1971–72 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1971–72 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 63rd season of play. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs but were eliminated in the first round.

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|1||T||October 9, 1971||4–4 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1971–72) ||0–0–1

|2||T||October 14, 1971||1–1 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) ||0–0–2

|3||W||October 16, 1971||9–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) ||1–0–2

|4||L||October 17, 1971||4–8 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1971–72) ||1–1–2

|5||W||October 20, 1971||4–2 || align="left"| @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) ||2–1–2

|6||W||October 22, 1971||6–0 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) ||3–1–2

|7||W||October 23, 1971||3–1 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) ||4–1–2

|8||W||October 27, 1971||5–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1971–72) ||5–1–2

|9||W||October 30, 1971||3–0 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) ||6–1–2

|10||L||October 31, 1971||3–5 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) ||6–2–2

|11||W||November 3, 1971||5–1 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1971–72) ||7–2–2

|12||W||November 6, 1971||2–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) ||8–2–2

|13||W||November 7, 1971||3–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) ||9–2–2

|14||W||November 10, 1971||5–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) ||10–2–2

|15||W||November 13, 1971||5–1 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) ||11–2–2

|16||T||November 14, 1971||2–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) ||11–2–3

|17||W||November 16, 1971||7–2 || align="left"| California Golden Seals (1971–72) ||12–2–3

|18||T||November 18, 1971||2–2 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1971–72) ||12–2–4

|19||T||November 20, 1971||2–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) ||12–2–5

|20||T||November 24, 1971||3–3 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) ||12–2–6

|21||W||November 27, 1971||3–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) ||13–2–6

|22||L||November 28, 1971||2–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) ||13–3–6

|23||W||December 1, 1971||5–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) ||14–3–6

|24||W||December 4, 1971||7–0 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) ||15–3–6

|25||W||December 8, 1971||4–2 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) ||16–3–6

|26||W||December 11, 1971||4–3 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) ||17–3–6

|27||L||December 12, 1971||1–4 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) ||17–4–6

|28||W||December 15, 1971||3–1 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) ||18–4–6

|29||W||December 17, 1971||6–2 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) ||19–4–6

|30||T||December 19, 1971||3–3 || align="left"| @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) ||19–4–7

|31||W||December 22, 1971||4–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) ||20–4–7

|32||L||December 25, 1971||2–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) ||20–5–7

|33||L||December 26, 1971||1–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1971–72) ||20–6–7

|34||W||December 29, 1971||3–2 || align="left"| California Golden Seals (1971–72) ||21–6–7

|35||L||January 1, 1972||2–5 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) ||21–7–7

|36||L||January 2, 1972||4–6 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) ||21–8–7

|37||W||January 5, 1972||6–4 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) ||22–8–7

|38||W||January 8, 1972||10–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) ||23–8–7

|39||L||January 9, 1972||2–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) ||23–9–7

|40||L||January 11, 1972||3–7 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) ||23–10–7

|41||W||January 13, 1972||7–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) ||24–10–7

|42||W||January 15, 1972||6–2 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) ||25–10–7

|43||L||January 16, 1972||2–4 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) ||25–11–7

|44||W||January 19, 1972||1–0 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) ||26–11–7

|45||L||January 22, 1972||5–8 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1971–72) ||26–12–7

|46||T||January 23, 1972||3–3 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) ||26–12–8

|47||L||January 27, 1972||5–6 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) ||26–13–8

|48||W||January 29, 1972||4–0 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1971–72) ||27–13–8

|49||W||February 1, 1972||3–1 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) ||28–13–8

|50||T||February 3, 1972||1–1 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) ||28–13–9

|51||T||February 4, 1972||2–2 || align="left"| @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) ||28–13–10

|52||W||February 6, 1972||4–2 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) ||29–13–10

|53||W||February 10, 1972||7–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) ||30–13–10

|54||W||February 12, 1972||6–5 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) ||31–13–10

|55||T||February 13, 1972||2–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) ||31–13–11

|56||T||February 16, 1972||1–1 || align="left"| California Golden Seals (1971–72) ||31–13–12

|57||W||February 19, 1972||3–1 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) ||32–13–12

|58||W||February 20, 1972||4–0 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) ||33–13–12

|59||L||February 22, 1972||3–7 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1971–72) ||33–14–12

|60||W||February 24, 1972||4–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) ||34–14–12

|61||W||February 26, 1972||8–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) ||35–14–12

|62||W||February 27, 1972||5–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) ||36–14–12

