# 2006–07 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2006–07 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 98th season, 90th in the National Hockey League (NHL). The club finished fourth in the Northeast division and missed qualification for the playoffs by two points after losing the final game of the regular season 6–5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

## Pre-season

The Canadiens were only minimally active in offseason transactions, with forwards Sergei Samsonov and Mike Johnson and defenceman Janne Niinimaa representing the only additions. Forwards Jan Bulis, Richard Zednik and Mike Ribeiro moved to other teams: Bulis via free agency to Vancouver, Zednik via a trade to Washington and Ribeiro via a trade to Dallas (for Niinimaa).

## Regular season

The club intended to build on a 2005–06 season in which it took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes to six games in the first round of the playoffs. Behind the leadership of goaltender Cristobal Huet and captain Saku Koivu, the Canadiens poised themselves to join the elite of the Eastern Conference.
However, the team failed to keep its momentum for the whole season. Cristobal Huet's injury on February 15, 2007, forced the Canadiens to use backup goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and David Aebischer. Despite Halak's decent performance, the Canadiens could not clinch a playoff spot. They were eliminated on April 8 after a 6–5 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the season's last game.
On January 9, 2007, the NHL announced that Sheldon Souray had been voted by the fans to start at defence in the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas.
The Canadiens finished the regular season with the NHL's best power-play percentage, at 22.75% (86 for 378), and tied the Ottawa Senators for most shorthanded goals scored, with 17.

## Standings

Northeast Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 308 | 242 | 113 |
| 2 | 4 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 48 | 25 | 9 | 288 | 222 | 105 |
| 3 | 9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 258 | 269 | 91 |
| 4 | 10 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 42 | 34 | 6 | 245 | 256 | 90 |
| 5 | 13 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 35 | 41 | 6 | 219 | 289 | 76 |
Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
 Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | P - Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 308 | 242 | 113 |
| 2 | Y - New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 49 | 24 | 9 | 216 | 201 | 107 |
| 3 | Y - Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 43 | 28 | 11 | 246 | 245 | 97 |
| 4 | X - Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 48 | 25 | 9 | 288 | 222 | 105 |
| 5 | X - Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 47 | 24 | 11 | 277 | 246 | 105 |
| 6 | X - New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 42 | 30 | 10 | 242 | 216 | 94 |
| 7 | X - Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 44 | 33 | 5 | 253 | 261 | 93 |
| 8 | X - New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 248 | 240 | 92 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 40 | 31 | 11 | 258 | 269 | 91 |
| 10 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 42 | 34 | 6 | 245 | 256 | 90 |
| 11 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 40 | 34 | 8 | 241 | 253 | 88 |
| 12 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 35 | 31 | 16 | 247 | 257 | 86 |
| 13 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 35 | 41 | 6 | 219 | 289 | 76 |
| 14 | Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 28 | 40 | 14 | 235 | 286 | 70 |
| 15 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 22 | 48 | 12 | 214 | 303 | 56 |
* Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

