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THE REGULAR SEASON

The Canadiens begin the 1969-70 season intent on defending their second straight Stanley Cup title. The team goes unbeaten through its first five games with two wins and three ties.

The Habs manage to put together a few brief winning streaks but never really get their season in gear, suffering losses at regular intervals. Between the season’s injuries, dissension and bad luck, the team struggles to play to its full capabilities.

Core players such as Jean Béliveau, Henri Richard, Jean-Claude Tremblay and John Ferguson, the last on two separate occasions, both times for long stretches, miss a number of games due to injury, as does Serge Savard, who breaks his leg in March.

Added to that are suspensions to Jacques Laperriere and Ferguson, personal problems that affect Dick Duff’s play, and a forced retirement for Gilles Tremblay, whose career is cut short by asthma complications. In a bid to shake up the team, coach Claude Ruel offers his resignation to Sam Pollock in February, but the general manager refuses to accept it.

In the second-to-last game of the regular season, the Habs lose 4-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks. The team’s only hope of making the playoffs is to beat out the New York Rangers for fourth place in the East Division. Two points up on New York with one game remaining, the Canadiens need only a tie to qualify for the playoffs after the Rangers easily dispose of Detroit in their final game to move even with the Habs in standings.

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the team’s final game, Ruel looks on as Chicago scores two quick goals to take a 5-2 lead. The only remaining hope is for the team to overcome the three-goal deficit.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so Ruel pulls goalie Rogatien Vachon for a sixth attacker. The strategy blows up on Ruel as the Blackhawks add five unanswered goals to finish the game with a 10-2 win.

The result leaves the Canadiens tied in points with the Rangers, who have scored two more goals and claim the fourth and final playoff spot in the East. For one of the few times in league history, the defending Stanley Cup Champions miss the playoffs. Montreal misses the playoffs for the first time since 1947-48.

Yvan Cournoyer leads the team in scoring with 63 points, including 27 goals.