1
Mike Keane	RW	18	0	7	7	6	-6	0	0	0
David Wilkie	D	24	1	5	6	10	-10	1	0	0
Craig Rivet	D	19	1	4	5	54	4	0	0	0
Donald Brashear	LW	67	0	4	4	223	-10	0	0	0
Marko Kiprusoff	D	24	0	4	4	8	-3	0	0	0
Yves Racine	D	25	0	3	3	26	-7	0	0	0
Scott Fraser	C	15	2	0	2	4	-1	0	0	0
Rory Fitzpatrick	D	42	0	2	2	18	-7	0	0	0
Craig Ferguson	C	10	1	0	1	2	-5	0	0	0
J. J. Daigneault	D	7	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
Francois Groleau	D	2	0	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
Pat Jablonski	G	23	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Sebastien Bordeleau	C	4	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Craig Conroy	C	7	0	0	0	2	-4	0	0	0
Robert Dirk	D	3	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
Patrick Labrecque	G	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Mark Lamb	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Patrick Roy	G	22	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	0
Yves Sarault	LW	14	0	0	0	4	-7	0	0	0
Jose Theodore	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jocelyn Thibault	G	40	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Darcy Tucker	RW	3	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Jocelyn Thibault	2334	40	23	13	3	110	2.83	3	1258	1148	.913
Patrick Roy	1260	22	12	9	1	62	2.95	1	667	605	.907
Pat Jablonski	1264	23	5	9	6	62	2.94	0	676	614	.908
Patrick Labrecque	98	2	0	1	0	7	4.29	0	47	40	.851
Jose Theodore	9	1	0	0	0	1	6.67	0	2	1	.500
Team:	4965	82	40	32	10	242	2.92	4	2650	2408	.909

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Vincent Damphousse	C	6	4	4	8	0	0	1	2
Mark Recchi	RW	6	3	3	6	0	3	0	0
Pierre Turgeon	C	6	2	4	6	2	0	0	0
Saku Koivu	C	6	3	1	4	8	0	0	0
Patrice Brisebois	D	6	1	2	3	6	0	0	0
David Wilkie	D	6	1	2	3	12	0	0	0
Marc Bureau	C	6	1	1	2	4	0	0	0
Rory Fitzpatrick	D	6	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
Lyle Odelein	D	6	1	1	2	6	0	1	0
Benoit Brunet	LW	3	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
Peter Popovic	D	6	0	2	2	4	0	0	0
Brian Savage	LW	6	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Valeri Bure	RW	6	0	1	1	6	0	0	0
Oleg Petrov	RW	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Stephane Quintal	D	6	0	1	1	6	0	0	0
Turner Stevenson	RW	6	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Donald Brashear	LW	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Pat Jablonski	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Andrei Kovalenko	RW	6	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
Chris Murray	RW	4	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Jocelyn Thibault	G	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Jocelyn Thibault	311	6	2	4	18	3.47	0	188	170	.904
Pat Jablonski	49	1	0	0	1	1.22	0	17	16	.941
Team:	360	6	2	4	19	3.17	0	205	186	.907

[15]

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

Transactions

Roster

Draft picks

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	8	Terry Ryan	Left Wing	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
3	60	Miloslav Guren	Defence	Czechoslovakia	HC Zlín (Czech)
3	74	Martin Hohenberger	Left Wing	Austria	Prince George Cougars (WHL)
4	86	Jonathan Delisle	Right Wing	Canada	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
5	112	Niklas Anger	Right Wing	Sweden	Djurgårdens IF (Sweden)
6	138	Boyd Olson	Center	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
7	164	Stephane Robidas	Defence	Canada	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
8	190	Greg Hart	Right Wing	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
9	216	Eric Houde	Center	Canada	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

See also

• 1995–96 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

1. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.341, by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
2. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.342, by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
3. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, pp.343-4 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
4. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.339 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
5. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.347, by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
6. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.348, by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
7. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.350 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
8. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.351 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
9. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.382 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
10. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.383 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
11. "1984 NHL Entry Draft - Patrick Roy". Hockeydraftcentral.com. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
12. "Dernier match de Roy avec Montréal". YouTube. 2007-02-26. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-05-30. Retrieved 2008-04-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. "1995–1996 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
15. "1995-96 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.