The Montreal Canadiens, the most prestigious franchise in the world
If there's one iconic team in the League, it's the Montreal Canadiens. A venerable resident of the NHL, they are quite simply the oldest team in the world. Founded on December 4, 1909, it is also the most successful, with 24 Stanley Cups won.
After making its debut in the National Hockey Association of Canada, known in French as the Association nationale de field hockey (ANH), by 1910 the Montreal team, still known as the Club Athlétique Canadien, was already the most famous franchise on the country's ice rinks. After a meeting on November 26, 1917, at Montreal's Windsor Hotel, the owners of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs and Toronto Arenas decided to create a new league, the NHL, and to open it up to our American neighbors.
For 25 years, up to 10 teams would compete in the new league. But after the Great Depression of 1929, the number of franchises dwindled, and from 1942 to 1967 there were only 6 competing for the trophy (Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks). Since then, the number has grown steadily, reaching 32 franchises in 2021, and the same number in 2024. A championship that pits 25 American and 7 Canadian teams against each other.
But throughout the 20th century, it was the Montreal Canadiens who made their mark on the history of the famous competition. In fact, they are the only team to have lifted the trophy five times in a row (between 1956 and 1960), a feat still unmatched today. And with his name engraved eleven times on the trophy, Canadiens center Henri Richard is the most successful player in the history of the League. A family affair, since his brother Maurice Richard was also a Canadiens (and field hockey in general) legend, becoming the first player to score over 500 goals (in 1957).
After playing between 1924 and 1996 (and winning 22 of their 24 Stanley Cups) in the old Montreal Forum, aptly nicknamed the "Temple of Hockey", the Montreal franchise has since moved to the Bell Centre rink. With its 21,288 seats in field hockey configuration, it's quite simply the biggest arena in the League, and therefore the biggest field hockey arena in the world! It's in this veritable sanctuary, which offers guided tours, that fans the world over dream of attending an NHL game. And it's here that Montrealers have been waiting to see their team lift a Stanley Cup for the first time since... 1993, when they beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1. All these years of waiting, despite a finalist berth in 2021, are beginning to take their toll on the shores of the St. Lawrence!
Legendary oppositions
And in its rich history, Montreal has built up some serious rivalries on NHL rinks. In the province, Quebec's flagship team has been out of the picture for 25 years. And while a number of teams played in the minor leagues, it was the Quebec Nordiques who put their name on NHL shelves between 1972 and 1995. And provided the Canadiens with a true provincial rivalry. In their Colisée arena, which welcomed over 15,000 spectators in its heyday (the hall is closed today), the "Bleus" experienced their greatest thrills in 1982 and 1985, reaching the semi-finals. At the time, derbies against Montreal obviously smelled of brimstone. Unfortunately, in 1995 the franchise moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche.
The province next door, Ontario, is also a hotbed of ice hockey. Two clubs share the stage: the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs, eternal rivals of the Montreal Canadiens. Toronto is the second team in the League with the most Stanley Cups (13), behind the great Quebec rival. But it's not just outside Canada that Montreal has built up a legendary rivalry. Today, it's the Boston Bruins who are considered Quebec's greatest rivals in the US. And always have been, since they were one of the six original teams in the League. The fierce duels between the two franchises can be counted in the hundreds.
All behind the national team!
But let's face it, over the past few years, Canadians have become increasingly disenchanted with the NHL. This is because the sport, which was originally Canadian, is now largely controlled by the American market. Canadian professional clubs are gradually disappearing, and local players are increasingly being bought by US clubs... By 2023, of the 32 teams in the League, only 7 are Canadian.
Despite all this, Canada continues to shine on the international scene. And not just a little! At the last Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022, the Canadian women's team won the gold medal! A welcome victory after the bitterness of the 2018 Games, when the men took bronze and the women silver. As for the men, they finished 6th at this latest edition, behind the United States... In Montreal, as in the rest of the country, we'll be keeping a very close eye on the 2026 Olympics in Italy!
