1955–56 Montreal Canadiens season

1955–56 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup champions
League1st NHL
1955–56 record45–15–10
Home record29–5–1
Road record16–10–9
Goals for222
Goals against131
Team information
General managerFrank J. Selke
CoachToe Blake
CaptainEmile Bouchard
ArenaMontreal Forum
Team leaders
GoalsJean Beliveau, 47
AssistsBert Olmstead, 56
PointsJean Beliveau, 88
Penalty minutesJean Beliveau, 143
WinsJacques Plante (42)
Goals against averageJacques Plante (1.86)

The 1955–56 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 47th season of play. The Canadiens placed first in the regular season standings (with their 45 wins setting an NHL record) and won the Stanley Cup for the eighth time in the club's history.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 70 45 15 10 222 131 +91 100
2 Detroit Red Wings 70 30 24 16 183 148 +35 76
3 New York Rangers 70 32 28 10 204 203 +1 74
4 Toronto Maple Leafs 70 24 33 13 153 181 −28 61
5 Boston Bruins 70 23 34 13 147 185 −38 59
6 Chicago Black Hawks 70 19 39 12 155 216 −61 50

Record vs. opponents

1955–56 NHL Records [2]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYR TOR
Boston — 3–8–3 3–8–3 5–8–1 7–5–2 5–5–4
Chicago 8–3–3 — 2–8–4 1–12–1 3–10–1 5–6–3
Detroit 8–3–3 8–2–4 — 4–8–2 5–6–3 5–5–4
8–5–1 12–1–1 8–4–2 — 8–2–4 9–3–2
New York 5–7–2 10–3–1 6–5–3 2–8–4 — 9–5
Toronto 5–5–4 6–5–3 5–5–4 3–9–2 5–9 —


Schedule and results

1955–56 regular season[3]
October
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 6, 1955 2–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 1–0–0
2 W October 8, 1955 2–0 Boston Bruins (1955–56) 2–0–0
3 W October 9, 1955 5–2 @ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 3–0–0
4 W October 15, 1955 4–1 New York Rangers (1955–56) 4–0–0
5 T October 16, 1955 2–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 4–0–1
6 L October 20, 1955 2–3 Boston Bruins (1955–56) 4–1–1
7 W October 22, 1955 6–0 Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 5–1–1
8 L October 26, 1955 1–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 5–2–1
9 L October 27, 1955 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 5–3–1
10 W October 29, 1955 2–1 Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 6–3–1
11 T October 30, 1955 2–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 6–3–2
November
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
12 T November 3, 1955 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 6–3–3
13 W November 5, 1955 4–2 Boston Bruins (1955–56) 7–3–3
14 T November 6, 1955 3–3 @ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 7–3–4
15 T November 9, 1955 1–1 @ New York Rangers (1955–56) 7–3–5
16 W November 12, 1955 3–0 Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 8–3–5
17 W November 13, 1955 2–0 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 9–3–5
18 W November 16, 1955 3–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 10–3–5
19 W November 19, 1955 6–1 New York Rangers (1955–56) 11–3–5
20 T November 20, 1955 1–1 @ New York Rangers (1955–56) 11–3–6
21 L November 24, 1955 2–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 11–4–6
22 W November 26, 1955 3–1 Boston Bruins (1955–56) 12–4–6
23 T November 27, 1955 3–3 @ New York Rangers (1955–56) 12–4–7
December
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
24 W December 1, 1955 2–1 @ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 13–4–7
25 W December 3, 1955 3–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 14–4–7
26 W December 4, 1955 5–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 15–4–7
27 W December 8, 1955 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 16–4–7
28 W December 10, 1955 4–2 Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 17–4–7
29 W December 11, 1955 4–2 @ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 18–4–7
30 W December 15, 1955 2–0 New York Rangers (1955–56) 19–4–7
31 W December 17, 1955 5–0 Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 20–4–7
32 L December 18, 1955 0–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 20–5–7
33 W December 20, 1955 7–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 21–5–7
34 W December 24, 1955 4–2 Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 22–5–7
35 L December 25, 1955 1–5 @ New York Rangers (1955–56) 22–6–7
36 L December 28, 1955 0–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 22–7–7
37 W December 29, 1955 5–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 23–7–7
38 W December 31, 1955 7–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 24–7–7
January
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
39 L January 5, 1956 2–5 Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 24–8–7
40 W January 7, 1956 3–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 25–8–7
41 L January 11, 1956 1–6 @ New York Rangers (1955–56) 25–9–7
42 L January 14, 1956 0–2 Boston Bruins (1955–56) 25–10–7
43 L January 15, 1956 0–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 25–11–7
44 W January 18, 1956 3–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 26–11–7
45 W January 19, 1956 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 27–11–7
46 W January 21, 1956 3–1 New York Rangers (1955–56) 28–11–7
47 W January 22, 1956 6–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 29–11–7
48 L January 26, 1956 1–5 @ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 29–12–7
49 W January 28, 1956 6–1 Boston Bruins (1955–56) 30–12–7
50 T January 29, 1956 1–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 30–12–8
February
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
51 W February 2, 1956 2–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 31–12–8
52 W February 4, 1956 2–1 Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 32–12–8
53 T February 5, 1956 3–3 @ New York Rangers (1955–56) 32–12–9
54 T February 8, 1956 1–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 32–12–10
55 W February 10, 1956 3–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 33–12–10
56 W February 12, 1956 7–1 @ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 34–12–10
57 W February 16, 1956 8–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 35–12–10
58 W February 18, 1956 9–4 New York Rangers (1955–56) 36–12–10
59 W February 23, 1956 5–2 New York Rangers (1955–56) 37–12–10
60 W February 25, 1956 5–1 Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 38–12–10
61 L February 29, 1956 1–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 38–13–10
March
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
62 W March 2, 1956 3–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 39–13–10
63 W March 3, 1956 3–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 40–13–10
64 W March 4, 1956 6–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1955–56) 41–13–10
65 W March 8, 1956 4–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1955–56) 42–13–10
66 L March 10, 1956 0–4 Boston Bruins (1955–56) 42–14–10
67 L March 11, 1956 1–3 @ Boston Bruins (1955–56) 42–15–10
68 W March 15, 1956 5–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1955–56) 43–15–10
69 W March 17, 1956 7–2 New York Rangers (1955–56) 44–15–10
70 W March 18, 1956 3–1 @ New York Rangers (1955–56) 45–15–10

