1998–99 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1998–99 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 90th season of play. The club finished 5th in the Northeast Division and did not qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. It had been the worst season in over 48 years for the club. The Canadiens finished last in their division. Martin Rucinsky led the club with 17 goals. It was the first time since the 1940–41 season that the Canadiens did not have at least one 20-goal scorer.[1] On March 31, 1999, ownership announced it has lost $3.8 million in its last fiscal year.[2] Following the season, team president Ronald Corey resigned in May 1999.

1998–99 Montreal Canadiens
Division	5th Northeast
Conference	11th Eastern
1998–99 record	32–39–11
Home record	21–15–5
Road record	11–24–6
Goals for	184
Goals against	209
Team information
General manager	Rejean Houle
Coach	Alain Vigneault
Captain	Vincent Damphousse (Oct-Mar) Vacant (Mar-Apr)
Arena	Molson Centre
Team leaders
Goals	Martin Rucinsky (17)
Assists	Mark Recchi (35)
Points	Mark Recchi (47)
Penalty minutes	Shayne Corson (147)
Plus/minus	Patrick Poulin Turner Stevenson (+6)
Wins	Jeff Hackett (24)
Goals against average	Frederic Chabot (2.23)

Regular season

In March 1999, Captain Vincent Damphousse was traded.[3]

Final standings

Northeast Division

R	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
1	2	Ottawa Senators	82	44	23	15	239	179	892	103
2	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	45	30	7	268	231	1095	97
3	6	Boston Bruins	82	39	30	13	214	181	1182	91
4	7	Buffalo Sabres	82	37	28	17	207	175	1561	91
5	11	Montreal Canadiens	82	32	39	11	184	209	1299	75

[4]

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference[5]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	y – New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	47	24	11	248	196	105
2	y – Ottawa Senators	NE	82	44	23	15	239	179	103
3	y – Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	34	30	18	210	202	86
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	30	7	268	231	97
5	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	37	26	19	231	196	93
6	Boston Bruins	NE	82	39	30	13	214	181	91
7	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	37	28	17	207	175	91
8	Pittsburgh Penguins	ATL	82	38	30	14	242	225	90
9	Florida Panthers	SE	82	30	34	18	210	228	78
10	New York Rangers	ATL	82	33	38	11	217	227	77
11	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	32	39	11	184	209	75
12	Washington Capitals	SE	82	31	45	6	200	218	68
13	New York Islanders	ATL	82	24	48	10	194	244	58
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	19	54	9	179	292	47

