1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 61st season of play. The Canadiens finished 5th in the East Division and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1947-48 season.
==Regular Season==
April 5, 1970 – The Montreal Canadiens were in a desperate race to qualify for the NHL playoffs. The Canadiens hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. With 9 minutes and 30 seconds left in the third period, Montreal was down by a score of 5–2. Montreal's only hope of qualifying for the playoffs was to score five more goals. Canadiens coach Claude Ruel removed his goalie, Rogatien Vachon from the net. Vachon would return to the net only for faceoffs. Chicago would score five empty net goals and win the game by a score of 10–2. Montreal would miss the playoffs for the first time in 22 years.
===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 11, 1969 	5–1 	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 	1–0–0
2 	T 	October 15, 1969 	2–2 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 	1–0–1
3 	W 	October 18, 1969 	7–3 	New York Rangers (1969–70) 	2–0–1
4 	T 	October 19, 1969 	1–1 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 	2–0–2
5 	T 	October 22, 1969 	3–3 	St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 	2–0–3
6 	L 	October 25, 1969 	0–5 	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 	2–1–3
7 	W 	October 26, 1969 	8–3 	@ New York Rangers (1969–70) 	3–1–3
8 	L 	October 29, 1969 	1–4 	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	3–2–3
9 	T 	October 30, 1969 	2–2 	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 	3–2–4
10 	W 	November 1, 1969 	9–2 	Boston Bruins (1969–70) 	4–2–4
11 	T 	November 5, 1969 	2–2 	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) 	4–2–5
12 	W 	November 6, 1969 	4–1 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 	5–2–5
13 	W 	November 8, 1969 	6–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 	6–2–5
14 	W 	November 10, 1969 	6–3 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 	7–2–5
15 	W 	November 12, 1969 	5–0 	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70) 	8–2–5
16 	W 	November 15, 1969 	3–2 	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 	9–2–5
17 	L 	November 16, 1969 	0–1 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 	9–3–5
18 	T 	November 19, 1969 	5–5 	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 	9–3–6
19 	W 	November 22, 1969 	4–2 	Oakland Seals (1969–70) 	10–3–6
20 	T 	November 23, 1969 	2–2 	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70) 	10–3–7
21 	W 	November 26, 1969 	3–1 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 	11–3–7
22 	T 	November 29, 1969 	2–2 	Boston Bruins (1969–70) 	11–3–8
23 	W 	December 4, 1969 	1–0 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 	12–3–8
24 	L 	December 6, 1969 	3–4 	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) 	12–4–8
25 	L 	December 7, 1969 	3–6 	@ New York Rangers (1969–70) 	12–5–8
26 	W 	December 10, 1969 	6–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 	13–5–8
27 	W 	December 13, 1969 	4–1 	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 	14–5–8
28 	L 	December 14, 1969 	2–5 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 	14–6–8
29 	W 	December 17, 1969 	5–2 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 	15–6–8
30 	L 	December 20, 1969 	2–3 	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 	15–7–8
31 	W 	December 21, 1969 	5–2 	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70) 	16–7–8
32 	T 	December 26, 1969 	3–3 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 	16–7–9
33 	T 	December 27, 1969 	2–2 	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 	16–7–10
34 	L 	December 30, 1969 	0–5 	St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 	16–8–10
35 	L 	December 31, 1969 	2–4 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 	16–9–10
36 	W 	January 3, 1970 	5–1 	Oakland Seals (1969–70) 	17–9–10
37 	W 	January 6, 1970 	4–3 	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 	18–9–10
38 	W 	January 8, 1970 	3–1 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 	19–9–10
39 	W 	January 11, 1970 	4–1 	New York Rangers (1969–70) 	20–9–10
40 	W 	January 14, 1970 	4–2 	Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 	21–9–10
41 	L 	January 17, 1970 	0–3 	Oakland Seals (1969–70) 	21–10–10
42 	L 	January 18, 1970 	3–6 	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70) 	21–11–10
43 	W 	January 22, 1970 	4–2 	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	22–11–10
44 	W 	January 24, 1970 	4–1 	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 	23–11–10
45 	W 	January 25, 1970 	4–1 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 	24–11–10
46 	W 	January 28, 1970 	5–4 	Minnesota North Stars (1969–70) 	25–11–10
47 	T 	January 31, 1970 	3–3 	Boston Bruins (1969–70) 	25–11–11
48 	W 	February 1, 1970 	5–2 	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 	26–11–11
