2006–07 Montreal Canadiens season

Pre-season

The Canadiens were only minimally active in offseason transactions, with forwards Sergei Samsonov and Mike Johnson and defenceman Janne Niinimaa representing the only additions. Forwards Jan Bulis, Richard Zednik and Mike Ribeiro moved to other teams: Bulis via free agency to Vancouver, Zednik via a trade to Washington and Ribeiro via a trade to Dallas (for Niinimaa).

Regular season

The club intended to build on a 2005–06 season in which it took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes to six games in the first round of the playoffs. Behind the leadership of goaltender Cristobal Huet and captain Saku Koivu, the Canadiens poised themselves to join the elite of the Eastern Conference.

However, the team failed to keep its momentum for the whole season. Cristobal Huet's injury on February 15, 2007, forced the Canadiens to use backup goaltenders Jaroslav Halak and David Aebischer. Despite Halak's decent performance, the Canadiens could not clinch a playoff spot. They were eliminated on April 8 after a 6–5 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the season's last game.

On January 9, 2007, the NHL announced that Sheldon Souray had been voted by the fans to start at defence in the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas.

The Canadiens finished the regular season with the NHL's best power-play percentage, at 22.75% (86 for 378), and tied the Ottawa Senators for most shorthanded goals scored, with 17.

Standings

Schedule and results

|- | 1 || October 6 || Montreal || 4–5 || Buffalo || SO || Huet || 18,690 || 0–0–1 || 1 || |- | 2 || October 7 || Montreal || 3–2 || Toronto || SO || Aebischer || 19,353 || 1–0–1 || 3 || |- | 3 || October 11 || Montreal || 3–1 || Philadelphia || || Aebischer || 19,256 || 2–0–1 || 5 || |- | 4 || October 14 || Ottawa || 3–2 || Montreal || SO || Huet || 21,273 || 2–0–2 || 6 || |- | 5 || October 17 || Calgary || 4–5 || Montreal || || Huet || 21,273 || 3–0–2 || 8 || |- | 6 || October 18 || Montreal || 1–2 || Chicago || || Aebischer || 11,095 || 3–1–2 || 8 || |- | 7 || October 21 || Colorado || 5–8 || Montreal || || Aebischer || 21,273 || 4–1–2 || 10 || |- | 8 || October 23 || Buffalo || 4–1 || Montreal || || Huet || 21,273 || 4–2–2 || 10 || |- | 9 || October 26 || Montreal || 3–2 || Boston || || Huet || 13,920 || 5–2–2 || 12 || |- | 10 || October 28 || Toronto || 5–4 || Montreal || SO || Aebischer || 21,273 || 5–2–3|| 13 || |- | 11 || October 31 || Ottawa || 2–4 || Montreal || || Aebischer || 21,273 || 6–2–3 || 15 ||

| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• • = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.*
• • = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.*

Goaltending

Awards and records

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

The Canadiens were involved in the following transactions from June 20, 2006, the day after the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 6, 2007, the day of the deciding game of the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals.

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

Montreal's picks at the 2006 NHL entry draft in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Canadiens had the 16th overall draft pick, which they traded to the San Jose Sharks for the 20th and 53rd overall picks.

Notes

References

References

1. (January 2, 2006). "Canadiens GM returns to work after daughter's death".
2. [https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=9182 TSN : NHL – Canada's Sports Leader]
3. "2006-07 NHL Summary".
4. "2006-07 Montreal Canadiens Schedule".
5. "King Clancy Memorial Trophy".
6. "NHL All-Star Game Historical Summaries - 2007".
7. "NHL All-Star Game Starting Lineups by Year (since 1986)".
8. "NHL Three Stars of the Month".
9. "NHL Three Stars of the Week".
10. Montreal Canadiens 2014–2015 Media Guide, p.553
11. Montreal Canadiens 2014–2015 Media Guide, p.552
12. "2006-07 NHL Debuts".
13. "Hockey Transactions Search Results".
14. (June 25, 2006). "Sharks pick defenseman / San Jose trades up to grab 'ecstatic' youngster Wishart".
15. (June 26, 2006). "2006 NHL Entry Draft Recap".
16. (July 13, 2006). "Canadiens change look with busy day of deals". Victoria News Daily.
17. (September 30, 2006). "Canadiens acquire defenseman Janne Niinimaa".
18. (December 15, 2006). "Montreal Mathieu Biron from San Jose for Patrick Traverse".
19. (February 25, 2007). "Canadiens acquire Josh Gorges from Sharks".
20. (May 31, 2007). "Canadiens acquire forward Ryan Russell, sign free agent Janne Lahti".
21. (July 13, 2006). "Danis, Milroy, Archer and Jancevski sign with Canadiens".
22. (September 28, 2006). "Patrick Traverse est de retour".
23. (February 27, 2007). "Habs claim goalie Leighton off waivers from Flyers".
24. (July 1, 2006). "NHL RELEASES FREE AGENT LIST".
25. (July 14, 2006). "ACTIVITY".
26. (July 21, 2006). "Vandermeer lands with Capitals".
27. (July 24, 2006). "Bulis bolts Habs for Canucks".
28. (September 7, 2006). "Olivier Michaud avec Saint-Jean".
29. (September 19, 2006). "Hannover Scorpions: Scorpions verpflichten Todd Simpson - Robuster Stay-at-home-Verteidiger".
30. (October 17, 2006). "Pierre Dagenais jokerimiehistöön".
31. "Jeff Paul".
32. "Johnathan Aitken".
33. (June 25, 2006). "Habs hold on to Huet".
34. (June 30, 2006). "TRANSACTIONS".
35. (July 2, 2006). "TRANSACTIONS".
36. (July 7, 2006). "ACTIVITY".
37. (July 11, 2006). "TRANSACTIONS".
38. (July 18, 2006). "TRANSACTIONS".
39. (July 23, 2006). "Habs, Ryder avoid arbitration".
40. (August 9, 2006). "Canadiens sign O'Byrne to two-year deal".
41. (September 29, 2006). "Latendresse reste".
42. (May 8, 2007). "Habs Assign Defenceman Mathieu Carle To Dogs".
43. (May 26, 2007). "Canadiens sign CHL's top assist man".
44. (May 28, 2007). "Canadiens lock up Markov".
45. "2006 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".