## Schedule and results

2006–07 regular season :
October: 6–2–3 (home: 3–1–2; road: 3–1–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
1October 6Montreal4–5BuffaloSOHuet18,6900–0–11Recap
2October 7Montreal3–2TorontoSOAebischer19,3531–0–13Recap
3October 11Montreal3–1PhiladelphiaAebischer19,2562–0–15Recap
4October 14Ottawa3–2MontrealSOHuet21,2732–0–26Recap
5October 17Calgary4–5MontrealHuet21,2733–0–28Recap
6October 18Montreal1–2ChicagoAebischer11,0953–1–28Recap
7October 21Colorado5–8MontrealAebischer21,2734–1–210Recap
8October 23Buffalo4–1MontrealHuet21,2734–2–210Recap
9October 26Montreal3–2BostonHuet13,9205–2–212Recap
10October 28Toronto5–4MontrealSOAebischer21,2735–2–313Recap
11October 31Ottawa2–4MontrealAebischer21,2736–2–315Recap :
November: 8–5–0 (home: 4–2–0; road: 4–3–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
12November 2Montreal4–0CarolinaHuet6,4867–2–317Recap
13November 4New Jersey2–1MontrealHuet21,2717–3–317Recap
14November 7Edmonton2–3MontrealSOAebischer21,2738–3–319Recap
15November 11Montreal1–5TorontoAebischer19,5018–4–319Recap
16November 13Montreal6–3OttawaHuet20,0519–4–321Recap
17November 15Montreal3–1Tampa BayHuet19,92010–4–323Recap
18November 16Montreal1–5FloridaAebischer13,50610–5–323Recap
19November 18Atlanta1–3MontrealHuet21,27311–5–325Recap
20November 22Minnesota2–4MontrealHuet21,27312–5–327Recap
21November 24Montreal2–1BuffaloOTHuet18,69013–5–329Recap
22November 25Philadelphia4–2MontrealAebischer21,27313–6–329Recap
23November 28Florida0–1MontrealSOHuet21,27314–6–331Recap
24November 30Montreal2–4CarolinaHuet13,10314–7–331Recap :
December: 8–4–2 (home: 5–1–1; road: 3–3–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
25December 2Toronto3–4MontrealSOHuet21,27315–7–333Recap
26December 4Boston6–5MontrealAebischer21,27315–8–333Recap
27December 6Montreal1–2New JerseyOTAebischer10,98615–8–434Recap
28December 7Montreal4–2NY IslandersHuet9,55116–8–436Recap
29December 9Buffalo3–2MontrealSOHuet21,27316–8–537Recap
30December 12Boston3–4MontrealAebischer21,27317–8–539Recap
31December 14Tampa Bay2–4MontrealHuet21,27318–8–541Recap
32December 16Pittsburgh3–6MontrealHuet21,27319–8–543Recap
33December 19Montreal5–2BuffaloHuet18,69020–8–545Recap
34December 21Philadelphia2–4MontrealAebischer21,27321–8–547Recap
35December 23Montreal2–4BostonHuet17,56521–9–547Recap
36December 27Montreal4–1WashingtonHuet15,60922–9–549Recap
37December 29Montreal1–3FloridaHuet19,77222–10–549Recap
38December 30Montreal1–3Tampa BayHuet21,12022–11–549Recap :
January: 6–7–0 (home: 4–3–0; road: 2–4–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
39January 2Tampa Bay2–5MontrealHuet21,27323–11–551Recap
40January 4Montreal1–5WashingtonHuet11,28723–12–551Recap
41January 6NY Rangers4–3MontrealAebischer21,27323–13–551Recap
42January 7New Jersey3–0MontrealHuet21,27323–14–551Recap
43January 9Atlanta2–4MontrealHuet21,27324–14–553Recap
44January 11Montreal4–2PhiladelphiaAebischer19,41125–14–555Recap
45January 13Montreal3–8OttawaHuet20,03825–15–555Recap
46January 15Montreal0–2DetroitAebischer20,06625–16–555Recap
47January 16Vancouver4–0MontrealHuet21,27325–17–555Recap
48January 18Montreal4–1AtlantaHuet14,02526–17–557Recap
49January 20Buffalo3–4MontrealHuet21,27327–17–559Recap
50January 27Montreal1–4TorontoHuet19,50827–18–559Recap
51January 29Ottawa1–3MontrealAebischer21,27328–18–561Recap :
February: 5–9–1 (home: 3–5–0; road: 2–4–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
52February 1Montreal4–5PittsburghSOAebischer17,13228–18–662Recap
53February 3NY Islanders4–2MontrealHuet21,27328–19–662Recap
54February 4Pittsburgh3–4MontrealOTAebischer21,27329–19–664Recap
55February 6Carolina2–1MontrealAebischer21,27329–20–664Recap
56February 8Montreal1–4OttawaHuet19,91529–21–664Recap
57February 10Ottawa5–3MontrealAebischer21,27329–22–664Recap
58February 13Florida1–0MontrealHuet21,27329–23–664Recap
59February 14Montreal2–5New JerseyHuet7,51529–24–664Recap
60February 17Carolina5–3MontrealAebischer21,27329–25–664Recap
61February 18Montreal3–2ColumbusHalak16,11630–25–666Recap
62February 20Washington3–5MontrealHalak21,27331–25–668Recap
63February 22Montreal6–5NashvilleSOHalak15,80832–25–670Recap
64February 24Montreal2–3NY IslandersHalak16,23432–26–670Recap
65February 26Toronto5–4MontrealAebischer21,27333–26–672Recap
66February 27Montreal0–4NY RangersHalak18,20033–27–672Recap :
March: 8–5–0 (home: 6–0–0; road: 2–5–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
67March 2Montreal5–8BuffaloAebischer18,69033–28–672Recap
