Montreal Canadiens: This Day In Habs History: Mario Tremblay Sets Coaching Record

Montreal Canadiens head coach Mario Tremblay set a coaching record on this day in 1995.

The Montreal Canadiens got off to a rocky start in the 1995-96 season. They started with five consecutive losses and weren’t even close to their competition in those games. They lost each game by at least two goals and were outscored 22-4 in the process.

They had one goal in each of their first four games and were then shutout by the New York Islanders.

This led to the firing of Jacques Demers as head coach and the surprising addition of Mario Tremblay behind the bench. It started well. In fact, it started better than any other coaching stint in NHL history.

Tremblay’s first game was against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Habs. The Habs, led by Pierre Turgeon who scored a pair of goals, defeated the Leafs 5-3. Turgeon repeated that feat in their next game and Saku Koivu matched him in a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Four point efforts from Turgeon and Mark Recchi led the Habs to a blowout win over the Florida Panthers next. Two goal nights from Benoit Brunet and Brian Savage carried the Canadiens over the Hartford Whalers next. A hat-trick from Savage, and three assists from Turgeon were pivotal in the Canadiens fifth straight win, this time over the Chicago Blackhawks.

That set the stage for Tremblay to make history. Only Bep Guidolin with the Boston Bruins in 1973-74 and Marc Crawford in 1995-96 had won five straight to begin their coaching career. Tremblay tied Crawford just a few weeks later and had a chance to win his sixth straight a few nights later against the Boston Bruins.

It was still October, so Brian Savage scored of course, and 38 saves on 39 shots by Patrick Roy carried the Canadiens to a 3-1 victory over the Bruins. Mario Tremblay kept his record unblemished for six games and he was the first coach in NHL history to accomplish that feat.

He would soon become the first coach in NHL history to chase Patrick Roy out of town and turn a possible Stanley Cup contending roster into a laughingstock.

Tremblay finally suffered his first loss behind the bench in his 7th game, with Patrick Lebreque filling in for Roy in goal for the evening and allowing five goals on 35 shots. The Habs bounced back to beat the Bruins again before losing in overtime to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Then, they ran off another five game winning streak which put Tremblay’s record at 12-1-1.

It was, all downhill from there. Not just any hill either, it was straight down the steepest cliff imaginable.

Within two weeks of his magical start, Tremblay would leave Roy in net for nine goals in an 11-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, causing the legendary netminder to demand a trade.

Early in the next season, Turgeon would be gone as well and the team went into one of its darkest periods shortly after. Tremblay would step aside as head coach after two seasons and a combined record of 71-63-25. That means he went 59-62-24 after his the terrific first 14 games of his coaching career.

Tremblay’s time behind the bench in Montreal is not remembered fondly. However, on this day 25 years ago, he won his sixth straight to begin his tenure and could boast that he had the best start to a coaches career in NHL history.