Montreal Canadiens or the Habs are a professional ice hockey squad in addition to 5 squads in the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Canadiens play at the Bell Centre in Montral, Quebec, Canada, and proudly wear the team colours of red, blue and white.

The Canadiens are the most achieved team in NHL history. Montreal has walked away with 23 Stanley Cup championships-more than any other NHL team-and was eligible for the playoffs in a majority of years of the team\’s existence. Montreal additionally won a Stanley Cup championship in 1916, 1 year before the NHL was even started.

The Canadiens are one of two NHL teams, the second being the New York Islanders, which have received more than 3 successive Stanley Cup titles. Montreal walked away with five straight championships under head coach Toe Blake from 1956 to 1960, in addition to four in a row under head coach Scotty Bowman from 1976 to 1979.

Initially active members of the National Hockey Association (NHA), the Canadiens were certainly one of the founding teams of the NHL in 1917. The club advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals five instances from 1919 to 1931, coming away with 3 titles.

Montreal\’s earlier teams boasted several future Hockey Hall of Fame members, such as defenseman Sprague Cleghorn, left wing Aurele Joliat, centers Newsy Lalonde and Howie Morenz, and goalies Georges Vezina and George Hainsworth. Vezina collapsed when playing a game in 1925 and died 4 months later. The Vezina Trophy, the annual award recognizing the NHL\’s peak goalie, was first presented in his memory in 1926-27. Hainsworth\’s 22 shutouts in 44 games in 1928-29 stands as one of the league\’s greatest remarkable feats.

Dick Irvin a former Chicago Blackhawks forward was titled Montreal\’s head coach in 1940. In Irvin\’s 15 seasons with the team, the Canadiens obtained the Stanley Cup Finals on 8 occasions and collected three league titles-in 1944, 1946, and 1953. In 1946 50 % of the NHL\’s twelve All-Stars were Canadiens. Montreal\’s leading offensive players during this time were center Elmer Lach and right wing Maurice Richard. In 1945 and 1948 Lach won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL\’s top point scorer, and in 1945 he also was awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL\’s most valuable player (MVP). Richard was named MVP in 1947. Bill Durnan earned the Vezina Trophy 6 times between 1944 and 1950.

In 1955 Hector \”Toe\” Blake became head coach for the Canadiens. A former Montreal left wing who achieved both the scoring title together with the MVP award in 1939, Blake built on Irvin\’s success. He piloted the Canadiens to 9 Stanley Cup Finals in thirteen years. Eight of those appearances (1956-1960, 1965, 1966, 1968) contributed towards league titles for the team.

Blake coached many future Hockey Hall of Fame individuals, that includes Maurice Richard and also his brother, center Henri Richard. Some other exceptional Canadiens within this time included goalie Jacques Plante, defenseman Doug Harvey, right wings Bernie \”Boom Boom\” Geoffrion and Dickie Moore, and center Jean Beliveau. Between 1956 and 1962 Plante earned six Vezina Trophies as the league\’s best goaltender, as well as in 1962 he is also named the league\’s MVP.

Between 1956 and 1962 Plante earned six Vezina Trophies as the league\’s best goaltender, as well as in 1962 he was also named the league\’s MVP. Between 1955 and 1962 Harvey was honored the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league\’s leading defenseman six times. Geoffrion was the league\’s top scorer in 1955 and again in 1961, when he was also named the league\’s MVP. Moore was the league\’s top scorer in 1958 and 1959. Beliveau was twice named as the league\’s MVP, in 1956 and 1964.

When Blake retired in 1968 his successor, Claude Ruel, lead the Canadiens to another the Stanley Cup in 1969. Ruel\’s lineup featured defensemen Jacques Laperriere and J. C. Tremblay. The team again won the Stanley Cup in 1971, that time period under head coach Al MacNeil. Scotty Bowman, previously head coach for the St. Louis Blues, subsequently became Montreal\’s head coach. In 8 seasons he led the team to 5 league crowns (1973, 1976-1979).

Bowman\’s roster of future Hockey Hall of Fame individuals included right wing Guy Lafleur, who was awarded as league MVP in 1978 and 1979. He was also the league\’s top scorer in 1976, 1977, and 1978 various other incredible players consisted of goalie Ken Dryden, who was awarded the Vezina Trophy each season from 1976 to 1979; center Jacques Lemaire; defensemen Guy Lapointe and Larry Robinson; and wings Yvan Cournoyer, Bob Gainey, and Steve Shutt.

After 1979, the Canadiens did not win the Stanley Cup again until 1986, this time under first-year head coach Jean Perron. That year rookie goaltender Patrick Roy, at the young age of 20, has become the youngest player ever to be honored the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs. He went on to earn the Vezina Trophy in 1989, 1990, and 1992. Montreal earned its 23rd Stanley Cup title in 1993, and Roy earned his second playoff MVP award.

Montreal remained a dominant club through the latter part of the 1990s and moved on to the Stanley Cup playoffs again for three consecutive years, 1996, 1997, and 1998.