68March 3Montreal1–3BostonHalak17,56533–29–672Recap
69March 8Montreal2–6AtlantaHalak14,52833–30–672Recap
70March 10Montreal4–3St. LouisAebischer19,42134–30–674Recap
71March 13NY Islanders3–5MontrealAebischer21,27335–30–676Recap
72March 16Montreal3–6PittsburghAebischer17,13235–31–676Recap
73March 17Toronto2–3MontrealSOHalak21,27336–31–678Recap
74March 20Boston0–1MontrealHalak21,27337–31–680Recap
75March 22Montreal6–3BostonHalak17,02638–31–682Recap
76March 24Washington1–4MontrealHalak21,27339–31–684Recap
77March 27Rangers4–6MontrealHalak21,27340–31–686Recap
78March 30Montreal2–5OttawaHalak20,18540–32–686Recap
79March 31Buffalo3–4MontrealHalak21,27341–32–688Recap :
April: 1–2–0 (home: 1–0–0; road: 0–2–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPointsRecap
80April 3Boston0–2MontrealHalak21,27342–32–690Recap
81April 5Montreal1–3NY RangersHalak18,20042–33–690Recap
82April 7Montreal5–6TorontoHuet19,72342–34–690Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout 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 |
| 11 | Saku Koivu | C | 81 | 22 | 53 | 75 | −21 | 74 |
| 44 | Sheldon Souray | D | 81 | 26 | 38 | 64 | −28 | 135 |
| 73 | Michael Ryder | RW | 82 | 30 | 28 | 58 | −25 | 60 |
| 79 | Andrei Markov | D | 77 | 6 | 43 | 49 | 2 | 56 |
| 35 | Tomas Plekanec | LW | 81 | 20 | 27 | 47 | 10 | 36 |
| 27 | Alexei Kovalev | RW | 73 | 18 | 29 | 47 | −19 | 78 |
| 21 | Chris Higgins | C | 61 | 22 | 16 | 38 | −11 | 26 |
| 32 | Mark Streit | D | 76 | 10 | 26 | 36 | −5 | 14 |
| 20 | Mike Johnson | RW | 80 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 6 | 40 |
| 84 | Guillaume Latendresse | RW | 80 | 16 | 13 | 29 | −20 | 47 |
| 15 | Sergei Samsonov | LW | 63 | 9 | 17 | 26 | −4 | 10 |
| 14 | Radek Bonk | C | 74 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 0 | 54 |
| 8 | Mike Komisarek | D | 82 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 7 | 96 |
| 52 | Craig Rivet‡ | D | 54 | 6 | 10 | 16 | −7 | 57 |
| 42 | Alexander Perezhogin | LW | 61 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 11 | 48 |
| 51 | Francis Bouillon | D | 62 | 3 | 11 | 14 | −10 | 52 |
| 40 | Maxim Lapierre | C | 46 | 6 | 6 | 12 | −7 | 24 |
| 46 | Andrei Kostitsyn | W | 22 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 6 |
| 22 | Steve Begin | C | 52 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −6 | 46 |
| 25 | Mathieu Dandenault | D | 68 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −8 | 40 |
| 57 | Garth Murray | C | 43 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −10 | 32 |
| 6 | Janne Niinimaa | D | 41 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −13 | 36 |
| 47 | Aaron Downey | RW | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −6 | 48 |
| 41 | Jaroslav Halak | G | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 2 |
| 39 | Cristobal Huet | G | 42 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 0 |
| 62 | Duncan Milroy | RW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 0 |
| 30 | David Aebischer | G | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 |
| 26 | Josh Gorges† | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| 59 | Mikhail Grabovski | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 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 | OT | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 39 | Cristobal Huet | 42 | 19 | 16 | 3 | 1280 | 107 | 2.81 | .916 | 2 | 2286 |
| 30 | David Aebischer | 32 | 13 | 12 | 3 | 929 | 93 | 3.17 | .900 | 0 | 1760 |
| 41 | Jaroslav Halak | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 469 | 44 | 2.89 | .906 | 2 | 912 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honour | Recipient |
| League (annual) | King Clancy Memorial Trophy | Saku Koivu |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Cristobal Huet |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Sheldon Souray |
| League (in-season) | NHL Third Star of the Month | Cristobal Huet (November) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Third Star of the Week | Sheldon Souray (October 22) |
| League (in-season) | NHL Third Star of the Week | Jaroslav Halak (March 25) |
| Team | Jacques Beauchamp Molson Trophy | Mark Streit |
| Team | Molson Cup | Cristobal Huet |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Guillaume Latendresse | October 6, 2006 |
| First game | Mikhail Grabovski | January 6, 2007 |
| First game | Duncan Milroy | February 17, 2007 |
| First game | Jaroslav Halak | February 18, 2007 |

