1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season

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
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)

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.

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 five 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

Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Chicago Black Hawks	76	45	22	9	250	170	99
Boston Bruins	76	40	17	19	277	216	99
Detroit Red Wings	76	40	21	15	246	199	95
New York Rangers	76	38	22	16	246	189	92
Montreal Canadiens	76	38	22	16	244	201	92
Toronto Maple Leafs	76	29	34	13	222	242	71

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

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

Playoffs

• The Canadiens did not qualify for the post season.

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Cournoyer, YvanYvan Cournoyer	RW	72	27	36	63	23	10	0	4
Lemaire, JacquesJacques Lemaire	C	69	32	28	60	16	13	0	5
Rousseau, BobbyBobby Rousseau	RW	72	24	34	58	30	5	2	4
Redmond, MickeyMickey Redmond	RW	75	27	27	54	61	3	0	2
Richard, HenriHenri Richard	C	62	16	36	52	61	2	0	4
Beliveau, JeanJean Beliveau	C	63	19	30	49	10	3	0	1
Backstrom, RalphRalph Backstrom	C	72	19	24	43	20	1	0	2
Laperriere, JacquesJacques Laperriere	D	73	6	31	37	98	2	1	1
Ferguson, JohnJohn Ferguson	LW	48	19	13	32	139	6	0	7
Savard, SergeSerge Savard	D	64	12	19	31	38	5	3	2
Harper, TerryTerry Harper	D	75	4	18	22	109	0	0	0
Provost, ClaudeClaude Provost	RW	65	10	11	21	22	0	0	1
Tremblay, J.C.J.C. Tremblay	D	58	2	19	21	7	1	0	0
Harris, TedTed Harris	D	74	3	17	20	116	0	0	0
Mahovlich, PetePete Mahovlich	C	36	9	8	17	51	0	0	2
Bordeleau, ChristianChristian Bordeleau	C	48	2	13	15	18	0	0	0
Mickey, LarryLarry Mickey	RW	21	4	4	8	4	3	0	2
Tardif, MarcMarc Tardif	LW	18	3	2	5	27	1	0	0
Grenier, LucienLucien Grenier	RW	23	2	3	5	2	0	0	1
Sheehan, BobbyBobby Sheehan	C	16	2	1	3	2	0	0	0
Duff, DickDick Duff	LW	17	1	1	2	4	0	0	0
Pleau, LarryLarry Pleau	C	20	1	0	1	0	0	1	0
Gauthier, JeanJean Gauthier	D	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Roberto, PhilPhil Roberto	RW	8	0	1	1	8	0	0	0
Houle, RejeanRejean Houle	W	9	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Curtis, PaulPaul Curtis	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Huck, FranFran Huck	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Drouin, JudeJude Drouin	C	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Charron, GuyGuy Charron	C	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lapointe, GuyGuy Lapointe	D	5	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Worsley, GumpGump Worsley	G	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Myre, PhilPhil Myre	G	10	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Vachon, RogieRogie Vachon	G	64	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

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

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals

MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records

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

Draft Picks

See also: 1969 NHL Amateur Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	1.	Rejean Houle	Canada	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
1	2.	Marc Tardif	Canada	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)

Gallery

Barry Wilkins, Henri Richard, Fred Stanfield, Eddie Johnston, Bobby Orr, November 29, 1969.

Derek Sanderson scores off the face-off, November 23, 1969.

Bobby Orr scores on Rogatien Vachon, January 31, 1970.

Bobby Orr checked by four Canadiens during the 1969-70 season.

Pre-season @ Montreal

See Also

• 1969–70 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference