# 1944–45 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1944–45 Montreal Canadiens season was the Canadiens' 36th season. The Canadiens placed first in the regular season, but lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the semi-finals.

## Regular season
### Maurice Richard's 50 goals in 50 games

In 1944–45, Maurice Richard made NHL history by becoming the first player to score 50 goals in one season, reaching the mark on the final night of the season — 50 goals in 50 games.

### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 38 | 8 | 4 | 228 | 121 | +107 | 80 |
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 31 | 14 | 5 | 218 | 161 | +57 | 67 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 24 | 22 | 4 | 183 | 161 | +22 | 52 |
| 4 | Boston Bruins | 50 | 16 | 30 | 4 | 179 | 219 | −40 | 36 |
| 5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 13 | 30 | 7 | 141 | 194 | −53 | 33 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 50 | 11 | 29 | 10 | 154 | 247 | −93 | 32 |

### Record vs. opponents

1944–45 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 7–3 | 0–9–1 | 0–10 | 4–3–3 | 5–5 |
| Chicago | 5–5 | — | 5–5 | 0–8–2 | 7–1–2 | 5–4–1 |
| Detroit | 9–0–1 | 7–3 | — | 1–8–1 | 6–2–2 | 8–1–1 |
| Montreal | 10–0 | 7–1–2 | 8–1–1 | — | 9–1 | 4–5–1 |
| New York | 3–4–3 | 3–3–4 | 2–6–2 | 1–9 | — | 2–7–1 |
| Toronto | 5–5 | 6–3–1 | 1–8–1 | 5–4–1 | 7–2–1 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | October 28, 1944 | 3–2 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | L | November 2, 1944 | 1–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | W | November 4, 1944 | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | W | November 5, 1944 | 3–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | W | November 9, 1944 | 9–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 4–1–0 |
| 6 | L | November 11, 1944 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 4–2–0 |
| 7 | W | November 12, 1944 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 5–2–0 |
| 8 | W | November 18, 1944 | 6–3 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 6–2–0 |
| 9 | W | November 19, 1944 | 6–2 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 7–2–0 |
| 10 | W | November 21, 1944 | 4–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 8–2–0 |
| 11 | T | November 23, 1944 | 3–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 8–2–1 |
| 12 | L | November 25, 1944 | 0–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 8–3–1 |
| 13 | W | November 26, 1944 | 4–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 9–3–1 |
| 14 | L | November 30, 1944 | 5–7 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 9–4–1 |
| 15 | W | December 3, 1944 | 2–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 10–4–1 |
| 16 | W | December 5, 1944 | 4–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 11–4–1 |
| 17 | T | December 14, 1944 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 11–4–2 |
| 18 | W | December 16, 1944 | 8–5 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 12–4–2 |
| 19 | W | December 17, 1944 | 4–1 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 13–4–2 |
| 20 | W | December 23, 1944 | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 14–4–2 |
| 21 | W | December 28, 1944 | 9–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 15–4–2 |
| 22 | W | December 30, 1944 | 4–1 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 16–4–2 |
| 23 | W | January 2, 1945 | 6–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 17–4–2 |
| 24 | L | January 4, 1945 | 2–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 17–5–2 |
| 25 | W | January 6, 1945 | 10–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 18–5–2 |
| 26 | W | January 11, 1945 | 7–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 19–5–2 |
| 27 | W | January 13, 1945 | 8–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 20–5–2 |
| 28 | W | January 14, 1945 | 6–2 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 21–5–2 |
| 29 | W | January 17, 1945 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 22–5–2 |
| 30 | W | January 20, 1945 | 5–2 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 23–5–2 |
| 31 | W | January 21, 1945 | 6–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 24–5–2 |
| 32 | W | January 27, 1945 | 11–3 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 25–5–2 |
| 33 | W | January 28, 1945 | 4–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 26–5–2 |
| 34 | T | February 1, 1945 | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 26–5–3 |
| 35 | W | February 3, 1945 | 5–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 27–5–3 |
| 36 | W | February 4, 1945 | 3–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 28–5–3 |
| 37 | W | February 8, 1945 | 9–4 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 29–5–3 |
| 38 | W | February 10, 1945 | 5–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 30–5–3 |
| 39 | W | February 11, 1945 | 4–3 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 31–5–3 |
| 40 | W | February 17, 1945 | 4–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 32–5–3 |
| 41 | T | February 18, 1945 | 0–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 32–5–4 |
| 42 | W | February 25, 1945 | 5–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 33–5–4 |
| 43 | L | March 3, 1945 | 2–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45) | 33–6–4 |
| 44 | L | March 4, 1945 | 4–6 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 33–7–4 |
| 45 | W | March 8, 1945 | 3–2 | Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 34–7–4 |
| 46 | W | March 10, 1945 | 7–3 | New York Rangers (1944–45) | 35–7–4 |
| 47 | W | March 11, 1945 | 11–5 | @ New York Rangers (1944–45) | 36–7–4 |
| 48 | L | March 15, 1945 | 1–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1944–45) | 36–8–4 |
| 49 | W | March 17, 1945 | 4–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1944–45) | 37–8–4 |
| 50 | W | March 18, 1945 | 4–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1944–45) | 38–8–4 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Elmer Lach | C | 50 | 26 | 54 | 80 | 37 |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 50 | 50 | 23 | 73 | 46 |
| Toe Blake | LW | 49 | 29 | 38 | 67 | 25 |
| Buddy O'Connor | C | 50 | 21 | 23 | 44 | 2 |
| Dutch Hiller | LW | 48 | 20 | 16 | 36 | 20 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 50 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 34 |
| Fern Gauthier | RW | 50 | 18 | 13 | 31 | 23 |
| Leo Lamoureux | C/D | 49 | 2 | 22 | 24 | 58 |
| Ray Getliffe | C/LW | 41 | 16 | 7 | 23 | 34 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 31 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 16 |
| Bob Fillion | LW | 31 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 12 |
| Murph Chamberlain | LW | 32 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 38 |
| Frank Eddolls | D | 43 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 20 |
| Glen Harmon | D | 42 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 41 |
| Fern Majeau | C/LW | 12 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| Roly Rossignol | RW | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Wilf Field | D | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Rosario Joannette | C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Nils Tremblay | C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Bill Durnan | G | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Bill Durnan | 3000 | 50 | 38 | 8 | 4 | 121 | 2.42 | 1 |
| Team: | 3000 | 50 | 38 | 8 | 4 | 121 | 2.42 | 1 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 6 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 |
| Bob Fillion | LW | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Murph Chamberlain | LW | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Dutch Hiller | LW | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Leo Lamoureux | C/D | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Toe Blake | LW | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Eddie Emberg | C | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Glen Harmon | D | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ray Getliffe | C/LW | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| John Mahaffy | C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Butch Stahan | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Bill Durnan | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Eddolls | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fern Gauthier | RW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Buddy O'Connor | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Roly Rossignol | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nils Tremblay | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Bill Durnan | 373 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 2.41 | 0 |
| Team: | 373 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 2.41 | 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;