## Transactions

The Canadiens were involved in the following transactions from June 20, 2006, the day after the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 6, 2007, the day of the deciding game of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 24, 2006 (2006-06-24) | To San Jose Sharks 1st-round pick in 2006 | To Montreal Canadiens 1st-round pick in 20062nd-round pick in 2006 |
| June 24, 2006 (2006-06-24) | To Philadelphia Flyers 3rd-round pick in 20064th-round pick in 2006 | To Montreal Canadiens Chicago's 3rd-round pick in 2006 |
| July 12, 2006 (2006-07-12) | To Washington Capitals Richard Zednik | To Montreal Canadiens 3rd-round pick in 2007 |
| July 12, 2006 (2006-07-12) | To Phoenix Coyotes 4th-round pick in 2007 | To Montreal Canadiens Mike Johnson |
| September 30, 2006 (2006-09-30) | To Dallas Stars Mike Ribeiro6th-round pick in 2008 | To Montreal Canadiens Janne Niinimaa5th-round pick in 2007 |
| December 15, 2006 (2006-12-15) | To San Jose Sharks Patrick Traverse | To Montreal Canadiens Mathieu Biron |
| February 25, 2007 (2007-02-25) | To San Jose Sharks Craig Rivet5th-round pick in 2008 | To Montreal Canadiens Josh Gorges1st-round pick in 2007 |
| May 31, 2007 (2007-05-31) | To New York Rangers 7th-round pick in 2007 | To Montreal Canadiens Rights to Ryan Russell |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 12, 2006 (2006-07-12) | Sergei Samsonov | Edmonton Oilers | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 13, 2006 (2006-07-13) | Dan Jancevski | Dallas Stars | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 28, 2006 (2006-09-28) | Patrick Traverse | San Jose Sharks | | Waivers |
| February 27, 2007 (2007-02-27) | Michael Leighton | Philadelphia Flyers | | Waivers |
| May 31, 2007 (2007-05-31) | Janne Lahti | HPK (Liiga) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 13, 2006 (2006-07-13) | Raitis Ivanans | Los Angeles Kings | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 21, 2006 (2006-07-21) | Pete Vandermeer | Washington Capitals | Free agency (III) |
| July 24, 2006 (2006-07-24) | Jan Bulis | Vancouver Canucks | Free agency (III) |
| September 7, 2006 (2006-09-07) | Olivier Michaud | Saint–Jean Chiefs (LNAH) | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 19, 2006 (2006-09-19) | Todd Simpson | Hannover Scorpions (DEL) | Free agency (III) |
| October 17, 2006 (2006-10-17) | Pierre Dagenais | Jokerit (Liiga) | Free agency (UFA) |
| October 18, 2006 (2006-10-18) | Jeff Paul | Tilburg Trappers (NED) | Free agency (VI) |
| October 26, 2006 (2006-10-26) | Johnathan Aitken | EC KAC (EBEL) | Free agency (UFA) |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| June 25, 2006 (2006-06-25) | Cristobal Huet | 2-year | Re-signing |
| June 29, 2006 (2006-06-29) | Jonathan Ferland | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 1, 2006 (2006-07-01) | Francis Bouillon | 3-year | Re-signing |
| July 6, 2006 (2006-07-06) | Jean-Philippe Cote | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 6, 2006 (2006-07-06) | Mike Ribeiro | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 10, 2006 (2006-07-10) | Mathieu Aubin | 3-year | Entry-level |
| July 10, 2006 (2006-07-10) | Matt D'Agostini | 3-year | Entry-level |
| July 10, 2006 (2006-07-10) | Mikhail Grabovski | 2-year | Entry-level |
| July 10, 2006 (2006-07-10) | Chris Higgins | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 10, 2006 (2006-07-10) | Mike Komisarek | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 12, 2006 (2006-07-12) | David Aebischer | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 13, 2006 (2006-07-13) | Andrew Archer | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 13, 2006 (2006-07-13) | Yann Danis | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 13, 2006 (2006-07-13) | Duncan Milroy | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 17, 2006 (2006-07-17) | Alexander Perezhogin | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 23, 2006 (2006-07-23) | Michael Ryder | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 9, 2006 (2006-08-09) | Ryan O'Byrne | 2-year | Entry-level |
| September 29, 2006 (2006-09-29) | Guillaume Latendresse | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 8, 2007 (2007-05-08) | Mathieu Carle | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 26, 2007 (2007-05-26) | Sergei Kostitsyn | 3-year | Entry-level |
| May 28, 2007 (2007-05-28) | Andrei Markov | 4-year | Extension |
| May 31, 2007 (2007-05-31) | Ryan Russell | 3-year | Entry-level |

## Draft picks

Montreal's picks at the 2006 NHL entry draft in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Canadiens had the 16th overall draft pick, which they traded to the San Jose Sharks for the 20th and 53rd overall picks.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | NHL team | College/junior/club team (league) |
| 1 | 20 | David Fischer (D) | United States | Montreal Canadiens (from San Jose) | Apple Valley High School (MSHSL) |
| 2 | 49 | Ben Maxwell (C) | Canada | Montreal Canadiens | Kootenay Ice (WHL) |
| 2 | 53 | Mathieu Carle (D) | Canada | Montreal Canadiens (from San Jose) | Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL) |
| 3 | 66 | Ryan White (C) | Canada | Montreal Canadiens (from Chicago) | Calgary Hitmen (WHL) |
| 5 | 139 | Pavel Valentenko (D) | Russia | Montreal Canadiens | Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russian Superleague) |
| 7 | 199 | Cameron Cepek (D) | United States | Montreal Canadiens | Portland Winterhawks (WHL) |