# 1961–62 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1961–62 Montreal Canadiens season was the 53rd season in franchise history. The team placed first in the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. The Canadiens were eliminated in semi-finals by the Chicago Black Hawks 4 games to 2.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 42 | 14 | 14 | 259 | 166 | +93 | 98 |
| 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 37 | 22 | 11 | 232 | 180 | +52 | 85 |
| 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 31 | 26 | 13 | 217 | 186 | +31 | 75 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | 70 | 26 | 32 | 12 | 195 | 207 | −12 | 64 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 23 | 33 | 14 | 184 | 219 | −35 | 60 |
| 6 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 15 | 47 | 8 | 177 | 306 | −129 | 38 |

### Record vs. opponents

1961–62 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 2–10–2 | 4–8–2 | 3–10–1 | 2–10–2 | 4–9–1 |
| Chicago | 10–2–2 | — | 7–3–4 | 3–9–2 | 7–6–1 | 4–6–4 |
| Detroit | 8–4–2 | 3–7–4 | — | 3–8–3 | 6–5–3 | 3–9–2 |
| Montreal | 10–3–1 | 9–3–2 | 8–3–3 | — | 8–1–5 | 7–4–3 |
| New York | 10–2–2 | 6–7–1 | 5–6–3 | 1–8–5 | — | 4–9–1 |
| Toronto | 9–4–1 | 6–4–4 | 9–3–2 | 4–7–3 | 9–4–1 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | October 14, 1961 | 3–1 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | T | October 15, 1961 | 5–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 1–0–1 |
| 3 | W | October 18, 1961 | 5–2 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 2–0–1 |
| 4 | W | October 21, 1961 | 6–2 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 3–0–1 |
| 5 | W | October 22, 1961 | 3–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 4–0–1 |
| 6 | W | October 26, 1961 | 7–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 5–0–1 |
| 7 | W | October 28, 1961 | 7–5 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 6–0–1 |
| 8 | W | October 29, 1961 | 6–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 7–0–1 |
| 9 | L | November 1, 1961 | 2–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 7–1–1 |
| 10 | L | November 2, 1961 | 2–5 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 7–2–1 |
| 11 | T | November 4, 1961 | 3–3 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 7–2–2 |
| 12 | W | November 9, 1961 | 5–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 8–2–2 |
| 13 | W | November 11, 1961 | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 9–2–2 |
| 14 | L | November 12, 1961 | 0–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 9–3–2 |
| 15 | L | November 15, 1961 | 2–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 9–4–2 |
| 16 | L | November 16, 1961 | 2–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 9–5–2 |
| 17 | T | November 18, 1961 | 4–4 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 9–5–3 |
| 18 | T | November 19, 1961 | 3–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 9–5–4 |
| 19 | W | November 23, 1961 | 5–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 10–5–4 |
| 20 | W | November 25, 1961 | 5–0 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 11–5–4 |
| 21 | T | November 26, 1961 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 11–5–5 |
| 22 | T | November 29, 1961 | 2–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 11–5–6 |
| 23 | T | November 30, 1961 | 1–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 11–5–7 |
| 24 | W | December 2, 1961 | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 12–5–7 |
| 25 | W | December 3, 1961 | 1–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 13–5–7 |
| 26 | W | December 7, 1961 | 4–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 14–5–7 |
| 27 | T | December 9, 1961 | 2–2 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 14–5–8 |
| 28 | W | December 10, 1961 | 4–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 15–5–8 |
| 29 | W | December 16, 1961 | 8–4 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 16–5–8 |
| 30 | L | December 17, 1961 | 1–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 16–6–8 |
| 31 | L | December 21, 1961 | 3–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 16–7–8 |
| 32 | W | December 23, 1961 | 6–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 17–7–8 |
| 33 | W | December 25, 1961 | 5–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 18–7–8 |
| 34 | W | December 27, 1961 | 3–0 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 19–7–8 |
| 35 | T | December 30, 1961 | 4–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 19–7–9 |
| 36 | L | January 1, 1962 | 0–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 19–8–9 |
| 37 | L | January 3, 1962 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 19–9–9 |
| 38 | W | January 6, 1962 | 5–1 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 20–9–9 |
| 39 | T | January 7, 1962 | 2–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 20–9–10 |
| 40 | W | January 11, 1962 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 21–9–10 |
| 41 | W | January 13, 1962 | 5–3 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 22–9–10 |
| 42 | W | January 14, 1962 | 4–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 23–9–10 |
| 43 | W | January 17, 1962 | 7–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 24–9–10 |
| 44 | T | January 20, 1962 | 2–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 24–9–11 |
