# 1947–48 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1947–48 Montreal Canadiens season was the 39th season in club history. The team finished fifth, four points out of a playoff spot, their last time missing the playoffs until 1970.

## Regular season

Bill Durnan was the last goaltender in the 20th century to serve as captain of an NHL team. He suffered his only losing season during the 1947–48 season, and, for the only time in his career, did not lead the league in goals against average.

### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 60 | 32 | 15 | 13 | 182 | 143 | +39 | 77 |
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 60 | 30 | 18 | 12 | 187 | 148 | +39 | 72 |
| 3 | Boston Bruins | 60 | 23 | 24 | 13 | 167 | 168 | −1 | 59 |
| 4 | New York Rangers | 60 | 21 | 26 | 13 | 176 | 201 | −25 | 55 |
| 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 60 | 20 | 29 | 11 | 147 | 169 | −22 | 51 |
| 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 60 | 20 | 34 | 6 | 195 | 225 | −30 | 46 |

### Record vs. opponents

1947–48 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 3–7–2 | 4–6–2 | 6–2–4 | 7–3–2 | 3–7–2 |
| Chicago | 7–3–2 | — | 2–10 | 4–7–1 | 6–4–2 | 1–10–1 |
| Detroit | 6–4–2 | 10–2 | — | 7–2–3 | 5–4–3 | 2–6–4 |
| Montreal | 2–6–4 | 7–4–1 | 2–7–3 | — | 3–7–2 | 6–5–1 |
| New York | 3–7–2 | 4–6–2 | 4–5–3 | 7–3–2 | — | 3–5–4 |
| Toronto | 7–3–2 | 10–1–1 | 6–2–4 | 5–6–1 | 5–3–4 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 16, 1947 | 1–2 | New York Rangers (1947–48) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | W | October 18, 1947 | 4–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | L | October 22, 1947 | 1–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 1–2–0 |
| 4 | W | October 25, 1947 | 5–0 | Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 2–2–0 |
| 5 | W | October 26, 1947 | 4–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 3–2–0 |
| 6 | L | October 29, 1947 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 3–3–0 |
| 7 | W | November 2, 1947 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 4–3–0 |
| 8 | W | November 6, 1947 | 3–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 5–3–0 |
| 9 | L | November 8, 1947 | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 5–4–0 |
| 10 | W | November 13, 1947 | 5–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 6–4–0 |
| 11 | L | November 15, 1947 | 1–9 | Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 6–5–0 |
| 12 | L | November 16, 1947 | 2–4 | @ New York Rangers (1947–48) | 6–6–0 |
| 13 | T | November 19, 1947 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 6–6–1 |
| 14 | L | November 22, 1947 | 3–5 | New York Rangers (1947–48) | 6–7–1 |
| 15 | T | November 23, 1947 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 6–7–2 |
| 16 | W | November 27, 1947 | 2–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 7–7–2 |
| 17 | L | November 29, 1947 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 7–8–2 |
| 18 | T | November 30, 1947 | 1–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 7–8–3 |
| 19 | W | December 6, 1947 | 4–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 8–8–3 |
| 20 | L | December 7, 1947 | 0–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 8–9–3 |
| 21 | T | December 10, 1947 | 4–4 | @ New York Rangers (1947–48) | 8–9–4 |
| 22 | L | December 11, 1947 | 2–4 | New York Rangers (1947–48) | 8–10–4 |
| 23 | W | December 14, 1947 | 4–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 9–10–4 |
| 24 | L | December 20, 1947 | 2–4 | Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 9–11–4 |
| 25 | W | December 21, 1947 | 4–3 | @ New York Rangers (1947–48) | 10–11–4 |
| 26 | L | December 25, 1947 | 0–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 10–12–4 |
| 27 | W | December 27, 1947 | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 11–12–4 |
| 28 | L | January 1, 1948 | 1–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 11–13–4 |
| 29 | T | January 3, 1948 | 2–2 | Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 11–13–5 |
| 30 | L | January 4, 1948 | 2–6 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 11–14–5 |
| 31 | T | January 8, 1948 | 1–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 11–14–6 |
| 32 | T | January 10, 1948 | 1–1 | New York Rangers (1947–48) | 11–14–7 |
| 33 | L | January 11, 1948 | 1–3 | @ New York Rangers (1947–48) | 11–15–7 |
| 34 | W | January 15, 1948 | 8–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 12–15–7 |
| 35 | W | January 17, 1948 | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 13–15–7 |
| 36 | T | January 18, 1948 | 1–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 13–15–8 |
| 37 | L | January 21, 1948 | 1–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 13–16–8 |
| 38 | L | January 24, 1948 | 1–5 | Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 13–17–8 |
| 39 | L | January 25, 1948 | 0–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 13–18–8 |
