1971–72 Montreal Canadiens season

	1971–72 Montreal Canadiens
Division	3rd East
1971–72 record	46-16-16
Goals for	307
Goals against	205
Team information
General manager	Sam Pollock
Coach	Scotty Bowman
Captain	Henri Richard
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Yvan Cournoyer (47)
Assists	Frank Mahovlich (53)
Points	Frank Mahovlich (96)
Penalty minutes	Pete Mahovlich (103)
Plus/minus	Jean-Claude Tremblay (+52)
Wins	Ken Dryden (39)
Goals against average	Ken Dryden (2.24)
	← 1970–71 1972–73 →

The 1971–72 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 63rd season of play. The Canadiens finished 3rd in the East Division and lost in the Quarter-finals to the New York Rangers 4 games to 2.

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

East Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Boston Bruins	78	54	13	11	330	204	119
New York Rangers	78	48	17	13	317	192	109
Montreal Canadiens	78	46	16	16	307	205	108
Toronto Maple Leafs	78	33	31	14	209	208	80
Detroit Red Wings	78	33	35	10	261	262	76
Buffalo Sabres	78	16	43	19	203	289	51
Vancouver Canucks	78	20	50	8	203	297	48

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

Game Log[]

Regular Season Schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 9, 1971	4–4	New York Rangers (1971–72)	0–0–1
2	T	October 14, 1971	1–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	0–0–2
3	W	October 16, 1971	9–3	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	1–0–2
4	L	October 17, 1971	4–8	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	1–1–2
5	W	October 20, 1971	4–2	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	2–1–2
6	W	October 22, 1971	6–0	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	3–1–2
7	W	October 23, 1971	3–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	4–1–2
8	W	October 27, 1971	5–2	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	5–1–2
9	W	October 30, 1971	3–0	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	6–1–2
10	L	October 31, 1971	3–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	6–2–2
11	W	November 3, 1971	5–1	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	7–2–2
12	W	November 6, 1971	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	8–2–2
13	W	November 7, 1971	3–2	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	9–2–2
14	W	November 10, 1971	5–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	10–2–2
15	W	November 13, 1971	5–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	11–2–2
16	T	November 14, 1971	2–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	11–2–3
17	W	November 16, 1971	7–2	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	12–2–3
18	T	November 18, 1971	2–2	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	12–2–4
19	T	November 20, 1971	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	12–2–5
20	T	November 24, 1971	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	12–2–6
21	W	November 27, 1971	3–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	13–2–6
22	L	November 28, 1971	2–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	13–3–6
23	W	December 1, 1971	5–3	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	14–3–6
24	W	December 4, 1971	7–0	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	15–3–6
25	W	December 8, 1971	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	16–3–6
26	W	December 11, 1971	4–3	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	17–3–6
27	L	December 12, 1971	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	17–4–6
28	W	December 15, 1971	3–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	18–4–6
29	W	December 17, 1971	6–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	19–4–6
30	T	December 19, 1971	3–3	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	19–4–7
31	W	December 22, 1971	4–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	20–4–7
32	L	December 25, 1971	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	20–5–7
33	L	December 26, 1971	1–5	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	20–6–7
34	W	December 29, 1971	3–2	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	21–6–7
35	L	January 1, 1972	2–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	21–7–7
36	L	January 2, 1972	4–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	21–8–7
37	W	January 5, 1972	6–4	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	22–8–7
38	W	January 8, 1972	10–2	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	23–8–7
39	L	January 9, 1972	2–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	23–9–7
40	L	January 11, 1972	3–7	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	23–10–7
41	W	January 13, 1972	7–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	24–10–7
42	W	January 15, 1972	6–2	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	25–10–7
43	L	January 16, 1972	2–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	25–11–7
44	W	January 19, 1972	1–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	26–11–7
45	L	January 22, 1972	5–8	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	26–12–7
46	T	January 23, 1972	3–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	26–12–8
47	L	January 27, 1972	5–6	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	26–13–8
48	W	January 29, 1972	4–0	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	27–13–8
49	W	February 1, 1972	3–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	28–13–8
50	T	February 3, 1972	1–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	28–13–9
51	T	February 4, 1972	2–2	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	28–13–10
52	W	February 6, 1972	4–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	29–13–10
53	W	February 10, 1972	7–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	30–13–10
54	W	February 12, 1972	6–5	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	31–13–10
55	T	February 13, 1972	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	31–13–11
56	T	February 16, 1972	1–1	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	31–13–12
57	W	February 19, 1972	3–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	32–13–12
58	W	February 20, 1972	4–0	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	33–13–12
59	L	February 22, 1972	3–7	New York Rangers (1971–72)	33–14–12
60	W	February 24, 1972	4–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	34–14–12
61	W	February 26, 1972	8–1	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	35–14–12
62	W	February 27, 1972	5–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	36–14–12
63	W	March 1, 1972	4–1	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	37–14–12
64	W	March 4, 1972	5–0	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	38–14–12
65	W	March 5, 1972	4–0	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	39–14–12
66	W	March 8, 1972	5–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	40–14–12
67	W	March 9, 1972	5–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	41–14–12
68	T	March 11, 1972	1–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	41–14–13
69	W	March 13, 1972	2–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	42–14–13
70	W	March 15, 1972	5–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	43–14–13
71	W	March 18, 1972	4–3	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	44–14–13
72	L	March 19, 1972	6–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	44–15–13
73	T	March 22, 1972	3–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	44–15–14
74	T	March 25, 1972	3–3	New York Rangers (1971–72)	44–15–15
75	L	March 26, 1972	4–5	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	44–16–15
76	T	March 29, 1972	5–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	44–16–16
77	W	April 1, 1972	6–2	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	45–16–16
78	W	April 2, 1972	6–5	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	46–16–16

