This Week in Canadiens History: April 4th – April 11th

April 5th

Pure Pandemonium

On this day, the year of our Lord 1970, the Montreal Canadiens played the Chicago Blackhawks and the New York Rangers played the Detroit Red Wings in the last games of their respective seasons.

Buckle in, because this is a wild ride.

Let’s start with the earlier game: New York vs Detroit. New York entered the day 2 points behind the Canadiens for the last playoff spot. And the odds were against them.

For the Rangers to enter the playoffs, they would have to beat the Red Wings, and hope the Canadiens lose to the Blackhawks. Not only that, but since the tie breaker was goals for, the Rangers needed to score 5 more goals than Montreal did.

So what did New York do? They hung 9 on Detroit. They even pulled the goalie in the third up 7 to try to score more goals. Unfortunately, it only resulted in Detroit empty netters, resulting in a 9-5 Rangers win.

So the Montreal Canadiens just had to win, tie or score 5 goals to make it in the playoffs, but were in tough against the league leading Blackhawks.

And it didn’t go the Canadiens’ way, as halfway through the third the Habs were down 5-2. With just under 10 minutes to play, the Canadiens pull the goalie and throw caution to the wind. It didn’t matter how many goals Chicago scored, just as long as Montreal scored 5.

Well, there was a 5 on the scoresheet. Only, it was 5 empty net goals as the Chicago Blackhawks won 10-2.

2 games. 26 goals. 8 empty netters. The New York Rangers made the playoffs, and the Montreal Canadiens did not.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs languishing in the league’s basement (typical), it was the first year that the NHL playoffs did not have a Canadian team participating. The next time that happened was in 2016.

That is thanks in part to the Montreal Canadiens’ impressive streak of playoff appearances. Between 1948 and 1996 the Canadiens missed the playoffs once: 1970.

Happy Birthday John Hanna

Defenceman John Hanna was born on April 5th, 1935 in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Hanna played 198 NHL games, mostly with the Rangers, but spent a year in Montreal.

Hanna is known to be the first player of Lebanese descent to play in the NHL.

April 6th

A Hattrick of Hattricks

On this day, the year of our Lord 1944, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 to take a 2-0 lead in their series in the Stanley Cup Final. The Canadiens would sweep the series.

All the offence came from Maurice Richard, who recorded his first hattrick in the Stanley Cup Final. Richard would add two more to his resume, a record for the Stanley Cup Final.

Happy Birthday Gerald Diduck

On April 6th, 1965, Gerald Diduck was borm in Edmonton, Alberta. He was selected 16th overall by the New York Islanders, and spent time with the Canadiens, Canucks, Whalers, Stars, Leafs, Coyotes and Blackhawks.

Diduck was unfortunately the reason for the retirement of teammate Bob Nystrom. Nystrom was hit by Diduck’s accidental high stick, which almost caused Nystrom to almost lose his eye, and retire.

Happy Birthday Hal Gill

Hal Gill was born on April 6th, 1975, in Conchord, Massachushets. He was drafted by Boston and played seasons in Toronto, Philadelphia, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Montreal.

One of the tallest players of his time not named Zdeno Chara, Gill’s defensive play led the 8th seeded Canadiens past heavy favourites Washington and Pittsburgh to fall to Philadelphia in the 2010 playoffs. Gill was then traded to Nashville for Blake Geoffrion, making Geoffrion a 3rd generation Canadiens player.

April 7th

A Penney Earned

On this day, the year of our Lord 1984, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 5-0 to put a bow on a sweep of the heavy favorite Bruins. The goals were provided by Bob Gainey, Mario Tremblay, Mike McPhee and Pierre Mondou. It was Steve Penney’s first career Stanley Cup Playoff shutout.

Penney was born in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, and got the call up to the Canadiens in 1984 due to the poor play of Rick Wamsley and Richard Sevigny. He and the Canadiens would beat the favored Bruins and Nordiques before falling victim to the New York Islanders empire.

