# 1964–65 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1964–65 Montreal Canadiens season was the 56th season of play of the club. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup for the first time in five seasons, and the 13th time in franchise history, by defeating the Chicago Black Hawks in the final.

## Regular season
### Final standings

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 40 | 23 | 7 | 224 | 175 | +49 | 87 |
| 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 36 | 23 | 11 | 211 | 185 | +26 | 83 |
| 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 34 | 28 | 8 | 224 | 176 | +48 | 76 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 30 | 26 | 14 | 204 | 173 | +31 | 74 |
| 5 | New York Rangers | 70 | 20 | 38 | 12 | 179 | 246 | −67 | 52 |
| 6 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 21 | 43 | 6 | 166 | 253 | −87 | 48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1964–65 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 6–8 | 3–10–1 | 3–10–1 | 5–8–1 | 4–7–3 |
| Chicago | 8–6 | — | 8–5–1 | 5–6–3 | 9–3–2 | 4–8–2 |
| Detroit | 10–3–1 | 5–8–1 | — | 8–4–2 | 10–2–2 | 7–6–1 |
| Montreal | 10–3–1 | 6–5–3 | 4–8–2 | — | 10–2–2 | 6–5–3 |
| New York | 8–5–1 | 3–9–2 | 2–10–2 | 2–10–2 | — | 5–4–5 |
| Toronto | 7–4–3 | 8–4–2 | 6–7–1 | 5–6–3 | 4–5–5 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | October 13, 1964 | 3–0 | @ New York Rangers (1964–65) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | T | October 17, 1964 | 2–2 | New York Rangers (1964–65) | 1–0–1 |
| 3 | W | October 18, 1964 | 3–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 2–0–1 |
| 4 | T | October 21, 1964 | 5–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 2–0–2 |
| 5 | T | October 24, 1964 | 1–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 2–0–3 |
| 6 | W | October 28, 1964 | 5–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 3–0–3 |
| 7 | W | October 31, 1964 | 6–2 | Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 4–0–3 |
| 8 | L | November 1, 1964 | 1–3 | @ New York Rangers (1964–65) | 4–1–3 |
| 9 | T | November 5, 1964 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 4–1–4 |
| 10 | L | November 7, 1964 | 1–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 4–2–4 |
| 11 | L | November 8, 1964 | 1–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 4–3–4 |
| 12 | W | November 11, 1964 | 4–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 5–3–4 |
| 13 | W | November 14, 1964 | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 6–3–4 |
| 14 | T | November 15, 1964 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 6–3–5 |
| 15 | L | November 18, 1964 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 6–4–5 |
| 16 | L | November 22, 1964 | 2–6 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 6–5–5 |
| 17 | L | November 26, 1964 | 1–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 6–6–5 |
| 18 | W | November 28, 1964 | 2–1 | Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 7–6–5 |
| 19 | W | November 29, 1964 | 5–2 | @ New York Rangers (1964–65) | 8–6–5 |
| 20 | W | December 3, 1964 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 9–6–5 |
| 21 | W | December 5, 1964 | 5–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 10–6–5 |
| 22 | L | December 6, 1964 | 1–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 10–7–5 |
| 23 | W | December 9, 1964 | 3–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 11–7–5 |
| 24 | W | December 12, 1964 | 7–1 | New York Rangers (1964–65) | 12–7–5 |
| 25 | W | December 13, 1964 | 5–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 13–7–5 |
| 26 | T | December 17, 1964 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 13–7–6 |
| 27 | L | December 19, 1964 | 3–6 | Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 13–8–6 |
| 28 | W | December 20, 1964 | 3–2 | @ New York Rangers (1964–65) | 14–8–6 |
| 29 | W | December 23, 1964 | 2–0 | New York Rangers (1964–65) | 15–8–6 |
| 30 | T | December 25, 1964 | 2–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 15–8–7 |
| 31 | W | December 26, 1964 | 6–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 16–8–7 |
| 32 | W | December 30, 1964 | 4–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 17–8–7 |
| 33 | W | January 2, 1965 | 3–1 | Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 18–8–7 |
| 34 | W | January 3, 1965 | 2–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 19–8–7 |
| 35 | L | January 6, 1965 | 4–5 | Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 19–9–7 |
| 36 | L | January 9, 1965 | 5–6 | New York Rangers (1964–65) | 19–10–7 |
| 37 | L | January 14, 1965 | 3–5 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 19–11–7 |
| 38 | W | January 16, 1965 | 3–2 | Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 20–11–7 |
| 39 | W | January 17, 1965 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 21–11–7 |
| 40 | W | January 20, 1965 | 2–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 22–11–7 |
| 41 | W | January 23, 1965 | 5–1 | Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 23–11–7 |
| 42 | L | January 24, 1965 | 0–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 23–12–7 |
| 43 | W | January 27, 1965 | 2–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 24–12–7 |
| 44 | W | January 30, 1965 | 5–1 | New York Rangers (1964–65) | 25–12–7 |
| 45 | L | January 31, 1965 | 0–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 25–13–7 |
| 46 | L | February 4, 1965 | 2–5 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 25–14–7 |
| 47 | L | February 6, 1965 | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 25–15–7 |
| 48 | L | February 7, 1965 | 0–6 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 25–16–7 |
| 49 | L | February 10, 1965 | 2–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 25–17–7 |
| 50 | W | February 11, 1965 | 7–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 26–17–7 |
| 51 | L | February 13, 1965 | 4–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 26–18–7 |
| 52 | T | February 14, 1965 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 26–18–8 |
| 53 | W | February 17, 1965 | 2–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 27–18–8 |
| 54 | W | February 20, 1965 | 6–2 | Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 28–18–8 |
| 55 | T | February 21, 1965 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1964–65) | 28–18–9 |
| 56 | W | February 24, 1965 | 6–1 | New York Rangers (1964–65) | 29–18–9 |
| 57 | T | February 27, 1965 | 3–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 29–18–10 |
| 58 | L | February 28, 1965 | 1–5 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 29–19–10 |
| 59 | T | March 4, 1965 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 29–19–11 |
| 60 | W | March 6, 1965 | 2–1 | New York Rangers (1964–65) | 30–19–11 |
| 61 | L | March 7, 1965 | 0–7 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 30–20–11 |
| 62 | L | March 9, 1965 | 2–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 30–21–11 |
| 63 | W | March 13, 1965 | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1964–65) | 31–21–11 |
| 64 | W | March 14, 1965 | 6–4 | @ New York Rangers (1964–65) | 32–21–11 |
| 65 | W | March 18, 1965 | 4–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 33–21–11 |
| 66 | W | March 20, 1965 | 3–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1964–65) | 34–21–11 |
| 67 | W | March 21, 1965 | 5–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 35–21–11 |
| 68 | L | March 24, 1965 | 2–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1964–65) | 35–22–11 |
| 69 | L | March 27, 1965 | 2–6 | Boston Bruins (1964–65) | 35–23–11 |
| 70 | W | March 28, 1965 | 5–3 | @ New York Rangers (1964–65) | 36–23–11 |

