1973–74 Montreal Canadiens season explained

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.^[1]

Regular season

Wayne Thomas replaced Dryden as the starting goaltender and appeared in 42 games.^[2] Frank Mahovlich led the team in scoring with 80 points, while Yvan Cournoyer led the team in goals with 40.

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

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 10, 1973	5–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	1–0–0
2	W	October 13, 1973	4–3	Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	2–0–0
3	L	October 17, 1973	3–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	2–1–0
4	L	October 20, 1973	2–4	Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	2–2–0
5	W	October 21, 1973	3–2	@ New York Rangers (1973–74)	3–2–0
6	W	October 24, 1973	3–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	4–2–0
7	W	October 25, 1973	4–0	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	5–2–0
8	W	October 27, 1973	4–2	Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	6–2–0
9	T	October 31, 1973	1–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	6–2–1
10	W	November 3, 1973	6–2	California Golden Seals (1973–74)	7–2–1
11	T	November 4, 1973	1–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	7–2–2
12	W	November 7, 1973	4–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	8–2–2
13	L	November 8, 1973	1–2	@ Boston Bruins (1973–74)	8–3–2
14	L	November 10, 1973	0–5	St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	8–4–2
15	L	November 14, 1973	3–4	Boston Bruins (1973–74)	8–5–2
16	W	November 17, 1973	8–5	Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	9–5–2
17	L	November 18, 1973	4–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	9–6–2
18	W	November 21, 1973	4–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	10–6–2
19	W	November 24, 1973	5–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	11–6–2
20	W	November 25, 1973	6–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	12–6–2
21	W	November 28, 1973	5–3	Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	13–6–2
22	L	December 1, 1973	0–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	13–7–2
23	W	December 2, 1973	3–1	@ Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	14–7–2
24	W	December 6, 1973	4–2	@ New York Islanders (1973–74)	15–7–2
25	W	December 8, 1973	3–1	New York Islanders (1973–74)	16–7–2
26	T	December 11, 1973	2–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	16–7–3
27	T	December 14, 1973	2–2	@ California Golden Seals (1973–74)	16–7–4
28	W	December 15, 1973	6–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	17–7–4
29	W	December 18, 1973	4–1	California Golden Seals (1973–74)	18–7–4
30	T	December 20, 1973	2–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	18–7–5
31	W	December 22, 1973	7–1	Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	19–7–5
32	T	December 23, 1973	1–1	@ New York Islanders (1973–74)	19–7–6
33	L	December 26, 1973	2–9	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	19–8–6
34	W	December 29, 1973	7–1	New York Rangers (1973–74)	20–8–6
35	L	January 2, 1974	4–8	@ St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	20–9–6
36	W	January 5, 1974	5–3	Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	21–9–6
37	W	January 7, 1974	2–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	22–9–6
38	W	January 10, 1974	8–3	New York Islanders (1973–74)	23–9–6
39	W	January 12, 1974	7–3	@ Boston Bruins (1973–74)	24–9–6
40	L	January 15, 1974	1–2	Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	24–10–6
41	W	January 17, 1974	6–1	Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	25–10–6
42	L	January 19, 1974	0–8	Boston Bruins (1973–74)	25–11–6
43	W	January 20, 1974	3–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	26–11–6
44	W	January 23, 1974	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	27–11–6
45	W	January 24, 1974	4–1	@ Buffalo Sabres (1973–74)	28–11–6
46	W	January 26, 1974	4–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	29–11–6
47	L	February 1, 1974	3–5	@ Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	29–12–6
48	W	February 3, 1974	4–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	30–12–6
49	W	February 5, 1974	3–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	31–12–6
50	L	February 6, 1974	3–4	@ Minnesota North Stars (1973–74)	31–13–6
51	W	February 9, 1974	7–2	New York Rangers (1973–74)	32–13–6
52	L	February 10, 1974	1–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	32–14–6
53	L	February 13, 1974	2–3	Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	32–15–6
54	W	February 15, 1974	9–4	Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	33–15–6
55	T	February 17, 1974	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	33–15–7
56	L	February 19, 1974	3–5	@ New York Islanders (1973–74)	33–16–7
57	W	February 21, 1974	5–2	Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	34–16–7
58	T	February 23, 1974	4–4	Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	34–16–8
59	W	February 24, 1974	3–2	St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	35–16–8
60	W	February 26, 1974	6–5	@ Atlanta Flames (1973–74)	36–16–8
61	W	February 28, 1974	7–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	37–16–8
62	L	March 2, 1974	3–4	California Golden Seals (1973–74)	37–17–8
63	L	March 3, 1974	0–6	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74)	37–18–8
64	L	March 6, 1974	2–9	@ New York Rangers (1973–74)	37–19–8
65	W	March 9, 1974	4–2	New York Rangers (1973–74)	38–19–8
66	W	March 10, 1974	5–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1973–74)	39–19–8
67	T	March 13, 1974	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	39–19–9
68	L	March 16, 1974	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1973–74)	39–20–9
69	W	March 17, 1974	4–2	New York Islanders (1973–74)	40–20–9
70	L	March 20, 1974	6–7	Detroit Red Wings (1973–74)	40–21–9
71	W	March 23, 1974	7–3	St. Louis Blues (1973–74)	41–21–9
72	L	March 24, 1974	3–6	@ Boston Bruins (1973–74)	41–22–9
73	W	March 26, 1974	4–3	@ Vancouver Canucks (1973–74)	42–22–9
74	W	March 29, 1974	4–3	@ California Golden Seals (1973–74)	43–22–9
75	W	March 30, 1974	5–2	@ Los Angeles Kings (1973–74)	44–22–9
76	L	April 3, 1974	3–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1973–74)	44–23–9
77	W	April 6, 1974	6–2	Boston Bruins (1973–74)	45–23–9
78	L	April 7, 1974	4–6	@ New York Rangers (1973–74)	45–24–9

