1948–49 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1948–49 Montreal Canadiens season was the 40th season in club history. The Montreal Canadiens were eliminated in the semi-finals against the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 3.

1948–49 Montreal Canadiens
League	3rd NHL
1948–49 record	28–23–9
Goals for	152
Goals against	126
Team information
General manager	Frank J. Selke
Coach	Dick Irvin
Captain	Emile Bouchard
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Billy Reay (22)
Assists	Billy Reay (23)
Points	Billy Reay (45)
Penalty minutes	Murph Chamberlain (111)
Wins	Bill Durnan (28)
Goals against average	Bill Durnan (2.10)

Regular season

Bill Durnan set a long-standing modern NHL record between February 26 and March 6, 1949, when he amassed four consecutive shutouts, not allowing a goal over a span of 309 minutes, 21 seconds.[1] This record was not surpassed until 2004, when Brian Boucher, then of the Phoenix Coyotes, broke it.

Final standings

National Hockey League[2]

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Detroit Red Wings	60	34	19	7	195	145	+50	75
2	Boston Bruins	60	29	23	8	178	163	+15	66
3	Montreal Canadiens	60	28	23	9	152	126	+26	65
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	60	22	25	13	147	161	−14	57
5	Chicago Black Hawks	60	21	31	8	173	211	−38	50
6	New York Rangers	60	18	31	11	133	172	−39	47

Record vs. opponents

1948–49 NHL Records
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	MON	NYR	TOR
Boston	—	6–5–1	5–4–3	5–6–1	8–2–2	5–6–1
Chicago	5–6–1	—	3–9	3–7–2	6–5–1	4–4–4
Detroit	4–5–3	9–3	—	7–4–1	7–4–1	7–3–2
Montreal	6–5–1	7–3–2	4–7–1	—	5–4–3	6–4–2
New York	2–8–2	5–6–1	4–7–1	4–5–3	—	3–5–4
Toronto	6–5–1	4–4–4	3–7–2	4–6–2	5–3–4	—

Schedule and results

Regular season results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	October 14, 1948	1–1	New York Rangers (1948–49)	0–0–1
2	W	October 16, 1948	8–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	1–0–1
3	W	October 21, 1948	5–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	2–0–1
4	T	October 23, 1948	0–0	Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	2–0–2
5	L	October 27, 1948	2–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	2–1–2
6	T	October 30, 1948	3–3	Boston Bruins (1948–49)	2–1–3
7	L	October 31, 1948	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	2–2–3
8	W	November 6, 1948	2–0	Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	3–2–3
9	W	November 11, 1948	4–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	4–2–3
10	W	November 13, 1948	3–1	@ New York Rangers (1948–49)	5–2–3
11	L	November 14, 1948	2–3	@ Boston Bruins (1948–49)	5–3–3
12	L	November 17, 1948	3–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	5–4–3
13	W	November 21, 1948	3–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	6–4–3
14	T	November 24, 1948	3–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	6–4–4
15	L	November 25, 1948	0–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	6–5–4
16	L	November 27, 1948	0–2	Boston Bruins (1948–49)	6–6–4
17	W	December 4, 1948	3–1	New York Rangers (1948–49)	7–6–4
18	L	December 5, 1948	1–2	@ Boston Bruins (1948–49)	7–7–4
19	L	December 11, 1948	2–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	7–8–4
20	T	December 12, 1948	4–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	7–8–5
21	W	December 15, 1948	4–2	@ Boston Bruins (1948–49)	8–8–5
22	W	December 18, 1948	5–3	Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	9–8–5
23	L	December 19, 1948	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1948–49)	9–9–5
24	W	December 23, 1948	4–2	Boston Bruins (1948–49)	10–9–5
25	L	December 25, 1948	0–2	New York Rangers (1948–49)	10–10–5
26	L	December 26, 1948	1–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	10–11–5
27	W	December 30, 1948	3–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	11–11–5
28	L	January 1, 1949	3–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	11–12–5
29	W	January 6, 1949	7–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	12–12–5
30	L	January 8, 1949	1–4	Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	12–13–5
31	T	January 9, 1949	1–1	@ New York Rangers (1948–49)	12–13–6
32	W	January 12, 1949	5–3	@ Boston Bruins (1948–49)	13–13–6
33	W	January 15, 1949	7–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	14–13–6
34	L	January 16, 1949	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	14–14–6
35	W	January 19, 1949	4–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	15–14–6
36	W	January 20, 1949	2–1	New York Rangers (1948–49)	16–14–6
37	W	January 22, 1949	4–2	Boston Bruins (1948–49)	17–14–6
38	L	January 23, 1949	0–3	@ Boston Bruins (1948–49)	17–15–6
39	W	January 26, 1949	3–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	18–15–6
40	L	January 29, 1949	2–5	Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	18–16–6
41	L	January 30, 1949	0–9	@ New York Rangers (1948–49)	18–17–6
42	L	February 3, 1949	1–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	18–18–6
43	L	February 5, 1949	2–3	Boston Bruins (1948–49)	18–19–6
44	L	February 6, 1949	0–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	18–20–6
45	T	February 9, 1949	2–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	18–20–7
46	L	February 13, 1949	3–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	18–21–7
47	W	February 17, 1949	3–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	19–21–7
48	W	February 19, 1949	3–1	New York Rangers (1948–49)	20–21–7
49	L	February 20, 1949	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1948–49)	20–22–7
50	W	February 24, 1949	3–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	21–22–7
51	W	February 26, 1949	1–0	Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	22–22–7
52	W	March 2, 1949	2–0	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	23–22–7
53	W	March 5, 1949	4–0	Boston Bruins (1948–49)	24–22–7
54	W	March 6, 1949	1–0	@ Boston Bruins (1948–49)	25–22–7
55	T	March 9, 1949	2–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	25–22–8
56	W	March 12, 1949	3–0	New York Rangers (1948–49)	26–22–8
57	T	March 13, 1949	1–1	@ New York Rangers (1948–49)	26–22–9
58	W	March 17, 1949	3–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49)	27–22–9
59	W	March 19, 1949	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1948–49)	28–22–9
60	L	March 20, 1949	1–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1948–49)	28–23–9

