The 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 61st season of play. The defending Stanley Cup champions finished sixteen games above .500, but it was not enough to return to the playoffs in the powerful East Division. Montreal finished fifth after losing tiebreaker to the New York Rangers on goals scored, and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1947–48 season, ending their 21-season playoff streak.
This team was the only Canadiens team between the 1948–49 season and the 1993–94 season that missed the playoffs, a span of 46 years. Montreal would go on to win another Cup the following season, becoming the first (and, as of , only) team to win the Stanley Cup, miss the playoffs, and win the Cup again in successive campaigns, and with their 1968 Stanley Cup victory, they are the only team to win the Stanley Cup in 3 of 4 years, with one missed playoff appearance.
Regular season On April 5, 1970 the Montreal Canadiens, in a desperate race to qualify for the NHL playoffs, the team played away against the Chicago Black Hawks. With 9:30 left in regulation time, Montreal was down by a score of 5–2. The Canadiens' only hope of qualifying for the playoffs was to score three more goals. Montreal coach Claude Ruel pulled his goaltender, Rogatien Vachon, from the net, sending him back out only for faceoffs. Unfortunately, luck ran out as Chicago scored five empty net goals and won the game by a score of 10–2, while the Rangers racked up a 9–5 win over Detroit. Thus, Montreal missed the playoffs for the first time in 22 years.
Final standings
Record vs. opponents
Schedule and results
|1||W||October 11, 1969||5–1 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) ||1–0–0
|2||T||October 15, 1969||2–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) ||1–0–1
|3||W||October 18, 1969||7–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1969–70) ||2–0–1
|4||T||October 19, 1969||1–1 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) ||2–0–2
|5||T||October 22, 1969||3–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1969–70) ||2–0–3
|6||L||October 25, 1969||0–5 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) ||2–1–3
|7||W||October 26, 1969||8–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1969–70) ||3–1–3
|8||L||October 29, 1969||1–4 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) ||3–2–3
|9||T||October 30, 1969||2–2 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1969–70) ||3–2–4
|10||W||November 1, 1969||9–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1969–70) ||4–2–4
|11||T||November 5, 1969||2–2 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) ||4–2–5
|12||W||November 6, 1969||4–1 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) ||5–2–5
|13||W||November 8, 1969||6–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) ||6–2–5
|14||W||November 10, 1969||6–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) ||7–2–5
|15||W||November 12, 1969||5–0 || align="left"| @ Oakland Seals (1969–70) ||8–2–5
|16||W||November 15, 1969||3–2 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1969–70) ||9–2–5
|17||L||November 16, 1969||0–1 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) ||9–3–5
|18||T||November 19, 1969||5–5 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) ||9–3–6
|19||W||November 22, 1969||4–2 || align="left"| Oakland Seals (1969–70) ||10–3–6
|20||T||November 23, 1969||2–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1969–70) ||10–3–7
|21||W||November 26, 1969||3–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) ||11–3–7
|22||T||November 29, 1969||2–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1969–70) ||11–3–8
|23||W||December 4, 1969||1–0 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) ||12–3–8
|24||L||December 6, 1969||3–4 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) ||12–4–8
|25||L||December 7, 1969||3–6 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1969–70) ||12–5–8
|26||W||December 10, 1969||6–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) ||13–5–8
|27||W||December 13, 1969||4–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) ||14–5–8
|28||L||December 14, 1969||2–5 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) ||14–6–8
|29||W||December 17, 1969||5–2 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) ||15–6–8
|30||L||December 20, 1969||2–3 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) ||15–7–8
|31||W||December 21, 1969||5–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1969–70) ||16–7–8
|32||T||December 26, 1969||3–3 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) ||16–7–9
|33||T||December 27, 1969||2–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) ||16–7–10
|34||L||December 30, 1969||0–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1969–70) ||16–8–10
|35||L||December 31, 1969||2–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) ||16–9–10
|36||W||January 3, 1970||5–1 || align="left"| Oakland Seals (1969–70) ||17–9–10
|37||W||January 6, 1970||4–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) ||18–9–10
|38||W||January 8, 1970||3–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) ||19–9–10
|39||W||January 11, 1970||4–1 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1969–70) ||20–9–10
