Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL CANADIENS

(1909 - Present)

The Montreal Canadiens had very humble beginnings. In 1909, teams of the old ECHA left the league to form the new CHA leaving the Montreal Wanderers out in the cold. The Wanderers weren't that easy to get rid of. The English language team decided to form their own league and named it the NHA. They pulled in teams from Renfrew, Cobalt and Haileybury to compete against. They also decided they needed a French Canadian team in the league and the Montreal Canadiens were born.

Now the Canadiens nearly died early on. The rival CHA was not doing well. After less than 2 months of operation, they ceased operations and merged with the surprisingly strong NHA. The spot of the Montreal French Canadian team was initially offered to the CHA Montreal Nationals. They declined the offer and the Montreal Canadiens continued to exist by default. The rest as they say is history.

The NHA became the NHL in 1917 where the Canadiens remain as the most prestigous club team in all of hockey.

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