2014–15 Montreal Canadiens season

2014–15 Montreal Canadiens
Atlantic Division champions
Division1st Atlantic
Conference2nd Eastern
2014–15 record50–22–10
Home record26–9–6
Road record24–13–4
Goals for221
Goals against189
Team information
General managerMarc Bergevin
CoachMichel Therrien
CaptainVacant
Alternate captainsAndrei Markov
Max Pacioretty
Tomas Plekanec
P. K. Subban
ArenaBell Centre
Average attendance21,286 (99.9%)[1]
(37 games)
Minor league affiliate(s)Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL)
Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Team leaders
GoalsMax Pacioretty (37)
AssistsP. K. Subban (45)
PointsMax Pacioretty (67)
Penalty minutesBrandon Prust (130)
Plus/minusMax Pacioretty (+38)
WinsCarey Price (44)
Goals against averageCarey Price (1.96)

The 2014–15 Montreal Canadiens season was the 106th season of play for the franchise that was founded on December 4, 1909, and was also their 98th season in the National Hockey League.[2]

Off-season

[edit]

Defenceman Douglas Murray, forward George Parros and forward Thomas Vanek became free agents.[3] On July 1, 2014, captain Brian Gionta signed with the Buffalo Sabres, being joined by defenseman Josh Gorges, who was traded to the team the same day for the Minnesota Wild's 2016 second round pick previously acquired in a trade for Matt Moulson.[4] Notable free agent signing included defenseman Tom Gilbert, centre Manny Malhotra and prospect Jiri Sekac, formally of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[5] On August 2, 2014, after months of ongoing negotiations, defenceman P. K. Subban signed an eight-year contract extension worth $72 million, avoiding salary arbitration. Subban becomes the highest paid defenseman through the 2014–15 season.[6]

Hockey operations changes included Daniel Lacroix and Rob Ramage being appointed assistant coach and player development coach, respectively. Ramage had previously played for the Canadiens and was part of the 1993 Stanley Cup Championship team, while Lacroix worked as assistant coach with the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Canadiens' main affiliate team in the American Hockey League (AHL) during the 2009–10 season.[7][8] The Canadiens also announced a reorganization within the hockey department. Rick Dudley was named senior vice president, hockey operations. Scott Mellanby was promoted to assistant general manager, to work along with Larry Carriere. Trevor Timmins was appointed vice president of player personnel, as well as retaining his responsibilities as the club's director of amateur scouting.[8]

On June 18, 2014, it was announced that hall of famer Guy Lapointe would be honored by having his number 5 jersey retired during the 2014–15 season. Lapointe will become the 18th player to be honoured by the organization with jersey retirement and the second with the number 5, joining the late Bernie Geoffrion.[9]

For only the second time in franchise history, the Canadiens did not name a captain, instead opting for four alternate captains for the season. On September 15, team management named Andrei Markov, Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and P. K. Subban alternative captains.[10]

The 2014–15 season also marked changes to television broadcast rights to the Canadiens; Réseau des sports renewed its French-language television rights to the team, agreeing to a 12-year extension. Due to Quebecor Media's exclusive national French-language broadcast rights to the NHL, RDS will now only be able to broadcast games in the team's blackout region of Quebec and eastern Canada.[11] Regional television rights in English were acquired by Sportsnet East in a three-year deal announced by Rogers on September 2, 2014. Three regional games will also be broadcast by City Montreal.[12]

Standings

[edit]
Atlantic Division
Pos Team
 GP W L OTL ROW GF GA GD Pts
1 y – Montreal Canadiens 82 50 22 10 43 221 189 +32 110
2 x – Tampa Bay Lightning 82 50 24 8 47 262 211 +51 108
3 x – Detroit Red Wings 82 43 25 14 39 235 221 +14 100
4 x – Ottawa Senators 82 43 26 13 37 238 215 +23 99
5 Boston Bruins 82 41 27 14 37 213 211 +2 96
6 Florida Panthers 82 38 29 15 30 206 223 −17 91
7 Toronto Maple Leafs 82 30 44 8 25 211 262 −51 68
8 Buffalo Sabres 82 23 51 8 15 161 274 −113 54
Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Schedule and results

[edit]

Pre-season

[edit]

Regular season

[edit]
2014–15 Game Log

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

[edit]

