1994–95 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1994–95 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 86th season of play and the last full season in the Montreal Forum before moving to the new Molson Centre. For the first time since the 1969–70 season (and only the second time since 1947–48), the Canadiens failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

1994–95 Montreal Canadiens
Division	6th Northeast
Conference	11th Eastern
1994–95 record	18–23–7
Home record	15–5–4
Road record	3–18–3
Goals for	125
Goals against	148
Team information
General manager	Serge Savard
Coach	Jacques Demers
Captain	Kirk Muller (Oct.–Apr.) Mike Keane (Apr.)
Alternate captains	J. J. Daigneault Vincent Damphousse Mike Keane (Oct.–Apr.)
Arena	Montreal Forum
Average attendance	16,964
Minor league affiliate(s)	Fredericton Canadiens Wheeling Thunderbirds
Team leaders
Goals	Mark Recchi (14)
Assists	Vincent Damphousse (30)
Points	Mark Recchi (43)
Penalty minutes	Lyle Odelein (152)
Plus/minus	Vincent Damphousse (+15)
Wins	Patrick Roy (17)
Goals against average	Patrick Roy (2.97)
← 1993–94 1995–96 →

Off-season

In the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, the Canadiens selected defenceman Brad Brown with their first-round pick, 18th overall. The Canadiens were more fortunate with their second-round pick, selecting Jose Theodore 44th overall.

In August 1994, captain Guy Carbonneau was traded to the St. Louis Blues. Kirk Muller was named his replacement as captain.

Regular season

The season started later and was abbreviated by a lockout of the players by the NHL owners. The Canadiens played only 48 games. It was a forgettable season for the Canadiens and their fans, as the team missed the playoffs for the first time in 25 years. The Canadiens only won 3 of 24 games on the road.^[1] Already gone at the season's debut were members of the formidable 1992–93 Stanley Cup champion team, including Guy Carbonneau, Kevin Haller, Stephan Lebeau, and Denis Savard. On February 9, more players from the 1992–93 team departed, as Eric Desjardins, Gilbert Dionne, and John LeClair were traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Mark Recchi. Another major trade nearly two months later on April 5 would send Craig Darby, Mathieu Schneider and fan favourite Kirk Muller to the New York Islanders in exchange for Vladimir Malakhov and Pierre Turgeon. The team subsequently named forward Mike Keane as its new captain. After a 7–5–4 start, Montreal won only 11 of its final 32 games, going 11–18–3. It was the first and only season of goaltender Patrick Roy's NHL playing career in which he lost more games than he won, and his only season of his NHL playing career that he did not make the playoffs.

The Canadiens tied the Florida Panthers and the Ottawa Senators for the fewest shorthanded goals scored during the regular season with one.^[2]

Final standings

Northeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Quebec Nordiques	48	30	13	5	185	134	65
2	3	Pittsburgh Penguins	48	29	16	3	181	158	61
3	4	Boston Bruins	48	27	18	3	150	127	57
4	7	Buffalo Sabres	48	22	19	7	130	119	51
5	10	Hartford Whalers	48	19	24	5	127	141	43
6	11	Montreal Canadiens	48	18	23	7	125	148	43
7	14	Ottawa Senators	48	9	34	5	117	174	23

^[3]

Eastern Conference^[4]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Quebec Nordiques	NE	48	30	13	5	185	134	65
2	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	48	28	16	4	150	132	60
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	48	29	16	3	181	158	61
4	Boston Bruins	NE	48	27	18	3	150	127	57
5	New Jersey Devils	AT	48	22	18	8	136	121	52
6	Washington Capitals	AT	48	22	18	8	136	120	52
7	Buffalo Sabres	NE	48	22	19	7	130	119	51
8	New York Rangers	AT	48	22	23	3	139	134	47
9	Florida Panthers	AT	48	20	22	6	115	127	46
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	48	19	24	5	127	141	43
11	Montreal Canadiens	NE	48	18	23	7	125	148	43
12	Tampa Bay Lightning	AT	48	17	28	3	120	144	37
13	New York Islanders	AT	48	15	28	5	126	158	35
14	Ottawa Senators	NE	48	9	34	5	117	174	23

