The 2004–05 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 96th season, 88th in the National Hockey League (NHL). However, its games were cancelled as the 2004–05 NHL lockout could not be resolved in time. The other 29 teams did not play either due to the labour dispute.
Schedule The Canadiens preseason and regular season schedules were announced on July 14, 2004.
| 1 || September 23 || Tampa Bay Lightning |- | 2 || September 24 || Toronto Maple Leafs |- | 3 || September 26 || Ottawa Senators |- | 4 || September 28 || Boston Bruins |- | 5 || September 29 || @ Boston Bruins |- | 6 || October 2 || Buffalo Sabres |- | 7 || October 5 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs |- | 8 || October 6 || @ Buffalo Sabres |- | 9 || October 9 || @ Ottawa Senators
| 1 || October 13 || @ Ottawa Senators |- | 2 || October 16 || Philadelphia Flyers |- | 3 || October 19 || Pittsburgh Penguins |- | 4 || October 21 || @ Washington Capitals |- | 5 || October 23 || Toronto Maple Leafs |- | 6 || October 26 || Carolina Hurricanes |- | 7 || October 28 || @ Philadelphia Flyers |- | 8 || October 30 || Atlanta Thrashers |- | 9 || November 3 || @ Florida Panthers |- | 10 || November 5 || @ Carolina Hurricanes |- | 11 || November 6 || @ St. Louis Blues |- | 12 || November 9 || Washington Capitals |- | 13 || November 12 || @ Ottawa Senators |- | 14 || November 13 || Ottawa Senators |- | 15 || November 16 || Boston Bruins |- | 16 || November 17 || @ Pittsburgh Penguins |- | 17 || November 20 || New York Rangers |- | 18 || November 24 || @ New York Islanders |- | 19 || November 26 || @ Buffalo Sabres |- | 20 || November 27 || Boston Bruins |- | 21 || November 30 || Minnesota Wild |- | 22 || December 3 || @ New Jersey Devils |- | 23 || December 4 || @ Boston Bruins |- | 24 || December 8 || @ Florida Panthers |- | 25 || December 9 || @ Tampa Bay Lightning |- | 26 || December 11 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs |- | 27 || December 14 || Tampa Bay Lightning |- | 28 || December 17 || @ New Jersey Devils |- | 29 || December 18 || New Jersey Devils |- | 30 || December 21 || Buffalo Sabres |- | 31 || December 22 || @ Buffalo Sabres |- | 32 || December 29 || @ Vancouver Canucks |- | 33 || December 31 || @ Calgary Flames |- | 34 || January 1 || @ Edmonton Oilers |- | 35 || January 4 || Pittsburgh Penguins |- | 36 || January 6 || @ Boston Bruins |- | 37 || January 8 || Florida Panthers |- | 38 || January 10 || @ New York Rangers |- | 39 || January 11 || Carolina Hurricanes |- | 40 || January 15 || Dallas Stars |- | 41 || January 17 || @ Nashville Predators |- | 42 || January 19 || @ Colorado Avalanche |- | 43 || January 22 || Toronto Maple Leafs |- | 44 || January 24 || Atlanta Thrashers |- | 45 || January 26 || @ Columbus Blue Jackets |- | 46 || January 28 || @ Washington Capitals |- | 47 || January 29 || New York Rangers |- | 48 || February 1 || Boston Bruins |- | 49 || February 3 || San Jose Sharks |- | 50 || February 5 || Los Angeles Kings |- | 51 || February 6 || New York Islanders |- | 52 || February 8 || Vancouver Canucks |- | 53 || February 10 || @ Boston Bruins |- | 54 || February 15 || Philadelphia Flyers |- | 55 || February 17 || Edmonton Oilers |- | 56 || February 19 || Ottawa Senators |- | 57 || February 20 || @ Philadelphia Flyers |- | 58 || February 22 || New York Islanders |- | 59 || February 24 || Florida Panthers |- | 60 || February 26 || Buffalo Sabres |- | 61 || February 27 || @ Pittsburgh Penguins |- | 62 || March 2 || @ Chicago Blackhawks |- | 63 || March 3 || @ Detroit Red Wings |- | 64 || March 5 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs |- | 65 || March 8 || Washington Capitals |- | 66 || March 11 || @ New York Islanders |- | 67 || March 12 || Buffalo Sabres |- | 68 || March 15 || @ Ottawa Senators |- | 69 || March 17 || @ Carolina Hurricanes |- | 70 || March 19 || Anaheim Mighty Ducks |- | 71 || March 21 || Phoenix Coyotes |- | 72 || March 23 || @ Atlanta Thrashers |- | 73 || March 24 || @ Tampa Bay Lightning |- | 74 || March 26 || Calgary Flames |- | 75 || March 28 || @ New York Rangers |- | 76 || March 29 || Tampa Bay Lightning |- | 77 || March 31 || Toronto Maple Leafs |- | 78 || April 2 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs |- | 79 || April 4 || New Jersey Devils |- | 80 || April 6 || @ Atlanta Thrashers |- | 81 || April 8 || @ Buffalo Sabres |- | 82 || April 9 || Ottawa Senators
Transactions The Canadiens were involved in the following transactions from June 8, 2004, the day after the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, through February 16, 2005, the day the season was officially cancelled.
Trades Date Details Ref To Montreal Canadiens To Los Angeles Kings To Montreal Canadiens To Los Angeles Kings
Players acquired Date Player Former team Term Via Ref Raitis Ivanans Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) 2-year Free agency Gavin Morgan Dallas Stars 1-year Free agency Jean-Philippe Cote Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) 2-year Free agency Benoit Dusablon New York Rangers 1-year Free agency
Players lost Date Player New team Via Ref Benoit Gratton HC Lugano (NLA) Free agency (VI) , retrieved April 20, 2022 Yanic Perreault Contract expiration (III) Darren Langdon New Jersey Devils Free agency (III) Gordie Dwyer Carolina Hurricanes Free agency (UFA) Patrick Traverse Dallas Stars Free agency (UFA) Francois Beauchemin Columbus Blue Jackets Waivers Jean-Francois Damphousse Quebec RadioX (LNAH) Free agency (UFA) Jim Dowd Hamburg Freezers (DEL) Free agency (III) , retrieved April 20, 2022 Jerome Marois Trois-Rivieres Caron & Guay (LNAH) Free agency (UFA) Rene Vydareny HC Slovan Bratislava (SVK) Free agency (II) Benoit Dusablon Retirement Eric Fichaud Quebec RadioX (LNAH) Free agency (UFA)
Signings Date Player Term Contract type Ref Steve Begin 2-year Re-signing Marcel Hossa 1-year Re-signing Mike Ribeiro 1-year Re-signing Niklas Sundstrom 2-year Re-signing Marc-Andre Thinel 1-year Re-signing Ron Hainsey 2-year Re-signing Radek Bonk 3-year Re-signing Cristobal Huet 2-year Re-signing Richard Zednik 3-year Re-signing Andrei Kostitsyn 3-year Entry-level Cory Urquhart 3-year Entry-level Sheldon Souray 3-year Re-signing Corey Locke 3-year Entry-level
Draft picks The 2004 NHL entry draft was held on June 26 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was the last NHL event to take place before the beginning of the lockout which cancelled all the games scheduled for the 2004–05 NHL season.
Montreal selected nine players at the 2004 draft:
Round Pick Player Nationality Position College/junior/club team118Kyle Chipchura Centre Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)384Alexei Emelin Defence CSK VVS Samara (Russia)4100 J. T. Wyman Right wing Dartmouth College (NCAA)5150 Mikhail Grabovski Centre Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russia)6181 Loic Lacasse Goaltender Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)7212 Jon Gleed DefenceCornell University (NCAA)8246 Gregory Stewart Right wingPeterborough Petes (OHL)9262 Mark Streit DefenceHC Zürich (Switzerland)9278 Alexandre Dulac-Lemelin DefenceBaie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
Notes
References