They were originally part of the National Hockey Association till 1917 and when the NHL was formed in 1917 they became a part of it. The official name of the franchise is Le Club de Hockey Canadien. The Canadiens are also known by many other French nicknames such as La Sainte-Flanelle, Le Tricolore, Le Canadien, Le Grand Club and Les Habitants. An English nickname they have got because of the French Les Habitants is “Habs”.

The Canadiens have the distinction of having won the most number of Stanley Cups in the NHL. They have won 24 so far with the latest one being in 1993. That was the incidentally the last Stanley Cup won by a Canadian team till date. The Canadiens play their home games at the Bell Centre earlier known as the Molson Center up to 2003. The have also played in Jubilee Rink, Mount Royal Arena, Montreal Westmount Arena and the Montreal Forum.

In the first season, Joe Malone scored 44 goals which was a record for the next 27 years. The team lost to the Toronto Arenas at the playoffs. The next year they faced Seattle in the Stanley Cup but in the middle of the series, the Spanish flu hit Seattle and both teams had players affected by the flu. In the deciding game, most of the Canadiens were sick and could not play. The game was cancelled and the Canadiens forfeited the championship but Seattle did not accept because of the circumstances. The 1919 Stanley Cup, therefore, was declared as a no-decision one.

The Canadiens had many ups and downs in their long career. In fact after the 1939 season, it looked like they might fold. Conn Smythe, the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs suggested that they hire Coach Dick Irvin. This suggestion proved to be of immense help as the Canadiens came back into the reckoning after that. In 1944, they won the Stanley Cup again.

After the expansion of the NHL in 1967, the Canadiens went on to win two consecutive Stanley Cups by defeating the St. Louis Blues both times. In 1970, they did not make the playoffs. This was the only time between 1948 and 1995 that they missed the playoffs. In 1993, they won their last Stanley Cup till date.

The Canadiens have a total of 12 retired numbers, which is the most in any NHL team. The first player to be honored thus was Howie Morenz who had died tragically in 1937.