Playoffs

[edit]
See also: 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Montreal Canadiens entered the playoffs as the Atlantic Division regular season champions. The Canadiens won the first three games of the series en route to defeating the Senators in six games. In Game 1, Brian Flynn scored the game-winning goal at 17:17 of the second period, and recorded two assists as the Canadiens won 4–3. Montreal's P. K. Subban was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for slashing Ottawa's Mark Stone during the second period, resulting in a microfracture of Stone's right wrist, but did not face any further League discipline. Alex Galchenyuk's goal at 3:40 into overtime gave the Canadiens a 3–2 win in Game 2. Cameron replaced Andrew Hammond with Craig Anderson as his starting goalie for Game 3, who despite a strong outing, surrendered the tying goal by but Dale Weise with 5:47 left in the third period, who also scored at 3:40 into overtime to give Montreal a 2–1 win. Anderson rebounded in Game 4, stopping all 28 Montreal shots while Mike Hoffman scored the Senators' only goal to win 1–0. Ottawa also took Game 5 by a score of 5–1 as Anderson stopped 45 of 46 shots, with Bobby Ryan contributing two goals. The Canadiens then eliminated the Senators in Game 6 by a score of 2–0, with goaltender Carey Price registering the shutout stopping all 43 of Ottawa's shots.

In the second round, Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Canadiens in six games. In Game 1, Nikita Kucherov scored 2:06 into double overtime to give Tampa Bay a 2–1 win. This winning goal was controversial because the Lightning appeared to have been offside on the play, but nothing was called by the linesmen. Earlier at 2:56 of the first overtime period, Kucherov's apparent winning goal was waved off after officials ruled that he pushing Carey Price's pad into the net after the Montreal goalie made the initial save. The Lightning also won Game 2, 6–2, scoring four power play goals. Montreal's Brandon Prust was then fined $5,000 for his postgame derogatory public comments directed toward Referee Brad Watson, which he later apologized for the day afterward. In Game 3, Tyler Johnson scored with 1.1 seconds left to give Tampa Bay a 2–1 victory. The Canadiens stayed alive in Game 4, as Max Pacioretty recorded a shorthanded goal and two assists, as Montreal built a 5–0 second-period lead en route to a 6–2 win. Then, in Game 5, P.A. Parenteau scored with 4:07 left in regulation to give the Canadiens a 2–1 victory. In Game 6, Ben Bishop stopped 18 of 19 Montreal shots, and Kucherov scored two goals, as Tampa Bay won 4–1 to take the series.

2015 Stanley Cup playoffs

Legend:   Win   Loss * denotes if needed

Player statistics

[edit]

Final[13]

Skaters

[edit]

Goaltenders

[edit]
Regular Season
Player GP GS TOI W L OT GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Carey Price 66 66 3977 44 16 6 130 1.96 1953 .933 9 0 1 4
Dustin Tokarski 17 16 1005 6 6 4 46 2.75 509 .910 0 0 1 0
Playoffs
Player GP GS TOI W L GA GAA SA SV% SO G A PIM
Carey Price 12 12 752 6 6 28 2.23 352 .920 1 0 0 2

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Canadiens. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Canadiens only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Suspensions/fines

[edit]
Player Explanation Length Salary Date issued
Alexei Emelin Illegal check to head of Buffalo Sabres forward Brian Gionta during NHL Game No. 337 in Buffalo on Friday, November 28, 2014, at 18:06 of the third period. – $11,021.51 November 29, 2014[14]
P. K. Subban Diving/Embellishment during NHL Game No. 712 in New York on Thursday, January 29, 2015, at 13:05 of the first period. – $2,000.00 February 4, 2015[15]
P. K. Subban Diving/Embellishment during NHL Game No. 1005 in Montreal on Thursday, March 12, 2015, at 0:53 of the second period. – $3,000.00 March 20, 2015[16]
Brandon Prust Derogatory public comments directed toward Referee Brad Watson on Sunday, May 3, 2015. – $5,000.00 May 5, 2015[17]

Awards and honours

[edit]

Awards

[edit]

Milestones

[edit]

Transactions

[edit]

The Canadiens have been involved in the following transactions during the 2014–15 season:

