The 1994–95 Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 season was the club's 86th

Montreal Canadiens seasons

This is a list of seasons completed by the Montreal Canadiens professional ice hockey club. This list documents the records and playoff results for all seasons the Canadiens completed in both the National Hockey Association and the National Hockey League .-NHA :Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins,...

 season

Season (sports)

In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an...

 of play. This was the first season since 1969–70

1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 61st season of play. The Canadiens placed fifth in the East division and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1947-48 season.-Regular season:...

 that the Canadiens failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Offseason

In the entry draft, the Canadiens selected Brad Brown

Brad Brown

Brad Brown is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman.-Playing career:Brad Brown was drafted in the first round, 18th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. Brad was drafted from the North Bay Centennials of the Ontario Hockey League...

 a defenceman with their first-round pick, eighteenth over-all. The Canadiens were more fortunate with their second-round pick, selecting Jose Theodore

José Théodore

José Théodore is a French Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League...

 forty-fourth over-all.

Regular season

The season started later and was abbreviated by a lockout of the players by the NHL owners. The Canadiens played only 48 games. It was a forgettable season for the Canadiens and their fans, as the team missed the playoffs for the first time in 25 years. The Canadiens only won 3 of 24 games on the road. Already gone at the season's debut were members of the formidable 1992-93 Stanley-Cup champion team, including Guy Carbonneau

Guy Carbonneau

Guy Carbonneau is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League. He is also the president of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League 's Chicoutimi Saguenéens. He has two daughters Anne-Marie and Kristina, with wife Line Carbonneau. Anne-Marie married his former...

, Kevin Haller

Kevin Haller

Kevin Haller is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...

, Stephan Lebeau

Stéphan Lebeau

Stéphan Lebeau is a former professional ice hockey centre who played seven seasons in the National Hockey League from 1988–89 to 1994–95. He won a Stanley Cup in 1993 with the Montreal Canadiens...

 and Denis Savard

Denis Savard

Denis Joseph Savard is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1997, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000...

. On February 9, more players from the 1992-93 team departed, as Eric Desjardins

Eric Desjardins

Éric Desjardins is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers. He won the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993 and headlined the Flyers defence for over a decade...

, Gilbert Dionne

Gilbert Dionne

Gilbert Dionne is a retired professional ice hockey left winger who played six seasons in the National Hockey League from 1990–91 until 1995–96. He is the younger brother of Hockey Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne, who is nineteen years his senior.Dionne was drafted 81st overall by the Montreal...

 and John LeClair

John LeClair

John Clark LeClair is an American former professional ice hockey left winger who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins...

 were traded to the Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 in exchange for Mark Recchi. Another major trade nearly two months later on April 5 would send Craig Darby

Craig Darby

Craig Darby is a retired American professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils.-Playing career:...

, Mathieu Schneider

Mathieu Schneider

Mathieu Schneider is a American former professional ice hockey player. Considered an offensive defenseman, Schneider played 1289 games in the National Hockey League with ten different teams, scoring 233 goals and totalling 743 points...

 and fan favorite Kirk Muller

Kirk Muller

Kirk Christopher Muller is a retired professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League for 19 seasons from 1984–85 until 2002–03...

 to the New York Islanders

New York Islanders

The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 in exchange for Vladimir Malakhov

Vladimir Malakhov (ice hockey)

Vladimir Igorevich Malakhov is a Russian retired professional ice hockey player currently under contract with the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League...

 and Pierre Turgeon

Pierre Turgeon

Pierre Turgeon is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche...

. After a 7-5-4 start, Montreal won only 11 of its final 32 games, going 11-18-3. It was the first season of Patrick Roy's career in which he lost more games than he won.

The Canadiens tied the Florida Panthers and the Ottawa Senators for the fewest shorthanded goals scored during the regular season (1).