^[1]

Playoffs[]

New York Rangers 4, Montreal Canadiens 2[]

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 Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Mahovlich, FrankFrank Mahovlich	76	43	53	96	36	42	14	4	4
Cournoyer, YvanYvan Cournoyer	73	47	36	83	15	23	18	0	5
Lemaire, JacquesJacques Lemaire	77	32	49	81	26	37	8	0	7
Mahovlich, PetePete Mahovlich	75	35	32	67	103	16	7	4	6
Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur	73	29	35	64	48	27	5	0	5
Tremblay, J.C.J.C. Tremblay	76	6	51	57	24	52	3	0	2
Tardif, MarcMarc Tardif	75	31	22	53	81	15	9	0	4
Lapointe, GuyGuy Lapointe	69	11	38	49	58	15	4	0	4
Richard, HenriHenri Richard	75	12	32	44	48	10	0	0	1
Larose, ClaudeClaude Larose	77	20	18	38	64	9	1	3	4
Houle, RejeanRejean Houle	77	11	17	28	21	9	1	0	1
Laperriere, JacquesJacques Laperriere	73	3	25	28	50	36	2	0	0
Roberts, JimmyJimmy Roberts	51	7	15	22	53	3	0	3	1
Pleau, LarryLarry Pleau	55	7	10	17	19	4	0	0	2
Harper, TerryTerry Harper	52	2	12	14	35	9	0	0	0
Savard, SergeSerge Savard	23	1	8	9	16	21	0	0	0
Bouchard, PierrePierre Bouchard	60	3	5	8	39	10	0	0	0
Roberto, PhilPhil Roberto	27	3	2	5	22	3	0	0	0
Arnason, ChuckChuck Arnason	17	3	0	3	4	-1	0	0	0
Dryden, KenKen Dryden	64	0	3	3	4	0	0	0	0
Murdoch, BobBob Murdoch	11	1	1	2	8	8	0	0	0
Lefley, ChuckChuck Lefley	16	0	2	2	0	-1	0	0	0
DeJordy, DenisDenis DeJordy	7	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Comeau, ReyRey Comeau	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gagnon, GermainGermain Gagnon	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hoganson, DaleDale Hoganson	21	0	0	0	2	5	0	0	0
Vachon, RogieRogie Vachon	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Myre, PhilPhil Myre	9	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Dryden, KenKen Dryden	3800	64	39	8	15	142	2.24	8
Myre, PhilPhil Myre	528	9	4	5	0	32	3.64	0
DeJordy, DenisDenis DeJordy	332	7	3	2	1	25	4.52	0
Vachon, RogieRogie Vachon	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	GWG
Mahovlich, FrankFrank Mahovlich	6	3	2	5	2	1	0
Tardif, MarcMarc Tardif	6	2	3	5	9	0	1
Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur	6	1	4	5	2	0	0
Cournoyer, YvanYvan Cournoyer	6	2	1	3	2	0	0
Larose, ClaudeClaude Larose	6	2	1	3	23	0	0
Lemaire, JacquesJacques Lemaire	6	2	1	3	2	0	0
Richard, HenriHenri Richard	6	0	3	3	4	0	0
Harper, TerryTerry Harper	5	1	1	2	6	0	0
Mahovlich, PetePete Mahovlich	6	0	2	2	12	0	0
Tremblay, J.C.J.C. Tremblay	6	0	2	2	0	0	0
Roberts, JimmyJimmy Roberts	6	1	0	1	0	0	1
Lapointe, GuyGuy Lapointe	6	0	1	1	0	0	0
Bouchard, PierrePierre Bouchard	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Murdoch, BobBob Murdoch	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Laperriere, JacquesJacques Laperriere	4	0	0	0	2	0	0
Pleau, LarryLarry Pleau	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Houle, RejeanRejean Houle	6	0	0	0	2	0	0
Savard, SergeSerge Savard	6	0	0	0	10	0	0
Dryden, KenKen Dryden	6	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Dryden, KenKen Dryden	360	6	2	4	17	2.83	0
Team:	360	6	2	4	17	2.83	0

