2006–07 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2006–07 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 97th season, 89th in the National Hockey League. The club finished fourth in the Northeast division and missed his qualification for the playoffs by two points after losing the final game of the regular season 6-5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
==Pre-season==
The Canadiens were only minimally active in offseason transactions, with forwards Sergei Samsonov and Mike Johnson and defenceman Janne Niinimaa representing the only additions. Forwards Jan Bulis, Richard Zednik and Mike Ribeiro moved to other teams: Bulis via free agency to Vancouver, Zednik via a trade to Washington, and Ribeiro via a trade to Dallas (for Niinimaa).
==Regular season==
The club intended to build on a 2005–06 season in which it took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes to six games in the first round of the playoffs. Behind the leadership of goaltender Cristobal Huet and captain Saku Koivu, the Canadiens poised themselves to join the elite of the Eastern Conference.
However, the team failed to keep its momentum for the whole season. Cristobal Huet's injury on February 15, 2007, forced the Canadiens to use backup goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and David Aebischer. Despite Halak's decent performance, the Canadiens could not clinch a playoff spot. They were eliminated on April 8, after a 6–5 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the season's last game.
On January 9, 2007, the NHL announced that Sheldon Souray had been voted by the fans to start at defence in the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas.TSN : NHL - Canada's Sports Leader
===Season standings===
===Game log===
====October==== 
Record for month: 6–2–3 (home: 3–1–2; away: 3–1–1).
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision 	Attendance	Record	Pts
1 	October 6 	Montreal	4 – 5	Buffalo 	SO	Huet 	18,690 	0–0–1 	1
2 	October 7 	Montreal	3 – 2	Toronto 	SO	Aebischer	19,353 	1–0–1 	3
3 	October 11	Montreal	3 – 1	Philadelphia	 	Aebischer	19,256 	2–0–1 	5
4 	October 14	Ottawa 	3 – 2	Montreal 	SO	Huet 	21,273 	2–0–2 	6
5 	October 17	Calgary 	4 – 5	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	3–0–2 	8
6 	October 18	Montreal	1 – 2	Chicago 	 	Aebischer	11,095 	3–1–2 	8
7 	October 21	Colorado	5 – 8	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	4–1–2 	10
8 	October 23	Buffalo 	4 – 1	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	4–2–2 	10
9 	October 26	Montreal	3 – 2	Boston 	 	Huet 	13,920 	5–2–2 	12
10	October 28	Toronto 	5 – 4	Montreal 	SO	Aebischer	21,273 	5–2–3 	13
11	October 31	Ottawa 	2 – 4	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	6–2–3 	15
====November==== 
Record for month: 8–5–0 (home: 4–2–0; away: 4–3–0).
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision 	Attendance	Record	Pts
12	November 2 	Montreal 	4 – 0	Carolina 	 	Huet 	6,486 	7–2–3 	17
13	November 4 	New Jersey 	2 – 1	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,271 	7–3–3 	17
14	November 7 	Edmonton 	2 – 3	Montreal 	SO	Aebischer	21,273 	8–3–3 	19
15	November 11	Montreal 	1 – 5	Toronto 	 	Aebischer	19,501 	8–4–3 	19
16	November 13	Montreal 	6 – 3	Ottawa 	 	Huet 	20,051 	9–4–3 	21
17	November 15	Montreal 	3 – 1	Tampa Bay	 	Huet 	19,920 	10–4–3	23
18	November 16	Montreal 	4 – 2	Florida 	 	Aebischer	13,506 	10–5–3	23
19	November 18	Atlanta 	1 – 3	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	11–5–3	25
20	November 22	Minnesota 	2 – 4	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	12–5–3	27
21	November 24	Montreal 	2 – 1	Buffalo 	OT	Huet 	18,690 	13–5–3	29
22	November 25	Philadelphia	4 – 2	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	13–6–3	29
23	November 28	Florida 	0 – 1	Montreal 	SO	Huet 	21,273 	14–6–3	31
24	November 30	Montreal 	2 – 4	Carolina 	 	Huet 	13,103 	14–7–3	31
====December====
Record for month: 8–4–2 (home: 5–1–1; away: 3–3–1).
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision 	Attendance	Record 	Pts
25	December 2 	Toronto 	3 – 4	Montreal 	SO	Huet 	21,273 	15–7–3 	33
26	December 4 	Boston 	6 – 5	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	15–8–3 	33
27	December 6 	Montreal 	1 – 2	New Jersey 	OT	Aebischer	10,986 	15–8–4 	34
28	December 7 	Montreal 	4 – 2	NY Islanders	 	Huet 	9,551 	16–8–4 	36
29	December 9 	Buffalo 	3 – 2	Montreal 	SO	Huet 	21,273 	16–8–5 	37
30	December 12	Boston 	4 – 3	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	17–8–5 	39
31	December 14	Tampa Bay 	2 – 4	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	18–8–5 	41
32	December 16	Pittsburgh 	3 – 6	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	19–8–5 	43
33	December 19	Montreal 	5 – 2	Buffalo 	 	Huet 	18,690 	20–8–5 	45
34	December 21	Philadelphia	2 – 4	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	21–8–5 	47
35	December 23	Montreal 	2 – 4	Boston 	 	Huet 	17,565 	21–9–5 	47
36	December 27	Montreal 	4 – 1	Washington 	 	Huet 	15,609 	22–9–5 	49
37	December 29	Montreal 	1 – 3	Florida 	 	Huet 	19,772 	22–10–5	49
38	December 30	Montreal 	1 – 3	Tampa Bay 	 	Huet 	21,120 	22–11–5	49
====January====
Record for month: 6–7–0 (home: 4–3–0; away 2–4–0).
