1947–48 Montreal Canadiens season

1947–48 Montreal Canadiens
1947–48 Montreal Canadiens
League	5th NHL
1947–48 record	20–29–11
Home record	13–13–4
Road record	7–16–7
Goals for	147
Goals against	169
Team information
General manager	Frank J. Selke
Coach	Dick Irvin
Captain	Toe Blake ; Bill Durnan (Jan–Apr)
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Elmer Lach (30)
Assists	Elmer Lach (31)
Points	Elmer Lach (61)
Penalty minutes	Ken Reardon (129)
Wins	Bill Durnan (20)
Goals against average	Bill Durnan (2.77)

The 1947–48 Montreal Canadiens season was the 39th season in club history. The team finished fifth, four points out of a playoff spot, their last time missing the playoffs until 1970.

Regular season

Bill Durnan was the last goaltender in the 20th century to serve as captain of an NHL team. He suffered his only losing season during the 1947–48 season, and, for the only time in his career, did not lead the league in goals against average.^[1]

Final standings

National Hockey League^[2]
		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Toronto Maple Leafs	60	32	15	13	182	143	+39	77
2	Detroit Red Wings	60	30	18	12	187	148	+39	72
3	Boston Bruins	60	23	24	13	167	168	−1	59
4	New York Rangers	60	21	26	13	176	201	−25	55
5		60	20	29	11	147	169	−22	51
6	Chicago Black Hawks	60	20	34	6	195	225	−30	46

Record vs. opponents

1947–48 NHL Records ^[3]
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	MTL	NYR	TOR
Boston	—	3–7–2	4–6–2	6–2–4	7–3–2	3–7–2
Chicago	7–3–2	—	2–10	4–7–1	6–4–2	1–10–1
Detroit	6–4–2	10–2	—	7–2–3	5–4–3	2–6–4
	2–6–4	7–4–1	2–7–3	—	3–7–2	6–5–1
New York	3–7–2	4–6–2	4–5–3	7–3–2	—	3–5–4
Toronto	7–3–2	10–1–1	6–2–4	5–6–1	5–3–4	—

Schedule and results

1947–48 regular season^[4]

October

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 16, 1947	1–2	New York Rangers (1947–48)	0–1–0
2	W	October 18, 1947	4–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	1–1–0
3	L	October 22, 1947	1–3	@ Boston Bruins (1947–48)	1–2–0
4	W	October 25, 1947	5–0	Boston Bruins (1947–48)	2–2–0
5	W	October 26, 1947	4–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	3–2–0
6	L	October 29, 1947	1–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	3–3–0

November

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
7	W	November 2, 1947	4–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	4–3–0
8	W	November 6, 1947	3–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	5–3–0
9	L	November 8, 1947	1–3	Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	5–4–0
10	W	November 13, 1947	5–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	6–4–0
11	L	November 15, 1947	1–9	Boston Bruins (1947–48)	6–5–0
12	L	November 16, 1947	2–4	@ New York Rangers (1947–48)	6–6–0
13	T	November 19, 1947	2–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	6–6–1
14	L	November 22, 1947	3–5	New York Rangers (1947–48)	6–7–1
15	T	November 23, 1947	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1947–48)	6–7–2
16	W	November 27, 1947	2–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	7–7–2
17	L	November 29, 1947	1–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	7–8–2
18	T	November 30, 1947	1–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	7–8–3

December

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
19	W	December 6, 1947	4–0	Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	8–8–3
20	L	December 7, 1947	0–1	@ Boston Bruins (1947–48)	8–9–3
21	T	December 10, 1947	4–4	@ New York Rangers (1947–48)	8–9–4
22	L	December 11, 1947	2–4	New York Rangers (1947–48)	8–10–4
23	W	December 14, 1947	4–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	9–10–4
24	L	December 20, 1947	2–4	Boston Bruins (1947–48)	9–11–4
25	W	December 21, 1947	4–3	@ New York Rangers (1947–48)	10–11–4
26	L	December 25, 1947	0–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	10–12–4
27	W	December 27, 1947	3–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	11–12–4

January

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
28	L	January 1, 1948	1–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	11–13–4
29	T	January 3, 1948	2–2	Boston Bruins (1947–48)	11–13–5
30	L	January 4, 1948	2–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	11–14–5
31	T	January 8, 1948	1–1	Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	11–14–6
32	T	January 10, 1948	1–1	New York Rangers (1947–48)	11–14–7
33	L	January 11, 1948	1–3	@ New York Rangers (1947–48)	11–15–7
34	W	January 15, 1948	8–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	12–15–7
35	W	January 17, 1948	3–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	13–15–7
36	T	January 18, 1948	1–1	@ Boston Bruins (1947–48)	13–15–8
37	L	January 21, 1948	1–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	13–16–8
38	L	January 24, 1948	1–5	Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	13–17–8
39	L	January 25, 1948	0–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	13–18–8
40	T	January 28, 1948	3–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	13–18–9
41	L	January 31, 1948	2–4	New York Rangers (1947–48)	13–19–9

