1995–96 Montreal Canadiens season

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1995–96 Montreal Canadiens
Division3rd Northeast
Conference6th Eastern
1995–96 record40–32–10
Home record23–12–6
Road record17–20–4
Goals for265
Goals against248
Team information
General managerSerge Savard (Oct)
Rejean Houle
CoachJacques Demers (Oct)
Mario Tremblay
CaptainMike Keane (Oct-Dec)
Pierre Turgeon (Dec-Apr)
Alternate captainsVincent Damphousse
Lyle Odelein
ArenaMontreal Forum and Molson Centre
Team leaders
GoalsPierre Turgeon and Vincent Damphousse (38)
AssistsPierre Turgeon (58)
PointsPierre Turgeon (96)
Penalty minutesLyle Odelein (230)
Plus/minusPeter Popovic (+21)
WinsJocelyn Thibault (23)
Goals against averageJocelyn Thibault (2.83)

The 1995–96 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 87th season. This season was notable for the trade of star goaltender Patrick Roy, as well as being their final season in the Montreal Forum before moving to the new Molson Centre. The club qualified for the playoffs, but lost in the first round to the New York Rangers.

Offseason[]

Regular season[]

  • At the beginning of the season, captain Mike Keane was subject to media scrutiny after speaking with Mathias Brunet of La Presse (a French language newspaper). Keane said he didn't know how to speak French; but the journalist misunderstood him, and reported him as refusing to learn how to speak 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: Corey hired Rejean Houle to become the Canadiens' new general manager. Mario Tremblay was hired as the new head coach, and Yvan Cournoyer was hired as an assistant coach.[3] Tremblay had been goaltender Patrick Roy's roommate during his rookie season.[4]
  • In his first 15 starts with Tremblay as head coach, Roy had 12 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. The one tie came against the Colorado Avalanche.[5] Despite the team's play, Roy and Tremblay clashed multiple times. While in Edmonton, Tremblay spotted Roy in the hotel bar and told him that he wanted him to leave.[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 day before the a game against the Detroit Red Wings, 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 Mario Tremblay.[10]

Patrick Roy's final game[]

  • On December 2, 1995, head coach Mario Tremblay kept goaltender Patrick Roy in goal as 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 Tremblay's 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.
  • After Roy was replaced midway through the second period, he went over to Canadiens president Ronald Corey[12] and stated that he had played his final game with the Canadiens. He later elaborated by saying that he would not play for Montreal as long as Tremblay was coach.

Le Trade[]

  • On December 6, four days after the incident, Roy was traded to Colorado (along with team 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 that his #33 jersey would be retired. The trade benefited Colorado, as Roy helped the Avalanche win the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals.

Final game at the Forum[]

  • On March 11, 1996, the 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 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[]

References[]

  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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b 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. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. 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.
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