Penney played 54 games the season after, but suffered a major injury in the 1985-86 season that saw him miss out on most of the regular season and playoffs. Ironically enough, his replacement was also a young goalie born in Sainte-Foy, Patrick Roy.

Rocketed to the Top

On April 7th, 1960, the Montreal Canadiens took to the ice against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first game of the Stanley Cup Final. The series wasn’t close as the Canadiens outscored the Leafs 15-5 en route to the sweep and winning their 5th straight Stanley Cup.

Maurice Richard finished the series with a goal and 2 assists, but more importantly, became the first player to play in 12 Stanley Cup Finals. This year would be his last. There have only been two players that have been able to tie this feat, those being younger brother Henri Richard, and fellow Canadiens teammate Jean Beliveau.

April 8th

A Comeback to Remember

On this day, the year of our Lord 1971, things were looking pretty bleak for the Montreal Canadiens. The third seeded Canadiens were riding into the playoffs on the hot hand of rookie netminder Ken Dryden, who had played just 6 regular season NHL games at this point.

And they were playing a powerhouse Bruins team led by record-breaking performances from Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr. Jean Beliveau, the Canadiens leading scorer that year with 76 points scored as many points as Esposito had goals and assists (76 of each). And the Bruins had just closed out the season with a 7-2 win over the Canadiens.

And that trend continued as the Bruins beat the Habs in the first game of the series 3-1, and all hope seemed lost halfway through the second period of Game 2. Yvan Cournoyer had scored the first goal, but Boston responded with 5 in a row, including a goal and 3 assists from Bobby Orr, and the game seemed out of reach.

Henri Richard scored with just under 5 minutes left in the second, but a 5-2 lead still seemed insurmountable. But Jean Beliveau scored two goals in under 2 minutes to bring the Habs within 1 less than 5 minutes into the third period.

Exactly halfway through the third Jacques Lemaire brought the Canadiens even, and John Ferguson put them in the lead for good. Frank Mahovlich put the bow on an incredible comeback for the Canadiens, and would prove to be a turning point in the series.

The Canadiens won the back-and-forth series in seven games, and would go on to beat the Minnesota North Stars and Chicago Blackhawks with rookie goalie Ken Dryden and rookie head coach Al MacNeil leading the way to the Stanley Cup.

April 9th

Robinson Breaks Potvin’s Record

On this day, the year of our Lord 1989, the Montreal Canadiens played against the Hartford Whalers in the Adams Division Semi-Final. The first period had an astonishing 18 penalties called, but the Montreal Canadiens would prevail thanks to Russ Courtnall’s overtime goal to give the Habs a 4-3 win.

However, with Larry Robinson playing that game, he passed Denis Potvin with Robinson’s 186th Stanley Cup playoff game played. Robinson would retire with 227 playoff games played, just behind Chris Chelios, Nicklas Lidstrom, Patrick Roy, Mark Messier, Claude Lemieux, Scott Stevens and Guy Carbonneau.

The Longest Stanley Cup Final Game

On April 9th, 1931, the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks met for the third game of their Stanley Cup Final, after the teams split the first two games, both with scores of 2-1. But the two overtime Game 2 was just a preview of the marathon of Game 3.

The Canadiens held a 2-0 lead with 5 minutes left to go in the game, before Mush March and Stew Adams tied the game and it headed into overtime. And then it headed into second overtime. And then it headed into the third overtime period.

It was in the third extra period where Cy Wentworth scored 13:50 into the period to give the Chicago Blackhawks the win in the longest Stanley Cup Final game ever up until that point. The Canadiens would go on to win the Cup in a thrilling 5 game series.

That record would be broken by the Edmonton Oilers and the Boston Bruins, who in 1990, played 55:13 of extra time before Petr Klima scored for the Edmonton Oilers. It remains the longest Stanley Cup Final game ever played, although a Dallas Stars Buffalo Sabres game in 1999 missed the record by just 22 seconds.