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

bold – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division

Schedule and results

Regular season schedule
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 10, 1998	7–1	New York Rangers (1998–99)	1–0–0
2	W	October 13, 1998	1–0	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99)	2–0–0
3	T	October 16, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1998–99)	2–0–1
4	L	October 17, 1998	3–4	Buffalo Sabres (1998–99)	2–1–1
5	L	October 19, 1998	1–2	Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99)	2–2–1
6	W	October 21, 1998	3–2	Ottawa Senators (1998–99)	3–2–1
7	L	October 24, 1998	0–3	Detroit Red Wings (1998–99)	3–3–1
8	L	October 28, 1998	2–9	Boston Bruins (1998–99)	3–4–1
9	T	October 29, 1998	1–1 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1998–99)	3–4–2
10	L	October 31, 1998	1–5	@ Ottawa Senators (1998–99)	3–5–2
11	W	November 4, 1998	4–1	@ New York Rangers (1998–99)	4–5–2
12	W	November 7, 1998	4–2	New York Islanders (1998–99)	5–5–2
13	W	November 9, 1998	5–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99)	6–5–2
14	L	November 11, 1998	0–3	@ New Jersey Devils (1998–99)	6–6–2
15	L	November 12, 1998	0–4	@ New York Islanders (1998–99)	6–7–2
16	L	November 14, 1998	1–4	Edmonton Oilers (1998–99)	6–8–2
17	L	November 17, 1998	4–5	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99)	6–9–2
18	W	November 19, 1998	4–3	Calgary Flames (1998–99)	7–9–2
19	L	November 21, 1998	2–3	Colorado Avalanche (1998–99)	7–10–2
20	L	November 27, 1998	1–5	@ Boston Bruins (1998–99)	7–11–2
21	L	November 28, 1998	3–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99)	7–12–2
22	W	November 30, 1998	3–1	Los Angeles Kings (1998–99)	8–12–2
23	L	December 2, 1998	1–4	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99)	8–13–2
24	T	December 4, 1998	1–1 OT	@ New Jersey Devils (1998–99)	8–13–3
25	L	December 5, 1998	3–4 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99)	8–14–3
26	L	December 9, 1998	2–4	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99)	8–15–3
27	L	December 11, 1998	2–3	@ Dallas Stars (1998–99)	8–16–3
28	T	December 12, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Nashville Predators (1998–99)	8–16–4
29	T	December 14, 1998	2–2 OT	Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99)	8–16–5
30	L	December 18, 1998	2–4	@ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99)	8–17–5
31	T	December 19, 1998	1–1 OT	New Jersey Devils (1998–99)	8–17–6
32	T	December 21, 1998	2–2 OT	Dallas Stars (1998–99)	8–17–7
33	L	December 23, 1998	1–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1998–99)	8–18–7
34	W	December 26, 1998	2–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99)	9–18–7
35	W	December 29, 1998	5–2	@ Edmonton Oilers (1998–99)	10–18–7
36	W	December 31, 1998	2–1	@ Calgary Flames (1998–99)	11–18–7
37	W	January 2, 1999	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1998–99)	12–18–7
38	L	January 4, 1999	3–4	@ Colorado Avalanche (1998–99)	12–19–7
39	W	January 7, 1999	4–1	Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99)	13–19–7
40	W	January 9, 1999	3–2	New York Islanders (1998–99)	14–19–7
41	W	January 11, 1999	3–1	St. Louis Blues (1998–99)	15–19–7
42	L	January 12, 1999	1–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1998–99)	15–20–7
43	W	January 15, 1999	3–0	@ Washington Capitals (1998–99)	16–20–7
44	W	January 16, 1999	3–0	New York Rangers (1998–99)	17–20–7
45	T	January 18, 1999	4–4 OT	Washington Capitals (1998–99)	17–20–8
46	L	January 21, 1999	0–3	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99)	17–21–8
47	W	January 26, 1999	2–1	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99)	18–21–8
48	L	January 27, 1999	1–2	@ Florida Panthers (1998–99)	18–22–8
49	L	January 30, 1999	1–3	Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99)	18–23–8
50	L	January 31, 1999	3–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99)	18–24–8
51	W	February 3, 1999	2–1	Vancouver Canucks (1998–99)	19–24–8
52	L	February 4, 1999	2–5	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99)	19–25–8
53	W	February 6, 1999	3–2	Buffalo Sabres (1998–99)	20–25–8
54	L	February 9, 1999	2–3 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99)	20–26–8
55	L	February 11, 1999	2–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99)	20–27–8
56	W	February 13, 1999	4–0	Florida Panthers (1998–99)	21–27–8
57	W	February 17, 1999	6–3	@ New York Rangers (1998–99)	22–27–8
58	W	February 18, 1999	3–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99)	23–27–8
59	L	February 20, 1999	2–3 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99)	23–28–8
60	L	February 25, 1999	1–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1998–99)	23–29–8
61	W	February 27, 1999	4–1	Ottawa Senators (1998–99)	24–29–8
62	W	March 2, 1999	4–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99)	25–29–8
63	T	March 3, 1999	4–4 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99)	25–29–9
64	L	March 6, 1999	1–6	Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99)	25–30–9
65	L	March 8, 1999	2–5	Florida Panthers (1998–99)	25–31–9
66	W	March 11, 1999	3–0	@ St. Louis Blues (1998–99)	26–31–9
67	W	March 13, 1999	2–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99)	27–31–9
68	W	March 18, 1999	3–2	Nashville Predators (1998–99)	28–31–9
69	L	March 20, 1999	0–1	Washington Capitals (1998–99)	28–32–9
70	T	March 22, 1999	1–1 OT	San Jose Sharks (1998–99)	28–32–10
71	W	March 24, 1999	2–0	@ Edmonton Oilers (1998–99)	29–32–10
72	L	March 25, 1999	1–2	@ Calgary Flames (1998–99)	29–33–10
73	L	March 27, 1999	1–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (1998–99)	29–34–10
74	L	April 1, 1999	2–3	Boston Bruins (1998–99)	29–35–10
75	W	April 3, 1999	2–1	Buffalo Sabres (1998–99)	30–35–10
76	L	April 5, 1999	0–3	@ Boston Bruins (1998–99)	30–36–10
77	W	April 7, 1999	2–0	Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99)	31–36–10
78	L	April 8, 1999	1–3	@ New York Islanders (1998–99)	31–37–10
79	L	April 10, 1999	2–6	New Jersey Devils (1998–99)	31–38–10
80	T	April 13, 1999	2–2 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99)	31–38–11
81	L	April 14, 1999	2–3 OT	@ Florida Panthers (1998–99)	31–39–11
82	W	April 17, 1999	3–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99)	32–39–11