Game log

#	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	Jan 21, 1995	2–5	@ New York Rangers	0–1–0
2	W	Jan 25, 1995	2–0	Washington Capitals	1–1–0
3	W	Jan 28, 1995	5–1	New Jersey Devils	2–1–0
4	T	Jan 29, 1995	2–2 OT	Philadelphia Flyers	2–1–1
5	L	Jan 31, 1995	1–4	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	2–2–1
6	T	Feb 2, 1995	1–1 OT	@ Florida Panthers	2–2–2
7	W	Feb 4, 1995	4–2	New York Islanders	3–2–2
8	L	Feb 7, 1995	4–7	@ Boston Bruins	3–3–2
9	W	Feb 8, 1995	4–2	@ Ottawa Senators	4–3–2
10	L	Feb 11, 1995	1–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	4–4–2
11	T	Feb 13, 1995	2–2 OT	Hartford Whalers	4–4–3
12	L	Feb 15, 1995	1–4	@ Hartford Whalers	4–5–3
13	T	Feb 16, 1995	2–2 OT	@ New York Rangers	4–5–4
14	W	Feb 18, 1995	5–2	New York Rangers	5–5–4
15	W	Feb 20, 1995	3–2 OT	New York Islanders	6–5–4
16	W	Feb 23, 1995	5–2	@ Florida Panthers	7–5–4
17	L	Feb 25, 1995	0–7	Philadelphia Flyers	7–6–4
18	L	Feb 27, 1995	1–6	@ New Jersey Devils	7–7–4
19	L	Feb 28, 1995	1–2	@ New York Islanders	7–8–4
20	L	Mar 4, 1995	1–5	@ Washington Capitals	7–9–4
21	L	Mar 5, 1995	1–4	@ Buffalo Sabres	7–10–4
22	T	Mar 8, 1995	2–2 OT	Buffalo Sabres	7–10–5
23	W	Mar 11, 1995	3–1	New York Rangers	8–10–5
24	L	Mar 13, 1995	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	8–11–5
25	W	Mar 15, 1995	8–5	Pittsburgh Penguins	9–11–5
26	L	Mar 16, 1995	0–6	@ Boston Bruins	9–12–5
27	W	Mar 18, 1995	5–4	Quebec Nordiques	10–12–5
28	L	Mar 20, 1995	4–8	@ Philadelphia Flyers	10–13–5
29	L	Mar 22, 1995	2–3	Florida Panthers	10–14–5
30	W	Mar 25, 1995	3–1	Ottawa Senators	11–14–5
31	L	Mar 27, 1995	2–3 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning	11–15–5
32	L	Apr 1, 1995	1–4	@ New Jersey Devils	11–16–5
33	W	Apr 3, 1995	5–4	@ Ottawa Senators	12–16–5
34	W	Apr 5, 1995	6–5	Quebec Nordiques	13–16–5
35	L	Apr 6, 1995	2–3	@ Quebec Nordiques	13–17–5
36	W	Apr 8, 1995	2–1	Pittsburgh Penguins	14–17–5
37	W	Apr 10, 1995	2–1	New Jersey Devils	15–17–5
38	L	Apr 12, 1995	2–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers	15–18–5
39	L	Apr 14, 1995	3–4 OT	@ Hartford Whalers	15–19–5
40	L	Apr 15, 1995	2–3	Boston Bruins	15–20–5
41	W	Apr 17, 1995	5–2	Washington Capitals	16–20–5
42	W	Apr 19, 1995	4–1	Ottawa Senators	17–20–5
43	W	Apr 22, 1995	3–1	Tampa Bay Lightning	18–20–5
44	L	Apr 24, 1995	3–4	Hartford Whalers	18–21–5
45	T	Apr 26, 1995	1–1 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques	18–21–6
46	T	Apr 29, 1995	3–3 OT	Buffalo Sabres	18–21–7
47	L	May 1, 1995	0–2	@ Buffalo Sabres	18–22–7
48	L	May 3, 1995	2–4	Boston Bruins	18–23–7