Trades

[edit]
Date Details
June 28, 2014[28] To Arizona Coyotes
3rd-round pick in 2014
4th-round pick in 2014 		To Montreal Canadiens
3rd-round pick in 2014
June 30, 2014[29] To Colorado Avalanche
Daniel Briere 		To Montreal Canadiens
P. A. Parenteau
5th-round pick in 2015
July 1, 2014[30] To Buffalo Sabres
Josh Gorges 		To Montreal Canadiens
MIN's 2nd-round pick in 2016
October 5, 2014[31] To Winnipeg Jets
Peter Budaj
Patrick Holland 		To Montreal Canadiens
Eric Tangradi
November 11, 2014[32] To Dallas Stars
Travis Moen 		To Montreal Canadiens
Sergei Gonchar
November 20, 2014[33] To Anaheim Ducks
Rene Bourque 		To Montreal Canadiens
Bryan Allen
February 24, 2015[34] To Anaheim Ducks
Jiri Sekac 		To Montreal Canadiens
Devante Smith-Pelly
March 2, 2015[35] To Edmonton Oilers
2nd-round pick in 2015
Conditional 5th-round pick in 2015 		To Montreal Canadiens
Jeff Petry
March 2, 2015[36] To Buffalo Sabres
5th-round pick in 2016 		To Montreal Canadiens
Brian Flynn
March 2, 2015[37] To Buffalo Sabres
Jack Nevins
7th-round pick in 2016 		To Montreal Canadiens
Torrey Mitchell

Free agents acquired

[edit]
Date Player Former team Contract terms
(in U.S. dollars)		 Ref
July 1, 2014 Manny Malhotra Carolina Hurricanes 1 year, $850,000 [38]
July 1, 2014 Tom Gilbert Florida Panthers 2 years, $5.6 million [39]
July 1, 2014 Jiri Sekac HC Lev Praha 2 years, $2.7 million [40]
July 1, 2014 Joey MacDonald Calgary Flames 1 year, $600,000 [41]
October 2, 2014 Drayson Bowman Carolina Hurricanes 1 year, $575,000 [42]

Free agents lost

[edit]
Date Player New team Contract terms
(in U.S. dollars)		 Ref
June 3, 2014 Joonas Nattinen Modo Hockey 1 year [43]
July 1, 2014 Thomas Vanek Minnesota Wild 3 years, $19.5 million [44]
July 1, 2014 Brian Gionta Buffalo Sabres 3 years, $12.75 million [45]
July 1, 2014 Mike Blunden Tampa Bay Lightning 1 year, $600,000 [46]
July 1, 2014 Devan Dubnyk Arizona Coyotes 1 year, $800,000 [47]
July 3, 2014 Nick Tarnasky New York Rangers 2 years, two-way contract [48]
July 24, 2014 Martin St. Pierre KHL Medveščak Zagreb 1 year [49]
August 7, 2014 Ryan White Philadelphia Flyers 1 year, $575,000 [50]
September 25, 2014 Robert Czarnik Indy Fuel 1 year [51]
October 14, 2014 Francis Bouillon HC Ambrì-Piotta 1 year [52]
January 20, 2015 Douglas Murray Kölner Haie 1 year [53]

Player signings

[edit]
Date Player Contract terms
(in U.S. dollars)		 Ref
July 1, 2014 Mike Weaver 1 year, $1.75 million contract extension [54]
July 1, 2014 Jeremy Gregoire 3 years, $1.86 million entry-level contract [55]
July 21, 2014 Nikita Scherbak 3 years, $3.625 million entry-level contract [56]
July 24, 2014 Lars Eller 4 years, $14 million contract extension [57]
August 2, 2014 P. K. Subban 8 years, $72 million contract extension [58]
November 29, 2014 Brendan Gallagher 6 years, $22.5 million contract extension [59]
December 19, 2014 Brett Lernout 3 years, $2.055 million entry-level contract [60]
April 12, 2015 Mark MacMillan 2 years, entry-level contract [61]
June 1, 2015 Gabriel Dumont 1-year, two-way contract extension [62]
June 1, 2015 Morgan Ellis 1 year, two-way contract extension [62]
June 2, 2015 Jeff Petry 6 years, $33 million contract extension [63][64]
June 13, 2015 Nathan Beaulieu 2 years, $4 million contract extension [65]
June 15, 2015 Torrey Mitchell 3 years, $3.6 million contract extension [66]

Draft picks

[edit]
See also: List of Montreal Canadiens draft picks

Below are the Montreal Canadiens' selections made at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, held on June 27–28, 2014 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.[67]

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 26 Nikita Scherbak RW Russia Russia Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
3 73 b Brett Lernout D Canada Canada Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
5 125 a Nikolas Koberstein D Canada Canada Olds Grizzlys (AJHL)
5 147 Daniel Audette C Canada Canada Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)
6 177 Hayden Hawkey G  United States Omaha Lancers (USHL)
7 207 Jake Evans C Canada Canada St. Michael's Buzzers (OJHL)