|40||W||January 14, 1970||4–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) ||21–9–10
|41||L||January 17, 1970||0–3 || align="left"| Oakland Seals (1969–70) ||21–10–10
|42||L||January 18, 1970||3–6 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1969–70) ||21–11–10
|43||W||January 22, 1970||4–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) ||22–11–10
|44||W||January 24, 1970||4–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) ||23–11–10
|45||W||January 25, 1970||4–1 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) ||24–11–10
|46||W||January 28, 1970||5–4 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) ||25–11–10
|47||T||January 31, 1970||3–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1969–70) ||25–11–11
|48||W||February 1, 1970||5–2 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) ||26–11–11
|49||L||February 4, 1970||2–5 || align="left"| @ Oakland Seals (1969–70) ||26–12–11
|50||W||February 5, 1970||5–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) ||27–12–11
|51||T||February 7, 1970||1–1 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) ||27–12–12
|52||W||February 8, 1970||3–2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) ||28–12–12
|53||T||February 11, 1970||3–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) ||28–12–13
|54||L||February 14, 1970||2–5 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) ||28–13–13
|55||L||February 15, 1970||0–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1969–70) ||28–14–13
|56||L||February 18, 1970||3–5 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) ||28–15–13
|57||W||February 21, 1970||5–3 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) ||29–15–13
|58||W||February 22, 1970||1–0 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) ||30–15–13
|59||W||February 25, 1970||3–2 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) ||31–15–13
|60||L||February 28, 1970||2–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1969–70) ||31–16–13
|61||L||March 4, 1970||1–2 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) ||31–17–13
|62||L||March 7, 1970||2–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) ||31–18–13
|63||L||March 8, 1970||0–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1969–70) ||31–19–13
|64||W||March 11, 1970||5–3 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1969–70) ||32–19–13
|65||W||March 14, 1970||6–2 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1969–70) ||33–19–13
|66||T||March 15, 1970||3–3 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) ||33–19–14
|67||T||March 18, 1970||2–2 || align="left"| @ Oakland Seals (1969–70) ||33–19–15
|68||W||March 19, 1970||6–1 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) ||34–19–15
|69||W||March 21, 1970||2–0 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) ||35–19–15
|70||W||March 22, 1970||5–4 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) ||36–19–15
|71||W||March 25, 1970||5–2 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) ||37–19–15
|72||T||March 28, 1970||1–1 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1969–70) ||37–19–16
|73||L||March 29, 1970||1–4 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1969–70) ||37–20–16
|74||W||April 1, 1970||6–3 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1969–70) ||38–20–16
|75||L||April 4, 1970||1–4 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) ||38–21–16
|76||L||April 5, 1970||2–10 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) ||38–22–16
Legend:
Player statistics
Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG RW 72 27 36 63 231004 C 69 32 28 60 161305 RW 72 24 34 58 30524 RW 75 27 27 54 61302 C 62 16 36 52 61204 C 63 19 30 49 10301 C 72 19 24 43 20102 D 73 6 31 37 98211 LW 48 19 13 32 139607 D 64 12 19 31 38532 D 75 4 18 22 109000 RW 65 10 11 21 22001 D 58 2 19 21 7100 D 74 3 17 20 116000 C 36 9 8 17 51002 C 48 2 13 15 18000 RW 21 4 4 8 4302 LW 18 3 2 5 27100 RW 23 2 3 5 2001 C 16 2 1 3 2000 LW 17 1 1 2 4000 C 20 1 0 1 0010 D 4 0 1 1 0000 W 9 0 1 1 0000 RW 8 0 1 1 8000 C 5 0 0 0 0000 D 1 0 0 0 0000 C 3 0 0 0 2000 C 2 0 0 0 0000 D 5 0 0 0 4000 G 10 0 0 0 2000 G 64 0 0 0 0000 G 6 0 0 0 0000
Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LTGAGAA SO 3697 64 31 18 12 162 2.63 4 503 10 4 3 2 19 2.27 0 360 6 3 1 2 14 2.33 0 Team: 4560 76 38 22 16 195 2.57 4
Awards and records Jacques Laperriere, Defence, NHL Second Team All-Star
Draft picks
Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)11Réjean HouleMontreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)12Marc TardifMontreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)332 Bobby Sheehan St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)444 Murray Anderson Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)556 Gary Doyle Ottawa 67's (OHA)663 Guy Delparte London Knights (OHA)668 Lynn Powis Denver Pioneers (NCAA)774 Ian Wilkie Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)775 Dale Power Peterborough Petes (OHA)879 Frank Hamill Toronto Marlboros (OHA)983 Gilles Drolet Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)1084 Darrel Knibbs Lethbridge Sugar Kings (AJHL)
See also 1969–70 NHL season
References
External links Canadiens on Hockey Database Canadiens on NHL Reference