1983–84 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1983–84 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 75th season of play in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team struggled on the ice and, for the first time ever in the expansion era, finished the regular season with a losing record. Coach Bob Berry was fired 63 games into the season and replaced with former Canadiens great Jacques Lemaire.

1983–84 Montreal Canadiens
Division	4th Adams
Conference	8th Wales
1983–84 record	35–40–5
Home record	19–19–2
Road record	16–21–3
Goals for	286
Goals against	295
Team information
General manager	Serge Savard
Coach	Bob Berry Jacques Lemaire
Captain	Bob Gainey
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Guy Lafleur (30)
Assists	Guy Lafleur (40)
Points	Guy Lafleur (70)
Penalty minutes	Chris Nilan (338)
Plus/minus	Bill Root (+26)
Wins	Rick Wamsley (19)
Goals against average	Richard Sevigny (3.38)

The club placed fourth in its division, which was still good enough to qualify for the playoffs ahead of the last place Hartford Whalers. The Habs then stunned their heavily favoured rivals, the Boston Bruins with a 3–0 sweep in the opening round. With the upset, Montreal recorded their first playoff series victory since 1980. Then they defeated their provincial rivals, the Quebec Nordiques in the Adams final, in a series notorious for the two bench clearing brawls before the third period of game 6. The Canadiens were finally eliminated in the Prince of Wales Conference finals by the defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders in six games.

Regular season

Final standings

Adams Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Boston Bruins	80	49	25	6	336	261	104
Buffalo Sabres	80	48	25	7	315	257	103
Quebec Nordiques	80	42	28	10	360	278	94
Montreal Canadiens	80	35	40	5	286	295	75
Hartford Whalers	80	28	42	10	288	320	66

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Adams Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Adams Division

1983–84 NHL records
Team	BOS	BUF	HFD	MTL	QUE	Total
Boston	—	4–4	5–2–1	6–2	4–4	19–12–1
Buffalo	4–4	—	5–3	8–0	1–6–1	18–13–1
Hartford	2–5–1	3–5	—	0–7−1	1–3−4	6–20–6
Montreal	2–6	0–8	7–0−1	—	3–5	12–19–1
Quebec	4–4	6–1–1	3–1−4	5–3	—	18–9–5

Vs. Patrick Division

1983–84 NHL records
Team	NJD	NYI	NYR	PHI	PIT	WSH	Total
Boston	2−1	2−0−1	2−0–1	1−1−1	3−0	2−1	12−3−3
Buffalo	2−0−1	0−3	1−1−1	3−0	3−0	2−0−1	11−4−3
Hartford	1−1–1	2–1	2–1	2–1	1–2	1−2	9−8−1
Montreal	2−1	0−3	2–1	0−2−1	2−0−1	0−3	6−10−2
Quebec	2−1	2−1	0−2–1	0−2−1	3−0	2−1	9−7−2

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Norris Division

1983–84 NHL records
Team	CHI	DET	MIN	STL	TOR	Total
Boston	1–2	2–1	1–2	3–0	1–2	8–7–0
Buffalo	1−2	1−1−1	1−2	2−1	2−0−1	7−6−2
Hartford	2–1	1–1−1	3−0	2–1	2–1	10–4–1
Montreal	2−0–1	3−0	1–2	3–0	2−1	11–3–1
Quebec	1–1−1	1–2	2–0−1	2–0–1	2–1	8–4–3

Vs. Smythe Division

1983–84 NHL records
Team	CGY	EDM	LAK	VAN	WIN	Total
Boston	2−0−1	1−2	3−0	2−0−1	2−1	10−3−2
Buffalo	3−0	1–2	2−0−1	3−0	3−0	12−2−1
Hartford	0−2–1	1–2	2–1	0–3	0–2–1	3–10–2
Montreal	2−1	1−2	1−2	1–2	1−1−1	6−8−1
Quebec	2−1	0−3	3−0	1−2	1−2	7−8−0

