# 1983–84 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1983–84 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 75th season of play in the National Hockey League. The team struggled on the ice and, for the first time ever in the expansion era, finished the regular season with a losing record. Coach Bob Berry was fired 63 games into the season and replaced with former Canadiens great Jacques Lemaire.
The club placed fourth in its division, which was still good enough to qualify for the playoffs ahead of the last place Hartford Whalers. The Habs then stunned their heavily favoured rivals, the Boston Bruins with a 3–0 sweep in the opening round. With the upset, Montreal recorded their first playoff series victory since 1980. Then they defeated their provincial rivals, the Quebec Nordiques in the Adams final, in a series notorious for the two bench clearing brawls before the third period of game 6. The Canadiens were finally eliminated in the Prince of Wales Conference finals by the defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders in six games.

## Regular season
### Final standings

Adams Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Boston Bruins | 80 | 49 | 25 | 6 | 336 | 261 | 104 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 80 | 48 | 25 | 7 | 315 | 257 | 103 |
| Quebec Nordiques | 80 | 42 | 28 | 10 | 360 | 278 | 94 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 80 | 35 | 40 | 5 | 286 | 295 | 75 |
| Hartford Whalers | 80 | 28 | 42 | 10 | 288 | 320 | 66 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

Adams Division record vs. opponents :
Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Adams Division
1983–84 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
HFD
MTL
QUE
Total
Boston
—4–45–2–16–24–419–12–1
Buffalo
4–4—5–38–01–6–118–13–1
Hartford
2–5–13–5—0–7−11–3−46–20–6
Montreal
2–60–87–0−1—3–512–19–1
Quebec
4–46–1–13–1−45–3—18–9–5
Vs. Patrick Division
1983–84 NHL records
Team
NJD
NYI
NYR
PHI
PIT
WSH
Total
Boston
2−12−0−12−0–11−1−13−02−112−3−3
Buffalo
2−0−10−31−1−13−03−02−0−111−4−3
Hartford
1−1–12–12–12–11–21−29−8−1
Montreal
2−10−32–10−2−12−0−10−36−10−2
Quebec
2−12−10−2–10−2−13−02−19−7−2
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Norris Division
1983–84 NHL records
Team
CHI
DET
MIN
STL
TOR
Total
Boston
1–22–11–23–01–28–7–0
Buffalo
1−21−1−11−22−12−0−17−6−2
Hartford
2–11–1−13−02–12–110–4–1
Montreal
2−0–13−01–23–02−111–3–1
Quebec
1–1−11–22–0−12–0–12–18–4–3
Vs. Smythe Division
1983–84 NHL records
Team
CGY
EDM
LAK
VAN
WIN
Total
Boston
2−0−11−23−02−0−12−110−3−2
Buffalo
3−01–22−0−13−03−012−2−1
Hartford
0−2–11–22–10–30–2–13–10–2
Montreal
2−11−21−21–21−1−16−8−1
Quebec
2−10−33−01−21−27−8−0 :

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

1983–84 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

### Playoffs

1984 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Playoffs

As fourth-place finishers, the Canadiens drew the division winner Boston Bruins as their first round opponent. The Canadiens upset the Bruins, sweeping the series in three straight games. The Canadiens then faced off against the Quebec Nordiques in a "Battle of Quebec" which culminated in the Good Friday Massacre. The Canadiens defeated the Nordiques four games to two to advance against the New York Islanders, the defending Stanley Cup champion. The Islanders would eliminate the Canadiens in six games.

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Guy Lafleur | RW | 80 | 30 | 40 | 70 | 19 | -14 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Mats Naslund | LW | 77 | 29 | 35 | 64 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Bobby Smith | C | 70 | 26 | 37 | 63 | 62 | -7 | 6 | 1 | 3 |
| Guy Carbonneau | C | 78 | 24 | 30 | 54 | 75 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Ryan Walter | C/LW | 73 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 83 | -11 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
| John Chabot | C | 56 | 18 | 25 | 43 | 13 | -2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Larry Robinson | D | 74 | 9 | 34 | 43 | 39 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Gainey | LW | 77 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 41 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mario Tremblay | RW | 67 | 14 | 25 | 39 | 112 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Pierre Mondou | C | 52 | 15 | 22 | 37 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Steve Shutt | LW | 63 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 29 | -18 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Chris Nilan | RW | 76 | 16 | 10 | 26 | 338 | -4 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Craig Ludwig | D | 80 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 52 | -10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bill Root | D | 72 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 45 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alfie Turcotte | C | 30 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 10 | -9 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Perry Turnbull | C | 40 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 59 | -12 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Jean Hamel | D | 79 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 92 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ric Nattress | D | 34 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 15 | -11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Hunter | RW | 22 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 42 | -2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Wickenheiser | C | 27 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Keith Acton | C | 9 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 4 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Kent Carlson | D | 65 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 73 | -15 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gilbert Delorme | D | 27 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 8 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike McPhee | LW | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 41 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Napier | RW | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Greg Paslawski | RW | 26 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Wamsley | G | 42 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Claude Lemieux | RW | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Chelios | D | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robert Picard | D | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Green | D | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Allison | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Normand Baron | LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jocelyn Gauvreau | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Holden | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Kitchen | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Landon | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sergio Momesso | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Newberry | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Penney | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Richard Sevigny | G | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Rick Wamsley | 2333 | 42 | 19 | 17 | 3 | 144 | 3.70 | 2 |
| Richard Sevigny | 2203 | 40 | 16 | 18 | 2 | 124 | 3.38 | 1 |
| Mark Holden | 52 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.62 | 0 |
| Steve Penney | 240 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 4.75 | 0 |
| Team: | 4828 | 80 | 35 | 40 | 5 | 291 | 3.62 | 3 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Mats Naslund | LW | 15 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Chris Chelios | D | 15 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Shutt | LW | 11 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre Mondou | C | 14 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Mario Tremblay | RW | 15 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bobby Smith | C | 15 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Guy Carbonneau | C | 15 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Gainey | LW | 15 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Chabot | C | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Larry Robinson | D | 15 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Hunter | RW | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Walter | C/LW | 15 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Rick Green | D | 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Perry Turnbull | C | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guy Lafleur | RW | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Ludwig | D | 15 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jean Hamel | D | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steve Penney | G | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike McPhee | LW | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Nilan | RW | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Normand Baron | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rick Wamsley | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Steve Penney | 871 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 32 | 2.20 | 3 |
| Rick Wamsley | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 903 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 32 | 2.13 | 3 |
    Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
    Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

## Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1983 NHL entry draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 17 | Alfie Turcotte | United States | Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) |
| 2 | 26 | Claude Lemieux | Canada | Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 27 | Sergio Momesso | Canada | Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 35 | Todd Francis | Canada | Brantford Alexanders (OHL) |
| 3 | 45 | Daniel Letendre | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
| 4 | 78 | John Kordic | Canada | Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) |
| 5 | 98 | Dan Wurst | United States | Edina High School (USHS-MN) |
| 6 | 118 | Arto Javanainen | Finland | Pori (Finland) |
| 7 | 138 | Vladislav Tretiak | Soviet Union | Moscow CSKA (USSR) |
| 8 | 158 | Rob Bryden | Canada | Henry Carr Crusaders (MetJHL) |
| 9 | 178 | Grant McKay | Canada | University of Calgary (CIAU) |
| 10 | 198 | Thomas Rundqvist | Sweden | Karlstad (Sweden) |
| 11 | 218 | Jeff Perpich | United States | Hibbing High School (USHS-MN) |
| 12 | 238 | Jean-Guy Bergeron | Canada | Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) |