49 	L 	February 4, 1970 	2–5 	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70) 	26–12–11
50 	W 	February 5, 1970 	5–3 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 	27–12–11
51 	T 	February 7, 1970 	1–1 	@ Minnesota North Stars (1969–70)	27–12–12
52 	W 	February 8, 1970 	3–2 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 	28–12–12
53 	T 	February 11, 1970 	3–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 	28–12–13
54 	L 	February 14, 1970 	2–5 	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 	28–13–13
55 	L 	February 15, 1970 	0–2 	@ New York Rangers (1969–70) 	28–14–13
56 	L 	February 18, 1970 	3–5 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 	28–15–13
57 	W 	February 21, 1970 	5–3 	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 	29–15–13
58 	W 	February 22, 1970 	1–0 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 	30–15–13
59 	W 	February 25, 1970 	3–2 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 	31–15–13
60 	L 	February 28, 1970 	2–3 	St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 	31–16–13
61 	L 	March 4, 1970 	1–2 	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 	31–17–13
62 	L 	March 7, 1970 	2–4 	Detroit Red Wings (1969–70) 	31–18–13
63 	L 	March 8, 1970 	0–2 	@ Boston Bruins (1969–70) 	31–19–13
64 	W 	March 11, 1970 	5–3 	New York Rangers (1969–70) 	32–19–13
65 	W 	March 14, 1970 	6–2 	@ St. Louis Blues (1969–70) 	33–19–13
66 	T 	March 15, 1970 	3–3 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 	33–19–14
67 	T 	March 18, 1970 	2–2 	@ Oakland Seals (1969–70) 	33–19–15
68 	W 	March 19, 1970 	6–1 	@ Los Angeles Kings (1969–70) 	34–19–15
69 	W 	March 21, 1970 	2–0 	Philadelphia Flyers (1969–70) 	35–19–15
70 	W 	March 22, 1970 	5–4 	Pittsburgh Penguins (1969–70) 	36–19–15
71 	W 	March 25, 1970 	5–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1969–70) 	37–19–15
72 	T 	March 28, 1970 	1–1 	New York Rangers (1969–70) 	37–19–16
73 	L 	March 29, 1970 	1–4 	@ New York Rangers (1969–70) 	37–20–16
74 	W 	April 1, 1970 	6–3 	Boston Bruins (1969–70) 	38–20–16
75 	L 	April 4, 1970 	1–4 	Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 	38–21–16
76 	L 	April 5, 1970 	2–10 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1969–70) 	38–22–16
==Playoffs==
*The Canadiens did not qualify for the post season.
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	RW 	72	27	36	63 	23 	10 	0 	4
 	C 	69	32	28	60 	16 	13 	0 	5
 	RW 	72	24	34	58 	30 	5 	2 	4
 	RW 	75	27	27	54 	61 	3 	0 	2
 	C 	62	16	36	52 	61 	2 	0 	4
 	C 	63	19	30	49 	10 	3 	0 	1
 	C 	72	19	24	43 	20 	1 	0 	2
 	D 	73	6 	31	37 	98 	2 	1 	1
 	LW 	48	19	13	32 	139	6 	0 	7
 	D 	64	12	19	31 	38 	5 	3 	2
 	D 	75	4 	18	22 	109	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	65	10	11	21 	22 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	58	2 	19	21 	7 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	74	3 	17	20 	116	0 	0 	0
 	C 	36	9 	8 	17 	51 	0 	0 	2
 	C 	48	2 	13	15 	18 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	21	4 	4 	8 	4 	3 	0 	2
 	LW 	18	3 	2 	5 	27 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	23	2 	3 	5 	2 	0 	0 	1
 	C 	16	2 	1 	3 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	17	1 	1 	2 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	20	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	1 	0
 	D 	4 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	8 	0 	1 	1 	8 	0 	0 	0
 	W 	9 	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	5 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0 	0 	0 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	10	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	64	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T 	GA 	GAA 	SO
 	3697	64	31	18	12	162	2.63	4
 	503 	10	4 	3 	2 	19 	2.27	0
 	360 	6 	3 	1 	2 	14 	2.33	0
Team: 	4560	76	38	22	16	195	2.57	4
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==
* Jacques Laperriere, Defence, NHL Second Team All-Star
==Transactions==
==Draft Picks==
Round	Pick	Player 	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1 	1. 	Rejean Houle	 	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
1 	2. 	Marc Tardif 	 	Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA)
==Gallery==
1969-Oct11-Desjardins save.jpg|Gerry Desjardins makes a save, October 11, 1969.
29Nov1969-Wilkins_Richard_Stanfield_Johnston_Orr.jpg|Barry Wilkins, Henri Richard, Fred Stanfield, Eddie Johnston, Bobby Orr, November 29, 1969.
Sanderson-23Nov1969.gif|Derek Sanderson scores off the face-off, November 23, 1969.
Orr-31Jan70.gif|Bobby Orr scores on Rogatien Vachon, January 31, 1970.
1969-70-Orr_4_Habs.jpg|Bobby Orr checked by four Canadiens during the 1969-70 season.
69-70NHLExhMontrealGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Montreal
69-70NHLMontrealGameAd.jpg
==See Also==
*1969–70 NHL season
==References==
*Canadiens on Hockey Database
*Canadiens on NHL Reference
Category:Montreal Canadiens seasons
Category:1969 in hockey
Category:1970 in hockey