Schedule and results

Regular season

1983–84 regular season
October: 4–7–0 (home: 1–4–0; road: 3–3–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 6, 1983 NY Islanders 7–4 Montreal Wamsley Montreal Forum 16,685 0–1–0 0 2 October 8, 1983 Philadelphia 6–3 Montreal Montreal Forum 0–2–0 0 3 October 10, 1983 Montreal 6–4 Quebec Quebec Coliseum 1–2–0 2 4 October 13, 1983 Montreal 2–4 Boston Boston Garden 1–3–0 2 5 October 15, 1983 Vancouver 4–5 Montreal Montreal Forum 2–3–0 4 6 October 19, 1983 Montreal 12–2 Winnipeg Winnipeg Arena 3–3–0 6 7 October 20, 1983 Montreal 5–4 Minnesota OT Met Center 4–3–0 8 8 October 22, 1983 Montreal 3–5 Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens 4–4–0 8 9 October 25, 1983 Minnesota 4–3 Montreal Montreal Forum 4–5–0 8 10 October 29, 1983 Edmonton 3–1 Montreal Sevigny Montreal Forum 17,781 4–6–0 8 11 October 30, 1983 Montreal 4–5 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 4–7–0 8
November: 7–5–1 (home: 4–3–1; road: 3–2–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 12 November 1, 1983 Hartford 2–6 Montreal Montreal Forum 5–7–0 10 13 November 3, 1983 Quebec 2–3 Montreal Montreal Forum 6–7–0 12 14 November 5, 1983 Boston 10–4 Montreal Montreal Forum 6–8–0 12 15 November 9, 1983 Montreal 3–0 Chicago Chicago Stadium 7–8–0 14 16 November 12, 1983 Montreal 4–6 Los Angeles The Forum 7–9–0 14 17 November 13, 1983 Montreal 3–4 Vancouver Pacific Coliseum 7–10–0 14 18 November 15, 1983 Montreal 5–2 St. Louis St. Louis Arena 8–10–0 16 19 November 17, 1983 Detroit 2–4 Montreal Montreal Forum 9–10–0 18 20 November 19, 1983 Chicago 5–5 Montreal OT Montreal Forum 9–10–1 19 21 November 22, 1983 Boston 2–4 Montreal Montreal Forum 10–10–1 21 22 November 23, 1983 Montreal 4–3 Hartford Hartford Civic Center 11–10–1 23 23 November 26, 1983 Washington 5–2 Montreal Montreal Forum 11–11–1 23 24 November 29, 1983 Buffalo 5–2 Montreal Montreal Forum 11–12–1 23
December: 7–6–1 (home: 5–2–0; road: 2–4–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 25 December 1, 1983 Quebec 6–3 Montreal Montreal Forum 11–13–1 23 26 December 3, 1983 Calgary 2–4 Montreal Montreal Forum 12–13–1 25 27 December 4, 1983 Montreal 2–6 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 12–14–1 25 28 December 6, 1983 Hartford 1–4 Montreal Montreal Forum 13–14–1 27 29 December 8, 1983 Montreal 2–6 Boston Boston Garden 13–15–1 27 30 December 10, 1983 Montreal 0–2 Washington Capital Centre 13–16–1 27 31 December 11, 1983 Montreal 3–3 Pittsburgh OT Pittsburgh Civic Arena 13–16–2 28 32 December 15, 1983 Pittsburgh 1–3 Montreal Montreal Forum 14–16–2 30 33 December 17, 1983 St. Louis 3–6 Montreal Montreal Forum 15–16–2 32 34 December 20, 1983 Montreal 6–0 New Jersey Brendan Byrne Arena 16–16–2 34 35 December 22, 1983 Montreal 1–4 Quebec Quebec Coliseum 16–17–2 34 36 December 26, 1983 Montreal 2–1 Hartford Hartford Civic Center 17–17–2 36 37 December 27, 1983 Buffalo 7–4 Montreal Montreal Forum 17–18–2 36 38 December 31, 1983 Quebec 2–4 Montreal Montreal Forum 18–18–2 38
January: 7–6–1 (home: 3–3–1; road: 4–3–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 39 January 3, 1984 Montreal 5–9 Quebec Quebec Coliseum 18–19–2 38 40 January 5, 1984 Detroit 1–5 Montreal Montreal Forum 19–19–2 40 41 January 7, 1984 St. Louis 0–5 Montreal Montreal Forum 20–19–2 42 42 January 8, 1984 Montreal 3–4 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 20–20–2 42 43 January 11, 1984 Montreal 6–4 Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens 21–20–2 44 44 January 12, 1984 Montreal 3–7 NY Islanders Wamsley Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 15,850 21–21–2 44 45 January 14, 1984 New Jersey 3–1 Montreal Montreal Forum 21–22–2 44 46 January 17, 1984 Philadelphia 6–4 Montreal Montreal Forum 21–23–2 44 47 January 19, 1984 Montreal 3–2 Hartford Hartford Civic Center 22–23–2 46 48 January 21, 1984 Calgary 3–2 Montreal Montreal Forum 22–24–2 46 49 January 24, 1984 Hartford 7–7 Montreal OT Montreal Forum 22–24–3 47 50 January 26, 1984 Montreal 4–2 NY Rangers Madison Square Garden 23–24–3 49 51 January 28, 1984 Pittsburgh 2–5 Montreal Montreal Forum 24–24–3 51 52 January 29, 1984 Montreal 7–2 Boston Boston Garden 25–24–3 53 NHL All-Star Game in East Rutherford, New Jersey
February: 4–6–2 (home: 2–3–0; road: 2–3–2) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 53 February 2, 1984 Montreal 2–2 Philadelphia OT The Spectrum 25–24–4 54 54 February 3, 1984 Montreal 1–4 Washington Capital Centre 25–25–4 54 55 February 5, 1984 Montreal 2–2 Winnipeg OT Winnipeg Arena 25–25–5 55 56 February 7, 1984 Montreal 5–2 New Jersey Brendan Byrne Arena 26–25–5 57 57 February 9, 1984 Vancouver 7–6 Montreal Montreal Forum 26–26–5 57 58 February 11, 1984 Buffalo 4–3 Montreal Montreal Forum 26–27–5 57 59 February 13, 1984 Los Angeles 3–5 Montreal Montreal Forum 27–27–5 59 60 February 14, 1984 Montreal 5–3 Hartford Hartford Civic Center 28–27–5 61 61 February 18, 1984 Montreal 3–5 Los Angeles The Forum 28–28–5 61 62 February 21, 1984 Montreal 2–3 Quebec Quebec Coliseum 28–29–5 61 63 February 23, 1984 Winnipeg 5–3 Montreal Montreal Forum 28–30–5 61 64 February 25, 1984 NY Rangers 4–7 Montreal Montreal Forum 29–30–5 63
March: 6–10–0 (home: 4–4–0; road: 2–6–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Record Pts Recap 65 March 1, 1984 Montreal 3–1 Detroit Joe Louis Arena 30–30–5 65 66 March 3, 1984 Montreal 3–1 Calgary Olympic Saddledome 31–30–5 67 67 March 4, 1984 Montreal 1–6 Edmonton Sevigny Northlands Coliseum 17,498 31–31–5 67 68 March 6, 1984 Buffalo 8–3 Montreal Montreal Forum 31–32–5 67 69 March 8, 1984 Hartford 2–3 Montreal Montreal Forum 32–32–5 69 70 March 10, 1984 Boston 4–2 Montreal Montreal Forum 32–33–5 69 71 March 12, 1984 Montreal 6–7 Minnesota OT Met Center 32–34–5 69 72 March 15, 1984 Edmonton 2–3 Montreal Wamsley Montreal Forum 18,076 33–34–5 71 73 March 17, 1984 Toronto 1–6 Montreal Montreal Forum 34–34–5 73 74 March 19, 1984 Chicago 1–2 Montreal Montreal Forum 35–34–5 75 75 March 21, 1984 Montreal 2–4 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium 35–35–5 75 76 March 24, 1984 Boston 5–2 Montreal Montreal Forum 35–36–5 75 77 March 25, 1984 Montreal 2–3 NY Rangers Madison Square Garden 35–37–5 75 78 March 27, 1984 Montreal 0–7 NY Islanders Penney Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 15,850 35–38–5 75 79 March 29, 1984 Quebec 5–2 Montreal Montreal Forum 35–39–5 75 80 March 31, 1984 Montreal 2–1 Boston Boston Garden 35–40–5 75
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs

1984 Stanley Cup playoffs
Adams Division Semifinals vs. (A1) Boston Bruins: Montreal win 3–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Series Recap 1 April 4, 1984 Montreal 2–1 Boston Boston Garden 1–0 2 April 5, 1984 Montreal 3–1 Boston Boston Garden 2–0 3 April 7, 1984 Boston 0–5 Montreal Montreal Forum 3–0
Adams Division Finals vs. (A3) Quebec Nordiques: Montreal win 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Series Recap 1 April 12, 1984 Montreal 2–4 Quebec Quebec Coliseum 0–1 2 April 13, 1984 Montreal 4–1 Quebec Quebec Coliseum 1–1 3 April 15, 1984 Quebec 1–2 Montreal Montreal Forum 2–1 4 April 16, 1984 Quebec 4–3 Montreal OT Montreal Forum 2–2 5 April 18, 1984 Montreal 4–0 Quebec Quebec Coliseum 3–2 6 April 20, 1984 Quebec 3–5 Montreal Montreal Forum 4–2
Wales Conference Finals vs. (P1) New York Islanders: Islanders win 4–2 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Location Attendance Series Recap 1 April 24, 1984 NY Islanders 0–3 Montreal Penney Montreal Forum 16,904 1–0 2 April 26, 1984 NY Islanders 2–4 Montreal Penney Montreal Forum 17,836 2–0 3 April 28, 1984 Montreal 2–5 NY Islanders Penney Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 15,861 2–1 4 May 1, 1984 Montreal 1–3 NY Islanders Penney Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 15,861 2–2 5 May 3, 1984 NY Islanders 3–1 Montreal Penney Montreal Forum 18,095 2–3 6 May 5, 1984 Montreal 1–4 NY Islanders Penney Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 15,861 2–4
Legend:   Win   Loss

Playoffs

As fourth-place finishers, the Canadiens drew the division winner Boston Bruins as their first-round opponent. The Canadiens upset the Bruins, sweeping the series in three straight games their first playoff series victory since 1980. The Canadiens then faced off against the Quebec Nordiques in a "Battle of Quebec" which culminated in the Good Friday Massacre. The Canadiens defeated the Nordiques four games to two to advance against the New York Islanders, the four-time defending Stanley Cup champions. The Islanders would eliminate the Canadiens in six games.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Guy Lafleur	RW	80	30	40	70	19	-14	6	0	6
Mats Naslund	LW	77	29	35	64	4	5	3	0	1
Bobby Smith	C	70	26	37	63	62	-7	6	1	3
Guy Carbonneau	C	78	24	30	54	75	5	3	7	2
Ryan Walter	C/LW	73	20	29	49	83	-11	7	1	4
John Chabot	C	56	18	25	43	13	-2	4	1	2
Larry Robinson	D	74	9	34	43	39	4	4	0	1
Bob Gainey	LW	77	17	22	39	41	10	0	0	3
Mario Tremblay	RW	67	14	25	39	112	2	3	0	3
Pierre Mondou	C	52	15	22	37	8	9	3	1	1
Steve Shutt	LW	63	14	23	37	29	-18	4	0	2
Chris Nilan	RW	76	16	10	26	338	-4	4	0	1
Craig Ludwig	D	80	7	18	25	52	-10	0	0	1
Bill Root	D	72	4	13	17	45	26	1	1	0
Alfie Turcotte	C	30	7	7	14	10	-9	5	0	0
Perry Turnbull	C	40	6	7	13	59	-12	2	0	1
Jean Hamel	D	79	1	12	13	92	7	0	0	0
Ric Nattress	D	34	0	12	12	15	-11	0	0	0
Mark Hunter	RW	22	6	4	10	42	-2	1	0	0
Doug Wickenheiser	C	27	5	5	10	6	1	0	0	1
Keith Acton	C	9	3	7	10	4	-5	2	0	0
Kent Carlson	D	65	3	7	10	73	-15	0	0	2
Gilbert Delorme	D	27	2	7	9	8	-4	0	0	0
Mike McPhee	LW	14	5	2	7	41	4	0	0	0
Mark Napier	RW	5	3	2	5	0	0	0	0	1
Greg Paslawski	RW	26	1	4	5	4	-5	0	0	0
Rick Wamsley	G	42	0	3	3	6	0	0	0	0
Claude Lemieux	RW	8	1	1	2	12	-2	0	0	0
Chris Chelios	D	12	0	2	2	12	-5	0	0	0
Robert Picard	D	7	0	2	2	0	-1	0	0	0
Rick Green	D	7	0	1	1	7	-5	0	0	0
Dave Allison	D	3	0	0	0	12	-2	0	0	0
Normand Baron	LW	4	0	0	0	12	-2	0	0	0
Jocelyn Gauvreau	D	2	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Mark Holden	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bill Kitchen	D	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Larry Landon	RW	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Sergio Momesso	LW	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
John Newberry	C	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steve Penney	G	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Richard Sevigny	G	40	0	0	0	12	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Rick Wamsley	2333	42	19	17	3	144	3.70	2
Richard Sevigny	2203	40	16	18	2	124	3.38	1
Mark Holden	52	1	0	1	0	4	4.62	0
Steve Penney	240	4	0	4	0	19	4.75	0
Team:	4828	80	35	40	5	291	3.62	3

