# 1953–54 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1953–54 Montreal Canadiens season was the 45th season in franchise history. The team placed second in the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. The Canadiens lost in Stanley Cup Finals against Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 3.

## Pre-season

"Punch Line" center Elmer Lach retired.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 37 | 19 | 14 | 191 | 132 | +59 | 88 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 35 | 24 | 11 | 195 | 141 | +54 | 81 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 32 | 24 | 14 | 152 | 131 | +21 | 78 |
| 4 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 32 | 28 | 10 | 177 | 181 | −4 | 74 |
| 5 | New York Rangers | 70 | 29 | 31 | 10 | 161 | 182 | −21 | 68 |
| 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 12 | 51 | 7 | 133 | 242 | −109 | 31 |

### Record vs. opponents

1953–54 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 11–1–2 | 3–8–3 | 4–6–4 | 7–7 | 7–6–1 |
| Chicago | 1–11–2 | — | 2–11–1 | 3–9–2 | 3–9–2 | 3–11 |
| Detroit | 8–3–3 | 11–2–1 | — | 6–6–2 | 6–5–3 | 6–3–5 |
| Montreal | 6–4–4 | 9–3–2 | 6–6–2 | — | 9–5 | 5–6–3 |
| New York | 7–7 | 9–3–2 | 5–6–3 | 5–9 | — | 3–6–5 |
| Toronto | 6–7–1 | 11–3 | 3–6–5 | 6–5–3 | 6–3–5 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | October 8, 1953 | 3–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | W | October 10, 1953 | 4–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | L | October 11, 1953 | 1–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | W | October 15, 1953 | 6–1 | New York Rangers (1953–54) | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | W | October 17, 1953 | 5–2 | Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 4–1–0 |
| 6 | L | October 18, 1953 | 0–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 4–2–0 |
| 7 | W | October 22, 1953 | 3–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 5–2–0 |
| 8 | W | October 24, 1953 | 1–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 6–2–0 |
| 9 | W | October 25, 1953 | 2–1 | @ New York Rangers (1953–54) | 7–2–0 |
| 10 | W | October 29, 1953 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 8–2–0 |
| 11 | L | October 31, 1953 | 0–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 8–3–0 |
| 12 | L | November 1, 1953 | 1–5 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 8–4–0 |
| 13 | W | November 5, 1953 | 4–3 | New York Rangers (1953–54) | 9–4–0 |
| 14 | W | November 7, 1953 | 5–2 | Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 10–4–0 |
| 15 | L | November 8, 1953 | 0–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 10–5–0 |
| 16 | L | November 11, 1953 | 1–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 10–6–0 |
| 17 | W | November 12, 1953 | 4–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 11–6–0 |
| 18 | L | November 14, 1953 | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 11–7–0 |
| 19 | T | November 15, 1953 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 11–7–1 |
| 20 | W | November 19, 1953 | 1–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 12–7–1 |
| 21 | W | November 21, 1953 | 1–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 13–7–1 |
| 22 | T | November 22, 1953 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 13–7–2 |
| 23 | W | November 26, 1953 | 6–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 14–7–2 |
| 24 | L | November 28, 1953 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 14–8–2 |
| 25 | L | November 29, 1953 | 1–2 | @ New York Rangers (1953–54) | 14–9–2 |
| 26 | W | December 3, 1953 | 5–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 15–9–2 |
| 27 | W | December 5, 1953 | 4–2 | Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 16–9–2 |
| 28 | W | December 6, 1953 | 7–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 17–9–2 |
| 29 | L | December 9, 1953 | 0–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 17–10–2 |
| 30 | W | December 10, 1953 | 5–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 18–10–2 |
| 31 | W | December 12, 1953 | 7–2 | New York Rangers (1953–54) | 19–10–2 |
| 32 | L | December 13, 1953 | 3–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 19–11–2 |
| 33 | W | December 19, 1953 | 7–3 | Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 20–11–2 |
| 34 | L | December 20, 1953 | 1–3 | @ New York Rangers (1953–54) | 20–12–2 |
| 35 | W | December 26, 1953 | 2–0 | New York Rangers (1953–54) | 21–12–2 |
| 36 | T | December 30, 1953 | 2–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 21–12–3 |
| 37 | T | December 31, 1953 | 2–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 21–12–4 |
| 38 | T | January 2, 1954 | 1–1 | Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 21–12–5 |
| 39 | L | January 3, 1954 | 3–4 | @ New York Rangers (1953–54) | 21–13–5 |
| 40 | W | January 7, 1954 | 7–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 22–13–5 |
| 41 | W | January 9, 1954 | 12–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 23–13–5 |
| 42 | L | January 10, 1954 | 1–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 23–14–5 |
| 43 | W | January 16, 1954 | 2–1 | Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 24–14–5 |
| 44 | L | January 17, 1954 | 2–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 24–15–5 |
| 45 | L | January 21, 1954 | 0–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 24–16–5 |
| 46 | W | January 23, 1954 | 5–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 25–16–5 |
| 47 | L | January 24, 1954 | 3–8 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 25–17–5 |
| 48 | W | January 27, 1954 | 2–0 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 26–17–5 |
| 49 | L | January 30, 1954 | 1–2 | New York Rangers (1953–54) | 26–18–5 |
| 50 | L | February 4, 1954 | 2–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 26–19–5 |