April 10th

The Birth of a Dynasty

On this day, the year of our Lord 1956, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to win their 8th Stanley Cup. It was revenge for the previous year’s Final, where the Red Wings beat the Canadiens in 7 games. Canadiens legends Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau and Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion all scored for Montreal.

That was Montreal’s 6th straight visit to the Final, and they weren’t done there. The next year, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins in 5 games to win their second straight Stanley Cup. In 1958, the Canadiens beat the Bruins in a rematch in 6 games to win their third straight Cup.

In 1959 the Toronto Maple Leafs made the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1951, and lost to the Canadiens in 5 games. In 1960, the Montreal Canadiens swept the Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs to go undefeated in the playoffs and win their 5th straight Stanley Cup in their 10th straight Stanley Cup Final appearance. Bernie Geoffrion appeared in every single Stanley Cup Final game between 1951 and 1960.

In 1961, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs in 6 games, en route to winning the Stanley Cup against the Detroit Red Wings. The Cup would then go to the Toronto Maple Leafs for three years before the Canadiens won it again in 1965.

April 11th

Happy Birthday Alex Burrows!

On this day, the year of our Lord 1981, Alexandre Ménard-Burrows was born in Pincourt, Quebec.

Burrows has one of the most inspiring hockey journeys that you can find in the NHL. When he began, Burrows played three seasons with the Shawinigan Cataractes of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He wasn’t selected in the draft and signed with the Greenville Grrrowl (yes, spelled with three rs) of the East Coast Hockey League.

His strong play caught the eye of Craig Heisinger, the General Manager of the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose, and he was offered a two-way AHL contract. In 2005, just two years after signing in the ECHL as an undrafted player, Burrows was signed to a two-way NHL contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

Burrows split time in the 2005-06 season between the Moose and the Canucks, but would become a full time NHLer after that. Known primarily as a checker in the junior leagues, Burrows broke out in the NHL, registering 4 straight 25+ goal seasons, the best of which was a 35 goal, 67 point season in 2009-10.

After retiring, Burrows returned to his home province to become the assistant coach of the Laval Rocket. In February 2021, Claude Julien and his staff were let go from their coaching duties, and the Laval Rocket’s coaching staff, including Dominique Ducharme and Alex Burrows.

A Pair of Apples

On April 11th, 2004, the Montreal Canadiens played the Boston Bruins in the third game of their Eastern Conference Quarter Final series. The heavily favored Bruins won the first two games of the series at home, but lost in the first game in Montreal 3-2. Alex Kovalev had two first period goals and Andrei Markov scored the game winner.

On both Kovalev goals, the secondary assist belonged to Jose Theodore, the Canadiens’ goalie. It was just the third time in NHL history that a goalie recorded two assists in a single playoff game. The Bruins would win the next game, but the Habs would win three in a row to comeback from a 3-1 series deficit to win the series.

Those 2 assists would be the only points that Theodore would register in the NHL playoffs. Grant Fuhr holds the record with 14 points (all assists) in 150 playoff games. The only two goalies to score a goal in the NHL playoffs are Ron Hextall and Martin Brodeur.

Happy Birthday Trevor Linden!

On April 11th, 1970, in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Trevor John Linden was born. Selected 2nd overall, behind Mike Modano, in 1988, Linden made the Canucks and made an immediate impact. As a rookie, Linden was tied for the goal-scoring lead on the team, and was second in Calder votes behind Brian Leetch.

Linden played 10 seasons in Vancouver, being named captain as a 21 year old, one of the youngest captains in NHL history, before injuries began to slow his offensive output. He was traded to the New York Islanders, who traded him to the Montreal Canadiens after two years for a first round pick, Branislav Mezei.

Linden played just 107 games in 2 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, before being traded to the Washington Capitals, and eventually finishing his 19 year career with the Vancouver Canucks.