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Mats Naslund	LW	15	6	8	14	4	3	1	3
Chris Chelios	D	15	1	9	10	17	1	0	0
Steve Shutt	LW	11	7	2	9	8	2	0	0
Pierre Mondou	C	14	6	3	9	2	1	0	1
Mario Tremblay	RW	15	6	3	9	31	0	0	1
Bobby Smith	C	15	2	7	9	8	1	0	1
Guy Carbonneau	C	15	4	3	7	12	0	0	1
Bob Gainey	LW	15	1	5	6	9	0	0	0
John Chabot	C	11	1	4	5	0	0	0	1
Larry Robinson	D	15	0	5	5	22	0	0	0
Mark Hunter	RW	14	2	1	3	69	0	0	0
Ryan Walter	C/LW	15	2	1	3	4	1	0	1
Rick Green	D	15	1	2	3	33	0	0	0
Perry Turnbull	C	9	1	2	3	10	0	0	0
Guy Lafleur	RW	12	0	3	3	5	0	0	0
Craig Ludwig	D	15	0	3	3	23	0	0	0
Jean Hamel	D	15	0	2	2	16	0	0	0
Steve Penney	G	15	0	2	2	2	0	0	0
Mike McPhee	LW	15	1	0	1	31	0	0	0
Chris Nilan	RW	15	1	0	1	81	0	0	0
Normand Baron	LW	3	0	0	0	22	0	0	0
Rick Wamsley	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Steve Penney	871	15	9	6	32	2.20	3
Rick Wamsley	32	1	0	0	0	0.00	0
Team:	903	15	9	6	32	2.13	3

Note:

Pos = Position;GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Pos = Position;GP = Games played; Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved;SV% = Save percentage;

Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1983 NHL entry draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	17	Alfie Turcotte	United States	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
2	26	Claude Lemieux	Canada	Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
2	27	Sergio Momesso	Canada	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
2	35	Todd Francis	Canada	Brantford Alexanders (OHL)
3	45	Daniel Letendre	Canada	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
4	78	John Kordic	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
5	98	Dan Wurst	United States	Edina High School (USHS-MN)
6	118	Arto Javanainen	Finland	Pori (Finland)
7	138	Vladislav Tretiak	Soviet Union	Moscow CSKA (USSR)
8	158	Rob Bryden	Canada	Henry Carr Crusaders (MetJHL)
9	178	Grant McKay	Canada	University of Calgary (CIAU)
10	198	Thomas Rundqvist	Sweden	Karlstad (Sweden)
11	218	Jeff Perpich	United States	Hibbing High School (USHS-MN)
12	238	Jean-Guy Bergeron	Canada	Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

See also

• 1983–84 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database