# 1928–29 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1928–29 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 20th season, and 12th in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team repeated its first-place finish in the Canadian Division and qualified for the playoffs. The Canadiens lost in the semi-finals against the Boston Bruins.

## Regular season

The New York Americans, last place finishers in 1927–28, surprised everyone by occupying first place for much of the season in the Canadian Division. However, the Montreal Canadiens dislodged the Americans and finished first. George Hainsworth, Canadiens goaltender, set an unprecedented record of 22 shutouts and a 0.98 goals against average.

### Final standings

Canadian Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
| Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 22 | 7 | 15 | 71 | 43 | 465 | 59 |
| New York Americans | 44 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 53 | 53 | 486 | 50 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 44 | 21 | 18 | 5 | 85 | 69 | 541 | 47 |
| Ottawa Senators | 44 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 54 | 67 | 461 | 41 |
| Montreal Maroons | 44 | 15 | 20 | 9 | 67 | 65 | 638 | 39 |
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
 Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | November 15, 1928 | 3–1 | Montreal Maroons (1928–29) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | L | November 17, 1928 | 2–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1928–29) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | W | November 20, 1928 | 1–0 | @ Boston Bruins (1928–29) | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | T | November 22, 1928 | 0–0 OT | @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1928–29) | 2–1–1 |
| 5 | L | November 24, 1928 | 3–4 | New York Americans (1928–29) | 2–2–1 |
| 6 | T | November 29, 1928 | 1–1 OT | Pittsburgh Pirates (1928–29) | 2–2–2 |
| 7 | W | December 1, 1928 | 2–0 | @ Ottawa Senators (1928–29) | 3–2–2 |
| 8 | L | December 4, 1928 | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1928–29) | 3–3–2 |
| 9 | W | December 8, 1928 | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1928–29) | 4–3–2 |
| 10 | L | December 13, 1928 | 2–3 OT | New York Rangers (1928–29) | 4–4–2 |
| 11 | T | December 15, 1928 | 0–0 OT | @ Montreal Maroons (1928–29) | 4–4–3 |
| 12 | W | December 18, 1928 | 5–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1928–29) | 5–4–3 |
| 13 | L | December 20, 1928 | 1–5 | @ Detroit Cougars (1928–29) | 5–5–3 |
| 14 | W | December 22, 1928 | 1–0 | Ottawa Senators (1928–29) | 6–5–3 |
| 15 | W | December 27, 1928 | 3–0 | Detroit Cougars (1928–29) | 7–5–3 |
| 16 | T | January 1, 1929 | 1–1 OT | @ New York Americans (1928–29) | 7–5–4 |
| 17 | T | January 3, 1929 | 1–1 OT | @ Ottawa Senators (1928–29) | 7–5–5 |
| 18 | T | January 5, 1929 | 0–0 OT | Montreal Maroons (1928–29) | 7–5–6 |
| 19 | L | January 10, 1929 | 2–4 | Boston Bruins (1928–29) | 7–6–6 |
| 20 | W | January 12, 1929 | 3–1 | @ Montreal Maroons (1928–29) | 8–6–6 |
| 21 | W | January 15, 1929 | 1–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1928–29) | 9–6–6 |
| 22 | T | January 17, 1929 | 1–1 OT | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1928–29) | 9–6–7 |
| 23 | T | January 19, 1929 | 0–0 OT | New York Rangers (1928–29) | 9–6–8 |
| 24 | W | January 20, 1929 | 1–0 | @ New York Rangers (1928–29) | 10–6–8 |
| 25 | T | January 22, 1929 | 0–0 OT | @ Boston Bruins (1928–29) | 10–6–9 |
| 26 | T | January 24, 1929 | 1–1 OT | Toronto Maple Leafs (1928–29) | 10–6–10 |
| 27 | W | January 26, 1929 | 2–1 | @ Ottawa Senators (1928–29) | 11–6–10 |
| 28 | W | January 29, 1929 | 1–0 | @ New York Americans (1928–29) | 12–6–10 |
| 29 | W | February 2, 1929 | 1–0 | Ottawa Senators (1928–29) | 13–6–10 |
| 30 | T | February 7, 1929 | 2–2 OT | Detroit Cougars (1928–29) | 13–6–11 |
| 31 | T | February 10, 1929 | 3–3 OT | @ New York Rangers (1928–29) | 13–6–12 |
| 32 | W | February 12, 1929 | 2–0 | @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1928–29) | 14–6–12 |
| 33 | W | February 14, 1929 | 1–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1928–29) | 15–6–12 |
| 34 | T | February 16, 1929 | 1–1 OT | New York Americans (1928–29) | 15–6–13 |
| 35 | W | February 21, 1929 | 1–0 | Montreal Maroons (1928–29) | 16–6–13 |
| 36 | L | February 23, 1929 | 1–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1928–29) | 16–7–13 |
| 37 | W | February 26, 1929 | 4–0 | Pittsburgh Pirates (1928–29) | 17–7–13 |
| 38 | T | February 28, 1929 | 0–0 OT | @ New York Americans (1928–29) | 17–7–14 |
| 39 | W | March 2, 1929 | 3–0 | Boston Bruins (1928–29) | 18–7–14 |
| 40 | W | March 7, 1929 | 3–0 | Ottawa Senators (1928–29) | 19–7–14 |
| 41 | T | March 10, 1929 | 1–1 OT | @ Detroit Cougars (1928–29) | 19–7–15 |
| 42 | W | March 12, 1929 | 2–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1928–29) | 20–7–15 |
| 43 | W | March 14, 1929 | 1–0 | @ Montreal Maroons (1928–29) | 21–7–15 |
| 44 | W | March 16, 1929 | 4–1 | New York Americans (1928–29) | 22–7–15 |

## Playoffs

The Canadiens received a first-round bye and met the Boston Bruins in the semi-finals. In a best-of-five series, the Bruins defeated the Canadiens in three straight. The games were very defensive, Boston scoring five goals in the three games, Montreal only two.
| Date | Home | Score | Visitors | Score | Record |
| March 19 | Boston | 1 | Montreal | 0 | 0–1 |
| March 21 | Boston | 1 | Montreal | 0 | 0–2 |
| March 23 | Montreal | 2 | Boston | 3 | 0–3 |

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

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Howie Morenz | 42 | 17 | 10 | 27 | 47 |
| Aurel Joliat | 44 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 59 |
| Sylvio Mantha | 44 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 56 |
| Albert Leduc | 43 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 79 |
| Art Gagne | 44 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 52 |
| George Patterson | 44 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 34 |
| Pit Lepine | 44 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 48 |
| Armand Mondou | 32 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Marty Burke | 44 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 68 |
| Gerry Carson | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Herb Gardiner | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leo Gaudreault | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| George Hainsworth | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wildor Larochelle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Art Lesieur | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georges Mantha | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Pete Palangio | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SA | SV | SV% | SO |
| George Hainsworth | 2800 | 44 | 22 | 7 | 15 | 43 | 0.92 | | | | 22 |
| Team: | 2800 | 44 | 22 | 7 | 15 | 43 | 0.92 | | | | 22 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Aurel Joliat | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Albert Leduc | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Marty Burke | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Art Gagne | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Herb Gardiner | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| George Hainsworth | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pit Lepine | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Georges Mantha | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sylvio Mantha | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Armand Mondou | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Howie Morenz | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| George Patterson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SA | SV | SV% | SO |
| George Hainsworth | 180 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1.67 | | | | 0 |
| Team: | 180 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1.67 | | | | 0 |

## Awards and records

* O'Brien Cup – First place in Canadian division.