| 51 | W | February 6, 1954 | 4–3 | New York Rangers (1953–54) | 27–19–5 |
| 52 | W | February 7, 1954 | 4–1 | @ New York Rangers (1953–54) | 28–19–5 |
| 53 | T | February 11, 1954 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 28–19–6 |
| 54 | T | February 13, 1954 | 2–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 28–19–7 |
| 55 | L | February 14, 1954 | 1–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 28–20–7 |
| 56 | W | February 18, 1954 | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 29–20–7 |
| 57 | W | February 20, 1954 | 2–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 30–20–7 |
| 58 | L | February 22, 1954 | 0–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 30–21–7 |
| 59 | T | February 25, 1954 | 0–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 30–21–8 |
| 60 | W | February 27, 1954 | 5–0 | New York Rangers (1953–54) | 31–21–8 |
| 61 | L | February 28, 1954 | 0–2 | @ New York Rangers (1953–54) | 31–22–8 |
| 62 | T | March 4, 1954 | 1–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 31–22–9 |
| 63 | T | March 6, 1954 | 3–3 | Boston Bruins (1953–54) | 31–22–10 |
| 64 | T | March 7, 1954 | 2–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 31–22–11 |
| 65 | L | March 11, 1954 | 0–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 31–23–11 |
| 66 | W | March 13, 1954 | 4–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 32–23–11 |
| 67 | W | March 14, 1954 | 6–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1953–54) | 33–23–11 |
| 68 | L | March 17, 1954 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1953–54) | 33–24–11 |
| 69 | W | March 20, 1954 | 6–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1953–54) | 34–24–11 |
| 70 | W | March 21, 1954 | 3–1 | @ New York Rangers (1953–54) | 35–24–11 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 70 | 37 | 30 | 67 | 112 |
| Bernie Geoffrion | RW | 54 | 29 | 25 | 54 | 87 |
| Bert Olmstead | LW | 70 | 15 | 37 | 52 | 85 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 67 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 64 |
| Doug Harvey | D | 68 | 8 | 29 | 37 | 110 |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 44 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 22 |
| Paul Masnick | C | 50 | 5 | 21 | 26 | 57 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 48 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 28 |
| Calum MacKay | LW | 47 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 54 |
| Floyd Curry | RW | 70 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 22 |
| Eddie Mazur | D/LW | 67 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 95 |
| Tom Johnson | D | 70 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 85 |
| John McCormack | C | 51 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 12 |
| Dollard St. Laurent | D | 53 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 43 |
| Paul Meger | LW | 44 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 24 |
| Dick Gamble | LW | 32 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 18 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 70 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 89 |
| Lorne Davis | RW | 37 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 2 |
| Dickie Moore | LW | 13 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 |
| Bud MacPherson | D | 41 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 41 |
| Andre Corriveau | RW | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Fred Burchell | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Gerry Desaulniers | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ed Litzenberger | C/RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry McNeil | G | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Plante | G | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Gerry McNeil | 3180 | 53 | 28 | 19 | 6 | 114 | 2.15 | 6 |
| Jacques Plante | 1020 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 1.59 | 5 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 35 | 24 | 11 | 141 | 2.01 | 11 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Dickie Moore | LW | 11 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 8 |
| Bernie Geoffrion | RW | 11 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 18 |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 10 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 |
| Floyd Curry | RW | 11 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Paul Masnick | C | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 22 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Tom Johnson | D | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 30 |
| Dollard St. Laurent | D | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Eddie Mazur | D/LW | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| Lorne Davis | RW | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Doug Harvey | D | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Paul Meger | LW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Calum MacKay | LW | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| John McCormack | C | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Bert Olmstead | LW | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| Bud MacPherson | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Gerry McNeil | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Plante | G | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gaye Stewart | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Jacques Plante | 480 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 1.88 | 2 |
| Gerry McNeil | 190 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.95 | 1 |
| Team: | 670 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 1.61 | 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;