2006–07 Montreal Canadiens season

The Montreal Canadiens 2006-07 Season saw the team working to build on a 2005-06 season in which it took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes to six games in the first round of the playoffs. Behind the leadership of goaltender Christobal Huet and captain Saku Koivu, the Canadiens poised themselves to join the elite of the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens were only minimally active in offseason transactions, with forwards Sergei Samsonov and Mike Johnson and defenseman Janne Niinimaa representing the only additions. Forwards Jan Bulis, Richard Zednik and Mike Ribeiro moved to other teams: Bulis via free agency to Vancouver, Zednik via a trade to Washington, and Ribeiro via a trade to Dallas (for Niinimaa).

On January 9, 2007, the NHL announced that Sheldon Souray had been voted by the fans to start at defense in the 2007 All-Star Game in Dallas.

Regular season

Season standings

Northeast Division	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	GF	GA
Buffalo Sabres	49	33	12	4	70	185	143
Montreal Canadiens	49	27	17	5	59	146	140
Ottawa Senators	50	28	20	2	58	171	138
Toronto Maple Leafs	49	22	21	6	50	159	168
Boston Bruins	46	22	20	4	48	136	170

As of January 21, 2007. For current standings, see 2006-07 NHL season

Game log

October

Record for month 6-2-3 (Home 3-1-2 Away 3-1-1)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 6	Montreal	4 - 5	Buffalo	SO	Huet	18,690	0-0-1	1
2	October 7	Montreal	3 - 2	Toronto	SO	Aebischer	19,353	1-0-1	3
3	October 11	Montreal	3 - 1	Philadelphia		Aebischer	19,256	2-0-1	5
4	October 14	Ottawa	3 - 2	Montreal	SO	Huet	21,273	2-0-2	6
5	October 17	Calgary	4 - 5	Montreal		Huet	21,273	3-0-2	8
6	October 18	Montreal	1 - 2	Chicago		Aebischer	11,095	3-1-2	8
7	October 21	Colorado	5 - 8	Montreal		Aebischer	21,273	4-1-2	10
8	October 23	Buffalo	4 - 1	Montreal		Huet	21,273	4-2-2	10
9	October 26	Montreal	3 - 2	Boston		Huet	13,920	5-2-2	12
10	October 28	Toronto	5 - 4	Montreal	SO	Aebischer	21,273	5-2-3	13
11	October 31	Ottawa	2 - 4	Montreal		Aebischer	21,273	6-2-3	15

November

Record for Month 8-5-0 (Home 4-2-0 Away 4-3-0)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
12	November 2	Montreal	4 - 0	Carolina		Huet	16,486	7-2-3	17
13	November 4	New Jersey	2 - 1	Montreal		Huet	21,273	7-3-3	17
14	November 7	Edmonton	2 - 3	Montreal	SO	Aebischer	21,273	8-3-3	19
15	November 11	Montreal	1 - 5	Toronto		Aebischer	19,501	8-4-3	19
16	November 13	Montreal	6 - 3	Ottawa		Huet	20,051	9-4-3	21
17	November 15	Montreal	3 - 1	Tampa Bay		Huet	19,920	10-4-3	23
18	November 16	Montreal	4 - 2	Florida		Aebischer	13,506	10-5-3	23
19	November 18	Atlanta	1 - 3	Montreal		Huet	21,273	11-5-3	25
20	November 22	Minnesota	2 - 4	Montreal		Huet	21,273	12-5-3	27
21	November 24	Montreal	2 - 1	Buffalo	OT	Huet	18,690	13-5-3	29
22	November 25	Philadelphia	4 - 2	Montreal		Aebischer	21,273	13-6-3	29
23	November 28	Florida	0 - 1	Montreal	SO	Huet	21,273	14-6-3	31
24	November 30	Montreal	2 - 4	Carolina		Huet	13,103	14-7-3	31

December

Record for Month 8-4-2 (Home 5-1-1 Away 3-3-1)

