The oldest franchise in the NHL today, the Canadiens also have the most championships of any team in hockey history. They are the only team to have existed prior to the formation of the NHL, and since this blog is covering only the NHL part of the captaincy history, the Canadiens' history will begin with the 1917-18 season, the year the NHL was formed, which by Wikipedia count, is twenty-five different players having the C.
THE EARLY YEARS TO WWII
The first captain in the Canadiens' maiden voyage in the league was Newsy Lalonde, who had been captain on two previous occasions prior to the league formation and was captain the year before, as well, in the 1916-17 season. He would go on to hold the captaincy until 1922. Sprague Cleghorn would follow for three seasons and Billy Coutu for one season before Sylvio Mantha took the role from 1926 through 1932. George Hainsworth would assume captain duties for a year before Mantha would re-assume duties from 1933 through 1936. Babe Siebert followed for three years before handing duties over to Walter Buswell for a year. From 1940 until 1948, three years after World War II, Toe Blake handled the captain duties.
POST WWII TO EXPANSION ERA (1967)
Blake relinquished the role in January 1948, and for the rest of the season, Bill Durnan would hold that role. That would be significant because he inspired the Durnan Rule, which meant goalies could not wear the C on the sweater, as it would be demonstrated by the Canucks' Roberto Luongo sixty years later. Following that experiment, Emile Bouchard would take over as captain, holding the role from 1948 until 1956. The Rocket Maurice Richard, who inspired a children's story in The Hockey Sweater (which is a great read to children, and I highly recommend it) and scored quite a few goals in his time. He would wear the C from 1956 until 1960, giving way to Doug Harvey for a year. The Gentleman Jean Beliveau would take over in 1961, and for the next ten years, would be the face of the franchise for all the right reasons. Until his retirement in 1971, he brought a class and talent level that made Canadiens one of the most respectable franchises in the league.
POST-EXPANSION TO TODAY
From 1971 to 1975, the Pocket Rocket Henri Richard would handle the C, and like older brother Maurice, he could score. He was also a winner, having won more Stanley Cups as a player than any other player in history. Yvan Cournoyer would have the C on his sweater from 1975 to 1979, and would be followed by Serge Savard for two seasons. Bob Gainey would have the C from 1981 to 1989, and redefined how a forward could play defense. A year of co-captains happened in the 1989-90 season, with Guy Carbonneau and Chris Chelios being named to the role. Carbonneau would take sole possession of the role after Chelios' trade in the 1990 off-season to Chicago. Carbonneau would hold the role until his trade in the off-season in 1994 to St. Louis. The lockout shortened season of 1994-95 saw some instability, as Kirk Muller would be captain until his trade to the Islanders prior to the deadline. Mike Keane would finish the season as captain, and would be captain for the beginning of the 1995-96 season until he was included in the Patrick Roy deal to Colorado. Pierre Turgeon would finish the season as captain. Turgeon's trade to St. Louis after the season opened the door to Vincent Damphousse to be named captain, a role he held from 1996 to 1999. The first European captain of the Canadiens took over in Saku Koivu, and in his time from 1999 until he left for Anaheim in 2009, he provided an inspiration for the team that few others had. The 2009-10 season saw the team go without a captain, and despite that, the team had its best showing in the playoffs since 1993. This season, Brian Gionta was named captain of the Canadiens.
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