Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team worldwide and the only existing NHL club to predate the founding of the NHL. One of the oldest North American professional sports franchises, the Canadiens' history predates that of every other Canadian franchise outside football as well as every American franchise outside baseball and the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals. The franchise is one of the "Original Six" teams, a description used for the teams that made up the NHL from 1942 until the 1967 expansion. The team's championship season in 1992–93 was the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.
The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup more times than any other franchise. They have won 24 Stanley Cup championships, 23 of them since the founding of the NHL and 22 of them since 1927, when NHL teams became the only ones to compete for the Stanley Cup. The Canadiens also had the most championships by a team of any of the four major North American sports until the New York Yankees won their 25th World Series title in 1999.
Since 1996, the Canadiens have played their home games at Bell Centre, originally known as Molson Centre. The team previously played at the Montreal Forum which housed the team for seven decades and all but their first two Stanley Cup championships
Year | Year2 | Years | Name | Wins | Losses | Games | Win % | Champs | Playoffs | Tenure | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | 2021 | 1979-2021 | The Molson family | 1649 | 1214 | 2863 | .576 | 3 | 32 | 43 | |
1972 | 1978 | 1972-1978 | Peter Bronfman Edward Bronfman | 367 | 93 | 460 | .798 | 4 | 7 | 7 | |
1958 | 1971 | 1958-1971 | Hartland Molson Thomas Henry Molson | 546 | 281 | 827 | .660 | 8 | 13 | 14 | |
1936 | 1957 | 1936-1957 | Canadian Arena Company | 589 | 469 | 1058 | .557 | 5 | 19 | 22 | |
1931 | 1935 | 1931-1935 | Leo Dandurand Joseph Cattarinich | 110 | 94 | 204 | .539 | 1 | 5 | 5 | |
1927 | 1930 | 1927-1930 | Leo Dandurand Joseph Cattarinich Louis Letourneau | 97 | 46 | 143 | .678 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |