Speaker 1
Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today, we’re, uh, lacing up our historical skates, you could say. We’re diving into the whole saga of the Montreal Canadiens.
Speaker 2
One of the greats.
Speaker 1
Absolutely. We’ve got some great source material here. Wikipedia pages covering the history of the Montreal Canadiens and just the main Montreal Canadiens page. So our mission, really, is to unpack this legendary team, you know, from the very start right up to today.
Speaker 2
It’s quite a story.
Speaker 1
It really is. Okay, so how did this all even begin? It wasn’t just, like, a simple application, was it?
Speaker 2
No, not at all. What’s fascinating right off the bat is how it started. Um, late 1909, you have Ambrose O’Brien, a big name in early hockey, trying to get his team from Renfrew into the, uh, Eastern Canada Hockey Association.
Speaker 1
Okay.
Speaker 2
And they basically said no. That rejection kind of set everything else in motion.
Speaker 1
So the no was actually the spark.
Speaker 2
Pretty much, because then-
Speaker 1
Hm.
Speaker 2
… the owners in that league, the ECHA, they decided, “Okay, let’s form a new league, the Canadian Hockey Association.” And while it seems part of the reason was maybe to keep the Montreal Wanderers out.
Speaker 1
Ah, some early hockey politics. Concerns about their arena, maybe?
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
Revenue sharing?
Speaker 2
Exactly. The business side was definitely there, even way back then. But, you know, am- amidst all this league shuffling, there’s this key moment in the Windsor Hotel lobby. O’Brien bumps into Jimmy Gardiner, the Wanderers’ manager.
Speaker 1
Okay.
Speaker 2
And Gardiner has this brilliant idea. He says, “Why not create a team specifically for French-speaking players in Montreal?” You’d instantly get this, uh, this natural rivalry with the English-speaking Wanderers.
Speaker 1
Wow. Talk about an instant storyline-
Speaker 2
Hmm.
Speaker 1
… just baked right in from the start.
Speaker 2
Totally. So December 2nd, 1909, the other new league, the National Hockey Association, the NHA, is born.
Speaker 1
Wow.
Speaker 2
And just two days later, boom, Le Canadiens are officially created.
Speaker 1
Quick work.
Speaker 2
Yeah (laughs). O’Brien put up the initial cash, but the idea right from the get-go was for it to be owned and run by the French-Canadian community eventually.
Speaker 1
That connection was key then. The name itself, Les Canadiens, really spoke to that French-Canadian identity at the time.
Speaker 2
Precisely. That was fundamental. Now, their first season, uh, not exactly setting the world on fire. Finished last in the NHA.
Speaker 1
Well, you gotta start somewhere, right?
Speaker 2
Right.
Speaker 1
But it wasn’t O’Brien for long, ownership-wise.
Speaker 2
No, after that first year, a local Montrealer, George Kennedy, took over.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
And under him, things started to, you know, pick up. Performance improved.
Speaker 1
Okay, so Kennedy brings some stability. What about the look? The jerseys weren’t always the classic red, white, and blue we know, were they?
Speaker 2
Oh, definitely not. They started with a simple blue jersey, white C. Then, uh, they switched to red shirts, green maple leaf with a C on it. Green pants even.
Speaker 1
Green pants, yeah.
Speaker 2
And then for a bit, they had this wild barber pole look, red, white, and blue stripes with a white maple leaf that had SAC inside it.
Speaker 1
Cacique.
Speaker 2
Canadian Athletic Club. That was the sort of parent organization the hockey team was part of initially.
Speaker 1
Ah, okay. So that leads to them becoming their own thing, Le Club de Hockey Canadien-
Speaker 2
Hmm.
Speaker 1
… in March 1916. Why the split?
Speaker 2
Well, the SAC, the bigger club, hit some rough financial patches. They had a fire damage their gym, their lacrosse team didn’t do well. Money got tight. So Kennedy, seeing the hockey club was doing better, made the smart move, separate it, incorporate it on its own. And it was right around then, 1916, that they brought in the logo we know today, the red C with the white H inside.
