1945–46 Montreal Canadiens season

	1945–46 Montreal Canadiens
Division	1st NHL
1945–46 record	28–17–5
Goals for	172
Goals against	134
Team information
General manager	Tommy Gorman
Coach	Dick Irvin
Captain	Toe Blake
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Toe Blake (29)
Assists	Elmer Lach (34)
Points	Toe Blake (50)
Penalty minutes	Butch Bouchard (52)
Wins	Bill Durnan (28)
Goals against average	Bill Durnan (2.60)
	← 1944–45 1946–47 →

The 1945–46 Montreal Canadiens season was the Canadiens' 37th season of play. The Canadiens finished 1st in the league and defeated the Boston Bruins in the 1946 Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 1 to win the Stanley Cup for the sixth time.

Off-season[]

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

National Hockey League
	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Canadiens	50	28	17	5	61	172	134	337
Boston Bruins	50	24	18	8	56	167	156	273
Chicago Black Hawks	50	23	20	7	53	200	178	339
Detroit Red Wings	50	20	20	10	50	146	159	298
Toronto Maple Leafs	50	19	24	7	45	174	185	247
New York Rangers	50	13	28	9	35	144	191	285

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log[]

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 27, 1945	8–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	1–0–0
2	W	November 1, 1945	4–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	2–0–0
3	W	November 3, 1945	3–1	Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	3–0–0
4	L	November 4, 1945	5–6	@ Boston Bruins (1945–46)	3–1–0
5	W	November 10, 1945	5–3	Boston Bruins (1945–46)	4–1–0
6	L	November 11, 1945	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	4–2–0
7	W	November 14, 1945	6–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	5–2–0
8	W	November 15, 1945	2–0	New York Rangers (1945–46)	6–2–0
9	W	November 17, 1945	7–3	@ New York Rangers (1945–46)	7–2–0
10	L	November 21, 1945	0–3	@ Boston Bruins (1945–46)	7–3–0
11	W	November 24, 1945	2–1	Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	8–3–0
12	L	November 25, 1945	1–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	8–4–0
13	W	December 1, 1945	4–3	New York Rangers (1945–46)	9–4–0
14	W	December 8, 1945	1–0	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	10–4–0
15	L	December 9, 1945	1–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	10–5–0
16	L	December 13, 1945	3–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	10–6–0
17	T	December 15, 1945	3–3	Boston Bruins (1945–46)	10–6–1
18	W	December 16, 1945	4–2	@ New York Rangers (1945–46)	11–6–1
19	T	December 19, 1945	4–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	11–6–2
20	W	December 23, 1945	4–1	@ Boston Bruins (1945–46)	12–6–2
21	W	December 26, 1945	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	13–6–2
22	L	December 29, 1945	4–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	13–7–2
23	T	December 31, 1945	0–0	@ New York Rangers (1945–46)	13–7–3
24	W	January 5, 1946	4–2	Boston Bruins (1945–46)	14–7–3
25	L	January 10, 1946	4–5	Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	14–8–3
26	W	January 12, 1946	9–3	New York Rangers (1945–46)	15–8–3
27	L	January 13, 1946	1–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	15–9–3
28	L	January 16, 1946	1–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	15–10–3
29	W	January 19, 1946	3–1	Boston Bruins (1945–46)	16–10–3
30	L	January 20, 1946	0–3	@ Boston Bruins (1945–46)	16–11–3
31	L	January 23, 1946	2–7	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	16–12–3
32	W	January 26, 1946	5–3	New York Rangers (1945–46)	17–12–3
33	W	February 2, 1946	5–1	Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	18–12–3
34	L	February 3, 1946	0–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	18–13–3
35	W	February 9, 1946	6–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	19–13–3
36	W	February 10, 1946	2–0	@ Boston Bruins (1945–46)	20–13–3
37	W	February 13, 1946	5–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	21–13–3
38	W	February 16, 1946	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	22–13–3
39	W	February 17, 1946	5–4	@ New York Rangers (1945–46)	23–13–3
40	L	February 20, 1946	1–2	Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	23–14–3
41	W	February 24, 1946	6–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	24–14–3
42	L	February 27, 1946	3–5	Boston Bruins (1945–46)	24–15–3
43	T	March 2, 1946	3–3	Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	24–15–4
44	L	March 3, 1946	2–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46)	24–16–4
45	W	March 6, 1946	7–3	New York Rangers (1945–46)	25–16–4
46	W	March 9, 1946	2–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	26–16–4
47	W	March 10, 1946	3–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	27–16–4
48	T	March 14, 1946	2–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46)	27–16–5
49	W	March 16, 1946	6–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46)	28–16–5
50	L	March 17, 1946	5–8	@ New York Rangers (1945–46)	28–17–5