[6]

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Mark Recchi	RW	61	12	35	47	28	-4	3	0	2
Saku Koivu	C	65	14	30	44	38	-7	4	2	0
Vincent Damphousse	C	65	12	24	36	46	-7	3	2	2
Martin Rucinsky	LW	73	17	17	34	50	-25	5	0	1
Vladimir Malakhov	D	62	13	21	34	77	-7	8	0	3
Shayne Corson	LW	63	12	20	32	147	-10	7	0	4
Benoit Brunet	LW	60	14	17	31	31	-1	4	2	0
Turner Stevenson	RW	69	10	17	27	88	6	0	0	2
Stephane Quintal	D	82	8	19	27	84	-23	1	1	4
Brian Savage	LW	54	16	10	26	20	-14	5	0	4
Patrick Poulin	C	81	8	17	25	21	6	0	1	1
Sergei Zholtok	C	70	7	15	22	6	-12	2	0	3
Jonas Hoglund	LW	74	8	10	18	16	-5	1	0	0
Eric Weinrich	D	66	6	12	18	77	-12	4	0	1
Patrice Brisebois	D	54	3	9	12	28	-8	1	0	1
Igor Ulanov	D	76	3	9	12	109	-3	0	0	0
Scott Thornton	LW	47	7	4	11	87	-2	1	0	1
Craig Rivet	D	66	2	8	10	66	-3	0	0	0
Jason Dawe	RW	37	4	5	9	14	0	1	0	1
Dainius Zubrus	C	17	3	5	8	4	-3	0	0	1
Brett Clark	D	61	2	2	4	16	-3	0	0	0
Eric Houde	C	8	1	1	2	2	-2	0	0	1
Scott Lachance	D	17	1	1	2	11	-2	0	0	0
Dave Manson	D	11	0	2	2	48	-3	0	0	0
Matt Higgins	C	25	1	0	1	0	-2	0	0	0
Miloslav Guren	D	12	0	1	1	4	-1	0	0	0
Jeff Hackett	G	53	0	1	1	6	0	0	0	0
Arron Asham	RW	7	0	0	0	0	-4	0	0	0
Andrei Bashkirov	LW	10	0	0	0	0	-3	0	0	0
Sylvain Blouin	LW	5	0	0	0	19	0	0	0	0
Brad Brown	D	5	0	0	0	21	0	0	0	0
Frederic Chabot	G	11	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Delisle	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jean-Francois Jomphe	C	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Trent McCleary	RW	46	0	0	0	29	-1	0	0	0
Dave Morissette	LW	10	0	0	0	52	1	0	0	0
Alain Nasreddine	D	8	0	0	0	33	1	0	0	0
Terry Ryan	LW	1	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0
Jose Theodore	G	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jocelyn Thibault	G	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Jeff Hackett	3091	53	24	20	9	117	2.27	5	1360	1243	.914
Jose Theodore	913	18	4	12	0	50	3.29	1	406	356	.877
Jocelyn Thibault	529	10	3	4	2	23	2.61	1	250	227	.908
Frederic Chabot	430	11	1	3	0	16	2.23	0	188	172	.915
Team:	4963	82	32	39	11	206	2.49	7	2204	1998	.907

[7]

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;

Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft held at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	16	Eric Chouinard	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
2	45	Mike Ribeiro	Canada	Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL)
3	75	Francois Beauchemin	Canada	Laval Titan Collège Français (QMJHL)
5	132	Andrei Bashkirov	Russia	Fort Wayne Komets (IHL)
6	152	Gordie Dwyer	Canada	Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
6	162	Andrei Markov	Russia	Khimik Voskresensk (Russia)
7	189	Andrei Kruchinin	Russia	Lada Togliatti (Russia)
8	201	Craig Murray	Canada	University of Michigan (CCHA)
8	216	Michael Ryder	Canada	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
9	247	Darcy Harris	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)

See also

• 1998–99 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

1. The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.291, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
2. The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.292, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
3. The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.299, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
4. Dinger 2011, p. 155.
5. "1998-1999 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
6. "1998–99 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
7. "1998-99 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.

Bibliography

• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.