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision 	Attendance	Record 	Pts
39	January 2 	Tampa Bay 	2 – 5	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	23–11–5	51
40	January 4 	Montreal 	1 – 5	Washington 	 	Huet 	11,287 	23–12–5	51
41	January 6 	NY Rangers	4 – 3	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	23–13–5	51
42	January 7 	New Jersey	3 – 0	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	23–14–5	51
43	January 9 	Atlanta 	2 – 4	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	24–14–5	53
44	January 10	Montreal 	4 – 2	Philadelphia	 	Aebischer	19,411 	25–14–5	55
45	January 13	Montreal 	3 – 8	Ottawa 	 	Huet 	20,038 	25–15–5	55
46	January 15	Montreal 	0 – 2	Detroit 	 	Aebischer	20,066 	25–16–5	55
47	January 16	Vancouver 	4 – 0	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	25–17–5	55
48	January 18	Montreal 	4 – 1	Atlanta 	 	Huet 	14,025 	26–17–5	57
49	January 20	Buffalo 	3 – 4	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	27–17–5	59
50	January 27	Montreal 	1 – 4	Toronto 	 	Huet 	19,508 	27–18–5	59
51	January 29	Ottawa 	1 – 3	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	28–18–5	61
====February====
Record for month: 5–9–1 (home: 3–5–0; away 2–4–1).
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision 	Attendance	Record 	Pts
52	February 1 	Montreal 	4 – 5	Pittsburgh 	SO	Aebischer	17,132 	28–18–6	62
53	February 3 	NY Islanders	4 – 2	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	28–19–6	62
54	February 4 	Pittsburgh 	3 – 4	Montreal 	OT	Aebischer	21,273 	29–19–6	64
55	February 6 	Carolina 	2 – 1	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	29–20–6	64
56	February 8 	Montreal 	1 – 4	Ottawa 	 	Huet 	19,915 	29–21–6	64
57	February 10	Ottawa 	5 – 3	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	29–22–6	64
58	February 13	Florida 	1 – 0	Montreal 	 	Huet 	21,273 	29–23–6	64
59	February 14	Montreal 	2 – 5	New Jersey 	 	Huet 	7,515 	29–24–6	64
60	February 17	Carolina 	5 – 3	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	29–25–6	64
61	February 18	Montreal 	3 – 2	Columbus 	 	Halak 	16,116 	30–25–6	66
62	February 20	Washington 	3 – 5	Montreal 	 	Halak 	21,273 	31–25–6	68
63	February 22	Montreal 	6 – 5	Nashville 	SO	Halak 	15,808 	32–25–6	70
64	February 24	Montreal 	2 – 3	NY Islanders	 	Halak 	16,234 	32–26–6	70
65	February 26	Toronto 	5 – 4	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	33–26–6	72
66	February 27	Montreal 	0 – 4	NY Rangers 	 	Halak 	18,200 	33–27–6	72
====March====
Record for month: 8–5–0 (home: 6–0–0; away: 2–5–0).
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision 	Attendance	Record 	Pts
67	March 2 	Montreal 	5 – 8	Buffalo 	 	Aebischer	18,690 	33–28–6	72
68	March 3 	Montreal 	1 – 3	Boston 	 	Halak 	17,565 	33–29–6	72
69	March 8 	Montreal 	2 – 6	Atlanta 	 	Halak 	14,528 	33–30–6	72
70	March 10	Montreal 	4 – 3	St. Louis 	 	Aebischer	19,421 	34–30–6	74
71	March 13	NY Islanders 	3 – 5	Montreal 	 	Aebischer	21,273 	35–30–6	76
72	March 16	Montreal 	3 – 6	Pittsburgh	 	Aebischer	17,132 	35–31–6	76
73	March 17	Toronto 	2 – 3	Montreal 	SO	Halak 	21,273 	36–31–6	78
74	March 20	Boston Bruins	0 – 1	Montreal 	 	Halak 	21,273 	37–31–6	80
75	March 22	Montreal 	6 – 3	Boston 	 	Halak 	17,026 	38–31–6	82
76	March 24	Washington 	1 – 4	Montreal 	 	Halak 	21,273 	39–31–6	84
77	March 27	Rangers 	4 – 6	Montreal 	 	Halak 	21,273 	40–31–6	86
78	March 30	Montreal 	2 – 5	Ottawa 	 	Halak 	20,185 	40–32–6	86
79	March 31	Buffalo 	3 – 4	Montreal 	 	Halak 	21,273 	41–32–6	88
====April====
Record for month: 1–2–0 (home: 1–0–0; away 0–2–0).
