1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1969–70 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 61st season of play. The defending Stanley Cup champions finished sixteen games above .500, but it was not enough to return to the playoffs in the powerful East Division. Montreal finished fifth after losing tiebreaker to the New York Rangers on goal differential, and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1947–48 season, ending their 21-season playoff streak.

This team was the only Canadiens team between the 1948–49 season and the 1993–94 season that missed the playoffs, a span of 46 years. Montreal would go on to win another Cup the following season, becoming the first (and, as of, only) team to win the Stanley Cup, miss the playoffs and win the Cup again in successive campaigns.

Regular season
April 5, 1970 – The Montreal Canadiens were in a desperate race to qualify for the NHL playoffs. The Canadiens visit the Chicago Black Hawks. With 9:30 left in regulation time, Montreal was down by a score of 5–2. Montreal's only hope of qualifying for the playoffs was to score three more goals. Canadiens coach Claude Ruel removed his goalie, Rogatien Vachon from the net. Vachon would return to the net only for faceoffs. Unfortunately, luck ran out as Chicago scored five empty net goals and win the game by a score of 10–2 combined with the Rangers 9–5 win over Detroit. Montreal missed the playoffs for the first time in 22 years.

Awards and records

 * Jacques Laperriere, Defence, NHL Second Team All-Star