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“Who Knew?” #9: The Early Years of “Les Canadiens”
They are the most storied franchise in the history of the sport. Les Canadiens have a pedigree that other teams can only dream of and a history as rich, if not richer, than any other sports franchise in the world! It comes as a surprise then to discover how much of an afterthought the creation of the team was and how many times it had the potential to be washed out of existence. Because of the teams storied past, however, these facts often don’t get discussed a whole lot. I don’t believe this is due to any concerted effort to bury these facts but rather the fact that they are so incongruent with how we view the team from the “Original 6” era forward. At the same time there are also a lot of little nuggets of info that get overlooked purely because of the amount of time that has passed since they occurred.
My intent with this installment of “Who Knew?” was not to provide an exhaustive look at the franchise. Rather, it was to look at a handful of interesting pieces of information from the formative years of both the team and the league, things that may be surprising, amusing or even amazing as far as how the Canadiens were able to dodge so many bullets during their infancy while many other clubs fell through. I hope you enjoy it and pick up some new info along the way!
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* The team was founded on December 4, 1909
* The creation of the franchise occurred during the formation of the National Hockey Association (NHA). The intent? Create a Francophone club to compete with the Anglophone Montreal Maroons.
* Montreal media staple, daily newspaper The Gazette, warned fans who would be following the francophone team not to have high expectations as to how the team would perform against English players as "French-Canadian players of class are not numerous"
* The Canadiens are the oldest professional hockey franchise in the world
* The club played their first game on January 5, 1910, a 7-6 overtime win. Within days, however, the rival Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) folded, at which time the NHA decided to add old CHA teams from Ottawa (Senators) and Montreal (Shamrocks) to their league and re-start the season. The Canadiens lost the first four games of this new season before recording their first "official" win on February 7, 1910, 9-7 against the Haileyburg Hockey Club.
*The early "CAC" logo, and large "C" with an "A" inside it represented another property of owner George Kennedy: Le Club Athletique Canadien (an athletic/sports club in the city)
* In 1916, following a fire that destroyed the Club Athletique Canadien gym, as well as the financial collapse of his Montreal Canadiens lacrosse team, Kennedy financially and legally separated the hockey club from the CAC, incorporating it into its formal name Le Club de Hockey Canadien. A resulting logo change occurred with an "H" replacing the "A" within the "C" on the front of the jersey.
* The "H" in the logo, still present today, represents the word "hockey" in the clubs formal title. It has been incorrectly attributed to the word "Habitants", a term referring to French settlers or "inhabitants" of early day Quebec, since being inserted into the logo, leading to the longstanding nickname of the team: The Habs.
* In 1917, following a dispute with Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone, the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs withdrew from the NHA and formed the National Hockey League (NHL).
* The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times: The first in 1916 while part of the National Hockey Association (NHA), and 23 times thereafter upon joining the NHL
* Despite winning 23 cups while in the NHL, the Canadiens have actually won 25 NHL titles overall. How? Between the 1914-15 and 1925-26 seasons the Stanley Cup was awarded to the winner of a series between the NHL and the Western Canadian Hockey League (WCHL)/Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). The NHL Champion Canadiens failed to win cups in 1919 (when the finals against PCHA champs Seattle were cancelled with one game left to play, and no cup was awarded, due to several players from both teams falling ill with the Spanish Influenza) and 1925 when beaten by WCHL champs the Victoria Cougars.
* In January 1918 the home rink of the Habs and the Wanderers, Montreal Arena, burned down. The Canadiens moved to Jubilee Arena to finish the season (The Wanderers on the other hand, folded). A year and a half later, in the summer of 1919, the Jubilee Arena also burned to the ground, forcing the Canadiens organization to construct the Mount Royal Arena.
* The Montreal Forum opened for the 1924-25 season as the home of the expansion Montreal Maroons. Since the ice surface at the Mount Royal Arena was not ready for the start of the season, the Habs were invited by the Maroons organization to begin their season at their new arena. This resulted in the Canadiens playing the first game ever at the Forum, the building that would be their permanent home between 1926 and 1996.
* The Canadiens and Maroons shared the Forum between 1926 and 1938 when the latter team ceased operations.
* The team adopted a modified jersey design for the 1924-25 season to celebrate their 1924 championship. This design saw the team move the CH logo to the jersey's sleeves and featured a large world globe logo crest on the front of the jersey.
* The Great Depression almost resulted in the demise of the franchise on two occasions. In 1935 the team was almost sold and moved to Cleveland, Ohio, while in 1939 they nearly folded as a result of their financial problems.
Cheers folks!
Shawn Gates
[email protected]
Twitter: ShawnHockeybuzz
Facebook: Shawn Gates
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Visit us at
www.hockeyden.net , check out the 2008-09 OPC Update box break, and enter to win your choice of a card from the break! Does a triple jersey Habs card sound appealing?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Previous “Who Knew?” Articles
#1: Gordie Howe
#2: The Zamboni
#3: Maurice “The Rocket” Richard
#4: Ron Hextall
#5: Stanley Cup Abuse, Neglect and Versatility
#6: The Puck
#7: Don Cherry
#8: Cam Neely
Previous “WHAT IF…?” Articles
#1 What If The NHL Contracted To 24 Teams?
#2 What If Quebec Traded Lindros To The Rangers Instead Of The Flyers?
#3 What If Calgary Drafted Martin Brodeur Instead Of Trevor Kidd?
#3a What If Calgary Drafted Martin Brodeur Instead Of Trevor Kidd?: A RESPONSE
#4 What If The WHA Never Existed?
#5 What If The Position Of Rover Had Not Been Eliminated?
#6 What If Pittsburgh Had Not Been Awarded A Team In 1967?
#7 What If Steve Smith Had Not Scored In His Own Net In Game 7?
#8 What If The NHL Had a Cross-Conference Playoff Structure?
#9 What If The NHL Asked For Fan Ideas For Improving The Game??
#10 What If Henderson Had Missed The Net In Game 8?
#11 What If You Could Sneak Into A Stanley Cup Celebration?
#12 What If The NHL Returned To Quebec City?
#13 What if Toronto and Edmonton Had Traded Teams in 1981?
#14 What if You Could Create Your Own Hockey Dream Team?
#15 What if An Active Player in the NHL “Came Out” as Gay?
#16 You Could Assemble Your Own Fantasy Pick-up Hockey Team?
Previous “It’s All In The Name” Articles
The Indianapolis Inuendos
Previous “Psychology of Sport” Articles
Arousal and Performance
Depression
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