# 1999–2000 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1999–2000 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 91st season of play. The club failed to qualify for the 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs. Pierre Boivin replaced Ronald Corey as team president of the Canadiens. On September 2, 1999, Molson executive James Arnett announced that Molson would put the franchise up for sale.

## Off season

Saku Koivu makes Canadiens history, as the first European to be named the team's captain. He succeeds Vincent Damphousse, who was traded the previous season.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Northeast Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 45 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 246 | 222 | 100 |
| 2 | 6 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 41 | 28 | 11 | 2 | 244 | 210 | 95 |
| 3 | 8 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 35 | 32 | 11 | 4 | 213 | 204 | 85 |
| 4 | 10 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 35 | 34 | 9 | 4 | 196 | 194 | 83 |
| 5 | 11 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 24 | 33 | 19 | 6 | 210 | 248 | 73 |
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | z – Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 45 | 22 | 12 | 3 | 237 | 179 | 105 |
| 2 | y – Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 44 | 24 | 12 | 2 | 227 | 194 | 102 |
| 3 | y – Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 45 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 246 | 222 | 100 |
| 4 | New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 45 | 24 | 8 | 5 | 251 | 203 | 103 |
| 5 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 43 | 27 | 6 | 6 | 244 | 209 | 98 |
| 6 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 41 | 28 | 11 | 2 | 244 | 210 | 95 |
| 7 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 37 | 31 | 8 | 6 | 241 | 236 | 88 |
| 8 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 35 | 32 | 11 | 4 | 213 | 204 | 85 |
| 8.5 |||||||||||
| 9 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 37 | 35 | 10 | 0 | 217 | 216 | 84 |
| 10 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 35 | 34 | 9 | 4 | 196 | 194 | 83 |
| 11 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 29 | 38 | 12 | 3 | 218 | 246 | 73 |
| 12 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 24 | 33 | 19 | 6 | 210 | 248 | 73 |
| 13 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 24 | 48 | 9 | 1 | 194 | 275 | 58 |
| 14 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 19 | 47 | 9 | 7 | 204 | 310 | 54 |
| 15 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 14 | 57 | 7 | 4 | 170 | 313 | 39 |
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs; z – Won conference; y – Won division