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
80	April 3	Boston Bruins	0 – 2	Montreal 	 	Halak 	21,273 	42–32–6	90
81	April 5	Montreal 	1 – 3	New York Rangers 	 	Halak 	18,200 	42–33–6	90
82	April 7	Montreal 	5 – 6	Toronto Maple Leafs	 	Huet 	19,723 	42–34–6	90
*Green background indicates win.
*Red background indicates regulation loss.
*White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.
== Roster ==
Goaltenders:
•
•
Defensemen
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Forwards
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
 
== Player stats ==
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	81	22	53	75 	74 	-21	11 	1 	4
 	D 	81	26	38	64 	135	-28	19 	1 	6
 	RW 	82	30	28	58 	60 	-25	17 	2 	3
 	D 	77	6 	43	49 	56 	2 	5 	0 	2
 	LW 	81	20	27	47 	36 	10 	5 	2 	1
 	RW 	73	18	29	47 	78 	-19	8 	0 	5
 	C 	61	22	16	38 	26 	-11	8 	3 	3
 	D 	76	10	26	36 	14 	-5 	2 	1 	1
 	RW 	80	11	20	31 	40 	6 	1 	2 	1
 	RW 	80	16	13	29 	47 	-20	5 	0 	3
 	LW 	63	9 	17	26 	10 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	74	13	10	23 	54 	0 	1 	2 	1
 	D 	82	4 	15	19 	96 	7 	0 	2 	1
 	D 	54	6 	10	16 	57 	-7 	2 	0 	0
 	LW 	61	6 	9 	15 	48 	11 	1 	0 	1
 	D 	62	3 	11	14 	52 	-10	1 	0 	1
 	C 	46	6 	6 	12 	24 	-7 	0 	1 	2
 	W 	22	1 	10	11 	6 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	52	5 	5 	10 	46 	-6 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	68	2 	6 	8 	40 	-8 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	43	2 	1 	3 	32 	-10	0 	0 	0
 	D 	41	0 	3 	3 	36 	-13	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	21	1 	0 	1 	48 	-6 	0 	0 	1
 	G 	16	0 	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	42	0 	1 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	5 	0 	1 	1 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	32	0 	0 	0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-2 	0 	0 	0
Note: Pos = Position; 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/OT = Ties/Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage; 
==Transactions==
====Trades====
July 12, 2006 	To Washington Capitals Richard Zednik 	To Montreal Canadiens 3rd round pick in 2007
July 12, 2006 	To Phoenix Coyotes 4th round pick in 2007 	To Montreal Canadiens Mike Johnson
September 30, 2006	To Dallas StarsMike Ribeiro6th round pick in 2008 	To Montreal CanadiensJanne Niinimaa5th round pick in 2007
December 15, 2006 	To San Jose SharksPatrick Traverse 	To Montreal CanadiensMathieu Biron
February 25, 2007 	To San Jose SharksCraig Rivet5th round pick in 2008	To Montreal CanadiensJosh Gorges1st round pick in 2007
====Free agents acquired====
Player 	Former team
F Sergei Samsonov	Edmonton Oilers
====Free agents lost====
Player 	Current team
F Jan Bulis	Vancouver Canucks
====Claimed off waivers====
Player 	Former team 	Date
G Michael Leighton	Philadelphia Flyers	February 27
==Draft picks==
Montreal's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia.2006 NHL Entry Draft Results - accessed January 4, 2007. The Canadiens had the 16th overall draft pick, which they traded to the San Jose Sharks for the 20th and 53rd overall picks.
Round	# 	Player 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/junior/club team (league)
1 	20 	David Fischer (D) 	 	Montreal Canadiens (from San Jose)	Apple Valley High School (MSHSL)
2 	49 	Ben Maxwell (C) 	 	Montreal Canadiens 	Kootenay (WHL)
2 	53 	Mathieu Carle (D) 	 	Montreal Canadiens (from San Jose)	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)
3 	66 	Ryan White (C) 	 	Montreal Canadiens (from Chicago) 	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
5 	139	Pavel Valentenko (D)	 	Montreal Canadiens 	HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russian Superleague)
7 	199	Cameron Cepek (D) 	 	Montreal Canadiens 	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
==Awards and records==
* King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Saku Koivu
==External links==
*Official site of the Montreal Canadiens
==See also==
*2006–07 NHL season
==References==
*Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com
*Game log: Montreal Canadiens game log on espn.com
*Season Stats: on espn.com
</small>
Category:Montreal Canadiens seasons
Category:2006 in hockey
Category:2007 in hockey