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

1994–95 regular season^[5]
January: 2–2–1 (home: 2–0–1; road: 0–2–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 L January 21, 1995 2–5 @ New York Rangers 0–1–0 Recap 2 W January 25, 1995 2–0 Washington Capitals 1–1–0 Recap 3 W January 28, 1995 5–1 New Jersey Devils 2–1–0 Recap 4 T January 29, 1995 2–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers 2–1–1 Recap 5 L January 31, 1995 1–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 2–2–1 Recap
February: 5–6–3 (home: 3–1–1; road: 2–5–2) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 6 T February 2, 1995 1–1 OT @ Florida Panthers 2–2–2 Recap 7 W February 4, 1995 4–2 New York Islanders 3–2–2 Recap 8 L February 7, 1995 4–7 @ Boston Bruins 3–3–2 Recap 9 W February 8, 1995 4–2 @ Ottawa Senators 4–3–2 Recap 10 L February 11, 1995 1–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4–4–2 Recap 11 T February 13, 1995 2–2 OT Hartford Whalers 4–4–3 Recap 12 L February 15, 1995 1–4 @ Hartford Whalers 4–5–3 Recap 13 T February 16, 1995 2–2 OT @ New York Rangers 4–5–4 Recap 14 W February 18, 1995 5–2 New York Rangers 5–5–4 Recap 15 W February 20, 1995 3–2 OT New York Islanders 6–5–4 Recap 16 W February 23, 1995 5–2 @ Florida Panthers 7–5–4 Recap 17 L February 25, 1995 0–7 Philadelphia Flyers 7–6–4 Recap 18 L February 27, 1995 1–6 @ New Jersey Devils 7–7–4 Recap 19 L February 28, 1995 1–2 @ New York Islanders 7–8–4 Recap
March: 4–7–1 (home: 4–1–1; road: 0–6–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 20 L March 4, 1995 1–5 @ Washington Capitals 7–9–4 Recap 21 L March 5, 1995 1–4 @ Buffalo Sabres 7–10–4 Recap 22 T March 8, 1995 2–2 OT Buffalo Sabres 7–10–5 Recap 23 W March 11, 1995 3–1 New York Rangers 8–10–5 Recap 24 L March 13, 1995 2–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 8–11–5 Recap 25 W March 15, 1995 8–5 Pittsburgh Penguins 9–11–5 Recap 26 L March 16, 1995 0–6 @ Boston Bruins 9–12–5 Recap 27 W March 18, 1995 5–4 Quebec Nordiques 10–12–5 Recap 28 L March 20, 1995 4–8 @ Philadelphia Flyers 10–13–5 Recap 29 L March 22, 1995 2–3 Florida Panthers 10–14–5 Recap 30 W March 25, 1995 3–1 Ottawa Senators 11–14–5 Recap 31 L March 27, 1995 2–3 OT @ Tampa Bay Lightning 11–15–5 Recap
April: 7–6–2 (home: 6–2–1; road: 1–4–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 32 L April 1, 1995 1–4 @ New Jersey Devils 11–16–5 Recap 33 W April 3, 1995 5–4 @ Ottawa Senators 12–16–5 Recap 34 W April 5, 1995 6–5 Quebec Nordiques 13–16–5 Recap 35 L April 6, 1995 2–3 @ Quebec Nordiques 13–17–5 Recap 36 W April 8, 1995 2–1 Pittsburgh Penguins 14–17–5 Recap 37 W April 10, 1995 2–1 New Jersey Devils 15–17–5 Recap 38 L April 12, 1995 2–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers 15–18–5 Recap 39 L April 14, 1995 3–4 OT @ Hartford Whalers 15–19–5 Recap 40 L April 15, 1995 2–3 Boston Bruins 15–20–5 Recap 41 W April 17, 1995 5–2 Washington Capitals 16–20–5 Recap 42 W April 19, 1995 4–1 Ottawa Senators 17–20–5 Recap 43 W April 22, 1995 3–1 Tampa Bay Lightning 18–20–5 Recap 44 L April 24, 1995 3–4 Hartford Whalers 18–21–5 Recap 45 T April 26, 1995 1–1 OT @ Quebec Nordiques 18–21–6 Recap 46 T April 29, 1995 3–3 OT Buffalo Sabres 18–21–7 Recap
May: 0–2–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 47 L May 1, 1995 0–2 @ Buffalo Sabres 18–22–7 Recap 48 L May 3, 1995 2–4 Boston Bruins 18–23–7 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.