Speaker 1
The iconic CH.
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
And the H officially stands for hockey, but everyone thinks Habitants, right? How did that happen?
Speaker 2
Yeah, officially it’s hockey, but the Habitants thing, it’s a great example of a nickname kind of almost taking over the logo’s meaning after the fact.
Speaker 1
So the nickname came first?
Speaker 2
Well, the nickname Habs or Habitants, referring to the early French settlers and linking the team to that identity, was definitely around. Sources say it was in French print referring to the team even before 1924.
Speaker 1
Okay.
Speaker 2
But the story goes that in 1924, Tex Rickard, the American promoter who built Madison Square Garden, saw the H and just assumed it meant Habitants. That story got around and really cemented the connection in people’s minds, even though the team says H is for hockey.
Speaker 1
Uh, so maybe happy accident in branding? They get the logo, solidify the identity, and then pretty quickly, their first Stanley Cup, 1915-’16 season. Still in the NHA though.
Speaker 2
Yup, first cup. Huge moment for the young team. Showed they could win, got the fans even more fired up, but trouble was brewing in the NHA itself.
Speaker 1
Oh.
Speaker 2
Yeah, lots of disputes, especially involving Eddie Livingstone, the owner of the Toronto Blue Shirts. Fights over players, control. George Kennedy, the Canadiens’ owner, really did not get along with Livingstone.
Speaker 1
Sounds tense.
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
So how does this lead to the NHL we know today?
Speaker 2
Well, Kennedy and the owners of the Wanderers, Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs basically decided they couldn’t work with Livingstone anymore within the NHA.
Speaker 1
So?
Speaker 2
So they pulled a pretty bold move. They decided, “Let’s just start a new league.” And on November 26th, 1917, they formed the National Hockey League and the NHL, and they just didn’t invite Livingstone.
Speaker 1
Wow, just left him behind.
Speaker 2
Effectively, yeah.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
They suspended the NHA’s operations, leaving Livingstone’s team as the only one left. Talk about an off-ice power play.
Speaker 1
No kidding. And Kennedy was a key figure in setting up this new NHL.
Speaker 2
Absolutely. He was instrumental, even helped finance Tommy Gorman buying the Senators. But the new NHL needed four teams for a balanced schedule and the Quebec Bulldogs had money problems.
Speaker 1
And they needed another team fast.
Speaker 2
Right, so they granted what they called a temporary franchise to the Toronto Arena Company. And that team, as you know, eventually became the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Speaker 1
And there it is, the Leafs-Habs rivalry, born right at the NHL’s creation. Crazy. Okay, NHL is formed. What’s next for the Canadiens?
Speaker 2
Their first NHL Stanley Cup came pretty soon, the 1923-’24 season, and a big part of that was a young star named Howie Morenz, a name you hear a lot about from that era.
Speaker 1
Morens, yeah.
Speaker 2
Big legend.
Speaker 1
Definitely. And 1924 was huge for another reason.
Speaker 2
Hm.
Speaker 1
The Montreal Forum opened November 29th, 1924. The Canadiens played the very first game there. Beat Toronto actually.
Speaker 2
The Forum. Iconic. Must’ve been incredible.
Speaker 1
Imagine the buzz.And they made it their permanent home in 1926. Shared it with the other Montreal team, the Maroons, for a while, right, until ’38. And speaking of rivals, something else happened just days after that first Forum game, didn’t it?
Speaker 2
Yep, just nine days later, December 8th, 1924. Canadiens play their first-ever game against a new team down in Boston, the Bruins.
Speaker 1
And that rivalry kicks off-
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
Still going strong today.
Speaker 2
One of the best in sports. Now, there was also this interesting jersey thing in the ’24, ’25 season, celebrating world champion status.
Speaker 1
Yeah, what was that about?
Speaker 2
Well, after winning the Cup, they put this big world globe logo right on the front of their jerseys for that season. The CH logo moved to the sleeves. Kind of a bold statement, you know? “We’re the champs.”
Speaker 1
I like it, but that season ended weirdly, didn’t it? They were declared champs without playing the final.
Speaker 2
Kind of. They finished third, won their semifinal, but then the first-place team, the Hamilton Tigers, refused to play the final unless they got paid extra.
Speaker 1
Really?
Speaker 2
Yeah. The league president, Frank Calder, wasn’t having it, suspended the whole Tigers team, disqualified them, and just declared Montreal the NHL champions.
Speaker 1
Wow, so they win the NHL title by default.
Speaker 2
Pretty much, but they still had to play for the Stanley Cup itself against the champs from the West, the Victoria Cougars from the WCHL.
Speaker 1
Okay, so a final, final. How’d that go?
Speaker 2
They lost, actually. The Cougars won the best-of-five series. And here’s a fun fact. The 1925 Victoria Cougars, the last non-NHL team ever to win the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 1
Whoa. End of an era for sure.
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
That period also had a really sad story though, Georges Vezina.
Speaker 2
Oh, absolutely tragic. Vezina, their star goalie, collapsed during a game early in the 1925-’26 season. Turned out he had advanced tuberculosis.
Speaker 1
Oh, no.
Speaker 2
Yeah. He never played again. Passed away just a few months later in March 1926, just devastating. But the Canadiens, in his honor, donated the Vezina Trophy to the NHL.
Speaker 1
Awarded to the best goalie, still today. A fitting tribute.
Speaker 2
It really is. He was one of the first players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame too, deservedly so.
Speaker 1
A true pioneer.
Speaker 2
(laughs)
Speaker 1
Now, shifting back to the ice. Howie Morenz, you mentioned him earlier. What made him so special? He seemed electric.
Speaker 2
He really was super skilled, incredibly fast for his time. In ’27, ’28, he was the first NHL player ever to hit 50 points in a season. That was a huge deal back then.
Speaker 1
50 points was the benchmark.
Speaker 2
It was a major milestone, yeah. And get this. He’s also the first player to score the Stanley Cup-winning goal twice. The second time was in 1930 against Boston, who were heavily favored. That must’ve felt good.
Speaker 1
Beating the rivals for the Cup. And they won again in ’31.
Speaker 2
Yeah, back-to-back Cups in 1930 and 1931, really establishing themselves as a powerhouse in the early NHL.
Speaker 1
But then the Great Depression hit. That must’ve impacted even a team like the Canadiens.
Speaker 2
Oh, absolutely. Like everyone else, they were hit hard financially, lost a lot of money. It got so bad, there was serious talk about selling the team and moving them to Cleveland.
Speaker 1
Cleveland Canadiens.
Speaker 2
That-
Speaker 1
Doesn’t sound right.
Speaker 2
It really doesn’t. But thankfully, a group of local Montreal businessmen stepped up, bought the team, and kept them in Montreal. It just shows how important the team already was to the city’s identity, even back then.
Speaker 1
Definitely speaks to that deep connection. Okay, let’s jump ahead a bit. The 1940s, The Punchline. Sounds formidable. Who were they?
Speaker 2
Well, the late ’30s, early ’40s were actually pretty rough for the Habs on the ice. They had their worst season ever in ’39, ’40. But then this line came together, Maurice Rocket Richard, Toe Blake, and Elmer Lach, The Punchline.
Speaker 1
Yeah, turned things around.
Speaker 2
Big time. Their offense was just explosive. Skill chemistry, they clicked immediately. Led the team right to a Stanley Cup in 1944.
Speaker 1
Wow. And the next season, ’44, ’45, that was the Rockets’ legendary year, right?
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
50 goals in 50 games.
Speaker 2
That’s the one. A season for the ages. The whole team was great, but Richard chasing 50 and 50? Nobody thought it was possible. He dominated, broke records, and then scored number 50 in the very last game of the season in Boston.
Speaker 1
Incredible. He became more than just a player then, didn’t he?
Speaker 2
Oh, absolutely, especially in Quebec. He became this huge cultural icon, a symbol of French Canadian pride and achievement. Massive.