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	RW	39	14	29	43	16
8	0	1
	C	48	10	30	40	42	15	4	0	4
	LW	45	7	18	25	16	7	1	1	2
	C	15	11	9	20	4	12	2	0	2
	RW	48	10	10	20	15	5	1	0	0
	D	30	5	15	20	49
2	0	0
	LW	37	12	7	19	27	5	0	0	0
	LW	33	8	11	19	33
3	0	1
	LW	41	8	8	16	8
1	0	1
	D	35	4	8	12	26
0	0	2
	D	47	4	7	11	42
2	0	1
	D	48	3	7	10	152
0	0	0
	C	22	4	5	9	4
0	0	1
	D	45	3	5	8	40	2	0	0	0
	RW	41	6	1	7	86	0	0	0	1
	D	21	5	2	7	34
3	0	0
	D	9	0	6	6	2	2	0	0	0
	RW	12	2	3	5	4
0	0	0
	LW	9	1	4	5	10
1	0	0
	D	14	1	4	5	14
0	0	0
	RW	30	1	4	5	12
0	0	0
	D	33	0	5	5	8
0	0	0
	RW	24	3	1	4	6
0	0	1
	LW	6	0	3	3	2
0	0	0
	LW	20	1	1	2	63
0	0	1
	C	10	0	2	2	0
0	0	0
	C	6	1	0	1	0
0	0	0
	C	39	1	0	1	18
0	0	0
	D	5	0	1	1	5	2	0	0	0
	G	43	0	1	1	20	0	0	0	0
	LW	8	0	1	1	0
0	0	0
	C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	LW	6	0	0	0	17
0	0	0
	C	5	0	0	0	2
0	0	0
	RW	3	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
	LW	9	0	0	0	34
0	0	0
	LW	19	0	0	0	15
0	0	0
	G	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
	2566	43	17	20	6	127	2.97	1	1357	1230	.906
	346	7	1	3	1	18	3.12	0	172	154	.895
Team:	2912	48	18	23	7	145	2.99	1	1529	1384	.905

Transactions

• February 9, 1995: Montreal Canadiens
  Montreal Canadiens
  The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
  
   traded John LeClair, along with Éric Desjardins
  Eric Desjardins
  Éric Desjardins is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers. He won the Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993 and headlined the Flyers defence for over a decade...
  
   and Gilbert Dionne
  Gilbert Dionne
  Gilbert Dionne is a retired professional ice hockey left winger who played six seasons in the National Hockey League from 1990–91 until 1995–96. He is the younger brother of Hockey Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne, who is nineteen years his senior.Dionne was drafted 81st overall by the Montreal...
  
   to the Philadelphia Flyers
  Philadelphia Flyers
  The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
  
   in exchange for Mark Recchi
  Mark Recchi
  Mark Louis Recchi is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who played 22 years in the National Hockey League , most notably for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens...
  
   and Philadelphia's 3rd round choice (Martin Hohenberger) in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft
  1995 NHL Entry Draft
  The 1995 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Edmonton Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta. The drafting order was now set partially by a lottery system whereby teams would not be guaranteed first pick if they finished last. Instead, a draft lottery was instituted in which the winner of the lottery could move...
  
  . LeClair gelled immediately with new line-mate Eric Lindros
  Eric Lindros
  Eric Bryan Lindros is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. Lindros played junior hockey in the OHL for the Oshawa Generals prior to being selected first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques...
  
   and quickly became one of the NHL's most feared goal scorers.

• April 5, 1995: Montreal Canadiens
  Montreal Canadiens
  The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
  
   obtain Pierre Turgeon
  Pierre Turgeon
  Pierre Turgeon is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche...
  
   and Vladimir Malakhov
  Vladimir Malakhov (ice hockey)
  Vladimir Igorevich Malakhov is a Russian retired professional ice hockey player currently under contract with the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League...
  
   from the New York Islanders
  New York Islanders
  The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
  
   for Kirk Muller
  Kirk Muller
  Kirk Christopher Muller is a retired professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League for 19 seasons from 1984–85 until 2002–03...
  