			Regular season
No.	Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
8	Mark Recchi†	RW	39	14	29	43	−3	16
25	Vincent Damphousse	C	48	10	30	40	15	42
22	Benoit Brunet	LW	45	7	18	25	7	16
77	Pierre Turgeon†	C	15	11	9	20	12	4
12	Mike Keane	RW	48	10	10	20	5	15
27	Mathieu Schneider‡	D	30	5	15	20	−3	49
49	Brian Savage	LW	37	12	7	19	5	27
11	Kirk Muller‡	LW	33	8	11	19	−21	33
23	Brian Bellows	LW	41	8	8	16	−7	8
43	Patrice Brisebois	D	35	4	8	12	−2	26
29	Yves Racine	D	47	4	7	11	−1	42
24	Lyle Odelein	D	48	3	7	10	−13	152
15	Paul DiPietro‡	C	22	4	5	9	−3	4
48	J. J. Daigneault	D	45	3	5	8	2	40
30	Turner Stevenson	RW	41	6	1	7	0	86
44	Bryan Fogarty	D	21	5	2	7	−3	34
28	Eric Desjardins‡	D	9	0	6	6	2	2
6	Oleg Petrov	RW	12	2	3	5	−7	4
17	John LeClair‡	LW	9	1	4	5	−1	10
38	Vladimir Malakhov†	D	14	1	4	5	−2	14
31	Ed Ronan	RW	30	1	4	5	−7	12
34	Peter Popovic	D	33	0	5	5	−10	8
18	Valeri Bure	RW	24	3	1	4	−1	6
45	Gilbert Dionne‡	LW	6	0	3	3	−3	2
35	Donald Brashear	LW	20	1	1	2	−5	63
14	Craig Darby‡	C	10	0	2	2	−5	0
28	Craig Conroy	C	6	1	0	1	−1	0
17	Mark Lamb†	C	39	1	0	1	−13	18
52	Craig Rivet	D	5	0	1	1	2	5
33	Patrick Roy	G	43	0	1	1		20
26	Yves Sarault	LW	8	0	1	1	−1	0
46	Craig Ferguson	C	1	0	0	0	0	0
36	Gerry Fleming	LW	6	0	0	0	−1	17
26	Jim Montgomery‡	C	5	0	0	0	−2	2
57	Chris Murray	RW	3	0	0	0	0	4
32	Mario Roberge	LW	9	0	0	0	−2	34
20	Pierre Sevigny	LW	19	0	0	0	−5	15
1	Ron Tugnutt	G	7	0	0	0		0
56	David Wilkie	D	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

		Regular season
No.	Player	GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
33	Patrick Roy	43	17	20	6	1357	127	2.97	.906	1	2566
1	Ron Tugnutt	7	1	3	1	172	18	3.12	.895	0	346

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref
Team	Jacques Beauchamp Molson Trophy	Benoit Brunet	^[6]
	Molson Cup	Patrick Roy	^[7]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
500th game played	Patrick Roy	February 20, 1995	^[8]

Transactions

• February 9, 1995: Montreal traded John LeClair, Eric Desjardins and Gilbert Dionne to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Mark Recchi and Philadelphia's third-round pick in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft (used to select (Martin Hohenberger). LeClair gelled immediately with new Flyers line-mate Eric Lindros and quickly became one of the NHL's most feared goal-scorers.
• April 5, 1995: Montreal acquired Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov from the New York Islanders in exchange for Kirk Muller, Mathieu Schneider and Craig Darby.^[9]

Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft in Hartford, Connecticut.^[10]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team
1	18	Brad Brown	Defence	Canada	North Bay Centennials (OHL)
2	44	Jose Theodore	Goaltender	Canada	Saint-Jean Lynx (QMJHL)
3	54	Chris Murray	Right wing	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
3	70	Marko Kiprusoff	Defence	Finland	TPS (Finland)
3	74	Martin Belanger	Defence	Canada	Granby Bisons (QMJHL)
4	96	Arto Kuki	Centre	Finland	Espoo Blues (Finland)
5	122	Jimmy Drolet	Defence	Canada	Saint-Hyacinthe Laser (QMJHL)
6	148	Joel Irving	Centre	Canada	Regina Pat Canadiens (Midget AAA)
7	174	Jessie Rezansoff	Right wing	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
8	200	Peter Strom	Left wing	Sweden	Frölunda HC (Sweden)
9	226	Tomas Vokoun	Goaltender	Czech Republic	HC Kladno (Czech Republic)
10	252	Chris Aldous	Defence	United States	Northwood School (USHS-NY)
11	278	Ross Parsons	Defence	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)

See also

• 1994–95 NHL season

References

• "Montreal Canadiens 1994-95 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
• "1994-95 Montreal Canadiens Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.

1. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.338, by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
2. "1994-95 NHL Summary".
3. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
4. "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
5. "1994-95 Montreal Canadiens Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
6. Montreal Canadiens 2014–2015 Media Guide, p.553
7. Montreal Canadiens 2014–2015 Media Guide, p.552
8. "Patrick Roy". hockeygoalies.org. Retrieved September 11, 2023. Played in 500th National Hockey League game (vs. NY Islanders), February 20, 1995.
9. NHL trade deadline: Deals since 1980 | Habs Inside/Out 2009-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
10. "1994 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 4, 2023.