1973–74 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1973–74 Montreal Canadiens season was the 65th season in team history. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs, losing in the first round to the New York Rangers.

Off-season Ken Dryden shocked the hockey world as he sat out the entire 1973–74 season. He had won a Vezina Trophy and helped lead Canada past Russia in the dramatic Hockey Summit of 1972. Despite his bargaining power, most players in Dryden's position would have simply accepted what the Canadiens were giving him. Dryden bolted training camp, while general manager Sam Pollock fumed.

Regular season Wayne Thomas replaced Dryden as the starting goaltender and appeared in 42 games. Frank Mahovlich led the team in scoring with 80 points, while Yvan Cournoyer led the team in goals with 40.

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Playoffs The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs in second place, setting up a match-up with the third-place New York Rangers. The Rangers defeated the Canadiens twice at the Forum to win the series four games to two. Rookie goaltender Michel Larocque played all six games for the Canadiens.

Schedule and results

|1||W||October 10, 1973||5–2 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) ||1–0–0

|2||W||October 13, 1973||4–3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1973–74) ||2–0–0

|3||L||October 17, 1973||3–5 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) ||2–1–0

|4||L||October 20, 1973||2–4 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1973–74) ||2–2–0

|5||W||October 21, 1973||3–2 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1973–74) ||3–2–0

|6||W||October 24, 1973||3–2 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) ||4–2–0

|7||W||October 25, 1973||4–0 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) ||5–2–0

|8||W||October 27, 1973||4–2 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) ||6–2–0

|9||T||October 31, 1973||1–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) ||6–2–1

|10||W||November 3, 1973||6–2 || align="left"| California Golden Seals (1973–74) ||7–2–1

|11||T||November 4, 1973||1–1 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) ||7–2–2

|12||W||November 7, 1973||4–1 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) ||8–2–2

|13||L||November 8, 1973||1–2 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1973–74) ||8–3–2

|14||L||November 10, 1973||0–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1973–74) ||8–4–2

|15||L||November 14, 1973||3–4 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1973–74) ||8–5–2

|16||W||November 17, 1973||8–5 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) ||9–5–2

|17||L||November 18, 1973||4–6 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) ||9–6–2

|18||W||November 21, 1973||4–3 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) ||10–6–2

|19||W||November 24, 1973||5–2 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) ||11–6–2

|20||W||November 25, 1973||6–4 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) ||12–6–2

|21||W||November 28, 1973||5–3 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) ||13–6–2

|22||L||December 1, 1973||0–5 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) ||13–7–2

|23||W||December 2, 1973||3–1 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1973–74) ||14–7–2

|24||W||December 6, 1973||4–2 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1973–74) ||15–7–2

|25||W||December 8, 1973||3–1 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1973–74) ||16–7–2

|26||T||December 11, 1973||2–2 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1973–74) ||16–7–3

|27||T||December 14, 1973||2–2 || align="left"| @ California Golden Seals (1973–74) ||16–7–4

|28||W||December 15, 1973||6–2 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) ||17–7–4

|29||W||December 18, 1973||4–1 || align="left"| California Golden Seals (1973–74) ||18–7–4

|30||T||December 20, 1973||2–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) ||18–7–5

|31||W||December 22, 1973||7–1 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) ||19–7–5

|32||T||December 23, 1973||1–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1973–74) ||19–7–6

|33||L||December 26, 1973||2–9 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) ||19–8–6

|34||W||December 29, 1973||7–1 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1973–74) ||20–8–6

|35||L||January 2, 1974||4–8 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1973–74) ||20–9–6

|36||W||January 5, 1974||5–3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1973–74) ||21–9–6

|37||W||January 7, 1974||2–1 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) ||22–9–6

|38||W||January 10, 1974||8–3 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1973–74) ||23–9–6

|39||W||January 12, 1974||7–3 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1973–74) ||24–9–6

|40||L||January 15, 1974||1–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) ||24–10–6

|41||W||January 17, 1974||6–1 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) ||25–10–6

|42||L||January 19, 1974||0–8 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1973–74) ||25–11–6

|43||W||January 20, 1974||3–2 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) ||26–11–6

|44||W||January 23, 1974||4–3 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) ||27–11–6

|45||W||January 24, 1974||4–1 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74) ||28–11–6

|46||W||January 26, 1974||4–1 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) ||29–11–6

|47||L||February 1, 1974||3–5 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1973–74) ||29–12–6

|48||W||February 3, 1974||4–1 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) ||30–12–6

|49||W||February 5, 1974||3–2 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1973–74) ||31–12–6

|50||L||February 6, 1974||3–4 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74) ||31–13–6

|51||W||February 9, 1974||7–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1973–74) ||32–13–6

|52||L||February 10, 1974||1–3 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) ||32–14–6

|53||L||February 13, 1974||2–3 || align="left"| Atlanta Flames (1973–74) ||32–15–6

|54||W||February 15, 1974||9–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) ||33–15–6

|55||T||February 17, 1974||2–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) ||33–15–7

|56||L||February 19, 1974||3–5 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1973–74) ||33–16–7

|57||W||February 21, 1974||5–2 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1973–74) ||34–16–7

|58||T||February 23, 1974||4–4 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) ||34–16–8

