Montreal Canadiens: This Day In Habs History: Rivalry With Quebec Nordiques Born

Montreal Canadiens biggest rival of all time was the Quebec Nordiques. That all started in a rather tame game on this day in 1979.

The Montreal Canadiens had many rivals over the years. Their rivals back in the original six days were the Toronto Maple Leafs above all others.

There was a time when that changed to the Boston Bruins, especially in the 1980s and early 1990s when they seemed to meet in the playoffs every year.

However, during that time, the Canadiens had a brief, but brilliant rivalry with the Quebec Nordiques and it all began on this day in 1979.

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The Quebec Nordiques hosted the Habs for the first time even on October 28, 1979. It was the Nordiques first season in the NHL after being absorbed from the defunct WHA. The Nords joined the NHL with the Hartford Whalers, Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets who were the final four teams standing when the fledgling rival league finally called it quits.

The first meeting between the Nordiques and Habs at the Quebec Coliseum was a fairly calm affair. The host team scored a 5-4 victory over the Canadiens, thanks to third period goals from Pierre Plante and Jamie Hislop. Mario Tremblay scored a late goal for the Habs but it wasn’t enough to come away with the victory.

Steve Shutt scored his seventh goal of the young season early in the game, in his team’s ninth matchup of the season. It was Michel “Bunny” Larocque in goal, since Ken Dryden had retired following the Stanley Cup win a few months prior, and he stopped 20 of 25 shots in the loss.

There were no fights in the game, which is something that could not be said most times these two teams met. They would develop quite the rivalry that included five playoff series, starting in 1982 when the Nordiques surprised the Canadiens in a five game series win.

The Canadiens would get revenge in 1984, finishing off the series in six games with the “Good Friday Massacre” that saw brawls in every period.

Many of the biggest moments of this rivalry took place at the Montreal Forum, like the Good Friday Massacre and Game 7 the following year, when Peter Stastny scored in overtime to knock the Canadiens out of the playoffs.

The two teams met again in the 1987 postseason, with the Canadiens winning Game 7 on home ice thanks to big performances from Bobby Smith and Ryan Walter.

The final playoff series between the two teams took place in 1993, with the Nordiques winning the first two games at the Quebec Coliseum. The Canadiens came storming back to win the next four straight and would use that momentum to propel themselves to their last Stanley Cup victory.

There were plenty of big games between the two teams over the years. But the first one held on Quebec City ice was on this day, 41 years ago.