[3]

Playoffs

The Canadiens would meet the Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 22	Montreal Canadiens	1	Detroit Red Wings	2	OT
March 24	Montreal Canadiens	4	Detroit Red Wings	3	OT
March 26	Detroit Red Wings	2	Montreal Canadiens	3
March 29	Detroit Red Wings	3	Montreal Canadiens	1
March 31	Montreal Canadiens	1	Detroit Red Wings	3
April 2	Detroit Red Wings	1	Montreal Canadiens	3
April 5	Montreal Canadiens	1	Detroit Red Wings	3

Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Billy Reay	C	60	22	23	45	33
Maurice Richard	RW	59	20	18	38	110
Joe Carveth	RW	60	15	22	37	8
Elmer Lach	C	36	11	18	29	59
Ken Mosdell	C	60	17	9	26	50
Glen Harmon	D	59	8	12	20	44
Norm Dussault	C	47	9	8	17	6
Rip Riopelle	LW	48	10	6	16	34
Doug Harvey	D	55	3	13	16	87
Ken Reardon	D	46	3	13	16	103
Roger Leger	D	28	6	7	13	10
Murph Chamberlain	LW	54	5	8	13	111
Bob Fillion	LW	59	3	9	12	14
Gerry Plamondon	LW	27	5	5	10	8
Leo Gravelle	RW	36	4	6	10	6
Tod Campeau	C	26	3	7	10	12
Hal Laycoe	D	51	3	5	8	31
George Robertson	LW/C	30	2	5	7	6
Butch Bouchard	D	27	3	3	6	42
Ed Dorohoy	C/LW	16	0	0	0	6
Bill Durnan	G	60	0	0	0	0
Jacques Locas	RW	3	0	0	0	0
Bud MacPherson	D	3	0	0	0	2

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Bill Durnan	3600	60	28	23	9	126	2.10	10
Team:	3600	60	28	23	9	126	2.10	10

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gerry Plamondon	LW	7	5	1	6	0
Billy Reay	C	7	1	5	6	4
Leo Gravelle	RW	7	2	1	3	0
Maurice Richard	RW	7	2	1	3	14
Glen Harmon	D	7	1	1	2	4
Murdo MacKay	RW/C	6	1	1	2	0
Ken Mosdell	C	7	1	1	2	4
Rip Riopelle	LW	7	1	1	2	2
Joe Carveth	RW	7	0	1	1	8
Bob Fillion	LW	7	0	1	1	4
Doug Harvey	D	7	0	1	1	10
Hal Laycoe	D	7	0	1	1	13
Roger Leger	D	5	0	1	1	2
Butch Bouchard	D	7	0	0	0	6
Tod Campeau	C	1	0	0	0	0
Murph Chamberlain	LW	4	0	0	0	8
Floyd Curry	RW	2	0	0	0	2
Bill Durnan	G	7	0	0	0	0
Norm Dussault	C	2	0	0	0	0
Elmer Lach	C	1	0	0	0	4
Ken Reardon	D	7	0	0	0	18

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Bill Durnan	468	7	3	4	17	2.18	0
Team:	468	7	3	4	17	2.18	0

[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

• Bill Durnan, Vezina Trophy
• Bill Durnan, Goaltender, NHL First Team All-Star
• Glen Harmon, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star
• Ken Reardon, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star
• Maurice Richard, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star

See also

• 1948–49 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

1. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p196402&type=Player&page=bio&list=#photo
2. "1948–1949 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
3. "1948–49 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
4. "1948-49 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.