Greatest Sports Franchises - Montreal Canadiens

The Storied History of the Montreal Canadiens

Officially known as le Club de hockey Canadien, the Montreal Canadiens are the most successful ice hockey franchise of all time, with 24 Stanley Cup championships in the team’s history.

Founded on December 4th 1909, the Habs hold a few distinctions amongst both hockey and all sports franchises. The team is the only club that predates the existing National Hockey League, having in fact won its first Stanley Cup in 1916. It is also the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey and one of the oldest North American sports franchises.

Along with the NY Rangers, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadiens rank as one of the "Original Six" teams that were part of the NHL from 1942 until the 1967 expansion.

The Habs have won a record 24 Stanley Cups, with the most recent one coming in 1992-93, representing the last time a Canadian club has won the Championship as of the 2009 season.

Since 1996, The Canadiens play their home games at the Bell Centre. Previously, the played at the Jubilee Rink, the Montreal Westmount Arena, the Mount Royal Arena and the legendary Montreal Forum, which housed the team for seven decades and all but their first two Stanley Cup championships. The Habs have never won the Cup at the Bell Centre, a fact not lost on its legion of fans.

In addition to its 24 Stanley Cup Championships, the team has boasted some of the most successful players of all time, including the first player to score 50 goals in a season and 500 in a career, Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, as well as Jacques Plante, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur, and Patrick Roy, who backstopped the team to its last two championships in 1986 and 1993.

The Habs hold numerous club records, including five consecutive Stanley Cup rings in the late 1950s and four more in the late 1970s; in that span, the club set a record for fewest losses in a season with a record of 60 wins, 8 losses and 12 ties during the 1976-77 regular season.

In their home province of Quebec, hockey is a religion and the club is sacrosanct. For example, on March 17, 1955, the fans rioted when NHL President Clarence Campbell was on hand at the Forum just days after he suspended Richard for hitting a referee.
In 2008, the fans rioted again after the Club won the first round of the playoffs.

Similarly to FC Barcelona, who plays La Liga and is situated in the Catalan region of Spain, the club's mythical stature stokes nationalistic feelings amongst its supporters in the French speaking province of Quebec.