# 1950–51 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1950–51 Montreal Canadiens season was the 42nd in franchise history. The team placed third in the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. The Canadiens lost in Stanley Cup Finals against Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 1. The five games were decided in overtime.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 44 | 13 | 13 | 236 | 139 | +97 | 101 |
| 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 41 | 16 | 13 | 212 | 138 | +74 | 95 |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 25 | 30 | 15 | 173 | 184 | −11 | 65 |
| 4 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 22 | 30 | 18 | 178 | 197 | −19 | 62 |
| 5 | New York Rangers | 70 | 20 | 29 | 21 | 169 | 201 | −32 | 61 |
| 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 13 | 47 | 10 | 171 | 280 | −109 | 36 |

### Record vs. opponents

1950–51 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 9–4–1 | 2–8–4 | 5–6–3 | 4–2–8 | 2–10–2 |
| Chicago | 4–9–1 | — | 1–13 | 4–8–2 | 2–9–3 | 2–8–4 |
| Detroit | 8–2–4 | 13–1 | — | 8–4–2 | 8–3–3 | 7–3–4 |
| Montreal | 6–5–3 | 8–4–2 | 4–8–2 | — | 5–3–6 | 2–10–2 |
| New York | 2–4–8 | 9–2–3 | 5–7–2 | 3–5–6 | — | 3–10–1 |
| Toronto | 10–2–2 | 8–2–4 | 3–7–4 | 10–2–2 | 10–3–1 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | T | October 12, 1950 | 3–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 0–0–1 |
| 2 | T | October 14, 1950 | 1–1 | Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 0–0–2 |
| 3 | W | October 15, 1950 | 2–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 1–0–2 |
| 4 | W | October 19, 1950 | 4–0 | New York Rangers (1950–51) | 2–0–2 |
| 5 | W | October 21, 1950 | 2–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 3–0–2 |
| 6 | L | October 22, 1950 | 2–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 3–1–2 |
| 7 | L | October 26, 1950 | 1–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 3–2–2 |
| 8 | W | October 28, 1950 | 5–1 | New York Rangers (1950–51) | 4–2–2 |
| 9 | T | October 29, 1950 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1950–51) | 4–2–3 |
| 10 | L | November 1, 1950 | 3–5 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 4–3–3 |
| 11 | L | November 2, 1950 | 1–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 4–4–3 |
| 12 | L | November 4, 1950 | 2–3 | Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 4–5–3 |
| 13 | L | November 9, 1950 | 1–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 4–6–3 |
| 14 | T | November 11, 1950 | 1–1 | New York Rangers (1950–51) | 4–6–4 |
| 15 | L | November 12, 1950 | 0–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 4–7–4 |
| 16 | W | November 16, 1950 | 5–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 5–7–4 |
| 17 | W | November 18, 1950 | 3–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 6–7–4 |
| 18 | W | November 19, 1950 | 3–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 7–7–4 |
| 19 | L | November 22, 1950 | 2–3 | @ New York Rangers (1950–51) | 7–8–4 |
| 20 | L | November 25, 1950 | 1–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 7–9–4 |
| 21 | W | November 26, 1950 | 3–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 8–9–4 |
| 22 | T | November 30, 1950 | 0–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 8–9–5 |
| 23 | L | December 2, 1950 | 1–7 | Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 8–10–5 |
| 24 | W | December 3, 1950 | 4–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 9–10–5 |
| 25 | L | December 6, 1950 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 9–11–5 |
| 26 | L | December 7, 1950 | 0–3 | Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 9–12–5 |
| 27 | L | December 9, 1950 | 0–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 9–13–5 |
| 28 | L | December 10, 1950 | 2–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 9–14–5 |
| 29 | L | December 13, 1950 | 2–3 | @ New York Rangers (1950–51) | 9–15–5 |
| 30 | T | December 16, 1950 | 1–1 | New York Rangers (1950–51) | 9–15–6 |
| 31 | W | December 17, 1950 | 7–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 10–15–6 |
| 32 | L | December 20, 1950 | 1–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 10–16–6 |
| 33 | T | December 23, 1950 | 4–4 | Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 10–16–7 |
| 34 | L | December 28, 1950 | 1–8 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 10–17–7 |
| 35 | W | December 30, 1950 | 4–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 11–17–7 |
| 36 | T | January 1, 1951 | 3–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 11–17–8 |
| 37 | L | January 4, 1951 | 2–4 | Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 11–18–8 |
| 38 | W | January 6, 1951 | 5–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 12–18–8 |
| 39 | W | January 10, 1951 | 3–0 | @ New York Rangers (1950–51) | 13–18–8 |
| 40 | W | January 11, 1951 | 4–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 14–18–8 |
| 41 | W | January 13, 1951 | 4–0 | Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 15–18–8 |
| 42 | L | January 14, 1951 | 2–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 15–19–8 |
| 43 | L | January 18, 1951 | 2–5 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 15–20–8 |
| 44 | T | January 20, 1951 | 2–2 | New York Rangers (1950–51) | 15–20–9 |
| 45 | W | January 21, 1951 | 3–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 16–20–9 |
| 46 | L | January 24, 1951 | 3–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 16–21–9 |
| 47 | W | January 27, 1951 | 4–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 17–21–9 |
| 48 | T | January 28, 1951 | 1–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 17–21–10 |
| 49 | L | February 1, 1951 | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 17–22–10 |
| 50 | W | February 3, 1951 | 4–1 | Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 18–22–10 |
| 51 | T | February 4, 1951 | 3–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 18–22–11 |
| 52 | L | February 7, 1951 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 18–23–11 |
| 53 | L | February 10, 1951 | 0–6 | @ Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 18–24–11 |
| 54 | L | February 11, 1951 | 1–3 | @ New York Rangers (1950–51) | 18–25–11 |
| 55 | T | February 15, 1951 | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 18–25–12 |
| 56 | L | February 17, 1951 | 1–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 18–26–12 |
| 57 | L | February 22, 1951 | 2–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 18–27–12 |
| 58 | W | February 24, 1951 | 6–2 | New York Rangers (1950–51) | 19–27–12 |
| 59 | W | March 1, 1951 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 20–27–12 |
| 60 | L | March 3, 1951 | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 20–28–12 |
| 61 | T | March 4, 1951 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1950–51) | 20–28–13 |
| 62 | W | March 7, 1951 | 3–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 21–28–13 |
| 63 | W | March 10, 1951 | 12–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) | 22–28–13 |
| 64 | T | March 11, 1951 | 5–5 | @ New York Rangers (1950–51) | 22–28–14 |
| 65 | W | March 15, 1951 | 5–3 | New York Rangers (1950–51) | 23–28–14 |
| 66 | W | March 17, 1951 | 3–1 | Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 24–28–14 |
| 67 | T | March 18, 1951 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1950–51) | 24–28–15 |
| 68 | L | March 21, 1951 | 0–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1950–51) | 24–29–15 |
| 69 | W | March 24, 1951 | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 25–29–15 |
| 70 | L | March 25, 1951 | 0–5 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) | 25–30–15 |

