1970–71 Montreal Canadiens season
The 1970–71 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 62nd season. After missing the playoffs in the previous season, the team rebounded to place third in the East Division, qualifying for the playoffs. Behind new star goalie Ken Dryden the team won their 17th Stanley Cup championship.
Regular season
On February 11, 1971, Jean Beliveau became the fourth player to score 500 career goals.Final standings
Schedule and results
Playoffs
Quarter-final
; Versus Boston Bruins| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | April 7, 1971 | 1–3 | @ Boston Bruins | 0–1 |
| 2 | W | April 8, 1971 | 7–5 | @ Boston Bruins | 1–1 |
| 3 | W | April 10, 1971 | 3–1 | Boston Bruins | 2–1 |
| 4 | L | April 11, 1971 | 2–5 | Boston Bruins | 2–2 |
| 5 | L | April 13, 1971 | 3–7 | @ Boston Bruins | 2–3 |
| 6 | W | April 15, 1971 | 8–3 | Boston Bruins | 3–3 |
| 7 | W | April 18, 1971 | 4–2 | @ Boston Bruins | 4–3 |
Montreal wins the series 4–3.
Semi-final
; Versus Minnesota North Stars| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | April 20, 1971 | 7–2 | Minnesota North Stars | 1–0 |
| 2 | L | April 22, 1971 | 3–6 | Minnesota North Stars | 1–1 |
| 3 | W | April 24, 1971 | 6–3 | @ Minnesota North Stars | 2–1 |
| 4 | L | April 25, 1971 | 2–5 | @ Minnesota North Stars | 2–2 |
| 5 | W | April 27, 1971 | 6–1 | Minnesota North Stars | 3–2 |
| 6 | W | April 29, 1971 | 3–2 | @ Minnesota North Stars | 4–2 |
Montreal wins the series 4–2.
Stanley Cup Final
Brothers Frank and Peter Mahovlich starred for the Canadiens, scoring nine goals in the seven game final series. Ken Dryden debuted for the Canadiens, while this was Jean Beliveau's final final series appearance, and he ended his career with ten championships.; Versus Chicago Black Hawks
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | May 4, 1971 | 1–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks | 0–1 |
| 2 | L | May 6, 1971 | 3–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks | 0–2 |
| 3 | W | May 9, 1971 | 4–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–2 |
| 4 | W | May 11, 1971 | 5–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–2 |
| 5 | L | May 13, 1971 | 0–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks | 2–3 |
| 6 | W | May 16, 1971 | 4–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–3 |
| 7 | W | May 18, 1971 | 3–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks | 4–3 |
Montreal wins the series 4–3.
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| C | 70 | 25 | 51 | 76 | 40 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 4 | |
| RW | 65 | 37 | 36 | 73 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 0 | 5 | |
| D | 76 | 11 | 52 | 63 | 23 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |
| C | 78 | 35 | 26 | 61 | 181 | 25 | 12 | 3 | 5 | |
| C | 78 | 28 | 28 | 56 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | |
| LW | 76 | 19 | 30 | 49 | 133 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| C | 75 | 12 | 37 | 49 | 46 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 78 | 15 | 29 | 44 | 107 | 28 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 38 | 17 | 24 | 41 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | |
| LW | 60 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 162 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| RW | 40 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 35 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| RW | 64 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 90 | −8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| D | 78 | 1 | 21 | 22 | 116 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 39 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 76 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| W | 66 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 49 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 57 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| D | 37 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 30 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| C | 29 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| RW | 40 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 39 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 19 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | −8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 16 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | −2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 51 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 50 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 30 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| 2676 | 47 | 23 | 12 | 9 | 118 | 2.65 | 2 | |
| 1677 | 30 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 87 | 3.11 | 1 | |
| 327 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1.65 | 0 | |
| Team: | 4680 | 78 | 42 | 23 | 13 | 214 | 2.74 | 3 |
Playoffs
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| LW | 20 | 14 | 13 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 20 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 20 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 20 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 20 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| C | 20 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 43 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| D | 20 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 20 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 18 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 20 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| W | 20 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 20 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 20 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| 1221 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 61 | 3.00 | 0 | |
| Team: | 1221 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 61 | 3.00 | 0 |
Transactions
Awards and records
- Ken Dryden, Conn Smythe Trophy
Roster
1971 Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup champions
, Rogie Vachon, Jacques Laperriere, J. C. Tremblay, Guy Lapointe, Terry Harper, Pierre Bouchard, Jean Beliveau, Marc Tardif, Yvan Cournoyer, Rejean Houle, Claude Larose, Henri Richard, Phil Roberto, Peter Mahovlich, Leon Rochefort, John Ferguson, Bobby Sheehan, Jacques Lemaire, Frank Mahovlich, Bob Murdoch, Chuck Lefley, Al MacNeil, Sam Pollock.Draft picks
Montreal's draft picks at the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 5 | Ray Martynuik | Flin Flon Bombers | |
| 1 | 6 | Chuck Lefley | Canadian National Development Team | |
| 3 | 31 | Steve Carlyle | Red Deer Rustlers | |
| 4 | 45 | Cal Hammond | Flin Flon Bombers | |
| 4 | 52 | John French | Toronto Marlboros | |
| 5 | 66 | Rick Wilson | University of North Dakota | |
| 6 | 80 | Bob Brown | Boston University | |
| 7 | 93 | Bob Fowler | Estevan Bruins | |
| 8 | 105 | Ric Jordan | Boston University |