February

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
42	W	February 1, 1948	3–0	@ Boston Bruins (1947–48)	14–19–9
43	L	February 5, 1948	2–7	Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	14–20–9
44	L	February 7, 1948	3–5	Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	14–21–9
45	L	February 14, 1948	2–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	14–22–9
46	L	February 15, 1948	1–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	14–23–9
47	W	February 19, 1948	3–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	15–23–9
48	L	February 21, 1948	1–3	Boston Bruins (1947–48)	15–24–9
49	L	February 22, 1948	3–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	15–25–9
50	L	February 28, 1948	2–5	Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	15–26–9
51	L	February 29, 1948	3–5	@ New York Rangers (1947–48)	15–27–9

March

Game	Result	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
52	W	March 3, 1948	3–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	16–27–9
53	T	March 4, 1948	1–1	Boston Bruins (1947–48)	16–27–10
54	T	March 6, 1948	2–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1947–48)	16–27–11
55	L	March 7, 1948	3–9	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	16–28–11
56	W	March 11, 1948	3–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1947–48)	17–28–11
57	W	March 13, 1948	3–2	New York Rangers (1947–48)	18–28–11
58	W	March 14, 1948	6–3	@ New York Rangers (1947–48)	19–28–11
59	W	March 20, 1948	7–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1947–48)	20–28–11
60	L	March 21, 1948	3–4	@ Boston Bruins (1947–48)	20–29–11

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Elmer Lach	C	60	30	31	61	72
Maurice Richard	RW	53	28	25	53	89
Toe Blake	LW	32	9	15	24	4
Ken Reardon	D	58	7	15	22	129
Billy Reay	C	60	6	14	20	24
Bob Fillion	LW	32	9	9	18	8
Roger Leger	D	48	4	14	18	26
Jacques Locas	RW	56	7	8	15	66
Norm Dussault	C	28	5	10	15	4
Glen Harmon	D	56	10	4	14	52
Joe Carveth	RW	35	1	10	11	6
Emile Bouchard	D	60	4	6	10	78
Murph Chamberlain	LW	30	6	3	9	62
Doug Harvey	D	35	4	4	8	32
Rip Riopelle	LW	55	5	2	7	12
Bob Carse	LW	22	3	3	6	16
Floyd Curry	RW	31	1	5	6	0
John Quilty	C	20	2	3	5	4
Tod Campeau	C	14	2	2	4	4
Jimmy Peters	RW	22	1	3	4	6
Hal Laycoe	D	14	1	2	3	4
Gerry Plamondon	LW	3	1	1	2	0
Murdo MacKay	RW/C	14	0	2	2	0
Ken Mosdell	C	23	1	0	1	19
Bill Durnan	G	59	0	0	0	5
Leo Gravelle	RW	15	0	0	0	0
Tom Johnson	D	1	0	0	0	0
Gerry McNeil	G	2	0	0	0	0
George Robertson	LW/C	1	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Bill Durnan	3505	59	20	28	10	162	2.77	5
Gerry McNeil	95	2	0	1	1	7	4.42	0
Team:	3600	60	20	29	11	169	2.82	5

^[5]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Elmer Lach, Art Ross Trophy
Elmer Lach, Centre, NHL First Team All-Star
Ken Reardon, Defence, NHL Second Team All-Star
Maurice Richard, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star

Citations

^ "HHOF – Player Details".
^ "1947–1948 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1947-48 Montreal Canadiens Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
^ "1947-48 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.

References

[1] "HHOF – Player Details".

[standings-div-2] "1947–1948 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.

[3] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[Gamelog-4] "1947-48 Montreal Canadiens Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 7, 2025.

[5] "1947-48 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Montreal Canadiens seasons
1900s	1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

Montreal Canadiens
Founded in 1909 Based in Montreal, Quebec
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History Original Six Centennial Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Molson family (Geoff Molson, chairman) General manager Kent Hughes Head coach Martin St. Louis Team captain Nick Suzuki Current roster
Arenas	Jubilee Arena Montreal Arena Mount Royal Arena Montreal Forum Bell Centre
Rivalries	Boston Bruins Quebec Nordiques Toronto Maple Leafs
Affiliates	AHL Laval Rocket ECHL Trois-Rivières Lions
Media	TV TSN2 (English) RDS (French) Radio TSN Radio 690 (English) 98,5 FM (French)
Culture and lore	Youppi! The Hockey Sweater Pour toujours, les Canadiens! Ginette Reno Tour des Canadiens The Punch Line Richard Riot 1938 European tour "Fix You" Good Friday Massacre 2003 Heritage Classic 2011 Heritage Classic 2016 Winter Classic 100 Classic Bell Sports Complex
Category Commons

1947–48 NHL season
Teams	Boston Chicago Detroit New York Toronto
See also	Punch line All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals Transactions