| 45 | W | January 21, 1962 | 5–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 25–9–11 |
| 46 | W | January 27, 1962 | 5–1 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 26–9–11 |
| 47 | W | January 28, 1962 | 5–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 27–9–11 |
| 48 | W | February 1, 1962 | 5–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 28–9–11 |
| 49 | W | February 3, 1962 | 8–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 29–9–11 |
| 50 | L | February 4, 1962 | 1–2 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 29–10–11 |
| 51 | W | February 10, 1962 | 4–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 30–10–11 |
| 52 | W | February 11, 1962 | 4–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 31–10–11 |
| 53 | W | February 15, 1962 | 9–1 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 32–10–11 |
| 54 | W | February 17, 1962 | 6–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 33–10–11 |
| 55 | L | February 18, 1962 | 2–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 33–11–11 |
| 56 | W | February 21, 1962 | 4–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 34–11–11 |
| 57 | W | February 24, 1962 | 4–2 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 35–11–11 |
| 58 | T | February 25, 1962 | 3–3 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 35–11–12 |
| 59 | T | March 3, 1962 | 2–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 35–11–13 |
| 60 | L | March 4, 1962 | 2–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 35–12–13 |
| 61 | T | March 8, 1962 | 1–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 35–12–14 |
| 62 | W | March 10, 1962 | 5–2 | Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 36–12–14 |
| 63 | W | March 11, 1962 | 2–1 | @ New York Rangers (1961–62) | 37–12–14 |
| 64 | L | March 14, 1962 | 2–5 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 37–13–14 |
| 65 | W | March 15, 1962 | 6–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 38–13–14 |
| 66 | W | March 17, 1962 | 2–0 | New York Rangers (1961–62) | 39–13–14 |
| 67 | L | March 18, 1962 | 2–6 | @ Boston Bruins (1961–62) | 39–14–14 |
| 68 | W | March 22, 1962 | 4–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62) | 40–14–14 |
| 69 | W | March 24, 1962 | 5–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1961–62) | 41–14–14 |
| 70 | W | March 25, 1962 | 5–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62) | 42–14–14 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Ralph Backstrom | C | 66 | 27 | 38 | 65 | 29 |
| Claude Provost | RW | 70 | 33 | 29 | 62 | 22 |
| Bernie Geoffrion | RW | 62 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 36 |
| Gilles Tremblay | LW | 70 | 32 | 22 | 54 | 28 |
| Bill Hicke | RW | 70 | 20 | 31 | 51 | 42 |
| Henri Richard | C | 54 | 21 | 29 | 50 | 48 |
| Jean-Guy Talbot | D | 70 | 5 | 42 | 47 | 90 |
| Donnie Marshall | LW | 66 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 12 |
| Bobby Rousseau | RW | 70 | 21 | 24 | 45 | 26 |
| Dickie Moore | LW | 57 | 19 | 22 | 41 | 54 |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 43 | 18 | 23 | 41 | 36 |
| Phil Goyette | C | 69 | 7 | 27 | 34 | 18 |
| Marcel Bonin | W | 33 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 41 |
| J.C. Tremblay | D | 70 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 18 |
| Tom Johnson | D | 62 | 1 | 17 | 18 | 45 |
| Lou Fontinato | D | 54 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 167 |
| Al MacNeil | D | 61 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 74 |
| Red Berenson | C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Jean Gauthier | D | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Billy Carter | C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Chuck Hamilton | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Plante | G | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Jacques Plante | 4200 | 70 | 42 | 14 | 14 | 166 | 2.37 | 4 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 42 | 14 | 14 | 166 | 2.37 | 4 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Dickie Moore | LW | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Phil Goyette | C | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| Claude Provost | RW | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Red Berenson | C | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jean-Guy Talbot | D | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Bill Hicke | RW | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 |
| Bobby Rousseau | RW | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| J.C. Tremblay | D | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Gilles Tremblay | LW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ralph Backstrom | C | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Lou Fontinato | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
| Bernie Geoffrion | RW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Tom Johnson | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Donnie Marshall | LW | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Al MacNeil | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Keith McCreary | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Plante | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Jacques Plante | 360 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 3.17 | 0 |
| Team: | 360 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 3.17 | 0 |
    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;