Speaker 1
A true legend is born. Now, around this time, Frank Selle comes in as GM. Long and successful tenure, r-
Speaker 2
Very successful. Took over from Tommy Gorman in ’46, stayed until ’64. He built some amazing teams, and he had his eye on one player for a long time, Jean Beliveau.
Speaker 1
Ah, Beliveau, another giant of the game. But Selle had trouble signing him initially.
Speaker 2
Yeah, Beliveau was starring in the Quebec Senior Hockey League, playing for the Quebec Aces, seemed happy there, turned down NHL offers. Selle was persistent though. It took years.
Speaker 1
So what finally got him to sign with the Canadiens?
Speaker 2
Well, this is kind of wild. In 1953, the Canadiens basically bought and professionalized the entire Quebec Senior League.
Speaker 1
The whole league.
Speaker 2
Pretty much. Part of the strategy was definitely to get Beliveau under contract. He finally signed a big five-year deal, and, well, the rest is Hall of Fame history. Spent his whole amazing career with Montreal.
Speaker 1
Talk about wanting a player. That’s commitment. So this brings us into the Original Six era. Intense rivalries, only six teams. How did the Canadiens fare then?
Speaker 2
They thrived. The Original Six era from ’42 to ’67, they were consistently one of the top teams, if not the top team. Built powerhouse squads year after year, multiple Cups. But this era also had a really significant, um, flashpoint off the ice, the Richard Riot in 1955.
Speaker 1
Right, the Richard Riot. That was huge. What exactly happened? It was over a suspension.
Speaker 2
Yeah, the Rocket got suspended by the league president, Clarence Campbell, for the rest of the season and the playoffs after an on-ice incident where he hit a linesman.
Speaker 1
Okay.
Speaker 2
The suspension just ignited Montreal, especially the French Canadian community. They adored Richard, saw him as their guy, standing up to the, you know, perceived English establishment running the league. The decision felt unjust, overly harsh.
Speaker 1
So the riot wasn’t just about hockey.
Speaker 2
Not entirely. It definitely tapped into deeper social and political feelings in Quebec at the time. The riot that broke out when Campbell showed up at the forum for a game, it was intense. A real mix of sports anger and cultural frustration.
Speaker 1
But Richard himself actually helped calm things down, didn’t he?
Speaker 2
He did. The next day, he went on the radio made this really heartfelt plea in French for calm, asked fans to stop the violence, support the team. He accepted the punishment and, crucially, promised he’d come back next year and win the Stanley Cup.
Speaker 1
Wow, incredible leadership. And did he deliver?
Speaker 2
He sure did. They won the cup in 1956, and that kicked off maybe the most dominant run in hockey history.
Speaker 1
The five straight cups.
Speaker 2
Exactly, 1956, ’57, ’58, ’59 and 1960, five consecutive Stanley Cups under Coach Toe Blake. Unbelievable. Their 1960 finals appearance was actually their tenth straight trip to the final series.
Speaker 1
Just staggering dominance. And Richard hit another milestone during that run.
Speaker 2
Yeah, became the first player ever to score 500 career goals, retired right after that 1960 cup win with 544 goals. Hall of Fame, obviously, right away.
Speaker 1
An absolute icon.
Speaker 2
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1
So, the Original Six era ends. The NHL expands in ’67. Did the Canadian’s dominance continue in a bigger league?
Speaker 2
You’d think it might slow down, but remarkably, no. They just kept winning, even with expansion diluting the talent pool a bit.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
Between 1965 and 1979, a 15-season span, they won 10 more Stanley Cups.
Speaker 1
10?
Speaker 2
10 more.
Speaker 1
Yeah. (laughs)
Speaker 2
Including another dynasty run, four straight cups from 1976 to 1979.
Speaker 1
That late ’70s team, that’s the stuff of legend, isn’t it? Lafleur, Dryden, Robinson.
Speaker 2
Oh, yeah. An embarrassment of riches. Guy Lafleur scoring. Ken Dryden’s goaltending. Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe on defense, just loaded everywhere, coached brilliantly, too.
Speaker 1
What made that particular group so historically great?