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

Playoffs

Stanley Cup Finals

Further information: 1956 Stanley Cup Finals

This was the first Finals for Henri Richard and Toe Blake's first Finals as coach. The Canadiens faced the Detroit Red Wings for the fourth time in five years, having lost in 1952, 1954, and 1955. This year, they won in five games.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
March 31 Detroit 4 Montreal 6
April 3 Detroit 1 Montreal 5
April 5 Montreal 1 Detroit 3
April 8 Montreal 3 Detroit 0
April 10 Detroit 1 Montreal 3

Montreal won the best-of-seven series 4 games to 1.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Jean Beliveau C 70 47 41 88 143
Maurice Richard RW 70 38 33 71 89
Bert Olmstead LW 70 14 56 70 94
Bernie Geoffrion RW 59 29 33 62 66
Dickie Moore LW 70 11 39 50 55
Doug Harvey D 62 5 39 44 60
Henri Richard C 64 19 21 40 46
Floyd Curry RW 70 14 18 32 10
Ken Mosdell C 67 13 17 30 48
Claude Provost RW 60 13 16 29 30
Jack LeClair C 54 6 8 14 30
Jean-Guy Talbot D 66 1 13 14 80
Dollard St. Laurent D 46 4 9 13 58
Tom Johnson D 64 3 10 13 75
Donnie Marshall LW 66 4 1 5 10
Bob Turner D 33 1 4 5 35
Dick Gamble LW 12 0 3 3 8
Emile Bouchard D 36 0 0 0 22
Connie Broden C 3 0 0 0 2
Wally Clune D 5 0 0 0 6
Jacques Deslauriers D 2 0 0 0 0
Bob Perreault G 6 0 0 0 0
Jacques Plante G 64 0 0 0 10

Goaltending

Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Jacques Plante 3840 64 42 12 10 119 1.86 7
Bob Perreault 360 6 3 3 0 12 2.00 1
Team: 4200 70 45 15 10 131 1.87 8

Playoffs

Scoring

Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Jean Beliveau C 10 12 7 19 22
Bernie Geoffrion RW 10 5 9 14 6
Maurice Richard RW 10 5 9 14 24
Bert Olmstead LW 10 4 10 14 8
Dickie Moore LW 10 3 6 9 12
Henri Richard C 10 4 4 8 21
Doug Harvey D 10 2 5 7 10
Claude Provost RW 10 3 3 6 12
Floyd Curry RW 10 1 5 6 12
Jack LeClair C 8 1 1 2 4
Ken Mosdell C 9 1 1 2 2
Tom Johnson D 10 0 2 2 8
Jean-Guy Talbot D 9 0 2 2 4
Donnie Marshall LW 10 1 0 1 0
Bob Turner D 10 0 1 1 10
Emile Bouchard D 1 0 0 0 0
Jacques Plante G 10 0 0 0 2
Dollard St. Laurent D 4 0 0 0 2

Goaltending

Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Jacques Plante 600 10 8 2 18 1.80 2
Team: 600 10 8 2 18 1.80 2

[4]

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

Transactions

See also

Citations

  1. ^ "1955–1956 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1955-56 Montreal Canadiens Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
  4. ^ "1955-56 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.

References

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