The Halifax Canadiens was the name of two junior teams.
First Team[]
The first team with that name played in the Halifax City Junior League. They won this league championship in 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1942, and 1943. They entered the Maritimes Junior Championships in each of these years plus in 1941. The league did not operate in 1941 and the Canadiens entered as an independent (non-league) team.
The Canadiens won the Maritimes championship in 1938 and 1942. They lost the quarter finals in the Eastern Canada playoffs in both seasons.
Second Team[]
The second team was set up as a farm team by the Montreal Canadiens in 1965. It played as an independent team for three seasons (1965-66, 1966-67, and 1967-68), The Canadiens played against local senior, junior, and university teams plus games against junior teams from Ontario and Quebec. They also played one game against the Soviet Union national team. There was even some talk of the team joining the Ontario Hockey Association's junior league, which was the premier junior league of its time, which the team had applied for entry for the 1967-68 season but were rejected for membership.
Future NHL players on the team over the years with the 1960's era team included Bobby Sheehan, Robbie Ftorek, Buster Harvey, Erroll Thompson, Neil Nicholson and Bill Riley. Other players with decent minor league careers included Jamie Kennedy, Bobby Whitlock, Norm Guimond, Rod Bossy, Gary Geldart, Ronnie Leblanc Sr. and Gordie Gallant. Leo Bossy would serve as the head coach during this era.
The Canadiens won the Maritimes Junior Championship in each of these three seasons but did not get too far in the Easrern Canada Memorial Cup Playoffs.
In 1968-69 the Canadiens joined a three team Maritime Junior Hockey League. They won the title but again they had no success in the Eastern Canada playoffs.
The following season the Montreal Canadiens withdrew their sponsorship because NHL rules forced them to. The team was bought by local interests and renamed the Halifax Atlantics.
