1955–56 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1955–56 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 47th season of play. The Canadiens finished 1st in the league and defeated the Detroit Red Wings in the 1956 Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 1 for the eighth Stanley Cup in its history.
==Off-season==
==Regular Season==
The Boston Bruins were without Terry Sawchuk for the January 14, 1956 in Montreal and planned to start John Henderson in the nets. However, Henderson had equipment problems leaving Boston without a goalie. Canadiens practice goalie Claude Pronovost (brother of Wings Marcel Pronovost) was loaned to the Bruins and he proceeded to shut his own team out, 2-0. Pronovost made 31 saves and also took a delay of game penalty.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results 	Regular Season Results
No. 	R 	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	W 	October 6, 1955 	2–0 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 	1–0–0
2 	W 	October 8, 1955 	2–0 	Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	2–0–0
3 	W 	October 9, 1955 	5–2 	@ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	3–0–0
4 	W 	October 15, 1955 	4–1 	New York Rangers (1955–56) 	4–0–0
5 	T 	October 16, 1955 	2–2 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56)	4–0–1
6 	L 	October 20, 1955 	2–3 	Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	4–1–1
7 	W 	October 22, 1955 	6–0 	Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 	5–1–1
8 	L 	October 26, 1955 	1–2 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56)	5–2–1
9 	L 	October 27, 1955 	1–4 	Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 	5–3–1
10 	W 	October 29, 1955 	2–1 	Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	6–3–1
11 	T 	October 30, 1955 	2–2 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	6–3–2
12 	T 	November 3, 1955 	3–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 	6–3–3
13 	W 	November 5, 1955 	4–2 	Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	7–3–3
14 	T 	November 6, 1955 	3–3 	@ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	7–3–4
15 	T 	November 9, 1955 	1–1 	@ New York Rangers (1955–56) 	7–3–5
16 	W 	November 12, 1955 	3–0 	Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	8–3–5
17 	W 	November 13, 1955 	2–0 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56)	9–3–5
18 	W 	November 16, 1955 	3–2 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56)	10–3–5
19 	W 	November 19, 1955 	6–1 	New York Rangers (1955–56) 	11–3–5
20 	T 	November 20, 1955 	1–1 	@ New York Rangers (1955–56) 	11–3–6
21 	L 	November 24, 1955 	2–3 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	11–4–6
22 	W 	November 26, 1955 	3–1 	Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	12–4–6
23 	T 	November 27, 1955 	3–3 	@ New York Rangers (1955–56) 	12–4–7
24 	W 	December 1, 1955 	2–1 	@ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	13–4–7
25 	W 	December 3, 1955 	3–1 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56)	14–4–7
26 	W 	December 4, 1955 	5–1 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56)	15–4–7
27 	W 	December 8, 1955 	3–1 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 	16–4–7
28 	W 	December 10, 1955 	4–2 	Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	17–4–7
29 	W 	December 11, 1955 	4–2 	@ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	18–4–7
30 	W 	December 15, 1955 	2–0 	New York Rangers (1955–56) 	19–4–7
31 	W 	December 17, 1955 	5–0 	Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 	20–4–7
32 	L 	December 18, 1955 	0–2 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	20–5–7
33 	W 	December 20, 1955 	7–1 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56)	21–5–7
34 	W 	December 24, 1955 	4–2 	Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	22–5–7
35 	L 	December 25, 1955 	1–5 	@ New York Rangers (1955–56) 	22–6–7
36 	L 	December 28, 1955 	0–2 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56)	22–7–7
37 	W 	December 29, 1955 	5–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 	23–7–7
38 	W 	December 31, 1955 	7–3 	Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 	24–7–7
39 	L 	January 5, 1956 	2–5 	Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	24–8–7
40 	W 	January 7, 1956 	3–1 	Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 	25–8–7
41 	L 	January 11, 1956 	1–6 	@ New York Rangers (1955–56) 	25–9–7
42 	L 	January 14, 1956 	0–2 	Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	25–10–7
43 	L 	January 15, 1956 	0–2 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	25–11–7
44 	W 	January 18, 1956 	3–2 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56)	26–11–7
45 	W 	January 19, 1956 	3–1 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 	27–11–7
46 	W 	January 21, 1956 	3–1 	New York Rangers (1955–56) 	28–11–7
47 	W 	January 22, 1956 	6–2 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56)	29–11–7
48 	L 	January 26, 1956 	1–5 	@ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	29–12–7
49 	W 	January 28, 1956 	6–1 	Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	30–12–7
50 	T 	January 29, 1956 	1–1 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	30–12–8
51 	W 	February 2, 1956 	2–0 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	31–12–8
52 	W 	February 4, 1956 	2–1 	Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	32–12–8
53 	T 	February 5, 1956 	3–3 	@ New York Rangers (1955–56) 	32–12–9
54 	T 	February 8, 1956 	1–1 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56)	32–12–10
55 	W 	February 10, 1956 	3–1 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56)	33–12–10
56 	W 	February 12, 1956 	7–1 	@ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	34–12–10
57 	W 	February 16, 1956 	8–1 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 	35–12–10
58 	W 	February 18, 1956 	9–4 	New York Rangers (1955–56) 	36–12–10
59 	W 	February 23, 1956 	5–2 	New York Rangers (1955–56) 	37–12–10
60 	W 	February 25, 1956 	5–1 	Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	38–12–10
61 	L 	February 29, 1956 	1–4 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56)	38–13–10
62 	W 	March 2, 1956 	3–1 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56)	39–13–10
63 	W 	March 3, 1956 	3–1 	Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 	40–13–10
64 	W 	March 4, 1956 	6–4 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 	41–13–10
65 	W 	March 8, 1956 	4–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 	42–13–10
66 	L 	March 10, 1956 	0–4 	Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	42–14–10
67 	L 	March 11, 1956 	1–3 	@ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 	42–15–10
68 	W 	March 15, 1956 	5–2 	Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 	43–15–10
69 	W 	March 17, 1956 	7–2 	New York Rangers (1955–56) 	44–15–10
70 	W 	March 18, 1956 	3–1 	@ New York Rangers (1955–56) 	45–15–10
==Playoffs==
===Montreal Canadiens 4, New York Rangers 1===
===Montreal Canadiens 4, Detroit Red Wings 1===
This was the first Finals for Henri Richard and Toe Blake's first as coach.
Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 31	Detroit 	4 	Montreal	6 	
April 3 	Detroit 	1 	Montreal	5 	
April 5 	Montreal	1 	Detroit 	3 	
April 8 	Montreal	3 	Detroit 	0 	
April 10	Detroit 	1 	Montreal	3 	
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
 	C 	70	47	41	88 	143
 	RW 	70	38	33	71 	89
 	LW 	70	14	56	70 	94
 	RW 	59	29	33	62 	66
 	LW 	70	11	39	50 	55
 	D 	62	5 	39	44 	60
 	C 	64	19	21	40 	46
 	RW 	70	14	18	32 	10
 	C 	67	13	17	30 	48
 	RW 	60	13	16	29 	30
 	C 	54	6 	8 	14 	30
 	D 	66	1 	13	14 	80
 	D 	46	4 	9 	13 	58
 	D 	64	3 	10	13 	75
 	LW 	66	4 	1 	5 	10
 	D 	33	1 	4 	5 	35
 	LW 	12	0 	3 	3 	8
 	D 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	0 	0 	0 	2
 	D 	5 	0 	0 	0 	6
 	D 	36	0 	0 	0 	22
 	G 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	64	0 	0 	0 	10
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T 	GA 	GAA 	SO
 	3840	64	42	12	10	119	1.86	7
 	360 	6 	3 	3 	0 	12 	2.00	1
Team: 	4200	70	45	15	10	131	1.87	8
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
 	C 	10	12	7 	19 	22
 	RW 	10	5 	9 	14 	6
 	RW 	10	5 	9 	14 	24
 	LW 	10	4 	10	14 	8
 	LW 	10	3 	6 	9 	12
 	C 	10	4 	4 	8 	21
 	D 	10	2 	5 	7 	10
 	RW 	10	3 	3 	6 	12
 	RW 	10	1 	5 	6 	12
 	C 	8 	1 	1 	2 	4
 	C 	9 	1 	1 	2 	2
 	D 	10	0 	2 	2 	8
 	D 	9 	0 	2 	2 	4
 	LW 	10	1 	0 	1 	0
 	D 	10	0 	1 	1 	10
 	D 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0 	0 	0 	2
 	G 	10	0 	0 	0 	2
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO
 	600	10	8	2	18	1.80	2
Team: 	600	10	8	2	18	1.80	2
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals 
MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts 
==Awards and Records==
*Prince of Wales Trophy: Montreal Canadiens
*Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Jean Beliveau
*Hart Memorial Trophy: Jean Beliveau
*James Norris Memorial Trophy: Doug Harvey
*Vezina Trophy: Jacques Plante
*Jean Beliveau, Centre, NHL First Team All-Star
*Maurice Richard, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
*Doug Harvey, Defenceman, NHL First Team All-Star
*Jacques Plante, Goaltender, NHL First Team All-Star
*Bert Olmstead, Left Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
*Tom Johnson, Defenceman, NHL Second Team All-Star
==Transactions==
==Montreal Canadiens 1956 Stanley Cup Champions==
==Gallery==
5Nov1955-Sawchuk_Beliveau.jpg|Jean Béliveau scores one of three goals on Terry Sawchuk in 44 seconds on the power play, November 5, 1955.
8Dec1955-Beliveau_Armstrong_fight.jpg|George Armstrong gives Béliveau his first fight, December 8, 1955.
11Mar1956-Sawchuk_Beliveau.jpg|Béliveau battles with Sawchuk, March 11, 1956.
1956-Mar25-Gadsby scores Plante.jpg|Bill Gadsby scores on Jacques Plante, 1956 Semi-finals Game 4, March 25, 1956.
55-56NHLMontrealGameAd.jpg|Home opener
55-56NHLSFMontrealGameAd.jpg|Semi Final
55-56NHLFMontrealGameAd.jpg|Final
==Video==
Over nine minutes of highlights beginning with a minute of the Rangers-Canadiens Semi-finals then goals of all five games of the 1956 Stanley Cup Finals.
1956 Stanley cup win 9 min
==See Also==
* 1955–56 NHL season
==References==
*Canadiens on Hockey Database
*Canadiens on NHL Reference
Montreal Canadiens season, 1955–56
Montreal Canadiens season, 1955–56
Category:Montreal Canadiens seasons
Category:Stanley Cup championship seasons