1971–72 Montreal Canadiens season explained

Team:	Montreal Canadiens
League:	NHL
Season:	1971–72
Year:	1971
Divisionrank:	3rd
Record:	46–16–16
Goalsfor:	307
Goalsagainst:	205
Goalsleader:	Yvan Cournoyer (47)
Assistsleader:	Frank Mahovlich (53)
Pointsleader:	Frank Mahovlich (96)
Pimleader:	Pete Mahovlich (103)
Plusminusleader:	J. C. Tremblay (+52)
Winsleader:	Ken Dryden (39)
Gaaleader:	Ken Dryden (2.24)

The 1971–72 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 63rd season of play. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs but were eliminated in the first round.

Regular season

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 9, 1971	4–4	New York Rangers (1971–72)	0–0–1
2	T	October 14, 1971	1–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	0–0–2
3	W	October 16, 1971	9–3	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	1–0–2
4	L	October 17, 1971	4–8	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	1–1–2
5	W	October 20, 1971	4–2	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	2–1–2
6	W	October 22, 1971	6–0	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	3–1–2
7	W	October 23, 1971	3–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	4–1–2
8	W	October 27, 1971	5–2	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	5–1–2
9	W	October 30, 1971	3–0	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	6–1–2
10	L	October 31, 1971	3–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	6–2–2
11	W	November 3, 1971	5–1	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	7–2–2
12	W	November 6, 1971	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	8–2–2
13	W	November 7, 1971	3–2	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	9–2–2
14	W	November 10, 1971	5–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	10–2–2
15	W	November 13, 1971	5–1	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	11–2–2
16	T	November 14, 1971	2–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	11–2–3
17	W	November 16, 1971	7–2	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	12–2–3
18	T	November 18, 1971	2–2	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	12–2–4
19	T	November 20, 1971	2–2	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	12–2–5
20	T	November 24, 1971	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	12–2–6
21	W	November 27, 1971	3–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	13–2–6
22	L	November 28, 1971	2–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	13–3–6
23	W	December 1, 1971	5–3	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	14–3–6
24	W	December 4, 1971	7–0	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	15–3–6
25	W	December 8, 1971	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	16–3–6
26	W	December 11, 1971	4–3	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	17–3–6
27	L	December 12, 1971	1–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	17–4–6
28	W	December 15, 1971	3–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	18–4–6
29	W	December 17, 1971	6–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	19–4–6
30	T	December 19, 1971	3–3	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	19–4–7
31	W	December 22, 1971	4–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	20–4–7
32	L	December 25, 1971	2–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	20–5–7
33	L	December 26, 1971	1–5	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	20–6–7
34	W	December 29, 1971	3–2	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	21–6–7
35	L	January 1, 1972	2–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	21–7–7
36	L	January 2, 1972	4–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	21–8–7
37	W	January 5, 1972	6–4	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	22–8–7
38	W	January 8, 1972	10–2	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	23–8–7
39	L	January 9, 1972	2–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	23–9–7
40	L	January 11, 1972	3–7	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	23–10–7
41	W	January 13, 1972	7–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	24–10–7
42	W	January 15, 1972	6–2	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	25–10–7
43	L	January 16, 1972	2–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	25–11–7
44	W	January 19, 1972	1–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	26–11–7
45	L	January 22, 1972	5–8	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	26–12–7
46	T	January 23, 1972	3–3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	26–12–8
47	L	January 27, 1972	5–6	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	26–13–8
48	W	January 29, 1972	4–0	St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	27–13–8
49	W	February 1, 1972	3–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	28–13–8
50	T	February 3, 1972	1–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	28–13–9
51	T	February 4, 1972	2–2	@ California Golden Seals (1971–72)	28–13–10
52	W	February 6, 1972	4–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	29–13–10
53	W	February 10, 1972	7–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	30–13–10
54	W	February 12, 1972	6–5	Los Angeles Kings (1971–72)	31–13–10
55	T	February 13, 1972	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	31–13–11
56	T	February 16, 1972	1–1	California Golden Seals (1971–72)	31–13–12
57	W	February 19, 1972	3–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	32–13–12
58	W	February 20, 1972	4–0	@ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	33–13–12
59	L	February 22, 1972	3–7	New York Rangers (1971–72)	33–14–12
60	W	February 24, 1972	4–2	@ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	34–14–12
61	W	February 26, 1972	8–1	Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	35–14–12
62	W	February 27, 1972	5–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	36–14–12
63	W	March 1, 1972	4–1	Buffalo Sabres (1971–72)	37–14–12
64	W	March 4, 1972	5–0	Vancouver Canucks (1971–72)	38–14–12
65	W	March 5, 1972	4–0	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	39–14–12
66	W	March 8, 1972	5–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72)	40–14–12
67	W	March 9, 1972	5–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1971–72)	41–14–12
68	T	March 11, 1972	1–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	41–14–13
69	W	March 13, 1972	2–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72)	42–14–13
70	W	March 15, 1972	5–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	43–14–13
71	W	March 18, 1972	4–3	Minnesota North Stars (1971–72)	44–14–13
72	L	March 19, 1972	6–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72)	44–15–13
73	T	March 22, 1972	3–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72)	44–15–14
74	T	March 25, 1972	3–3	New York Rangers (1971–72)	44–15–15
75	L	March 26, 1972	4–5	@ Boston Bruins (1971–72)	44–16–15
76	T	March 29, 1972	5–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72)	44–16–16
77	W	April 1, 1972	6–2	Boston Bruins (1971–72)	45–16–16
78	W	April 2, 1972	6–5	@ New York Rangers (1971–72)	46–16–16