^[1]

Playoffs[]

Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0[]

Montreal Canadiens 4, Boston Bruins 1[]

Having last met in the 1943 semi-finals where the Bruins defeated the Habs 4 games to 1, the 1946 series would see three games go to overtime. The Canadiens won two of the OT games and defeated the Bruins 4 games to 1. Brothers Terry Reardon (Boston) and Ken Reardon (Montreal) faced each other in the series.

Game 1 in Montreal saw a scoreless first period yield to an early second period Power play goal by Butch Bouchard of the Canadiens. Bob Fillion made it 2-0 before the Bruins scored a pair by Bep Guidolin and Woody Dumart. Tied going into the third, the Bruins Jack Crawford scored his only goal of the playoffs with less than 6 minutes left. An accurate pass from Maurice Richard to Murph Chamberlain tied the game with less than four minutes in the period, sending the game into overtime. The Bruins line of Kenny Smith, Bill Cowley and Terry Reardon had stopped the Habs "Punch Line" from scoring all game. In OT, Cowley had a breakaway that was stopped by Bill Durnan. At 9:08, Frank Brimsek kicked out a point shot by Butch Bouchard. Maurice Richard scored on the rebound, his 5th of the playoffs.

Game 2 in Montreal saw the Habs Toe Blake barely play, having hurt his back in Game 1. The teams traded first period goals by Pat Egan and Elmer Lach. As in game 1, the Bruins took the lead on a goal by Bobby Bauer in the second but the Habs again tied it up on Butch Bouchard's long point shot. Jimmy Peters was the OT hero as his backhand shot deflected off Terry Reardon and into the net. Montreal held a 2-0 series lead going to Boston.

Game 3 in Boston again saw Montreal pull the game out in the third period. After the Bruins Guidolin and Terry Reardon tallied, the Habs responded with goals by Elmer Lach and Glen Harmon, it was 2-2 at the end of the second. Third period goals by Ken Mosdell and Dutch Hiller and stout goaltending by the Habs Bill Durnan led Montreal to a 4-3 win and a 3-0 stranglehold on the series.

Game 4 in Boston saw Dit Clapper take to the ice for the first time in the series while Art Ross manned the bench. After a scoreless first period in which the Bruins were badly outshot (it took 18 minutes to record their first shot on net), the Bruins Murray Henderson broke the ice in the second, responded to by Richard. In the third, Don Gallinger put the Bruins up at 3:01 but Richard responded again a minute later, sending the game into overtime. Terry Reardon's 4th of the playoffs at 15:13 won it for the Bruins, despite being outshot 39-20. The teams travelled back to Montreal with the Habs having a 3-1 series lead.

Bauer goal-9Apr1946 — Bobby Bauer scores, Game 5 of the 1946 Finals, April 9, 1946.