Speaker 2
That ’76, ’77 team might be the best single season team ever. They won 60 games, only lost eight all season, set records for fewest losses, longest home unbeaten streak. Their goal differential was insane. Held the price record for an 80-game season until just recently.
Speaker 1
Right.
Speaker 2
Just total dominance.
Speaker 1
Unreal. And they faced the Soviet Red Army team during that era too, right? The Super Series.
Speaker 2
Ah, yes. New Year’s Eve 1975, Canadiens versus the Soviet Central Red Army team. Many people still call it one of the greatest hockey games ever played. Ended in a three-three tie. Just incredible skill on display from both sides.
Speaker 1
A classic.
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
Now, that four-cup run in the late ’70s-
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
… it didn’t end without some serious drama against the Bruins, did it?
Speaker 2
Oh.
Speaker 1
1979 playoffs.
Speaker 2
Oh, that game seven, infamous in Boston, legendary in Montreal. Habs are down by a goal late in the third period.
Speaker 1
Less than two minutes left.
Speaker 2
Right. And then the Bruins get called for too many men on the ice, a killer penalty. Don Cherry, the Bruins coach, just losing it.
Speaker 1
And on the power play.
Speaker 2
Guy Lafleur, of course-
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
… ties the game with a laser. Then Yvon Lambert wins it for Montreal in overtime. Bruins fans still haven’t gotten over that penalty call.
Speaker 1
Ouch. A legendary finish. Now, around that time, the WHA merger was happening. The Canadiens initially opposed it.
Speaker 2
Why? Yeah, 1979, the merger talks to bring in teams like Edmonton and Quebec; Hartford, Winnipeg from the rival World Hockey Association. Montreal, along with Vancouver and Toronto initially voted no.
Speaker 1
Why resist bringing in more Canadian teams?
Speaker 2
It mainly came down to money, specifically the TV money from Hockey Night in Canada. They were splitting it three ways. The merger meant splitting it six ways. They didn’t wanna dilute that revenue stream. Pure business decision.
Speaker 1
Makes sense financially, but I bet that didn’t go over well in cities like Quebec City or Winnipeg.
Speaker 2
Understatement. There was a massive boycott of Molson products. Molson owned the Canadiens then in those WHA cities. It got so big, the Canadian government actually got involved, put pressure on the teams to approve the merger for, you know, the good of Canadian hockey.
Speaker 1
Government intervention and a beer boycott. Did it work?
Speaker 2
It did. Facing all that pressure, Montreal and Vancouver changed their votes. The merger went through, changed the NHL landscape forever.
Speaker 1
The power of the people.
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
And maybe the government. Okay, into the ’80s-
Speaker 2
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1
… a bit of a transition period. Some controversy, too.
Speaker 2
Definitely some transition. The 1980 draft is still talked about. They had the first overall pick, took Doug Wickenheiser. But Denis Savard, a super popular Francophone prospect was right there.
Speaker 1
And Wickenheiser didn’t quite pan out in Montreal.
Speaker 2
Not like Savard did elsewhere, no.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 2
So, that decision got criticized for years. And then, of course, the rivalry with the Quebec Nordiques heated up big time.
Speaker 1
The Battle of Quebec-
Speaker 2
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1
… led to that crazy playoff game.
Speaker 2
The Good Friday Massacre, 1984, just an absolute brawl, multiple bench-clearing incidents, tons of penalties, more fighting than hockey, really, showed just how intense that rivalry was. Pure hatred.
Speaker 1
Sounds wild.
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
But amidst all that, a new star emerged in goal, right? 1986.
Speaker 2
Patrick Roy-
Speaker 1
(laughs)
Speaker 2
… burst onto the scene as a rookie, just took over the playoffs, led a p- pretty young Canadiens team all the way to their 23rd Stanley Cup, beat Calgary in the finals.
Speaker 1
And Roy won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, as a rookie.
Speaker 2
Youngest ever to win it at the time. He was unbelievable. And another rookie, Brian Scrudland, scored the fastest overtime goal in finals history in that series, too. A real youth movement paying off.
Speaker 1
What a start for Roy.
