# 1968–69 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1968–69 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 60th season of play. The Canadiens would defeat the St. Louis Blues to win their 16th Stanley Cup championship in club history.

## Regular season
### Final standings

East Division vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 76 | 46 | 19 | 11 | 271 | 202 | +69 | 103 |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 76 | 42 | 18 | 16 | 303 | 221 | +82 | 100 |
| 3 | New York Rangers | 76 | 41 | 26 | 9 | 231 | 196 | +35 | 91 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 76 | 35 | 26 | 15 | 234 | 217 | +17 | 85 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 76 | 33 | 31 | 12 | 239 | 221 | +18 | 78 |
| 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 76 | 34 | 33 | 9 | 280 | 246 | +34 | 77 |

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | T | October 12, 1968 | 1–1 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) | 0–0–1 |
| 2 | W | October 16, 1968 | 4–2 | @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) | 1–0–1 |
| 3 | W | October 17, 1968 | 3–1 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) | 2–0–1 |
| 4 | W | October 20, 1968 | 4–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) | 3–0–1 |
| 5 | W | October 23, 1968 | 5–2 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) | 4–0–1 |
| 6 | W | October 25, 1968 | 4–2 | @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) | 5–0–1 |
| 7 | L | October 27, 1968 | 2–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1968–69) | 5–1–1 |
| 8 | W | October 30, 1968 | 5–0 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) | 6–1–1 |
| 9 | W | November 2, 1968 | 2–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) | 7–1–1 |
| 10 | L | November 3, 1968 | 2–3 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) | 7–2–1 |
| 11 | W | November 7, 1968 | 5–4 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) | 8–2–1 |
| 12 | W | November 9, 1968 | 4–1 | St. Louis Blues (1968–69) | 9–2–1 |
| 13 | T | November 10, 1968 | 4–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) | 9–2–2 |
| 14 | L | November 14, 1968 | 3–5 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) | 9–3–2 |
| 15 | T | November 16, 1968 | 3–3 | Oakland Seals (1968–69) | 9–3–3 |
| 16 | L | November 17, 1968 | 2–3 | @ New York Rangers (1968–69) | 9–4–3 |
| 17 | W | November 20, 1968 | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) | 10–4–3 |
| 18 | W | November 21, 1968 | 3–0 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) | 11–4–3 |
| 19 | W | November 23, 1968 | 4–3 | Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) | 12–4–3 |
| 20 | W | November 27, 1968 | 4–2 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) | 13–4–3 |
| 21 | L | November 29, 1968 | 4–5 | @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) | 13–5–3 |
| 22 | W | December 1, 1968 | 3–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) | 14–5–3 |
| 23 | L | December 4, 1968 | 2–4 | New York Rangers (1968–69) | 14–6–3 |
| 24 | T | December 5, 1968 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1968–69) | 14–6–4 |
| 25 | W | December 7, 1968 | 6–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) | 15–6–4 |
| 26 | T | December 11, 1968 | 4–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) | 15–6–5 |
| 27 | W | December 12, 1968 | 5–4 | St. Louis Blues (1968–69) | 16–6–5 |
| 28 | W | December 14, 1968 | 1–0 | Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) | 17–6–5 |
| 29 | T | December 18, 1968 | 2–2 | Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) | 17–6–6 |
| 30 | T | December 21, 1968 | 0–0 | Boston Bruins (1968–69) | 17–6–7 |
| 31 | L | December 22, 1968 | 5–7 | @ Boston Bruins (1968–69) | 17–7–7 |
| 32 | W | December 26, 1968 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) | 18–7–7 |
| 33 | W | December 28, 1968 | 5–3 | New York Rangers (1968–69) | 19–7–7 |