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
25	December 2	Toronto	3 - 4	Montreal	SO	Huet	21,273	15-7-3	33
26	December 4	Boston	6 - 5	Montreal		Aebischer	21,273	15-8-3	33
27	December 6	Montreal	1 - 2	New Jersey	OT	Aebischer	10,986	15-8-4	34
28	December 7	Montreal	4 - 2	NY Islanders		Huet	9,551	16-8-4	36
29	December 9	Buffalo	3 - 2	Montreal	SO	Huet	21,273	16-8-5	37
30	December 12	Boston	4 - 3	Montreal		Aebischer	21,273	17-8-5	39
31	December 14	Tampa Bay	2 - 4	Montreal		Huet	21,273	18-8-5	41
32	December 16	Pittsburgh	3 - 6	Montreal		Huet	21,273	19-8-5	43
33	December 19	Montreal	5 - 2	Buffalo		Huet	18,690	20-8-5	45
34	December 21	Philadelphia	2 - 4	Montreal		Aebischer	21,273	21-8-5	47
35	December 23	Montreal	2 - 4	Boston		Huet	17,565	21-9-5	47
36	December 27	Montreal	4 - 1	Washington		Huet	15,609	22-9-5	49
37	December 29	Montreal	1 - 3	Florida		Huet	19,772	22-10-5	49
38	December 30	Montreal	1 - 3	Tampa Bay		Huet	21,120	22-11-5	49

January

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
39	January 2	Tampa Bay	2 - 5	Montreal		Huet	21,273	23-11-5	51
40	January 4	Montreal	1 - 5	Washington		Huet	11,287	23-12-5	51
41	January 6	NY Rangers	4 - 3	Montreal		Aebischer	21,273	23-13-5	51
42	January 7	New Jersey	3 - 0	Montreal		Huet	21,273	23-14-5	51
43	January 9	Atlanta	2 - 4	Montreal		Huet	21,273	24-14-5	53
44	January 9	Montreal	4 - 2	Philadelphia		Aebischer	19,411	25-14-5	55
45	January 13	Montreal	3 - 8	Ottawa		Huet	20,038	25-15-5	55
46	January 15	Montreal	0 - 2	Detroit		Aebischer	20,066	25-16-5	55
47	January 16	Vancouver	4 - 0	Montreal		Huet	21,273	25-17-5	55
48	January 18	Montreal	4 - 1	Atlanta		Huet	14,025	26-17-5	57
49	January 20	Buffalo	3 - 4	Montreal		Huet	21,273	27-17-5	59

• Green background indicates win.
• Red background indicates regulation loss.
• White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Season Stats

Scoring Leaders

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

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Saku Koivu	48	16	26	42	-10	46
Sheldon Souray	48	16	24	40	-9	70
Alexei Kovalev	49	12	23	35	-8	64
Michael Ryder	49	15	18	33	-14	40
Andrei Markov	47	3	29	32	+3	40

as of January 21, 2007

Goaltending

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

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	OTL	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Cristobal Huet	35	1938	19	10	3	85	2	.923	2.63
David Aebischer	19	1037	8	7	2	50	0	.910	2.89

as of January 21, 2007

Transactions

Trades

July 12, 2006	To Washington Capitals Richard Zednik	To Montreal Canadiens 3rd round pick in 2007
July 12, 2006	To Phoenix Coyotes 4th round pick in 2007	To Montreal Canadiens Mike Johnson
September 30, 2006	To Dallas Stars Mike Ribeiro 6th round pick in 2008	To Montreal Canadiens Janne Niinimaa 5th round pick in 2007
December 15, 2006	To San Jose Sharks Patrick Traverse	To Montreal Canadiens Mathieu Biron

Free Agents Acquired

Player	Former Team
F Sergei Samsonov	Edmonton Oilers

Free Agents Lost

Player	Current Team
F Jan Bulis	Vancouver Canucks

Draft Picks

Montreal's picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Canadiens had the 16th overall draft pick, which they traded to the San Jose Sharks for the 20th and 53rd overall picks.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	NHL Team	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	20	David Fischer (D)	United States	Montreal Canadiens (from San Jose)	Apple Valley High School (MSHSL)
2	49	Ben Maxwell (C)	Canada	Montreal Canadiens	Kootenay (WHL)
2	53	Mathieu Carle (D)	Canada	Montreal Canadiens (from San Jose)	Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)
3	66	Ryan White (C)	Canada	Montreal Canadiens (from Chicago)	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
5	139	Pavel Valentenko (D)	Russia	Montreal Canadiens	Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (Russian Superleague)
7	199	Cameron Cepek (D)	United States	Montreal Canadiens	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)

External Links

• Official site of the Montreal Canadiens

See also

• 2006-07 NHL Season

References

• Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com
• Game log: Montreal Canadiens game log on espn.com
• Season Stats: [2] on espn.com