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
They met Calgary again in the ’89 finals, though. Different result that time.
Speaker 2
Yeah, Flames got their revenge. Won it in six games. And that series holds a unique distinction. It’s the only time a visiting team ever won the Stanley Cup on Montreal Forum ice.
Speaker 1
Wow. Had to hurt for the home fans. But redemption wasn’t too far off.
Speaker 2
No.
Speaker 1
1993, the 100th anniversary of the Cup.
Speaker 2
1993, their 24th Cup.
Speaker 1
Better that.
Speaker 2
And, uh, still the last time a Canadian team has won it, which is kind of crazy.
Speaker 1
Still is, yeah. What made that ’93 team special? They had a knack for overtime, didn’t they?
Speaker 2
An insane knack. They won 10 overtime games in that playoff run, an NHL record. Just found ways to win the close ones. And again, Patrick Roy was just immense. Won his second Conn Smythe. He was the difference maker.
Speaker 1
And that final against LA, against-
Speaker 2
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1
… Gretzky’s Kings had that whole stick controversy-
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
Right? Marty McSorley.
Speaker 2
Oh, yeah.Game two, Canadians are down late. Coach Jacques Demers calls for a measurement of McSorley’s stick blade curve. Turns out, it’s illegal.
Speaker 1
No way.
Speaker 2
Yup. Habs get a power play, tie the game, then win it in overtime. Completely swung the momentum of the series. Kings never really recovered. Huge, huge moment.
Speaker 1
A calculated gamble by the coach. But the celebration after winning?
Speaker 2
Hmm.
Speaker 1
It got out of hand in Montreal, didn’t it?
Speaker 2
Sadly, yeah. There was a pretty major riot downtown after they won The Cup. Lots of damage, injuries. Just showed the, I guess, the sheer intensity of the passion surrounding the team, sometimes boiling over.
Speaker 1
A tough side to that passion.
Speaker 2
Oh.
Speaker 1
Now, not long after that Cup win, the Roy era in Montreal came to a pretty abrupt end, the trade. What happened there?
Speaker 2
It was dramatic. December 1995, Canadiens get absolutely shelled at home by Detroit, 11-1. Roy gets left in for nine of those goals.
Speaker 1
Ouch.
Speaker 2
He felt totally hung out to dry, humiliated by the coach, Mario Tremblay. Skated to the bench, told the team president right then and there, “I’ve played my last game in Montreal.” And four days later, traded to Colorado.
Speaker 1
Just like that, end of an era. How big was that trade’s impact?
Speaker 2
Massive for both teams. Roy wins more Cups in Colorado. The Canadiens, they entered a pretty long stretch of, uh, well, mediocrity is maybe harsh, but definitely inconsistency. Missed the playoffs a bunch. Didn’t go deep when they did make it, until that run in 2010. It also broke their streak of winning at least one cup in every decade since the 1910s.
Speaker 1
And the economics of the game were changing too, leading to a move from The Forum.
Speaker 2
Exactly. Needed a modern building, more revenue streams. So the Molson Center, now the Bell Center, was built. That final game at The Forum, March 11, 1996, hmm, that was something special.
Speaker 1
Emotional night.
Speaker 2
Hugely emotional. They had this incredible ceremony honoring all the legends, captains passing the torch. Really celebrated the history in that building. A very poignant goodbye for the fans.
Speaker 1
Must have been. But even with the new building, there were some financial wobbles in the late ’90s, early 2000s. Talk of moving again.
Speaker 2
There was. Things got tight again.
Speaker 1
All right.
Speaker 2
But then, the Molson family sold the team in 2001 to George Gilette Jr. That actually helped stabilize things financially, brought them back to profitability.
Speaker 1
And then the Molsons bought the team back.
Speaker 2
Yep, in 2009, right during the team’s 100th anniversary year. That was huge for the fan base. Felt like the team was back where it belonged, you know, local ownership with that deep historical tie.
Speaker 1
A real full-circle moment. And that centennial year was a big deal in Montreal, wasn’t it?