## Playoffs

The Canadiens first played the Detroit Red Wings in the semi-finals. The first four games of the series was won by the visiting team. The Canadiens then won the last two to win the series four games to two to advance to the final against Toronto.
| Date | Home | Score | Visitor | Score | Notes |
| March 27 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | (OT) |
| March 29 | Detroit Red Wings | 0 | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | (OT) |
| March 31 | Montreal Canadiens | 0 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | |
| April 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 4 | |
| April 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | Montreal Canadiens | 5 | |
| April 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | |

### Stanley Cup Finals

The Canadiens lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to one.
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
| April 11 | Montreal | 2 | Toronto | 3 | OT |
| April 14 | Montreal | 3 | Toronto | 2 | OT |
| April 17 | Toronto | 2 | Montreal | 1 | OT |
| April 19 | Toronto | 3 | Montreal | 2 | OT |
| April 21 | Montreal | 2 | Toronto | 3 | OT |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 65 | 42 | 24 | 66 | 97 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 65 | 21 | 24 | 45 | 48 |
| Bert Olmstead | LW | 39 | 16 | 22 | 38 | 50 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 66 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 24 |
| Doug Harvey | D | 70 | 5 | 24 | 29 | 93 |
| Calum MacKay | LW | 70 | 18 | 10 | 28 | 69 |
| Floyd Curry | RW | 69 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 23 |
| Billy Reay | C | 60 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 24 |
| Norm Dussault | C | 64 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 15 |
| Bud MacPherson | D | 62 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 40 |
| Bernie Geoffrion | RW | 18 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 9 |
| Glen Harmon | D | 57 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 27 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 52 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 80 |
| Vern Kaiser | LW | 50 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 33 |
| Tom Johnson | D | 70 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 128 |
| Leo Gravelle | RW | 31 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Paul Meger | LW | 17 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Paul Masnick | C | 43 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 14 |
| Bob Dawes | D/C | 15 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Bert Hirschfeld | LW | 20 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Hal Laycoe | D | 38 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 25 |
| Frank King | C | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Claude Robert | LW | 23 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Gerry Desaulniers | C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Fred Burchell | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hugh Currie | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lulu Denis | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dick Gamble | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Manastersky | D | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Gerry McNeil | G | 70 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry Plamondon | LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ernie Roche | D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dollard St. Laurent | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Gerry McNeil | 4200 | 70 | 25 | 30 | 15 | 184 | 2.63 | 6 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 25 | 30 | 15 | 184 | 2.63 | 6 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 11 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 13 |
| Billy Reay | C | 11 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| Bert Olmstead | LW | 11 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| Doug Harvey | D | 11 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Paul Meger | LW | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Paul Masnick | C | 11 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Bernie Geoffrion | RW | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Floyd Curry | RW | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Bud MacPherson | D | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Calum MacKay | LW | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sid McNabney | C | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Bob Dawes | D/C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Glen Harmon | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Johnson | D | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Vern Kaiser | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ross Lowe | D/LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Mazur | D/LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry McNeil | G | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Gerry McNeil | 785 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 25 | 1.91 | 1 |
| Team: | 785 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 25 | 1.91 | 1 |
    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;