| 40 | T | January 28, 1948 | 3–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 13–18–9 |
| 41 | L | January 31, 1948 | 2–4 | New York Rangers (1947–48) | 13–19–9 |
| 42 | W | February 1, 1948 | 3–0 | @ Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 14–19–9 |
| 43 | L | February 5, 1948 | 2–7 | Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 14–20–9 |
| 44 | L | February 7, 1948 | 3–5 | Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 14–21–9 |
| 45 | L | February 14, 1948 | 2–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 14–22–9 |
| 46 | L | February 15, 1948 | 1–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 14–23–9 |
| 47 | W | February 19, 1948 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 15–23–9 |
| 48 | L | February 21, 1948 | 1–3 | Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 15–24–9 |
| 49 | L | February 22, 1948 | 3–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 15–25–9 |
| 50 | L | February 28, 1948 | 2–5 | Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 15–26–9 |
| 51 | L | February 29, 1948 | 3–5 | @ New York Rangers (1947–48) | 15–27–9 |
| 52 | W | March 3, 1948 | 3–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 16–27–9 |
| 53 | T | March 4, 1948 | 1–1 | Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 16–27–10 |
| 54 | T | March 6, 1948 | 2–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48) | 16–27–11 |
| 55 | L | March 7, 1948 | 3–9 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 16–28–11 |
| 56 | W | March 11, 1948 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48) | 17–28–11 |
| 57 | W | March 13, 1948 | 3–2 | New York Rangers (1947–48) | 18–28–11 |
| 58 | W | March 14, 1948 | 6–3 | @ New York Rangers (1947–48) | 19–28–11 |
| 59 | W | March 20, 1948 | 7–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48) | 20–28–11 |
| 60 | L | March 21, 1948 | 3–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1947–48) | 20–29–11 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Elmer Lach | C | 60 | 30 | 31 | 61 | 72 |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 53 | 28 | 25 | 53 | 89 |
| Toe Blake | LW | 32 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 4 |
| Ken Reardon | D | 58 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 129 |
| Billy Reay | C | 60 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 24 |
| Bob Fillion | LW | 32 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 8 |
| Roger Leger | D | 48 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 26 |
| Jacques Locas | RW | 56 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 66 |
| Norm Dussault | C | 28 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 4 |
| Glen Harmon | D | 56 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 52 |
| Joe Carveth | RW | 35 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 6 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 60 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 78 |
| Murph Chamberlain | LW | 30 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 62 |
| Doug Harvey | D | 35 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 32 |
| Rip Riopelle | LW | 55 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| Bob Carse | LW | 22 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
| Floyd Curry | RW | 31 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| John Quilty | C | 20 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Tod Campeau | C | 14 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Jimmy Peters | RW | 22 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Hal Laycoe | D | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Gerry Plamondon | LW | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Murdo MacKay | RW/C | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 23 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
| Bill Durnan | G | 59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Leo Gravelle | RW | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Johnson | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry McNeil | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George Robertson | LW/C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Bill Durnan | 3505 | 59 | 20 | 28 | 10 | 162 | 2.77 | 5 |
| Gerry McNeil | 95 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4.42 | 0 |
| Team: | 3600 | 60 | 20 | 29 | 11 | 169 | 2.82 | 5 |
    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

* Elmer Lach, Art Ross Trophy
* Elmer Lach, Centre, NHL First Team All-Star
* Ken Reardon, Defence, NHL Second Team All-Star
* Maurice Richard, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star

## Citations

* ↑ "HHOF – Player Details".
* ↑ "1947–1948 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
* ↑ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
* ↑ "1947–48 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
* ↑ "1947-48 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.