  , Mathieu Schneider
  Mathieu Schneider
  Mathieu Schneider is a American former professional ice hockey player. Considered an offensive defenseman, Schneider played 1289 games in the National Hockey League with ten different teams, scoring 233 goals and totalling 743 points...
  
   and Craig Darby
  Craig Darby
  Craig Darby is a retired American professional ice hockey center who played in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils.-Playing career:...
  
  .

NHL Entry Draft

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team
1	18	Brad Brown Brad Brown Brad Brown is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman.-Playing career:Brad Brown was drafted in the first round, 18th overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. Brad was drafted from the North Bay Centennials of the Ontario Hockey League...	Defenceman		North Bay Centennials North Bay Centennials The North Bay Centennials were a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, who played from 1982–2002. The team was based in North Bay, Ontario.-History:...  (OHL)
2	44	Jose Theodore José Théodore José Théodore is a French Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League...	Goalie		St-Jean Lynx (QMJHL)
3	54	Chris Murray	Right Wing		Kamloops Blazers Kamloops Blazers The Kamloops Blazers are a junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League based out of Kamloops, British Columbia. They play their home games at Interior Savings Centre.-History:...  (WHL)
3	70	Marko Kiprusoff Marko Kiprusoff Marko Kiprusoff is a Finnish professional ice hockey defenceman.- Draft :He was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens as their third-round pick, #70 overall, in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.-SM-liiga Career:...	Defenceman		TPS TPS (ice hockey) TPS or Turun Palloseura is an ice hockey team and 11-time champion of SM-liiga. They play in Turku, Finland at the HK Arena. In terms of championships, TPS is the most successful team in SM-liiga history.-Team history:...  (Finland)
3	74	Martin Belanger	Defence		Granby Bisons Granby Bisons The Granby Bisons were a junior ice hockey team founded in 1981 after the team moved from Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, where they had previously been known as the Sorel Éperviers. The Bisons played at Arena Leonard Grondin in Granby, Quebec. In 1995 they were renamed the Granby Prédateurs. Today they are...  (QMJHL)
4	96	Arto Kuki	Center		Espoo Blues Espoo Blues The Blues are an ice hockey team in the SM-liiga. They play in Espoo, Finland at the Barona Areena.-Team history:The club was established in February 1984 as Kiekko-Espoo and played their first season in 1984-1985 in the Finnish Second Division...  (FIN)
5	122	Jimmy Drolet	Defenceman		St. Hyacinthe Lasers (QMJHL)
6	148	Joel Irving	Center		Regina Pat Canadiens (Midget AAA)
7	174	Jessie Rezansoff	Right Wing		Regina Pats Regina Pats The Regina Pats are a junior ice hockey team that plays in the Western Hockey League. The Pats are based out of Regina, Saskatchewan and the Brandt Centre is their home arena.-History:...  (WHL)
8	200	Peter Strom Peter Ström Peter Ström is a professional Swedish ice hockey right winger. He is currently playing for the Sparta Warriors of the Norwegian GET-ligaen.-External links:...	Left Wing		Frölunda HC Frölunda HC Frölunda Hockey Club, also known as the Frölunda Indians, are a Swedish professional ice hockey club based in Gothenburg. They are currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Elitserien, where they have played the majority of the seasons during its existence. The last time they played in the...  (Sweden)
9	226	Tomas Vokoun Tomas Vokoun Tomáš Vokoun is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...	Goalie		Kladno Kladno Kladno is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is located 25 km northwest of Prague. Kladno is the largest city of the region and holds a population together with its adjacent suburban areas of more than 110,000 people...  (Czech)
10	252	Chris Aldous	Defence		Northwood Prep. (N.Y)
11	278	Ross Parsons	Defenceman		Regina Pats Regina Pats The Regina Pats are a junior ice hockey team that plays in the Western Hockey League. The Pats are based out of Regina, Saskatchewan and the Brandt Centre is their home arena.-History:... (WHL)