|59||W||February 24, 1974||3–2 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1973–74) ||35–16–8

|60||W||February 26, 1974||6–5 || align="left"| @ Atlanta Flames (1973–74) ||36–16–8

|61||W||February 28, 1974||7–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) ||37–16–8

|62||L||March 2, 1974||3–4 || align="left"| California Golden Seals (1973–74) ||37–17–8

|63||L||March 3, 1974||0–6 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74) ||37–18–8

|64||L||March 6, 1974||2–9 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1973–74) ||37–19–8

|65||W||March 9, 1974||4–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1973–74) ||38–19–8

|66||W||March 10, 1974||5–4 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74) ||39–19–8

|67||T||March 13, 1974||3–3 || align="left"| @ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) ||39–19–9

|68||L||March 16, 1974||1–3 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74) ||39–20–9

|69||W||March 17, 1974||4–2 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1973–74) ||40–20–9

|70||L||March 20, 1974||6–7 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1973–74) ||40–21–9

|71||W||March 23, 1974||7–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1973–74) ||41–21–9

|72||L||March 24, 1974||3–6 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1973–74) ||41–22–9

|73||W||March 26, 1974||4–3 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1973–74) ||42–22–9

|74||W||March 29, 1974||4–3 || align="left"| @ California Golden Seals (1973–74) ||43–22–9

|75||W||March 30, 1974||5–2 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74) ||44–22–9

|76||L||April 3, 1974||3–5 || align="left"| Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74) ||44–23–9

|77||W||April 6, 1974||6–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1973–74) ||45–23–9

|78||L||April 7, 1974||4–6 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1973–74) ||45–24–9

Legend:

Playoffs 4/10/1974 New York Rangers 1–4 4/11/1974 New York Rangers 4–1 4/13/1974 at New York Rangers 4–2 4/14/1974 at New York Rangers 4–6 4/16/1974 New York Rangers 2–3 4/18/1974 at New York Rangers 2–5

Awards and records Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens

Player statistics

Regular season Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG LW 71 31 49 80 4716823 RW 67 40 33 73 18161009 C 78 36 37 73 12242747 C 66 29 38 67 1041007 RW 73 21 35 56 2910312 C 75 19 36 55 287103 LW 74 23 31 54 349122 D 71 13 40 53 6312512 LW 70 15 20 35 1719301 LW 72 17 14 31 264004 D 78 6 20 26 6632001 RW 39 17 7 24 5211101 D/RW 67 8 16 24 3927012 D 67 4 14 18 4920101 LW 60 6 10 16 425000 D 60 1 14 15 258000 D 42 2 10 12 1415010 C 31 1 10 11 24000 LW 66 3 7 10 34−9000 D 20 1 4 5 18−3100 G 27 0 2 2 00000 G 42 0 2 2 60000 D 21 0 2 2 68000 RW 6 0 0 0 0−1000 G 15 0 0 0 00000

Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LTGAGAA SO 2410 42 23 12 5 111 2.76 1 1431 27 15 8 2 69 2.89 0 839 15 7 4 2 57 4.08 0 Team: 4680 78 45 24 9 237 3.04 1

Playoffs Scoring Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG LW 6 5 3 8 9100 RW 6 5 2 7 2002 C 6 2 2 4 2000 C 6 0 4 4 2000 C 6 2 1 3 4100 LW 6 1 2 3 0000 D 6 1 1 2 4000 D 6 0 2 2 4000 D 6 0 2 2 4000 G 6 0 2 2 0000 RW 5 0 2 2 11000 LW 5 1 0 1 2000 RW 6 0 1 1 4000 LW 6 0 1 1 0000 D 6 0 1 1 26000 LW 6 0 0 0 6000 LW 5 0 0 0 7000 D/RW 6 0 0 0 4000 D 1 0 0 0 0000

Goaltending PlayerMINGPW LGAGAA SO 364 6 2 4 18 2.97 0 Team: 364 6 2 4 18 2.97 0

Draft picks

Round # Player Position Nationality College/junior/club team (league)18Bob GaineyLeft wingPeterborough Petes (OHA)217Glenn GoldupRight wingToronto Marlboros (OHA)222Peter MarrinCentreToronto Marlboros (OHA)232Ron AndruffCentreFlin Flon Bombers (WCHL)337Ed HumphreysGoaltenderSaskatoon Blades (WCHL)456Alan HangslebenDefenceUniversity of North Dakota (NCAA)464Richard LatulippeCentreQuebec Remparts (QMJHL)580Gerard GibbonsDefenceSt. Mary's University (CIAU)696Denis PatryRight wingDrummondville Rangers (QMJHL)7112Michel BelisleCentreMontreal Junior Canadiens (QMJHL)8128Mario DesjardinsLeft wingSherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)9143Bob WrightRight wingPembroke Lumber Kings (CJAHL)10158Alain LabrecqueCentreTrois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)11166Gord HallidayRight wingUniversity of Pennsylvania (NCAA)12167Cap RaederGoaltenderUniversity of New Hampshire (NCAA)13168Louis ChiassonCentreTrois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)

See also 1973–74 NHL season

Citations

References Canadiens on Hockey Database Canadiens on NHL Reference