# 1945–46 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1945–46 Montreal Canadiens season was the Canadiens' 37th season of play. The Canadiens placed first during the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. The Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals to win the Stanley Cup for the sixth time.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 28 | 17 | 5 | 172 | 134 | +38 | 61 |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 50 | 24 | 18 | 8 | 167 | 156 | +11 | 56 |
| 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 23 | 20 | 7 | 200 | 178 | +22 | 53 |
| 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 146 | 159 | −13 | 50 |
| 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 19 | 24 | 7 | 174 | 185 | −11 | 45 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 50 | 13 | 28 | 9 | 144 | 191 | −47 | 35 |

### Record vs. opponents

1945–46 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 4–6 | 4–3–3 | 4–5–1 | 6–3–1 | 6–1–3 |
| Chicago | 6–4 | — | 3–4–3 | 4–5–1 | 5–2–3 | 5–5 |
| Detroit | 3–4–3 | 4–3–3 | — | 6–3–1 | 4–4–2 | 3–6–1 |
| Montreal | 5–4–1 | 5–4–1 | 3–6–1 | — | 8–1–1 | 7–2–1 |
| New York | 3–6–1 | 2–5–3 | 4–4–2 | 1–8–1 | — | 3–5–2 |
| Toronto | 1–6–3 | 5–5 | 6–3–1 | 2–7–1 | 5–3–2 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | October 27, 1945 | 8–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | W | November 1, 1945 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | W | November 3, 1945 | 3–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 3–0–0 |
| 4 | L | November 4, 1945 | 5–6 | @ Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | W | November 10, 1945 | 5–3 | Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 4–1–0 |
| 6 | L | November 11, 1945 | 1–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 4–2–0 |
| 7 | W | November 14, 1945 | 6–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 5–2–0 |
| 8 | W | November 15, 1945 | 2–0 | New York Rangers (1945–46) | 6–2–0 |
| 9 | W | November 17, 1945 | 7–3 | @ New York Rangers (1945–46) | 7–2–0 |
| 10 | L | November 21, 1945 | 0–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 7–3–0 |
| 11 | W | November 24, 1945 | 2–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 8–3–0 |
| 12 | L | November 25, 1945 | 1–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 8–4–0 |
| 13 | W | December 1, 1945 | 4–3 | New York Rangers (1945–46) | 9–4–0 |
| 14 | W | December 8, 1945 | 1–0 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 10–4–0 |
| 15 | L | December 9, 1945 | 1–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 10–5–0 |
| 16 | L | December 13, 1945 | 3–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 10–6–0 |
| 17 | T | December 15, 1945 | 3–3 | Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 10–6–1 |
| 18 | W | December 16, 1945 | 4–2 | @ New York Rangers (1945–46) | 11–6–1 |
| 19 | T | December 19, 1945 | 4–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 11–6–2 |
| 20 | W | December 23, 1945 | 4–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 12–6–2 |
| 21 | W | December 26, 1945 | 4–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 13–6–2 |
| 22 | L | December 29, 1945 | 4–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 13–7–2 |
| 23 | T | December 31, 1945 | 0–0 | @ New York Rangers (1945–46) | 13–7–3 |
| 24 | W | January 5, 1946 | 4–2 | Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 14–7–3 |
| 25 | L | January 10, 1946 | 4–5 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 14–8–3 |
| 26 | W | January 12, 1946 | 9–3 | New York Rangers (1945–46) | 15–8–3 |
| 27 | L | January 13, 1946 | 1–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 15–9–3 |
| 28 | L | January 16, 1946 | 1–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 15–10–3 |
| 29 | W | January 19, 1946 | 3–1 | Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 16–10–3 |
| 30 | L | January 20, 1946 | 0–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 16–11–3 |
| 31 | L | January 23, 1946 | 2–7 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 16–12–3 |
| 32 | W | January 26, 1946 | 5–3 | New York Rangers (1945–46) | 17–12–3 |
| 33 | W | February 2, 1946 | 5–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 18–12–3 |
| 34 | L | February 3, 1946 | 0–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 18–13–3 |
| 35 | W | February 9, 1946 | 6–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 19–13–3 |
| 36 | W | February 10, 1946 | 2–0 | @ Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 20–13–3 |
| 37 | W | February 13, 1946 | 5–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 21–13–3 |
| 38 | W | February 16, 1946 | 4–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 22–13–3 |
| 39 | W | February 17, 1946 | 5–4 | @ New York Rangers (1945–46) | 23–13–3 |
| 40 | L | February 20, 1946 | 1–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 23–14–3 |
| 41 | W | February 24, 1946 | 6–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 24–14–3 |
| 42 | L | February 27, 1946 | 3–5 | Boston Bruins (1945–46) | 24–15–3 |
| 43 | T | March 2, 1946 | 3–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 24–15–4 |
| 44 | L | March 3, 1946 | 2–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1945–46) | 24–16–4 |
| 45 | W | March 6, 1946 | 7–3 | New York Rangers (1945–46) | 25–16–4 |
| 46 | W | March 9, 1946 | 2–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 26–16–4 |
| 47 | W | March 10, 1946 | 3–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 27–16–4 |
| 48 | T | March 14, 1946 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1945–46) | 27–16–5 |
| 49 | W | March 16, 1946 | 6–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1945–46) | 28–16–5 |
| 50 | L | March 17, 1946 | 5–8 | @ New York Rangers (1945–46) | 28–17–5 |