## Schedule and results

1999–2000 regular season :
October: 3–8–1–0 (home: 1–5–1–0; road: 2–3–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
1LOctober 2, 19991–4Toronto Maple Leafs0–1–0–00Recap
2LOctober 6, 19991–2@ Edmonton Oilers0–2–0–00Recap
3WOctober 8, 19994–1@ Calgary Flames1–2–0–02Recap
4LOctober 9, 19991–4@ Vancouver Canucks1–3–0–02Recap
5LOctober 12, 19991–2Florida Panthers1–4–0–02Recap
6WOctober 14, 19995–4 OT@ Philadelphia Flyers2–4–0–04Recap
7WOctober 16, 19992–1Buffalo Sabres3–4–0–06Recap
8LOctober 18, 19992–4New York Islanders3–5–0–06Recap
9LOctober 20, 19991–2Colorado Avalanche3–6–0–06Recap
10LOctober 23, 19992–3@ Toronto Maple Leafs3–7–0–06Recap
11LOctober 27, 19990–1Chicago Blackhawks3–8–0–06Recap
12TOctober 30, 19992–2 OTNew York Rangers3–8–1–07Recap :
November: 6–5–0–1 (home: 3–1–0–0; road: 3–4–0–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
13LNovember 3, 19992–3@ New Jersey Devils3–9–1–07Recap
14OTLNovember 4, 19991–2 OT@ New York Islanders3–9–1–18Recap
15LNovember 6, 19991–2@ Ottawa Senators3–10–1–18Recap
16LNovember 10, 19994–5@ Pittsburgh Penguins3–11–1–18Recap
17WNovember 11, 19992–1Mighty Ducks of Anaheim4–11–1–110Recap
18WNovember 13, 19994–2Atlanta Thrashers5–11–1–112Recap
19LNovember 16, 19991–4San Jose Sharks5–12–1–112Recap
20LNovember 18, 19991–6@ Nashville Predators5–13–1–112Recap
21WNovember 20, 19995–3@ Los Angeles Kings6–13–1–114Recap
22WNovember 22, 19992–1@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim7–13–1–116Recap
23WNovember 23, 19993–2 OT@ San Jose Sharks8–13–1–118Recap
24WNovember 27, 19992–1Vancouver Canucks9–13–1–120Recap :
December: 3–7–3–0 (home: 1–5–1–0; road: 2–2–2–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
25LDecember 1, 19992–3Dallas Stars9–14–1–120Recap
26LDecember 3, 19992–3@ New York Rangers9–15–1–120Recap
27LDecember 4, 19992–3Philadelphia Flyers9–16–1–120Recap
28TDecember 7, 19993–3 OTCalgary Flames9–16–2–121Recap
29WDecember 9, 19994–2@ New York Islanders10–16–2–123Recap
30LDecember 11, 19992–4Los Angeles Kings10–17–2–123Recap
31WDecember 13, 19991–0@ Washington Capitals11–17–2–125Recap
32LDecember 16, 19991–2New Jersey Devils11–18–2–125Recap
33LDecember 18, 19991–2@ Toronto Maple Leafs11–19–2–125Recap
34WDecember 20, 19995–1Pittsburgh Penguins12–19–2–127Recap
35TDecember 23, 19993–3 OT@ Boston Bruins12–19–3–128Recap
36TDecember 27, 19994–4 OT@ Ottawa Senators12–19–4–129Recap
37LDecember 29, 19992–3Ottawa Senators12–20–4–129Recap :
January: 5–3–3–1 (home: 4–0–3–0; road: 1–3–0–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
38TJanuary 2, 20002–2 OTNew York Rangers12–20–5–130Recap
39LJanuary 4, 20001–6@ Washington Capitals12–21–5–130Recap
40LJanuary 6, 20003–4@ St. Louis Blues12–22–5–130Recap
41LJanuary 7, 20001–4@ Colorado Avalanche12–23–5–130Recap
42WJanuary 11, 20003–0Detroit Red Wings13–23–5–132Recap
43WJanuary 14, 20002–1@ Buffalo Sabres14–23–5–134Recap
44TJanuary 15, 20002–2 OTBoston Bruins14–23–6–135Recap
45WJanuary 19, 20003–0New York Islanders15–23–6–137Recap
46WJanuary 22, 20004–2Pittsburgh Penguins16–23–6–139Recap
47OTLJanuary 24, 20002–3 OT@ Carolina Hurricanes16–23–6–240Recap
48TJanuary 29, 20002–2 OTPhiladelphia Flyers16–23–7–241Recap
49WJanuary 30, 20003–0Carolina Hurricanes17–23–7–243Recap :
February: 8–4–0–1 (home: 5–2–0–1; road: 3–2–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
50LFebruary 2, 20001–3@ Florida Panthers17–24–7–243Recap
51WFebruary 3, 20002–1 OT@ Tampa Bay Lightning18–24–7–245Recap
52OTLFebruary 8, 20004–5 OTEdmonton Oilers18–24–7–346Recap
53LFebruary 10, 20000–1Washington Capitals18–25–7–346Recap
54WFebruary 12, 20005–4Ottawa Senators19–25–7–348Recap
55WFebruary 14, 20004–1Florida Panthers20–25–7–350Recap
56WFebruary 16, 20005–1@ Atlanta Thrashers21–25–7–352Recap
57WFebruary 17, 20003–0@ Carolina Hurricanes22–25–7–354Recap
58WFebruary 19, 20002–1Toronto Maple Leafs23–25–7–356Recap
59WFebruary 22, 20001–0Phoenix Coyotes24–25–7–358Recap
60WFebruary 24, 20003–2 OTNew Jersey Devils25–25–7–360Recap
61LFebruary 26, 20000–3Washington Capitals25–26–7–360Recap
62LFebruary 27, 20000–3@ New Jersey Devils25–27–7–360Recap :
March: 8–5–2–0 (home: 3–2–0–0; road: 5–3–2–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
63WMarch 1, 20004–1@ Chicago Blackhawks26–27–7–362Recap
64WMarch 2, 20005–2@ Boston Bruins27–27–7–364Recap
65LMarch 4, 20003–4@ Toronto Maple Leafs27–28–7–364Recap
66WMarch 6, 20003–2Atlanta Thrashers28–28–7–366Recap
67WMarch 8, 20003–0@ Pittsburgh Penguins29–28–7–368Recap
68WMarch 10, 20003–2@ Buffalo Sabres30–28–7–370Recap
69LMarch 11, 20003–5Boston Bruins30–29–7–370Recap
70LMarch 14, 20003–4Tampa Bay Lightning30–30–7–370Recap
71TMarch 16, 20001–1 OT@ Philadelphia Flyers30–30–8–371Recap
72WMarch 18, 20003–2Carolina Hurricanes31–30–8–373Recap
73LMarch 20, 20001–4@ Buffalo Sabres31–31–8–373Recap
74TMarch 22, 20001–1 OT@ Atlanta Thrashers31–31–9–374Recap
75LMarch 25, 20002–4@ Florida Panthers31–32–9–374Recap
76WMarch 26, 20003–1@ Tampa Bay Lightning32–32–9–376Recap
77WMarch 29, 20004–3Boston Bruins33–32–9–378Recap :
April: 2–2–0–1 (home: 1–2–0–0; road: 1–0–0–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordPointsRecap
78LApril 1, 20000–2Buffalo Sabres33–33–9–378Recap
79OTLApril 2, 20005–6 OT@ Detroit Red Wings33–33–9–479Recap
80WApril 5, 20003–0@ New York Rangers34–33–9–481Recap
81WApril 6, 20005–1Tampa Bay Lightning35–33–9–483Recap
82LApril 8, 20001–3Ottawa Senators35–34–9–483Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point)
  Overtime loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 26 | Martin Rucinsky | LW | 80 | 25 | 24 | 49 | 1 | 70 |
| 15 | Dainius Zubrus | C | 73 | 14 | 28 | 42 | −1 | 54 |
| 34 | Sergei Zholtok | C | 68 | 26 | 12 | 38 | 2 | 28 |
| 43 | Patrice Brisebois | D | 54 | 10 | 25 | 35 | −1 | 18 |
| 14 | Trevor Linden | RW | 50 | 13 | 17 | 30 | −3 | 34 |
| 49 | Brian Savage | LW | 38 | 17 | 12 | 29 | −4 | 19 |
| 17 | Benoit Brunet | LW | 50 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 3 | 13 |
| 22 | Eric Weinrich | D | 77 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 4 | 39 |
| 27 | Shayne Corson | LW | 70 | 8 | 20 | 28 | −2 | 115 |
| 32 | Oleg Petrov | RW | 44 | 2 | 24 | 26 | 10 | 8 |
| 23 | Turner Stevenson | RW | 64 | 8 | 13 | 21 | −1 | 61 |
| 11 | Saku Koivu | C | 24 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 7 | 14 |
| 28 | Karl Dykhuis† | D | 67 | 7 | 12 | 19 | −3 | 40 |
| 63 | Craig Darby | C | 76 | 7 | 10 | 17 | −14 | 14 |
| 52 | Craig Rivet | D | 61 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 11 | 76 |
| 51 | Francis Bouillon | D | 74 | 3 | 13 | 16 | −7 | 38 |
| 37 | Patrick Poulin | C | 82 | 10 | 5 | 15 | −15 | 17 |
| 40 | Jesse Belanger | C | 16 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 2 |
| 29 | Jim Cummins | RW | 47 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −5 | 92 |
| 45 | Arron Asham | RW | 33 | 4 | 2 | 6 | −7 | 24 |
| 55 | Igor Ulanov‡ | D | 43 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −11 | 76 |
| 20 | Scott Lachance | D | 57 | 0 | 6 | 6 | −4 | 22 |
| 24 | Scott Thornton‡ | LW | 35 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −7 | 70 |
| 44 | Sheldon Souray† | D | 19 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 44 |
| 61 | Jason Ward | RW | 32 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −1 | 10 |
| 48 | Miloslav Guren | D | 24 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −5 | 12 |
| 47 | Juha Lind† | C | 13 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −2 | 4 |
| 71 | Mike Ribeiro | C | 19 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −6 | 2 |
| 46 | Matt Higgins | C | 25 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −6 | 4 |
| 24 | Christian Laflamme† | D | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −5 | 8 |
| 21 | Barry Richter | D | 23 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −5 | 8 |
| 6 | Trent McCleary | RW | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 35 | Andrei Bashkirov | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Jeff Hackett | G | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 4 |
| 38 | Vladimir Malakhov‡ | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 36 | Dave Morissette | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 44 | Stephane Robidas | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 60 | Jose Theodore | G | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |

### Goaltending

| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 31 | Jeff Hackett | 56 | 23 | 25 | 7 | 1543 | 132 | 2.40 | .914 | 3 | 3301 |
| 60 | Jose Theodore | 30 | 12 | 13 | 2 | 717 | 58 | 2.10 | .919 | 3 | 1655 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

Head coach Alain Vigneault was a runner-up for the Jack Adams Trophy.
| Type | Award/honour | Recipient |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Martin Rucinsky |
| League (in-season) | NHL Player of the Week | Jose Theodore (November 29) |
| Team | Jacques Beauchamp Molson Trophy | Eric Weinrich |
| Team | Molson Cup | Jeff Hackett |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Francis Bouillon | October 2, 1999 |
| First game | Mike Ribeiro | October 2, 1999 |
| First game | Stephane Robidas | October 20, 1999 |
| First game | Jason Ward | December 3, 1999 |

## Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft held at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 2 | 39 | Alexander Buturlin | Russia | CSKA Moscow (Russia) |
| 2 | 58 | Matt Carkner | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |
| 4 | 97 | Chris Dyment | United States | Boston University (NCAA) |
| 4 | 107 | Evan Lindsay | Canada | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
| 5 | 136 | Dustin Jamieson | Canada | Sarnia Sting (OHL) |
| 5 | 145 | Marc-Andre Thinel | Canada | Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 150 | Matt Shasby | United States | Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) |
| 6 | 167 | Sean Dixon | Canada | Erie Otters (OHL) |
| 7 | 196 | Vadim Tarasov | Kazakhstan | Metallurg Novokuznetsk (Russia) |
| 8 | 225 | Mikko Hyytia | Finland | JYP Jr. (Finland) |
| 9 | 253 | Jerome Marois | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |