2010–11 Montreal Canadiens season

2010–11 Montreal Canadiens
Division	2nd Northeast
Conference	6th Eastern
2010–11 record	44–30–8
Home record	24–11–6
Road record	20–19–2
Goals for	216
Goals against	209
Team information
General Manager	Pierre Gauthier
Coach	Jacques Martin
Captain	Brian Gionta
Alternate captains	Hal Gill Andrei Markov
Arena	Bell Centre
Average attendance	21,273 (100%)
Team leaders
Goals	Brian Gionta (29)
Assists	Tomas Plekanec (35)
Points	Tomas Plekanec (57)
Penalties in minutes	P. K. Subban (124)
Plus/minus	Jaroslav Spacek (+9)
Wins	Carey Price (38)
Goals against average	Carey Price (2.35)
<2009–10	2011–12>

The 2010–11 Montreal Canadiens season was the franchise's 102nd season overall, 94th season since joining the National Hockey League, which was established on November 22, 1917. The Canadiens finished sixth overall in the Eastern Conference before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins, in the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Off-season

On September 29, 2010, the Canadiens named forward Brian Gionta team captain.

Regular season

The Canadiens opened their season with a road game against long-time rival Toronto Maple Leafs on October 7. The home opener was on October 13 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Canadiens were the most penalized team in the League, with 327 power-play opportunities against.

Playoffs

The Canadiens attempted to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1993. Their 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs run was their most successful since their 1993 Stanley Cup, going to the Eastern Conference Final, but losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in five games. On April 5, 2011, the Canadiens qualified for the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs with a 2–1 overtime victory against the Chicago Blackhawks. On April 9, 2011, it was determined that the Canadiens would play the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs.

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2010 Pre-season
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Record	Recap
1	September 22	Boston Bruins	4-2	Montreal Canadiens		Price, Sanford	0-1-0
2	September 24	Ottawa Senators	2-4	Montreal Canadiens		Mayer	1-1-0
3	September 25	Montreal Canadiens	2-6	Ottawa Senators		Price	1-2-0
4	September 26	Minnesota Wild	3-4	Montreal Canadiens		Auld	2-2-0
5	September 27	Florida Panthers	2-6	Montreal Canadiens		Price	3-2-0
6	September 30	Buffalo Sabres	5-3	Montreal Canadiens		Auld	3-3-0
7	October 2 (in Quebec City, QC)	Montreal Canadiens	7-2	New York Islanders (SS)		Price	4-3-0
(SS) = Split-squad games.

Playoffs

Main article: 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs

2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (3) Boston Bruins - Boston wins series 4-3 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 14 Montreal Canadiens 2–0 Boston Bruins Price 17,565 Canadiens lead 1-0 2 April 16 Montreal Canadiens 3–1 Boston Bruins Price 17,565 Canadiens lead 2-0 3 April 18 Boston Bruins 4–2 Montreal Canadiens Price 21,273 Canadiens lead 2-1 4 April 21 Boston Bruins 5–4 Montreal Canadiens 1OT Price 21,273 Series tied 2-2 5 April 23 Montreal Canadiens 1–2 Boston Bruins 2OT Price 17,565 Bruins lead 3-2 6 April 26 Boston Bruins 1–2 Montreal Canadiens Price 21,273 Series tied 3-3 7 April 27 Montreal Canadiens 3–4 Boston Bruins OT Price 17,565 Bruins win 4-3 Legend:       Win       Loss

Standings

Divisional standings

Northeast Division

		GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
1	y – Boston Bruins	82	46	25	11	44	246	195	103
2	Montreal Canadiens	82	44	30	8	41	216	209	96
3	Buffalo Sabres	82	43	29	10	38	245	229	96
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	37	34	11	32	218	251	85
5	Ottawa Senators	82	32	40	10	30	192	250	74

Conference standings

Eastern Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Washington Capitals	SE	82	48	23	11	43	224	197	107
2	y – Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	47	23	12	44	259	223	106
3	y – Boston Bruins	NE	82	46	25	11	44	246	195	103
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	49	25	8	39	238	199	106
5	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	46	25	11	40	247	240	103
6	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	44	30	8	41	216	209	96
7	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	43	29	10	38	245	229	96
8	New York Rangers	AT	82	44	33	5	35	233	198	93
8.5
9	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	40	31	11	35	236	239	91
10	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	37	34	11	32	218	251	85
11	New Jersey Devils	AT	82	38	39	5	35	174	209	81
12	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	34	36	12	29	223	269	80
13	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	32	40	10	30	192	250	74
14	New York Islanders	AT	82	30	39	13	26	229	264	73
15	Florida Panthers	SE	82	30	40	12	26	195	229	72

bold - qualified for playoffs; y – Won division; z – Placed first in conference (and division)
AT - Atlantic Division, NE - Northeast Division, SE - Southeast Division

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Regular season

Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Tomas Plekanec 77 22 35 57 8 60 Michael Cammalleri 67 19 28 47 2 33 Brian Gionta 82 29 17 46 3 24 Andrei Kostitsyn 81 20 25 45 3 36 P. K. Subban 77 14 24 38 -8 124 Scott Gomez 80 7 31 38 -15 48 Roman Hamrlik 79 5 29 34 6 81 Benoit Pouliot 79 13 17 30 2 87 James Wisniewski† 43 7 23 30 4 20 Mathieu Darche 59 12 14 26 7 10 Jeff Halpern 72 11 15 26 6 29 Max Pacioretty 37 14 10 24 -1 39 David Desharnais 43 8 14 22 -3 12 Lars Eller 77 7 10 17 -4 48 Travis Moen 79 6 10 16 -4 96 Jaroslav Spacek 59 1 15 16 9 45 Yannick Weber 41 1 10 11 0 14 Hal Gill 75 2 7 9 -9 43 Alexandre Picard 43 3 5 8 0 17 Maxim Lapierre‡ 38 5 3 8 -7 63 Tom Pyatt 61 2 5 7 -1 9 Josh Gorges 36 1 6 7 -3 18 Ryan White 27 2 3 5 5 38 Paul Mara† 20 0 4 4 2 48 Andrei Markov 7 1 2 3 2 4 Dustin Boyd 10 1 0 1 -6 2 Brent Sopel† 12 0 0 0 -1 0 Andreas Engqvist 3 0 0 0 0 0 Aaron Palushaj 3 0 0 0 1 2 Ryan O'Byrne‡ 3 0 0 0 0 4 Nigel Dawes† 4 0 0 0 0 0 Brendon Nash 2 0 0 0 -1 0

Playoffs

Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Michael Cammalleri 7 3 7 10 -5 0 Brian Gionta 7 3 2 5 -6 0 Tomas Plekanec 7 2 3 5 -1 2 Scott Gomez 7 0 4 4 -6 2 P. K. Subban 7 2 2 4 -2 2 Roman Hamrlik 7 0 3 3 -1 6 Mathieu Darche 7 1 1 2 -1 0 James Wisniewski 6 0 2 2 -3 7 Andrei Kostitsyn 6 2 0 2 0 6 Yannick Weber 3 2 0 2 1 0 Lars Eller 7 0 2 2 1 4 Brent Sopel 7 1 0 1 -2 2 Jeff Halpern 4 1 0 1 -1 0 Travis Moen 7 0 1 1 -1 2 David Desharnais 5 0 1 1 0 2 Hal Gill 7 0 0 0 -1 2 Paul Mara 1 0 0 0 0 0 Jaroslav Spacek 7 0 0 0 -3 4 Benoit Pouliot 3 0 0 0 0 7 Tom Pyatt 7 0 0 0 0 0 Ryan White 7 0 0 0 0 2

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts

Regular season
Player GP TOI W L OT GA GAA SA Sv% SO G A PIM Carey Price 72 4206 38 28 6 165 2.35 2147 .923 8 0 2 13 Alex Auld 16 749 6 2 2 33 2.64 383 .914 0 0 1 2

Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SA Sv% SO G A PIM Carey Price 7 455 3 4 16 2.11 242 .934 1 0 0 0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Canadiens. Stats reflect time with Canadiens only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Canadiens only.

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular season
Player	Milestone	Reached
Tomas Plekanec	400th Career NHL Game	October 23, 2010
Lars Eller	1st Career NHL Assist	October 25, 2010
Alexandre Picard	200th Career NHL Game	October 25, 2010
Scott Gomez	800th Career NHL Game	November 11, 2010
P.K. Subban	1st Career NHL Regular Season Goal	November 11, 2010
Jaroslav Spacek	800th Career NHL Game	December 1, 2010
Roman Hamrlik	600th Career NHL Point	December 1, 2010
James Wisniewski	100th Career NHL Assist	January 2, 2011
David Desharnais	1st Career NHL Goal	January 12, 2011
Max Pacioretty	100th Career NHL Game	January 12, 2011
Andreas Engqvist	1st Career NHL Game	January 21, 2011
James Wisniewski	300th Career NHL Game	February 1, 2011
Brian Gionta	200th Career NHL Goal	February 9, 2011
Yannick Weber	1st Career NHL Goal	February 9, 2011
Andrei Kostitsyn	300th Career NHL Game	February 10, 2011
Travis Moen	500th Career NHL Game	February 15, 2011
Brendon Nash	1st Career NHL Game	February 15, 2011
Tomas Plekanec	300th Career NHL Point	February 15, 2011
Scott Gomez	500th Career NHL Assist	February 22, 2011
Brian Gionta	600th Career NHL Game	March 5, 2011
Michael Cammalleri	200th Career NHL Assist	March 8, 2011
Roman Hamrlik	1,300th Career NHL Game	March 17, 2011
Aaron Palushaj	1st Career NHL Game	March 17, 2011
P. K. Subban	1st Career NHL Hat-trick	March 20, 2011
Ryan White	1st Career NHL Goal	March 20, 2011
Carey Price	200th Career NHL Game	March 24, 2011
Jeff Halpern	200th Career NHL Assist	March 29, 2011
Brian Gionta	400th Career NHL Point	April 2, 2011
Tom Pyatt	100th Career NHL Game	April 7, 2011

Playoffs
Player	Milestone	Reached
David Desharnais	1st Career NHL Playoff Game	April 14, 2011
Lars Eller	1st Career NHL Playoff Game	April 14, 2011
Ryan White	1st Career NHL Playoff Game	April 14, 2011
Mathieu Darche	1st Career NHL Playoff Goal	April 16, 2011
Lars Eller	1st Career NHL Playoff Assist 1st Career NHL Playoff Point	April 16, 2011
Hal Gill	100th Career NHL Playoff Game	April 16, 2011
David Desharnais	1st Career NHL Playoff Assist 1st Career NHL Playoff Point	April 21, 2011

Awards

Regular season
Player	Award	Date
Carey Price	NHL First Star of the Week	November 15, 2010
Carey Price	NHL Second Star of the Month	November 2010
Carey Price	NHL Third Star of the Week	March 7, 2011
P. K. Subban	NHL Third Star of the Week	March 21, 2011

Transactions

The Canadiens have been involved in the following transactions during the 2010–11 season.

Trades

Date	Details
June 17, 2010	To St. Louis Blues Jaroslav Halak	To Montreal Canadiens Lars Eller Ian Schultz
June 25, 2010	To Phoenix Coyotes 1st-round pick (#27 overall) in 2010 2nd-round pick (#57 overall) in 2010	To Montreal Canadiens 1st-round pick (#22 overall) in 2010 4th-round pick (#113 overall) in 2010
June 29, 2010	To Nashville Predators Sergei Kostitsyn Future Considerations	To Montreal Canadiens Dan Ellis Dustin Boyd Future Considerations
August 16, 2010	To Tampa Bay Lightning Cedrick Desjardins	To Montreal Canadiens Karri Ramo
November 11, 2010	To Colorado Avalanche Ryan O'Byrne	To Montreal Canadiens Michael Bournival
December 28, 2010	To New York Islanders 2nd-round pick in 2011 Conditional 5th-round pick in 2012	To Montreal Canadiens James Wisniewski
December 31, 2010	To Anaheim Ducks Maxim Lapierre	To Montreal Canadiens Brett Festerling 5th-round pick in 2012
February 17, 2011	To Anaheim Ducks 5th-round pick in 2012	To Montreal Canadiens Paul Mara
February 24, 2011	To Atlanta Thrashers Ben Maxwell 4th-round pick in 2011	To Montreal Canadiens Nigel Dawes Brent Sopel
February 28, 2011	To Atlanta Thrashers Brett Festerling	To Montreal Canadiens Drew MacIntyre

Free agents acquired

Player	Former team	Contract terms
Kyle Klubertanz	Djurgardens IF	1 year, entry-level, $550,000
Alex Auld	New York Rangers	1 year, $1 million
Alexandre R. Picard	Carolina Hurricanes	1 year, $600,000
Jeff Halpern	Los Angeles Kings	1 year, $600,000
Alain Berger	Oshawa Generals	3 years, $1.998 million entry-level contract

Free agents lost

Player	New team	Contract terms
Dan Ellis	Tampa Bay Lightning	2 years, $3 million
Shawn Belle	Edmonton Oilers	1 year, $650,000
Gregory Stewart	Edmonton Oilers	1 year, $550,000
Dominic Moore	Tampa Bay Lightning	2 years, $2.2 million
Glen Metropolit	EV Zug	2 years
Brock Trotter	Dinamo Riga	2 years
Paul Mara	Montreal Canadiens	1 year, $750,000
Marc-Andre Bergeron	Tampa Bay Lightning	1 year, $1 million

Lost via retirement

Player

Georges Laraque

Player signings

Player	Contract terms
Mathieu Darche	1 year, $575,000
Tomas Plekanec	6 years, $30 million
Tom Pyatt	1 year, $500,000
Benoit Pouliot	1 year, $1.375 million
Curtis Sanford	1 year, $550,000
Frederic St-Denis	1 year, two-way, $550,000
Dustin Boyd	1 year, $650,000
Mathieu Carle	1 year, two-way, $660,000
Maxim Lapierre	1 year, $900,000
J. T. Wyman	1 year, two-way, $550,000
David Desharnais	1 year, two-way, $575,000
Alexander Avtsin	3 years, $1.82 million entry-level contract
Cedrick Desjardins	1 year, two-way, $550,000
Ryan Russell	1 year, two-way, $550,000
Alex Henry	2 years, two-way, $1.025 million
Louis Leblanc	3 years, $2.7 million entry-level contract
Carey Price	2 years, $5.5 million
Joe Stejskal	2 years, $1.16 million entry-level contract

Final roster

Updated April 7, 2011.

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
35		Alex Auld	G	L	44	2010	Cold Lake, Alberta
13		Michael Cammalleri	LW	L	42	2009	Richmond Hill, Ontario
52		Mathieu Darche	LW	L	48	2009	Montreal, Quebec
58		David Desharnais	C	L	38	2008	Quebec City, Quebec
81		Lars Eller	C	L	35	2010	Rødovre, Denmark
75		Hal Gill (A)	D	L	49	2009	Concord, Massachusetts
21		Brian Gionta (C)	RW	R	46	2009	Rochester, New York
11		Scott Gomez	C	L	45	2009	Anchorage, Alaska
26		Josh Gorges Injured Reserve	D	L	40	2007	Kelowna, British Columbia
15		Jeff Halpern	C	R	48	2010	Potomac, Maryland
44		Roman Hamrlik	D	L	50	2007	Zlín, Czechoslovakia
46		Andrei Kostitsyn	LW	L	40	2003	Navapolatsk, Soviet Union
22		Paul Mara	D	L	45	2011	Ridgewood, New Jersey
79		Andrei Markov (A) Injured Reserve	D	L	46	1998	Voskresensk, Soviet Union
32		Travis Moen	LW	L	42	2009	Stewart Valley, Saskatchewan
67		Max Pacioretty Injured Reserve	LW	L	36	2007	New Canaan, Connecticut
45		Alexandre R. Picard	D	L	39	2010	Gatineau, Quebec
14		Tomas Plekanec	C	L	42	2001	Kladno, Czechoslovakia
57		Benoit Pouliot	LW	L	38	2009	Alfred, Ontario
31		Carey Price	G	L	37	2005	Anahim Lake, British Columbia
94		Tom Pyatt	C	L	38	2009	Thunder Bay, Ontario
55		Brent Sopel	D	R	48	2011	Calgary, Alberta
6		Jaroslav Spacek	D	L	51	2009	Rokycany, Czechoslovakia
76		P. K. Subban	D	R	35	2007	Toronto, Ontario
68		Yannick Weber	D	R	36	2007	Morges, Switzerland
53		Ryan White	C	R	37	2006	Brandon, Manitoba
20		James Wisniewski	D	R	41	2010	Canton, Michigan

Staff

Montreal Canadiens staff
	Executive operations Ownership - Molson Group Chairman - Molson Family Vice Chairman - Jeff Joyce President: Pierre Boivin Vice-President/General Manager - Pierre Gauthier			Hockey operations Assistant General Manager, hockey administration - Julien Brisebois Director, player personnel - Trevor Timmins Head coach - Jacques Martin Assistant coaches - Kirk Muller, Perry Pearn Goaltending coach - Pierre Groulx Strength and conditioning - Lorne Goldenberg

Draft picks

Montreal's picks at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles, California.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	22 (from Phoenix)	Jarred Tinordi	D	United States	US National Team Development Program (USHL)
4	113 (from Buffalo via Phoenix)	Mark MacMillan	F	Canada	Alberni Valley Bulldogs (BCHL)
4	117	Morgan Ellis	D	Canada	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
5	147	Brendan Gallagher	RW	Canada	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
7	207	John Westin	LW	Sweden	Modo Hockey Jr. (Sweden Junior)

Farm teams

Hamilton Bulldogs

The Hamilton Bulldogs remain Montreal's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2010–11.

Wheeling Nailers

Montreal signed an affiliation agreement with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL for 2010–11, succeeding the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
Canada	English: CBC, TSN, NHL Network; French: RDS, RIS.
United States	Versus, ESPN, NBC, CBS, Fox, HDNet, NHL Network.
Europe	NASN, NHL Network.
Russia	NTV (Russia).
Japan South Korea Thailand	ASN.

See also

• 2010–11 NHL season

References