^[2]

Awards and Records[]

Calder Memorial Trophy: Ken Dryden
Yvan Cournoyer, Right Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
Ken Dryden, Goalie, NHL Second Team All-Star

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 Carter John French	To Montreal Canadiens Randy Rota
October 6, 1971	To California Golden Seals Ray Martyniuk	To Montreal Canadiens Tony Featherstone

Draft Picks[]

For more details on this topic, see 1971 NHL Entry Draft.

Trivia[]

Canadiens who recorded a Hat trick this season include:
- Frank Mahovlich during the 6-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on October 22, 1971.
- Marc Tardif during the 5-1 win over the Minnesota North Stars on November 13, 1971.
- Yvan Cournoyer during the 7-2 win over the California Golden Seals on November 16, 1971.
- Jacques Lemaire during the 7-0 win over Vancouver on December 4, 1971.
- Guy Lafleur during the 4-3 win over Minnesota on December 11, 1971.
- Guy Lafleur during the 6-2 win over Vancouver on December 17, 1971.
- Guy Lafleur during the 7-1 win over the Chicago Black Hawks on January 10, 1972.
- Frank Mahovlich during the 6-5 loss to Minnesota on January 27, 1972.
- Yvan Cournoyer during the 4-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on March 5, 1972.

Gallery[]

Video[]

Brief highlights of the 1972 Rangers-Canadiens Quarter-finals, Rangers-Black Hawks Semi-finals, Bruins-Leafs Quarter-finals and Bruins-Blues Semi-finals before highlights of all six games of the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals.

Stanley Cup 1972

References[]

↑ 1971–72 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-14.
↑ 1971-72 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-27.

[1] 1971–72 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-07-14.

[2] 1971-72 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-27.

[1]

[2]

Montreal Canadiens Seasons
1900s	1909–10
1910s	1910–11 • 1911–12 • 1912–13 • 1913–14 • 1914–15 • 1915–16 • 1916–17 • 1917–18 • 1918–19 • 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 • 1921–22 • 1922–23 • 1923–24 • 1924–25 • 1925–26 • 1926–27 • 1927–28 • 1928–29 • 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 • 1931–32 • 1932–33 • 1933–34 • 1934–35 • 1935–36 • 1936–37 • 1937–38 • 1938–39 • 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 • 1941–42 • 1942–43 • 1943–44 • 1944–45 • 1945–46 • 1946–47 • 1947–48 • 1948–49 • 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 • 1951–52 • 1952–53 • 1953–54 • 1954–55 • 1955–56 • 1956–57 • 1957–58 • 1958–59 • 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 • 1961–62 • 1962–63 • 1963–64 • 1964–65 • 1965–66 • 1966–67 • 1967–68 • 1968–69 • 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 • 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 • 2011–12 • 2012–13 • 2013–14 • 2014–15 • 2015–16 • 2016–17 • 2017–18 • 2018–19 • 2019–20
Bold indicates Stanley Cup Championship

Montreal Canadiens
Franchise	Franchise • Original Six • Players • Coaches • General Managers • Seasons • Records • Draft Picks • Award Winners
Arenas	Jubilee Arena • Montreal Arena • Mount Royal Arena • Montreal Forum • Bell Centre
Affiliates	Laval Rocket (AHL)

1971–72 NHL season by team
East	Boston • Buffalo • Detroit • Montreal • New York • Toronto • Vancouver
West	California • Chicago • Los Angeles • Minnesota • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • St. Louis
See also	1971 NHL Amateur Draft • All-Star Game • 1972 Stanley Cup Final

1971–72 Montreal Canadiens season

Contents

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

Game Log[]

Playoffs[]

New York Rangers 4, Montreal Canadiens 2[]

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Playoffs[]

Awards and Records[]

Transactions[]

Draft Picks[]

Trivia[]

Gallery[]

Video[]

See Also[]

References[]