^[1]

Playoffs

After winning the Stanley Cup the previous season, the Canadiens could not repeat. The Canadiens lost to the New York Rangers in the first round, losing four games to two.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
	76	43	53	96	36	42	14	4	4
	73	47	36	83	15	23	18	0	5
	77	32	49	81	26	37	8	0	7
	75	35	32	67	103	16	7	4	6
	73	29	35	64	48	27	5	0	5
	76	6	51	57	24	52	3	0	2
	75	31	22	53	81	15	9	0	4
	69	11	38	49	58	15	4	0	4
	75	12	32	44	48	10	0	0	1
	77	20	18	38	64	9	1	3	4
	77	11	17	28	21	9	1	0	1
	73	3	25	28	50	36	2	0	0
	51	7	15	22	53	3	0	3	1
	55	7	10	17	19	4	0	0	2
	52	2	12	14	35	9	0	0	0
	23	1	8	9	16	21	0	0	0
	60	3	5	8	39	10	0	0	0
	27	3	2	5	22	3	0	0	0
	17	3	0	3	4	−1	0	0	0
	64	0	3	3	4	0	0	0	0
	11	1	1	2	8	8	0	0	0
	16	0	2	2	0	−1	0	0	0
	7	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	21	0	0	0	2	5	0	0	0
	9	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
	3800	64	39	8	15	142	2.24	8
	528	9	4	5	0	32	3.64	0
	332	7	3	2	1	25	4.52	0
	20	1	0	1	0	4	12.00	0
Team:	4680	78	46	16	16	203	2.60	8

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
	6	3	2	5	2	1	0	0
	6	2	3	5	9	0	0	1
	6	1	4	5	2	0	0	0
	6	2	1	3	2	0	0	0
	6	2	1	3	23	0	0	0
	6	2	1	3	2	0	0	0
	6	0	3	3	4	0	0	0
	5	1	1	2	6	0	0	0
	6	0	2	2	12	0	0	0
	6	0	2	2	0	0	0	0
	6	1	0	1	0	0	0	1
	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	6	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	6	0	0	0	10	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
	360	6	2	4	17	2.83	0
Team:	360	6	2	4	17	2.83	0

^[2]

Awards and records

• Calder Memorial Trophy

Ken Dryden

Transactions

May 22, 1971	To California Golden Seals Bobby Sheehan	To Montreal Canadiens cash
August 31, 1971	To California Golden Seals Marshall Johnston	To Montreal Canadiens cash
October, 1971	To California Golden Seals cash	To Montreal Canadiens Jocelyn Hardy
October, 1971	To California Golden Seals cash	To Montreal Canadiens Mike Laughton
October, 1971	To California Golden Seals Lyle Carter John French	To Montreal Canadiens Randy Rota
October 6, 1971	To California Golden Seals Ray Martyniuk	To Montreal Canadiens Tony Featherstone

Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	1			Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
1	7			Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL)
1	11			Ottawa 67's (OHA)
2	20			Kitchener Rangers (OHA)
2	24			Sorel Eperviers (QMJHL)
2	25	Terry French		Ottawa 67's (OHA)
3	31			University of North Dakota (WCHA)
4	45			Estevan Bruins (WCHL)
4	53			University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA)
5	67			University of Denver (WCHA)
6	81	Ross Butler		Winnipeg Jets (WCHL)
7	95			Oshawa Generals (OHA)

See also

• 1971–72 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1971–72 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com . 2009-07-14 .
2. Web site: hockey-reference.com . 2009-05-27 . 1971-72 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com.