## Playoffs
### Stanley Cup Finals

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
| March 30 | Boston | 3 | Montreal | 4 | OT |
| April 2 | Boston | 2 | Montreal | 3 | OT |
| April 4 | Montreal | 4 | Boston | 2 | |
| April 7 | Montreal | 2 | Boston | 3 | OT |
| April 9 | Boston | 3 | Montreal | 6 | |
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–1.

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Toe Blake | LW | 50 | 29 | 21 | 50 | 2 |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 50 | 27 | 21 | 48 | 50 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 50 | 13 | 34 | 47 | 34 |
| Jimmy Peters | RW | 47 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 10 |
| Billy Reay | C | 44 | 17 | 12 | 29 | 10 |
| Murph Chamberlain | LW | 40 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 42 |
| Buddy O'Connor | C | 45 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 2 |
| Joe Benoit | RW | 39 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 8 |
| Dutch Hiller | LW | 45 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 4 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 45 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 52 |
| Glen Harmon | D | 49 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 28 |
| Bob Fillion | LW | 50 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 12 |
| Leo Lamoureux | C/D | 45 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 18 |
| Ken Reardon | D | 43 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 45 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Gerry Plamondon | LW | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Frank Eddolls | D | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Murdo MacKay | RW/C | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Mike McMahon | D | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Moe White | LW/C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Paul Bibeault | G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Durnan | G | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vic Lynn | LW/D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lorrain Thibeault | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nils Tremblay | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Bill Durnan | 2400 | 40 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 104 | 2.60 | 4 |
| Paul Bibeault | 600 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 30 | 3.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 3000 | 50 | 28 | 17 | 5 | 134 | 2.68 | 4 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Elmer Lach | C | 9 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 4 |
| Toe Blake | LW | 9 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 5 |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 9 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 15 |
| Bob Fillion | LW | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| Murph Chamberlain | LW | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 18 |
| Dutch Hiller | LW | 9 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 9 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Buddy O'Connor | C | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Glen Harmon | D | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Jimmy Peters | RW | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| Billy Reay | C | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Ken Reardon | D | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Leo Lamoureux | C/D | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Frank Eddolls | D | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Bill Durnan | G | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Plamondon | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Bill Durnan | 581 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 20 | 2.07 | 0 |
| Team: | 581 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 20 | 2.07 | 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;