The Montreal Canadiens were founded in 1909, and are the oldest continuously operating professional ice hockey team. They are also one of the oldest North American professional sports franchises, and second to the Toronto Argonauts in Canada.
The Canadiens were founded by J. Ambrose O'Brien on December 4, 1909. They were a charter member of the National Hockey Association. The purpose of the team was to be the francophone representative in Montreal, with the roster comprised of francophone players and francophone ownership.
The founders named them "Les Canadiens", which identified French speakers at the time. The top members of the association wanted to use the French/English rivalry to make hockey popular, so they created the Canadiens to rival the Montreal Wanderers.
The team was initially called Club athletique canadien, and their logo was the famous "C" with an "A" in the middle. However they later changed the name to Club de hockey, which explains the current logo with the "H" in the middle.
The anglophones nicknamed the team habitants, which was eventually shortened to habs. Many people believed the "H" in the logo stood for "Habs" or "Habitants," which isn't the case.
The French/English divide didn't last long, as Anglophones began joining the Canadiens in 1912. However, the Canadiens became the city's only team when the Wanderers arena burned in 1918.