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THE REGULAR SEASON

To celebrate their 75th anniversary, the Canadiens unveil their all-time Dream Team, as selected by their fans, on January 12 at the Forum: Toe Blake behind the bench, Jacques Plante in goal, Doug Harvey and Larry Robinson on defense, and the line of Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau and Dickie Moore are all on hand along with Aurele Joliat, who takes part in the ceremony as the oldest living member of the Canadiens.

Before the start of the regular season, Serge Savard parts ways with two of the team’s goalies. He trades Rick Wamsley to the St. Louis Blues and Richard Sevigny, left unprotected, is picked up by the Quebec Nordiques. Steve Penney, the revelation of the previous spring’s playoffs, becomes the team’s No. 1 goalie.

The team avoids a repeat of the 1983-84 regular season and collects victories from the outset of the schedule. The Canadiens record 30 points over the course of the first two months of the season. While everything seems smooth on the ice, a big change is just around the corner.

Unhappy with the defensive style of play imposed by Jacques Lemaire, his former teammate and current head coach, and disappointed with his low offensive production of recent seasons, Guy Lafleur announces his retirement on November 26. The loss of “Flower” comes in addition to the departure of Steve Shutt, who was traded one week earlier to the Los Angeles Kings. Though it is not part of a master plan, Savard is paving the way for the arrival over the course of the following season of a crop of talented young players from the organization’s farm team in Sherbrooke.

In the wake of the departure of two of the team’s top scorers, Mats Naslund steps up and puts together his best season since arriving in North American two years earlier.

The team struggles in January and Penney starts to show signs of overuse. Doug Soetaert, acquired from the Winnipeg Jets at the beginning of the season, also
sees his fair share of work.

Soetaert and Penney can count on the support of two young players making their first strides in the league, Petr Svoboda and Chris Chelios, a pair of offensive defensemen. The latter plays so well that he is invited to play in the All-Star Game, though he finishes as a runner-up to Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux as the league’s rookie of the year.

Things come together for Lemaire’s squad late in the season and the Canadiens finish first in the Adams Division, three points ahead of the Nordiques. The two teams will cross paths again in the playoffs.