Notes

[edit]
  • a The New York Islanders' fifth-round pick went to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a trade on March 5, 2014 that sent Sebastian Collberg and a conditional second-round pick in 2014 to New York, in exchange for Thomas Vanek and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Montreal would receive a fifth-round pick in 2014 if Montreal qualified for the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs – was converted on April 1, 2014.
  • b The Arizona Coyotes' third-round pick went to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014 that sent a third and fourth-round pick in 2014 (87th and 117th overall) to Arizona in exchange for this pick.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "2014–2015 NHL Attendance – National Hockey League – ESPN". ESPN.
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  26. ^ "Hammond, Subban and Malkin named stars of week". NHL. March 2, 2015.
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  30. ^ "Canadiens acquire a second round pick in 2016 from the Sabres for Josh Gorges". Canadiens.nhl.com. June 30, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  31. ^ "Canadiens acquire Eric Tangradi from the Winnipeg Jets, in return for Peter Budaj and Patrick Holland". Canadiens.nhl.com. October 5, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  32. ^ "Canadiens acquire Sergei Gonchar in return for Travis Moen". Canadiens.nhl.com. November 11, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  33. ^ "Canadiens acquire defenseman Bryan Allen from the Anaheim Ducks, in return for forward Rene Bourque". Canadiens.nhl.com. November 20, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  34. ^ "Canadiens acquire forward Devante Smith-Pelly from the Anaheim Ducks in return for Jiri Sekac". Canadiens.nhl.com. February 24, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  35. ^ "Canadiens acquire Jeff Petry". Canadiens.nhl.com. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  36. ^ "Canadiens acquire forward Brian Flynn from the Buffalo Sabres in return for a fifth round pick in 2016". Canadiens.nhl.com. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  37. ^ "Montreal acquires Torrey Mitchell". Canadiens.nhl.com. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  38. ^ "Canadiens agree to terms on a one-year contract with free agent forward Manny Malhotra". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  39. ^ "Canadiens agree to terms on a two-year contract with free agent defenseman Tom Gilbert". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  40. ^ "Canadiens agree to terms on a two-year contract with free agent forward Jiri Sekac". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  41. ^ "Canadiens agree to terms on a one-year contract with free agent Joey MacDonald". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  42. ^ "Canadiens have agreed to terms on a two-way NHL contract with forward Drayson Bowman for the 2014–15 season". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  43. ^ "Joonas Nattinen ready for Modo Hockey" (in Swedish). Modo Hockey. June 5, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  44. ^ "Wild Logo Featured in Corn Maze". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  45. ^ "GIONTA SIGNS THREE-YEAR CONTRACT". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  46. ^ "Lightning sign forward Mike Blunden to one-year contract". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  47. ^ "Arizona Coyotes sign center Joe Vitale, goaltender Devan Dubnyk". NHL.com. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  48. ^ "Rangers agree to terms with Tarnasky". The Sports Network. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  49. ^ "Martin St. Pierre to strengthen powerplay" (in Croatian). Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  50. ^ "Ryan White agrees to terms with Philadelphia Flyers on one-year contract". NHL.com. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  51. ^ "Fuel add experience with forward Robert Czarnik". IndyFuelHockey.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  52. ^ "Free Agent Bouillon signs in Switzerland" (in French). RDS.ca. October 14, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
  53. ^ "Douglas Murray har hittat ny klubb". January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  54. ^ "Canadiens agree to terms on a one-year contract with Mike Weaver". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
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  56. ^ "Canadiens sign first round pick Nikita Scherbak to a three-year contract". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  57. ^ "Canadiens agree to terms on a four-year contract with forward Lars Eller". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  58. ^ "Canadiens agree to terms on an 8-year contract with defenseman P.K. Subban". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  59. ^ "Canadiens sign forward Brendan Gallagher to a six-year contract extension". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  60. ^ "Canadiens sign third round pick Brett Lernout to a three-year contract". Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  61. ^ "Canadiens sign forward Mark MacMillan to a two-year entry level contract". Canadiens.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
  62. ^ a b "Canadiens agree to terms on one-year contracts with Gabriel Dumont and Morgan Ellis". Canadiens.com. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  63. ^ "Canadiens agree to terms on a six-year contract with Jeff Petry". Canadiens.com. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  64. ^ "Petry, Jeff". NHL Numbers. Archived from the original on June 1, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  65. ^ "Canadiens sign Nathan Beaulieu to US$2-million, two-year deal". The Chronicle Herald. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  66. ^ "Three-year contract for Torrey Mitchell". Canadiens.com. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  67. ^ "Panthers win! Panthers win! The 2014 NHL Draft Lottery that is..." Litter Box Cats. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
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