The 2024-25 Canadiens must be better.
This is a tough one. The Montreal Canadiens are currently the third-worst team in the NHL. That’s not great. Heading into the game against the Buffalo Sabres they were riding a two-game losing streak. The team in 1939-40 lost a game against the Chicago Blackhawks 10-1. This year’s team lost to the Penguins 9-2. That’s close.
That 1939-40 team had just 10 wins on the season in 48 games. They were last in the league. They had 90 goals for and 167 against. Back then, scoring wasn’t like it is today. So you can’t compare that too closely. Hector “Toe” Blake had 17 goals and 19 assists. Not bad. They had three players with double-digit goals. The Bruins led the league with 170 goals so that’s a wide disparity. They didn’t make the playoffs.
This year’s team won’t make the playoffs. In 30 games, they have 11 wins and 82 goals for. Their current differential is -31 and it was -77 on the vintage team. Can this year’s team have a worse differential? I don’t think so but they will be around last season when they were -53.
Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki are the team’s two best goal-scorers. Brendan Gallagher is third with just eight. Honestly, This team is just as bad as the vintage team in goal-scoring.
The big difference between the two teams is the goaltending Sam Montembeault has a .900 save percentage and a 3.01 goals-against average. On the vintage team, Claude Bourque had a goals-against average of 3.29. This year’s team has better goaltending in my estimation. Bourque only played in 62 NHL games. Side note, Bourque was 5-6, 140 pounds soaking wet.
This year’s team is better and it won’t be the worst in the franchise history. However, they do need to finish stronger than last season even though they are a rebuilding team.