"For an organization like ours and for our fans, it's a pleasure and a great privilege to welcome our captains, who through their leadership have contributed to our success. Their presence at our 110th anniversary demonstrates the spirit of every member of the Canadiens family," said France Margaret Bélanger, executive vice-president, chief commercial officer of the Canadiens, Bell Centre and evenko.
To mark the occasion, 11 of the 12 retired team captains, from Yvan Cournoyer (1975-79) to Brian Gionta (2010-14) and current Canadiens captain Shea Weber will be in the house for this historic reunion. Henri Richard will not be able to attend the ceremonies due to health issues but will be honored during the ceremonies.
Between them, the legendary former captains accomplished an impressive list of milestones, records and feats throughout their captaincy. Together they captured 46 Stanley Cups, seven Selke trophies, three Norris trophies, three Conn Smythe trophies, two Masterton trophies, one Lady Byng trophy and one King Clancy award. In addition to Cournoyer and Gionta, the list includes Henri Richard (1971-75), Serge Savard (1979-81), Bob Gainey (1981-89), Chris Chelios (1989-90), Guy Carbonneau (1989-94), Kirk Muller (1994-95), Mike Keane (1995), Pierre Turgeon (1995-96), Vincent Damphousse (1996-99) and Saku Koivu (1999-09).
The Canadiens, who will turn 110 on December 4, represent the oldest professional hockey franchise in North America, alongside Toronto, and lead the NHL in most statistical categories. Since the team first took the ice on January 19, 1910, as many as 908 players donned the red, white and blue, including 49 inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Canadiens, who rank first in hockey history with a record 24 Stanley Cup championships, have set a long list of individual and team records, scoring over 22,000 goals and earning 8,000 points in the standings thanks to 3,500 wins in 6,834 games played. Team netminders have also registered 550 shutouts.
Current players will help celebrate the team's 110 years by wearing special warmup jerseys featuring names of some of the franchise's legends who marked the team's history.
Guy Lafleur (Max Domi) Yvan Cournoyer (Brendan Gallagher)
Mats Naslund (Joel Armia) Serge Savard (Ben Chiarot)
Guy Carbonneau (Nick Cousins) Jean Béliveau (Phillip Danault)
Guy Lapointe (Cale Fleury) Ken Dryden (Keith Kinkaid)
Maurice Richard (Charles Hudon) Doug Harvey (Brett Kulak)
Kirk Muller (Jesperi Kotkaniemi) Émile Bouchard (Victor Mete)
Saku Koivu (Artturi Lehkonen) Jacques Plante (Carey Price)
Chris Chelios (Jeff Petry) Howie Morenz (Nick Suzuki)
Mathieu Schneider (Mike Reilly) Bob Gainey (Nate Thompson)
Henri Richard (Tomas Tatar) Larry Robinson (Shea Weber)
Steve Shutt (Jordan Weal)
These jerseys worn by the players will then be auctioned with all profits donated to the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation in support of the 11th annual
#ourGOALtoASSIST
RadioTéléDON
, which will take place during the same game. Fans wishing to purchase one of the historic sweaters can register to be notified when the auction opens by visiting
habs.signaturepro.ca
or by texting "HABS" to 514-900-2220.
Fans are invited to be in their seats by 6:45 p.m. on December 3 for the pregame ceremony. Tickets for this historic night at the Bell Centre are still available:
click here
to purchase.
