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1925–26 Montreal Canadiens season

1925–26 Montreal Canadiens
League7th NHL
1925–26 record11–24–1
Goals for79
Goals against108
Team information
General managerLeo Dandurand
CoachCecil Hart
CaptainBilly Coutu
ArenaMontreal Forum, Mount Royal Arena
Team leaders
GoalsHowie Morenz (23)
AssistsAurel Joliat (9)
PointsHowie Morenz (26)
Aurel Joliat (26)
WinsHerb Rheaume (10)
Goals against averageHerb Rheaume (2.92)

The 1925–26 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 17th season and ninth as a member of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Canadiens lost their star goalie Georges Vezina to tuberculosis and struggled as a team, not making the playoffs. The league added teams in Pittsburgh and New York, New York taking the players of the former Hamilton Tigers franchise.

The team had a large turnover of personnel, partly due to Vezina's leaving. Alphonse Lacroix, Herb Rheaume and Bill Taugher all appeared in the Canadiens' net. New players included Bill Holmes, Wildor Larochelle, Albert Leduc, Alfred Lepine, Hector Lepine, Joe Matte and Roland Paulhus. Departures included the Cleghorn brothers, Odie and Sprague. Odie signed with Pittsburgh as playing-coach and Sprague was traded to the Boston Bruins for $5,000 on November 8, 1925. Cecil Hart took over as coach from Leo Dandurand, and Billy Coutu was named team captain.

Regular season

From 1911 Georges Vezina had been the Montreal Canadiens goaltender, and had led them to the Cup in 1924. In the first game of this season, he collapsed on the ice as the second period got underway. It was found that he had contracted tuberculosis and could no longer play. He went home to Chicoutimi, Quebec, where he died in March 1926. The team struggled with several goaltenders before Herb Rheaume won the job, but the team finished last.

In the second half of the season, the team had a twelve-game losing streak, from February 13, losing 0–3 to Pittsburgh, until March 16, winning 6–1 over Toronto.

Final standings

National Hockey League
Teams GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Ottawa Senators 36 24 8 4 77 42 341 52
Montreal Maroons 36 20 11 5 91 73 554 45
Pittsburgh Pirates 36 19 16 1 82 70 264 39
Boston Bruins 36 17 15 4 92 85 279 38
New York Americans 36 12 20 4 68 89 361 28
Toronto St. Patricks 36 12 21 3 92 114 325 27
Montreal Canadiens 36 11 24 1 79 108 458 23

[1] Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

1925–26 NHL Records [2]
Team BOS MTL MTM NYA OTT PIT TOR
Boston 2–3–1 4–1–1 2–2–2 2–4 2–4 5–1
M. Canadiens 3–2–1 1–5 2–4 0–6 2–4 3–3
M. Maroons 1–4–1 5–1 4–1–1 1–2–3 3–3 6–0
New York 2–2–2 4–2 1–4–1 1–5 3–3 1–1–4
Ottawa 4–2 6–0 2–1–3 5–1 4–2 3–1–2
Pittsburgh 4–2 4–2 3–3 3–3 2–4 3–2–1
Toronto 1–5 3–3 0–6 1–1–4 1–3–2 2–3–1


Schedule and results

Regular season results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L November 28, 1925 0–1 Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) 0–1–0
2 W December 1, 1925 3–2 @ Boston Bruins (1925–26) 1–1–0
3 L December 3, 1925 2–3 Montreal Maroons (1925–26) 1–2–0
4 L December 8, 1925 2–6 New York Americans (1925–26) 1–3–0
5 L December 12, 1925 0–4 @ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) 1–4–0
6 W December 15, 1925 3–1 @ New York Americans (1925–26) 2–4–0
7 L December 17, 1925 0–3 @ Ottawa Senators (1925–26) 2–5–0
8 W December 19, 1925 6–5 OT Boston Bruins (1925–26) 3–5–0
9 L December 26, 1925 0–3 Ottawa Senators (1925–26) 3–6–0
10 W December 30, 1925 7–4 @ Montreal Maroons (1925–26) 4–6–0
11 W January 1, 1926 2–1 @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) 5–6–0
12 W January 5, 1926 5–4 Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) 6–6–0
13 L January 9, 1926 1–2 New York Americans (1925–26) 6–7–0
14 W January 12, 1926 4–2 @ Boston Bruins (1925–26) 7–7–0
15 W January 13, 1926 2–1 @ New York Americans (1925–26) 8–7–0
16 L January 16, 1926 0–1 @ Montreal Maroons (1925–26) 8–8–0
17 L January 19, 1926 1–2 Ottawa Senators (1925–26) 8–9–0
18 L January 23, 1926 2–6 @ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) 8–10–0
19 W January 26, 1926 6–3 Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) 9–10–0
20 L January 28, 1926 2–4 @ Ottawa Senators (1925–26) 9–11–0
21 L February 2, 1926 0–2 Montreal Maroons (1925–26) 9–12–0
22 T February 6, 1926 3–3 OT Boston Bruins (1925–26) 9–12–1
23 W February 9, 1926 4–2 Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) 10–12–1
24 L February 13, 1926 0–3 @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) 10–13–1
25 L February 16, 1926 0–1 Ottawa Senators (1925–26) 10–14–1
26 L February 18, 1926 2–4 @ Ottawa Senators (1925–26) 10–15–1
27 L February 20, 1926 1–3 Boston Bruins (1925–26) 10–16–1
28 L February 23, 1926 2–3 @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) 10–17–1
29 L February 24, 1926 1–6 @ New York Americans (1925–26) 10–18–1
30 L February 27, 1926 0–1 New York Americans (1925–26) 10–19–1
31 L March 2, 1926 1–4 @ Boston Bruins (1925–26) 10–20–1
32 L March 6, 1926 3–4 OT Montreal Maroons (1925–26) 10–21–1
33 L March 9, 1926 3–4 Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26) 10–22–1
34 L March 11, 1926 3–5 @ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) 10–23–1
35 L March 13, 1926 2–4 @ Montreal Maroons (1925–26) 10–24–1
36 W March 16, 1926 6–1 Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26) 11–24–1

Playoffs

The Canadiens did not qualify for the playoffs.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player GP G A Pts
Howie Morenz 31 23 3 26
Aurel Joliat 35 17 9 26
Pit Lepine 32 10 3 13
Billy Boucher 34 8 5 13
Albert Leduc 32 9 1 10

Leading goaltenders

GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO = shutouts, GAA = Goals against average

Player GP GA SO GAA
Georges Vezina 1 0 0 0.0
Bill Taugher 1 3 0 3.0
Herb Rheaume 29 89 0 3.1
Alphonse Lacroix 5 16 0 3.43

Awards and records

Transactions

References

  • Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol.1 1893–1926 inc. National Hockey League. pp. 465–485.
  1. ^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ McCarthy, Dave, ed. (2008). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2009. Dan Diamond & Associates, Inc. p. 241.
  4. ^ "New York Beaten by Canadiens 3–1". The Globe. December 16, 1925. p. 10.

See also