Game 5 in Montreal saw the Kraut Line finally break out. After Bill Cowley opened the scoring at 5:42 on the power play, the Habs Fillion tied it up at 9:55. Durnan couldn't control a Woody Dumart shot and Bobby Bauer backhanded the rebound through Durnan's legs for a 2-1 lead. However, Lach and Mosdell responded and the Habs led 3-2 at the end of the first. The first goal of the series for Milt Schmidt was the only goal of the second period. Tied 3-3 going into the third, the Habs again demonstrated a strong final frame and once Toe Blake scored the winner, his first of the series, at 11:06 (playing with an injured back), Chamberlain and Hiller piled on and Montreal took the Cup in 5 games.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	March 30	Boston Bruins	3-4 (OT)	Montreal Canadiens	0-1
2	April 2	Boston Bruins	2-3 (OT)	Montreal Canadiens	0-2
3	April 4	Montreal Canadiens	4-2	Boston Bruins	3-0
4	April 7	Montreal Canadiens	2-3 (OT)	Boston Bruins	3-1
5	April 9	Boston Bruins	3-6	Montreal Canadiens	1-4

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Blake, ToeToe Blake	LW	50	29	21	50	2
Richard, MauriceMaurice Richard	RW	50	27	21	48	50
Lach, ElmerElmer Lach	C	50	13	34	47	34
Peters, JimmyJimmy Peters	RW	47	11	19	30	10
Reay, BillyBilly Reay	C	44	17	12	29	10
Chamberlain, MurphMurph Chamberlain	LW	40	12	14	26	42
O'Connor, BuddyBuddy O'Connor	C	45	11	11	22	2
Benoit, JoeJoe Benoit	RW	39	9	10	19	8
Hiller, DutchDutch Hiller	LW	45	7	11	18	4
Bouchard, ButchButch Bouchard	D	45	7	10	17	52
Harmon, GlenGlen Harmon	D	49	7	10	17	28
Fillion, BobBob Fillion	LW	50	10	6	16	12
Lamoureux, LeoLeo Lamoureux	C/D	45	5	7	12	18
Reardon, KenKen Reardon	D	43	5	4	9	45
Mosdell, KenKen Mosdell	C	13	2	1	3	8
Plamondon, GerryGerry Plamondon	LW	6	0	2	2	2
White, MoeMoe White	LW/C	4	0	1	1	2
MacKay, MurdoMurdo MacKay	RW/C	5	0	1	1	0
Eddolls, FrankFrank Eddolls	D	8	0	1	1	6
McMahon, MikeMike McMahon	D	13	0	1	1	2
Thibeault, LorrainLorrain Thibeault	LW	1	0	0	0	0
Lynn, VicVic Lynn	LW/D	2	0	0	0	0
Tremblay, NilsNils Tremblay	C	2	0	0	0	0
Bibeault, PaulPaul Bibeault	G	10	0	0	0	0
Durnan, BillBill Durnan	G	40	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Durnan, BillBill Durnan	2400	40	24	11	5	104	2.60	4
Bibeault, PaulPaul Bibeault	600	10	4	6	0	30	3.00	0
Team:	3000	50	28	17	5	134	2.68	4

Playoffs[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Lach, ElmerElmer Lach	C	9	5	12	17	4
Blake, ToeToe Blake	LW	9	7	6	13	5
Richard, MauriceMaurice Richard	RW	9	7	4	11	15
Fillion, BobBob Fillion	LW	9	4	3	7	6
Chamberlain, MurphMurph Chamberlain	LW	9	4	2	6	18
Hiller, DutchDutch Hiller	LW	9	4	2	6	2
Mosdell, KenKen Mosdell	C	9	4	1	5	6
O'Connor, BuddyBuddy O'Connor	C	9	2	3	5	0
Harmon, GlenGlen Harmon	D	9	1	4	5	0
Peters, JimmyJimmy Peters	RW	9	3	1	4	6
Bouchard, ButchButch Bouchard	D	9	2	1	3	17
Reay, BillyBilly Reay	C	9	1	2	3	4
Reardon, KenKen Reardon	D	9	1	1	2	4
Lamoureux, LeoLeo Lamoureux	C/D	9	0	2	2	2
Eddolls, FrankFrank Eddolls	D	8	0	1	1	2
Plamondon, GerryGerry Plamondon	LW	1	0	0	0	0
Durnan, BillBill Durnan	G	9	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Durnan, BillBill Durnan	581	9	8	1	20	2.07	0
Team:	581	9	8	1	20	2.07	0