^[3]

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

^[4]

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	47	16	8	2	3
	RW	67	40	33	73	18	16	10	0	9
	C	78	36	37	73	122	42	7	4	7
	C	66	29	38	67	10	4	10	0	7
	RW	73	21	35	56	29	10	3	1	2
	C	75	19	36	55	28	7	1	0	3
	LW	74	23	31	54	34	9	1	2	2
	D	71	13	40	53	63	12	5	1	2
	LW	70	15	20	35	17	19	3	0	1
	LW	72	17	14	31	26	4	0	0	4
	D	78	6	20	26	66	32	0	0	1
	RW	39	17	7	24	52	11	1	0	1
	D/RW	67	8	16	24	39	27	0	1	2
	D	67	4	14	18	49	20	1	0	1
	LW	60	6	10	16	42	5	0	0	0
	D	60	1	14	15	25	8	0	0	0
	D	42	2	10	12	14	15	0	1	0
	C	31	1	10	11	2	4	0	0	0
	LW	66	3	7	10	34	−9	0	0	0
	D	20	1	4	5	18	−3	1	0	0
	G	27	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
	G	42	0	2	2	6	0	0	0	0
	D	21	0	2	2	6	8	0	0	0
	RW	6	0	0	0	0	−1	0	0	0
	G	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	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	9	1	0	0
	RW	6	5	2	7	2	0	0	2
	C	6	2	2	4	2	0	0	0
	C	6	0	4	4	2	0	0	0
	C	6	2	1	3	4	1	0	0
	LW	6	1	2	3	0	0	0	0
	D	6	1	1	2	4	0	0	0
	D	6	0	2	2	4	0	0	0
	D	6	0	2	2	4	0	0	0
	G	6	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
	RW	5	0	2	2	11	0	0	0
	LW	5	1	0	1	2	0	0	0
	RW	6	0	1	1	4	0	0	0
	LW	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
	D	6	0	1	1	26	0	0	0
	LW	6	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
	LW	5	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
	D/RW	6	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
	364	6	2	4	18	2.97	0
Team:	364	6	2	4	18	2.97	0

^[5]

Draft picks

See also: 1973 NHL Amateur Draft.

Round		Player	Position	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	8	Bob Gainey	Left wing		Peterborough Petes (OHA)
2	17	Glenn Goldup	Right wing		Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
2	22	Peter Marrin	Centre		Toronto Marlboros (OHA)
2	32	Ron Andruff	Centre		Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
3	37	Ed Humphreys	Goaltender		Saskatoon Blades (WCHL)
4	56	Alan Hangsleben	Defence		University of North Dakota (NCAA)
4	64	Richard Latulippe	Centre		Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
5	80	Gerard Gibbons	Defence		St. Mary's University (CIAU)
6	96	Denis Patry	Right wing		Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL)
7	112	Michel Belisle	Centre		Montreal Junior Canadiens (QMJHL)
8	128	Mario Desjardins	Left wing		Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
9	143	Bob Wright	Right wing		Pembroke Lumber Kings (CJAHL)
10	158	Alain Labrecque	Centre		Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
11	166	Gord Halliday	Right wing		University of Pennsylvania (NCAA)
12	167	Cap Raeder	Goaltender		University of New Hampshire (NCAA)
13	168	Louis Chiasson	Centre		Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)

See also

• 1973–74 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

Notes and References

1. Web site: McGill Athletics . 2008-09-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080515141224/http://www.athletics.mcgill.ca/alumni_news_details.ch2?article_id=454 . 2008-05-15 .
2. Web site: Wayne Thomas 1972-74 .
3. Web site: 1973–74 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-07-14 .
4. Web site: Montreal Canadiens 1973-74 Game Log and Scores . 2008-09-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120212160003/http://www.databasehockey.com/teams/teamscores.htm?tm=MON&yr=1973 . 2012-02-12 .
5. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-28 . 1973-74 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.