|63||W||March 1, 1972||4–1 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) ||37–14–12

|64||W||March 4, 1972||5–0 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) ||38–14–12

|65||W||March 5, 1972||4–0 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) ||39–14–12

|66||W||March 8, 1972||5–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) ||40–14–12

|67||W||March 9, 1972||5–1 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) ||41–14–12

|68||T||March 11, 1972||1–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) ||41–14–13

|69||W||March 13, 1972||2–1 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) ||42–14–13

|70||W||March 15, 1972||5–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) ||43–14–13

|71||W||March 18, 1972||4–3 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) ||44–14–13

|72||L||March 19, 1972||6–7 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) ||44–15–13

|73||T||March 22, 1972||3–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) ||44–15–14

|74||T||March 25, 1972||3–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1971–72) ||44–15–15

|75||L||March 26, 1972||4–5 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) ||44–16–15

|76||T||March 29, 1972||5–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) ||44–16–16

|77||W||April 1, 1972||6–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1971–72) ||45–16–16

|78||W||April 2, 1972||6–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1971–72) ||46–16–16

Legend:

Playoffs After winning the Stanley Cup the previous season, the Canadiens could not repeat. The Canadiens lost to the New York Rangers in the first round, losing four games to two.

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG 76 43 53 96 36421444 73 47 36 83 15231805 77 32 49 81 2637807 75 35 32 67 10316746 73 29 35 64 4827505 76 6 51 57 2452302 75 31 22 53 8115904 69 11 38 49 5815404 75 12 32 44 4810001 77 20 18 38 649134 77 11 17 28 219101 73 3 25 28 5036200 51 7 15 22 533031 55 7 10 17 194002 52 2 12 14 359000 23 1 8 9 1621000 60 3 5 8 3910000 27 3 2 5 223000 17 3 0 3 4−1000 64 0 3 3 40000 11 1 1 2 88000 16 0 2 2 0−1000 7 0 1 1 00000 4 0 0 0 00000 4 0 0 0 00000 21 0 0 0 25000 9 0 0 0 40000 1 0 0 0 00000

Goaltending Player MIN GPW LTGAGAA SO 3800 64 39 8 15 142 2.24 8 528 9 4 5 0 32 3.64 0 332 7 3 2 1 25 4.52 0 20 1 0 1 0 4 12.00 0 Team: 4680 78 46 16 16 203 2.60 8

Playoffs Scoring Player GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG 6 3 2 5 2100 6 2 3 5 9001 6 1 4 5 2000 6 2 1 3 2000 6 2 1 3 23000 6 2 1 3 2000 6 0 3 3 4000 5 1 1 2 6000 6 0 2 2 12000 6 0 2 2 0000 6 1 0 1 0001 6 0 1 1 0000 1 0 0 0 0000 6 0 0 0 0000 6 0 0 0 2000 4 0 0 0 2000 1 0 0 0 0000 4 0 0 0 0000 6 0 0 0 10000

Goaltending Player MIN GPW LGAGAA SO 360 6 2 4 17 2.83 0 Team: 360 6 2 4 17 2.83 0

Awards and records Calder Memorial Trophy: Ken Dryden

Transactions May 22, 1971 To California Golden Seals Bobby Sheehan To Montreal Canadiens cash August 31, 1971 To California Golden Seals Marshall Johnston To Montreal Canadiens cash October, 1971 To California Golden Seals cash To Montreal Canadiens Jocelyn Hardy October, 1971 To California Golden Seals cash To Montreal Canadiens Mike Laughton October, 1971 To California Golden Seals Lyle CarterJohn French To Montreal Canadiens Randy Rota October 6, 1971 To California Golden Seals Ray Martyniuk To Montreal Canadiens Tony Featherstone

Draft picks Montreal's draft picks at the 1971 NHL amateur draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)11 Guy Lafleur Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)17 Chuck Arnason Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)111 Murray Wilson Ottawa 67's (OHA)220 Larry Robinson Kitchener Rangers (OHA)224 Michel DeGuise Sorel Eperviers (QMJHL)225 Terry French Ottawa 67's (OHA)331 Jim Cahoon University of North Dakota (WCHA)445 Ed Sidebottom Estevan Bruins (WCHL)453 Greg Hubick University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA)567 Mike Busniuk University of Denver (WCHA)681 Ross Butler Winnipeg Jets (WCHL)795 Peter Sullivan Oshawa Generals (OHA)

See also 1971–72 NHL season

Citations

References Canadiens on Hockey Database Canadiens on NHL Reference