^[2]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals

MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records[]

Prince of Wales Trophy: Montreal Canadiens
Vezina Trophy: Bill Durnan
Maurice Richard, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
Emile "Butch" Bouchard, Defense, NHL First Team All-Star
Bill Durnan, Goalie, NHL First Team All-Star
Dick Irvin, Coach, NHL First Team All-Star
Elmer Lach, Centre, NHL Second Team All-Star
Toe Blake, Left Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
Ken Reardon, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star

Transactions[]

Montreal Canadiens 1946 Stanley Cup Champions[]

Roster

Centers

Wingers

5 Wilbert Dutch Hiller
6 Hector Toe Blake (Captain)
9 Maurice Rocket Richard
11 Joe Benoit
12 Erwin Murph Chamberlain
15 Bob Fillion
19 Jimmy Peters, Sr.
20 Gerry Plamondon

Defensemen

Goaltenders

1 Bill Durnan

Non-players

Donat Raymond (president/owner), Dalton Coleman (vice president/owner)
Bill Hardy (director), Tommy Gorman (manager)
Dick Irvin Sr. (coach), Arthur Cayford (secretary-treasurer)†
Ernie Cook (trainer)†, Hector Dubois (ass't trainer)†

† Left off cup, but included on the team picture.

Farm Teams[]

Gallery[]

References[]

Canadiens on Hockey Database

↑ 1945–46 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-04.
↑ 1945-46 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-28.

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at 1945–46 Montreal Canadiens season. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).

[1] 1945–46 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-04.

[2] 1945-46 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-28.

[1]

[2]

Montreal Canadiens Seasons
1900s	1909–10
1910s	1910–11 • 1911–12 • 1912–13 • 1913–14 • 1914–15 • 1915–16 • 1916–17 • 1917–18 • 1918–19 • 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 • 1921–22 • 1922–23 • 1923–24 • 1924–25 • 1925–26 • 1926–27 • 1927–28 • 1928–29 • 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 • 1931–32 • 1932–33 • 1933–34 • 1934–35 • 1935–36 • 1936–37 • 1937–38 • 1938–39 • 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 • 1941–42 • 1942–43 • 1943–44 • 1944–45 • 1945–46 • 1946–47 • 1947–48 • 1948–49 • 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 • 1951–52 • 1952–53 • 1953–54 • 1954–55 • 1955–56 • 1956–57 • 1957–58 • 1958–59 • 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 • 1961–62 • 1962–63 • 1963–64 • 1964–65 • 1965–66 • 1966–67 • 1967–68 • 1968–69 • 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 • 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 • 2011–12 • 2012–13 • 2013–14 • 2014–15 • 2015–16 • 2016–17 • 2017–18 • 2018–19 • 2019–20
Bold indicates Stanley Cup Championship

Montreal Canadiens
Franchise	Franchise • Original Six • Players • Coaches • General Managers • Seasons • Records • Draft Picks • Award Winners
Arenas	Jubilee Arena • Montreal Arena • Mount Royal Arena • Montreal Forum • Bell Centre
Affiliates	Laval Rocket (AHL)

1945–46 NHL season by team
Teams	Boston • Chicago • Detroit • Montreal • New York • Toronto
See also	1946 Stanley Cup Finals

1945–46 Montreal Canadiens season

Contents

Off-season[]

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

Game Log[]

Playoffs[]

Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0[]

Montreal Canadiens 4, Boston Bruins 1[]

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Playoffs[]

Awards and Records[]

Transactions[]

Montreal Canadiens 1946 Stanley Cup Champions[]

Roster

Farm Teams[]

Gallery[]

See Also[]

References[]

Fan Feed