## Playoffs
### Stanley Cup finals

Like the 1955 finals, every game was won by the home team. Gump Worsley made his first finals appearance after 12 years in the league and recorded two shutouts, including the one in game seven. Jean Beliveau was the inaugural winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, scoring eight goals and eight assists in thirteen games.
Chicago Black Hawks vs. Montreal Canadiens
| Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score |
| April 17 | Chicago | 2 | Montreal | 3 |
| April 20 | Chicago | 0 | Montreal | 2 |
| April 22 | Montreal | 1 | Chicago | 3 |
| April 25 | Montreal | 1 | Chicago | 5 |
| April 27 | Chicago | 0 | Montreal | 6 |
| April 29 | Montreal | 1 | Chicago | 2 |
| May 1 | Chicago | 0 | Montreal | 4 |
Montreal wins Stanley Cup four games to three. Jean Beliveau wins first Conn Smythe Trophy.

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Claude Provost | RW | 70 | 27 | 37 | 64 | 28 | 11 | 1 | 5 |
| Ralph Backstrom | C | 70 | 25 | 30 | 55 | 41 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| Henri Richard | C | 53 | 23 | 29 | 52 | 43 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Bobby Rousseau | RW | 66 | 12 | 35 | 47 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| John Ferguson | LW | 69 | 17 | 27 | 44 | 156 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 58 | 20 | 23 | 43 | 76 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| Dave Balon | LW | 63 | 18 | 23 | 41 | 61 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Claude Larose | RW | 68 | 21 | 16 | 37 | 82 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Jacques Laperriere | D | 67 | 5 | 22 | 27 | 92 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jean-Guy Talbot | D | 67 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 64 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| J. C. Tremblay | D | 68 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Yvan Cournoyer | RW | 55 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Dick Duff | LW | 40 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Gilles Tremblay | LW | 26 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Ted Harris | D | 68 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Roberts | D/RW | 70 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 40 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Terry Harper | D | 62 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 93 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Noel Picard | D | 16 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Berenson | C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Keith McCreary | RW | 9 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leon Rochefort | RW | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Garry Peters | C | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Hicke | RW | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bryan Watson | D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andre Boudrias | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Hodge | G | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gump Worsley | G | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Charlie Hodge | 3180 | 53 | 26 | 16 | 10 | 135 | 2.55 | 3 |
| Gump Worsley | 1020 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 50 | 2.94 | 1 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 36 | 23 | 11 | 185 | 2.64 | 4 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 13 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 34 |
| Bobby Rousseau | RW | 13 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 24 |
| Henri Richard | C | 13 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 24 |
| J. C. Tremblay | D | 13 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 18 |
| Dick Duff | LW | 13 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 17 |
| Claude Provost | RW | 13 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 12 |
| Ralph Backstrom | C | 13 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Ted Harris | D | 13 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 45 |
| Yvan Cournoyer | RW | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| John Ferguson | LW | 13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 28 |
| Jacques Laperriere | D | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| Red Berenson | C | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Claude Larose | RW | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Noel Picard | D | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jean-Guy Talbot | D | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Dave Balon | LW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Jean Gauthier | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Terry Harper | D | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Charlie Hodge | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Roberts | D/RW | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Gump Worsley | G | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Gump Worsley | 501 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 1.68 | 2 |
| Charlie Hodge | 300 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 2.00 | 1 |
| Team: | 801 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 24 | 1.80 | 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;

## Awards and records

* Jean Beliveau, inaugural winner, Conn Smythe Trophy.

## Draft picks

| Round | Overall | Player |
| 1 | 6 | Claude Chagnon |
| 2 | 12 | Guy Allen |
| 3 | 18 | Paul Reid |
| 4 | 24 | Michel Jacques |