Speaker 2
Massive celebration. Hosted the All-Star Game, the NHL draft. And on the ice, they actually hit a milestone too. December 2008, they became the first NHL team ever to reach 3,000 regular season wins.
Speaker 1
Wow, 3,000 wins. And they had that nice playoff run in 2010, made the conference finals, gave fans some hope.
Speaker 2
They did. Showed some flashes. We’ve also seen them in those outdoor games, the Heritage Classics, Winter Classics. Always fun spectacles.
Speaker 1
Yeah, those are great. But the last decade or so-
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
… it’s been a bit up and down, hasn’t it?
Speaker 2
It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, yeah. Finished last in their conference in 2011-12, first time in, like, 80 years. Led to a rebuild, then they surprised everyone, made the conference finals again in 2014.
Speaker 1
Right, lost to the Rangers.
Speaker 2
Yeah, then another rebuild period. Then that crazy run to the Stanley Cup Finals in the weird pandemic season, 2020-21.
Speaker 1
Where they only played Canadian teams until the final.
Speaker 2
Exactly. Beat Toronto, Winnipeg, Vegas, then lost to Tampa in the final. But the very next year, finished dead last in the entire league.
Speaker 1
Whiplash.
Speaker 2
(laughs) Totally. Prompted the current rebuild they’re in now. It really shows how cyclical pro sports can be.
Speaker 1
And somewhere in there we had-
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
… Metal, the mascot.
Speaker 2
Ha. Yeah, the unofficial official mascot for the Reverse Retro Jersey Knights. Short-lived, kind of quirky. An attempt to have some fun, I guess. Didn’t last long.
Speaker 1
A footnote in history. So looking at today, Molson family still owns them. Kent Hughes is the GM. Martin St-Louis behind the bench. Nick Suzuki’s the captain.
Speaker 2
That’s the setup. And those classic rivalries, Leafs and Bruins, still burn hot. And importantly, the games are still broadcast in both French and English. That dual broadcast really underlines their cultural significance.
Speaker 1
Absolutely. And you look up at the Bell Center rafters, 15 retired numbers honoring 18 players. Started way back with Howie Morenz’s number seven. The sheer volume of Hall of Famers.
Speaker 2
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1
Over 50 players and builders.
Speaker 2
It’s staggering. They even have that Builders Row outside the arena for the key off-ice people. It just speaks to the incredible depth and history.
Speaker 1
It really does. And the jerseys, even with ads now, you still see that history, that CH logo. And that connection goes so deep, like in Rob Carrier’s story, the hockey sweater.
Speaker 2
Ah, quintessential. Perfectly captures what the team means, especially in Quebec. And their motto, Nos bras meurtris vous tendons le flambeau, our bruised arms extend the torch to you, it is now up to you to carry it high. Just powerful. Sums up that sense of legacy.
Speaker 1
So yeah, from that hotel lobby beginning to being this just massive cultural symbol and a dominant hockey force for decades.
Speaker 2
Yeah.
Speaker 1
I- it’s an incredible story. So many twists, so much drama, so many legends.
Speaker 2
The resilience through tough times, those unbelievable dynasties, the players who wore the tricolor. It’s such a rich history.
Speaker 1
And think about it, 24 Stanley Cups. For a long time, that was the most championships of any team in major North American pro sports. What do you think it is about this team, this franchise, that created that level of sustained success and that incredibly passionate following that spans generations?
Speaker 2
That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? What’s the secret sauce? Is it the connection to identity, the pressure, the history itself breeding more success?
Speaker 1
It makes you wonder. What part of their long history do you find the most fascinating, thinking back on it all?
Speaker 2
Hmm, that’s tough. Maybe those back-to-back dynasties in completely different eras, the ’50s and then again in the ’70s. Shows incredible adaptability.
Speaker 1
Yeah, that’s a great point. Well, this Deep Dive really just scratches the surface, doesn’t it? There’s so much more individual player stories, how the game changed. We definitely encourage you to dig, dig in deeper into the sources, or explore anything that caught your interest today.
Speaker 2
Absolutely. Always more to learn.
Speaker 1
Thanks for joining us on the Deep Dive.