Season events 2009–10 Montreal Canadiens season

1 season events

1.1 off-season
1.2 regular season
1.3 playoffs

season events
off-season

the canadiens announced jacques martin new head coach replace guy carbonneau. martin, former coach , general manager of florida panthers, , former coach of ottawa senators , st. louis blues, known defence-first style.

on june 20, canadiens announced owner george gillett had reached agreement sell 80% share of team, bell centre , gillett concert promotion company geoffrey, justin , andrew molson. represents third time hockey club owned molson family, owned 1957 1971 , 1978 2001. purchase price not disclosed estimated @ between $506 , 537 million. deal approved nhl board of governors on december 1.

at entry draft, year held in montreal @ bell centre, canadiens made louis leblanc first-round pick. pick notable canadiens first first-round pick of francophone since team picked eric chouinard in 1998 entry draft. leblanc born in montreal suburb of kirkland.

general manager bob gainey pursued policy of change lineup. prior free agency, traded top centre scott gomez in seven-player deal new york rangers. in free agency, canadiens signed gomez s former new jersey linemate brian gionta, high-scoring calgary flames forward michael cammalleri, checking line winger travis moen, , 3 defencemen: hal gill pittsburgh penguins, jaroslav spacek buffalo sabres, , paul mara new york rangers. captain saku koivu not offered contract , instead signed anaheim ducks. alexei kovalev turned down contract , signed ottawa senators. mike komisarek signed toronto maple leafs , tom kostopoulos signed carolina hurricanes.

regular season

for first time in franchise history, canadiens enter regular season without captain. on october 6, 2009, canadiens signed defenceman marc-andre bergeron due injuries andrei markov.

on december 28, 2009, forward michael cammalleri scored 20,000th goal in franchise history in game against ottawa senators.

on february 8, general manager (gm) bob gainey announced retirement gm club, staying on advisor club. assistant gm pierre gauthier becomes interim gm. gauthier , coach jacques martin held same positions ottawa senators in late 1990s.

the canadiens finished regular season fewest power-play opportunities of 30 teams, 261.

playoffs

in eastern conference quarter-finals, canadiens faced winners of 2009–10 presidents trophy, washington capitals, had led league goals scored during regular season (318) , points (121). despite trailing 3–1 after first 4 games, canadiens won final three, holding capitals 3 goals. montreal went 3–1 on road in series.

in eastern conference semi-finals, canadiens faced defending stanley cup champion pittsburgh penguins. once again, canadiens found trailing, time 3–2. after edging penguins 4–3 @ home in game 6, canadiens jumped out 4–0 lead in game 7 on road , go on win final score of 5–2, thereby clinching series 4–3.

in eastern conference final against philadelphia flyers, canadiens shut out scores of 6–0 , 3–0 in first 2 games. came , won game 3 @ home score of 5–1. game 4 scoreless until 5:41 of second period, when flyers forward claude giroux scored seventh of playoffs on assist kimmo timonen. ville leino score @ 14:53 of same period , giroux seal win empty-net goal 1:13 remaining in game. 3–0 flyers win game them 3–1 lead in series. canadiens open scoring in game 5 59 seconds game on brian gionta s ninth of playoffs, flyers took 3–1 lead on short-handed goal flyers captain mike richards @ 4:25 of first period , even-strength goals 84 seconds apart arron asham , jeff carter in second period. canadiens cut flyer s lead 1 on scott gomez s second of playoffs (assisted p. k. subban , brian gionta) @ 6:53 of third period, jeff carter seal 4–2 flyers win empty-net goal @ 19:37 , give philadelphia 4–1 series win. canadiens playoff performance franchise s best in 17 years. however, loss, canadiens failed become champions during 2000s. having won @ least 1 stanley cup in each decade since 1910s, 2000s first decade without cup, ending nine-decade streak of @ least 1 championship per decade.