| 34 | L | December 29, 1968 | 1–3 | @ New York Rangers (1968–69) | 19–8–7 |
| 35 | W | December 31, 1968 | 4–3 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) | 20–8–7 |
| 36 | L | January 2, 1969 | 2–5 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) | 20–9–7 |
| 37 | L | January 4, 1969 | 3–6 | Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) | 20–10–7 |
| 38 | W | January 5, 1969 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) | 21–10–7 |
| 39 | W | January 7, 1969 | 6–3 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) | 22–10–7 |
| 40 | W | January 9, 1969 | 8–4 | Oakland Seals (1968–69) | 23–10–7 |
| 41 | L | January 11, 1969 | 3–6 | Boston Bruins (1968–69) | 23–11–7 |
| 42 | L | January 15, 1969 | 0–4 | Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) | 23–12–7 |
| 43 | W | January 16, 1969 | 4–0 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) | 24–12–7 |
| 44 | W | January 18, 1969 | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) | 25–12–7 |
| 45 | L | January 23, 1969 | 3–5 | Oakland Seals (1968–69) | 25–13–7 |
| 46 | W | January 25, 1969 | 6–3 | Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) | 26–13–7 |
| 47 | L | January 26, 1969 | 2–3 | @ New York Rangers (1968–69) | 26–14–7 |
| 48 | W | January 29, 1969 | 4–0 | Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) | 27–14–7 |
| 49 | W | February 1, 1969 | 6–2 | New York Rangers (1968–69) | 28–14–7 |
| 50 | W | February 2, 1969 | 6–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) | 29–14–7 |
| 51 | L | February 5, 1969 | 1–5 | @ Oakland Seals (1968–69) | 29–15–7 |
| 52 | W | February 6, 1969 | 4–2 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) | 30–15–7 |
| 53 | W | February 8, 1969 | 6–3 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) | 31–15–7 |
| 54 | T | February 9, 1969 | 4–4 | @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) | 31–15–8 |
| 55 | W | February 11, 1969 | 7–3 | Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) | 32–15–8 |
| 56 | W | February 13, 1969 | 3–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) | 33–15–8 |
| 57 | W | February 15, 1969 | 3–1 | Boston Bruins (1968–69) | 34–15–8 |
| 58 | W | February 16, 1969 | 4–0 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) | 35–15–8 |
| 59 | L | February 19, 1969 | 1–5 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) | 35–16–8 |
| 60 | W | February 20, 1969 | 2–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) | 36–16–8 |
| 61 | W | February 22, 1969 | 4–1 | Philadelphia Flyers (1968–69) | 37–16–8 |
| 62 | W | February 26, 1969 | 7–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) | 38–16–8 |
| 63 | W | March 1, 1969 | 3–0 | St. Louis Blues (1968–69) | 39–16–8 |
| 64 | L | March 2, 1969 | 2–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1968–69) | 39–17–8 |
| 65 | W | March 6, 1969 | 5–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) | 40–17–8 |
| 66 | T | March 8, 1969 | 3–3 | Los Angeles Kings (1968–69) | 40–17–9 |
| 67 | T | March 9, 1969 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1968–69) | 40–17–10 |
| 68 | W | March 11, 1969 | 3–0 | @ St. Louis Blues (1968–69) | 41–17–10 |
| 69 | T | March 13, 1969 | 4–4 | Minnesota North Stars (1968–69) | 41–17–11 |
| 70 | W | March 15, 1969 | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) | 42–17–11 |
| 71 | W | March 19, 1969 | 5–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1968–69) | 43–17–11 |
| 72 | W | March 20, 1969 | 5–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1968–69) | 44–17–11 |
| 73 | W | March 22, 1969 | 3–1 | New York Rangers (1968–69) | 45–17–11 |
| 74 | L | March 26, 1969 | 4–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1968–69) | 45–18–11 |
| 75 | W | March 29, 1969 | 5–3 | Boston Bruins (1968–69) | 46–18–11 |
| 76 | L | March 30, 1969 | 3–6 | @ Boston Bruins (1968–69) | 46–19–11 |

