Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team in the world, and the only existing NHL club to predate the founding of the NHL.

The "Habs" nickname may have resulted from an error in 1924. The first man to refer to the team as the Habs was Tex Rickard, the founder of the New York Rangers and the owner of Madison Square Garden. Rickard told a reporter that the "H" in the logo on the Canadiens' jerseys stood for Les Habitants, which is not true. The distinctive C-wrapped-around-H logo stands for the Canadiens' official name, le Club de Hockey Canadien. The "H" stands for "hockey."

Hainsworth set an unprecedented record of 22 shutouts and a 0.98 goals against average, with the team winning 22 of 44 games played (50%) by shutout.

On January 10, 1920, Newsy Lalonde, the original "Flying Frenchman", scored six goals to help the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Toronto St. Pats 14-7 at Mount Royal Arena in Montreal. The 21 total goals set an NHL record that wasn't matched for 65 years.

One of the first stars of the NHL, Howie Morenz was referred to as the "Stratford Streak" and "Mitchell Meteor". For seven straight seasons, he led the Canadiens in both goals scored and points. He was named the winner of the Hart Trophy as the most valuable player of the league three times. On January 28, 1937, he broke his left leg in a game against the Chicago Black Hawks and died from a coronary embolism caused by blood clots while he was recovering in the hospital. The Canadiens retired his #7 jersey on November 2, 1937.

Toe Blake coached the Canadiens for thirteen years, winning eight Stanley Cups, including five consecutive championships in his first five seasons (1956-60). The only other coach to achieve a similar feat as a coach or manager of a North American professional sports team is Casey Stengel of the New York Yankees.

Known as "Knuckles" for his propensity to fight, Chris Nilan holds the record for most penalty minutes by an American-born player. In 1984-85, he spent a career-high 358 minutes in the sin bin.

One of the greatest teams in the history of the NHL, the 1976-77 Canadiens were undefeated in an NHL-record 34 consecutive home games. They outscored their opponents by 216 goals (also a league record) and went on to win their 20th Stanley Cup, sweeping the Boston Bruins four games to none in the Finals.

Maurice "Rocket" Richard's popularity persisted long after his playing days ended. When introduced as part of the ceremonies preceding the final hockey game at the Montreal Forum, Richard was brought to tears by Canadiens' fans, who acknowledged him with a 16-minute standing ovation. Upon his death, the province of Quebec honoured Richard with a state funeral, a first in Quebec for a non-politician. Over 115,000 fans paid their respects as he lay in state at the Molson Centre.

Nicknamed "Big Bird" for his blond hair, his size (6'4" and 225 lbs), and his thunderous bodycheck, Robinson was a dominant player whose talent and leadership helped lead the Canadiens to six Stanley Cups. He won the James Norris Memorial Trophy twice (1976-77 and 1979-80) as the league's most outstanding defenceman and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 1978 playoffs.