## Playoffs
### Quarter-final

Versus New York Rangers
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | April 2, 1969 | 3–1 | New York Rangers | 1–0 |
| 2 | W | April 3, 1969 | 5–2 | New York Rangers | 2–0 |
| 3 | W | April 5, 1969 | 4–1 | @ New York Rangers | 3–0 |
| 4 | W | April 6, 1969 | 4–3 | @ New York Rangers | 4–0 |
Montreal wins the series 4–0.

### Semi-final

Versus Boston Bruins
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | April 10, 1969 | 3–2 (OT) | Boston Bruins | 1–0 |
| 2 | W | April 13, 1969 | 4–3 (OT) | Boston Bruins | 2–0 |
| 3 | L | April 17, 1969 | 0–5 | @ Boston Bruins | 2–1 |
| 4 | L | April 20, 1969 | 2–3 | @ Boston Bruins | 2–2 |
| 5 | W | April 22, 1969 | 4–2 | Boston Bruins | 3–2 |
| 6 | W | April 24, 1969 | 2–1 (OT) | @ Boston Bruins | 4–2 |
Montreal wins the series 4–2.

### Stanley Cup Finals

Versus St. Louis Blues
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | April 27, 1969 | 3–1 | St. Louis Blues | 1–0 |
| 2 | W | April 29, 1969 | 3–1 | St. Louis Blues | 2–0 |
| 3 | W | May 1, 1969 | 4–0 | @ St. Louis Blues | 3–0 |
| 4 | W | May 4, 1969 | 2–1 | @ St. Louis Blues | 4–0 |
Montreal wins the series 4–0.

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Yvan Cournoyer | RW | 76 | 43 | 44 | 87 | 31 | 14 | 0 | 8 |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 69 | 33 | 49 | 82 | 55 | 7 | 0 | 5 |
| Bobby Rousseau | RW | 76 | 30 | 40 | 70 | 59 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| Jacques Lemaire | C | 75 | 29 | 34 | 63 | 29 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| John Ferguson | LW | 71 | 29 | 23 | 52 | 185 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Henri Richard | C | 64 | 15 | 37 | 52 | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ralph Backstrom | C | 72 | 13 | 28 | 41 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Dick Duff | LW | 68 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| J.C. Tremblay | D | 75 | 7 | 32 | 39 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Serge Savard | D | 74 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 73 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jacques Laperriere | D | 69 | 5 | 26 | 31 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Claude Provost | RW | 73 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Gilles Tremblay | LW | 44 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Harris | D | 76 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 102 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Mickey Redmond | RW | 65 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Hillman | D | 25 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Bordeleau | C | 13 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Harper | D | 21 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jude Drouin | C | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Berry | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alain Caron | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony Esposito | G | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Howie Glover | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guy Lapointe | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garry Monahan | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rogie Vachon | G | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ernie Wakely | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gump Worsley | G | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Rogie Vachon | 2051 | 36 | 22 | 9 | 3 | 98 | 2.87 | 2 |
| Gump Worsley | 1703 | 30 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 64 | 2.25 | 5 |
| Tony Esposito | 746 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 34 | 2.73 | 2 |
| Ernie Wakely | 60 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 4560 | 76 | 46 | 19 | 11 | 200 | 2.63 | 9 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 14 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dick Duff | LW | 14 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Yvan Cournoyer | RW | 14 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Serge Savard | D | 14 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| John Ferguson | LW | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 80 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Ralph Backstrom | C | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jacques Lemaire | C | 14 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Henri Richard | C | 14 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Rousseau | RW | 14 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Mickey Redmond | RW | 14 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J.C. Tremblay | D | 13 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Claude Provost | RW | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Laperriere | D | 14 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Harris | D | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Christian Bordeleau | C | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Lucien Grenier | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Harper | D | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Hillman | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rogie Vachon | G | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gump Worsley | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Rogie Vachon | 507 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 1.42 | 1 |
| Gump Worsley | 370 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 2.27 | 0 |
| Team: | 877 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 26 | 1.78 | 1 |
    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;

## Awards and records

* Prince of Wales Trophy
* Conn Smythe Trophy: || Serge Savard, Montreal Canadiens
* Jean Beliveau, Runner-Up, Hart Trophy
* Jean Beliveau, Centre, NHL Second All-Star Team
* Yvan Cournoyer, Right Wing, NHL Second All-Star Team
* Ted Harris, NHL Second All-Star Team

## Transactions
### Trades

| May 21, 1968 | To Oakland Seals Norm Ferguson Stan Fuller Francois Lacombe Michel Jacques | To Montreal Canadiens Wally Boyer Alain Caron rights to Lyle Bradley |
| June 6, 1968 | To Oakland Seals Bryan Watson cash | To Montreal Canadiens 1st round pick in 1972 (Michel Larocque) |
| June 10, 1968 | To Pittsburgh Penguins Wally Boyer | To Montreal Canadiens Al MacNeil |
| August, 1968 | To Oakland Seals Len Ronson | To Montreal Canadiens cash |

## Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1968 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 1 | Michel Plasse | Canada | Drummondville Rangers (QJHL) |
| 1 | 2 | Roger Belisle | Canada | Montreal North Beavers (LHIQ) |
| 1 | 3 | Jim Pritchard | Canada | Winnipeg Jets (WCHL) |
| 3 | 23 | Don Grierson | Canada | North Bay Trappers (NOJHL) |