2001–02 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2001–02 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 93rd season. After missing the playoffs in the three preceding seasons, the Canadiens returned to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canadiens were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semifinals by the Carolina Hurricanes by a series score of 4–2.

2001–02 Montreal Canadiens
Division	4th Northeast
Conference	8th Eastern
2001–02 record	36-31-12-3
Goals for	207
Goals against	209
Team information
General manager	Andre Savard
Coach	Michel Therrien
Captain	Saku Koivu
Alternate captains	Doug Gilmour Unknown
Arena	Molson Centre
Team leaders
Goals	Yanic Perreault (27)
Assists	Doug Gilmour (31)
Points	Yanic Perreault (56)
Penalty minutes	Gino Odjick (104)
Plus/minus	Karl Dykhuis (+16)
Wins	Jose Theodore (30)
Goals against average	Jose Theodore (2.11)

Regular season

The 93rd season for the Canadiens began with a shocking announcement that team captain Saku Koivu was suffering from intra-abdominal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer. This condition kept him out of all but three games in the regular season. On October 5, to respond to Koivu's absence, General Manager Andre Savard signed veteran forward Doug Gilmour to address the absence. The team began the season hovering around the .500 mark, but a five-game winning streak to end November, highlighted by spectacular performances by goaltender Jose Theodore, allowed the Canadiens to climb into the playoff mix. Around this time, Savard added offensive power to the team by acquiring Donald Audette and Shaun Van Allen from the Dallas Stars in exchange for Martin Rucinsky and Benoit Brunet. Head Coach Michel Therrien and the Canadiens had a rough December, posting a record of 4–8–2–1 while the newly acquired Audette had his forearm tendons sliced by the skate of New York Rangers forward Radek Dvorak. His season was jeopardized. Despite the inconsistency of the team, Theodore was spectacular in net. In January, the Canadiens played more .500 hockey, which prompted Savard to make a change. He traded forward Brian Savage to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Sergei Berezin. The regular season went on hold for two weeks while the 2002 Winter Olympics were taking place. When play resumed, Jose Theodore took matters into his own hands and carried the Habs into the playoffs, finishing the regular season with a record of 30–24–10, seven shutouts and a goals against average of 2.11. In the 80th game of the regular season, captain Saku Koivu returned from treatment and played his first game of the season against the Ottawa Senators. He played for the team for the rest of the season. The Canadiens made the playoffs with a record of 36–31–12–3 behind the play of eventual Hart Memorial Trophy winner Jose Thoedore.

The Canadiens finished the regular season having allowed the fewest power play goals, with just 38.[1]

Final standings

Northeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Boston Bruins	82	43	24	6	9	236	201	101
2	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	43	25	10	4	249	207	100
3	7	Ottawa Senators	82	39	27	9	7	243	208	94
4	8	Montreal Canadiens	82	36	31	12	3	207	209	87
5	10	Buffalo Sabres	82	35	35	11	1	213	200	82

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference[2]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Boston Bruins	NE	82	43	24	6	9	236	201	101
2	Y- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	42	27	10	3	234	192	97
3	Y- Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	35	26	16	5	217	217	91
4	X- Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	43	25	10	4	249	207	100
5	X- New York Islanders	AT	82	42	28	8	4	239	220	96
6	X- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	41	28	9	4	205	187	95
7	X- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	39	27	9	7	243	208	94
8	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	36	31	12	3	207	209	87
8.5
9	Washington Capitals	SE	82	36	33	11	2	228	240	85
10	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	35	35	11	1	213	200	82
11	New York Rangers	AT	82	36	38	4	4	227	258	80
12	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	28	41	8	5	198	249	69
13	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	27	40	11	4	178	219	69
14	Florida Panthers	SE	82	22	44	10	6	180	250	60
15	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	19	47	11	5	187	288	54

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

Regular season results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record	Points
1	W	October 4, 2001	6–4	@ Ottawa Senators (2001–02)	1–0–0–0	2
2	T	October 6, 2001	2–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02)	1–0–1–0	3
3	W	October 9, 2001	3–1	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2001–02)	2–0–1–0	5
4	W	October 12, 2001	3–1	@ Columbus Blue Jackets (2001–02)	3–0–1–0	7
5	W	October 13, 2001	3–1	New Jersey Devils (2001–02)	4–0–1–0	9
6	L	October 15, 2001	1-2	New York Rangers (2001-02)	4-1-1-0	9
7	L	October 19, 2001	1–4	@ Washington Capitals (2001–02)	4–2–1–0	9
8	L	October 20, 2001	1–3	Buffalo Sabres (2001–02)	4–3–1–0	9
9	W	October 26, 2001	5–2	@ Buffalo Sabres (2001–02)	5–3–1–0	11
10	L	October 27, 2001	1–5	Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02)	5–4–1–0	11
11	L	October 30, 2001	1–3	@ Edmonton Oilers (2001–02)	5–5–1–0	11
12	L	November 1, 2001	0–4	@ Vancouver Canucks (2001–02)	5–6–1–0	11
13	L	November 3, 2001	2–6	@ Calgary Flames (2001–02)	5–7–1–0	11
14	T	November 6, 2001	1–1 OT	Colorado Avalanche (2001–02)	5–7–2–0	12
15	W	November 8, 2001	3–1	Nashville Predators (2001–02)	6–7–2–0	14
16	W	November 10, 2001	3–2	New York Islanders (2001–02)	7–7–2–0	16
17	OTL	November 11, 2001	2–3 OT	@ New York Rangers (2001–02)	7–7–2–1	17
18	L	November 13, 2001	3–5	@ Boston Bruins (2001–02)	7–8–2–1	17
19	W	November 17, 2001	1–0 OT	Florida Panthers (2001–02)	8–8–2–1	19
20	W	November 20, 2001	3–2	Boston Bruins (2001–02)	9–8–2–1	21
21	W	November 22, 2001	5–2	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2001–02)	10–8–2–1	23
22	W	November 24, 2001	5–3	Washington Capitals (2001–02)	11–8–2–1	25
23	W	November 27, 2001	5–1	Atlanta Thrashers (2001–02)	12–8–2–1	27
24	T	November 29, 2001	1–1 OT	@ New York Islanders (2001–02)	12–8–3–1	28
25	L	December 1, 2001	1–3	New York Rangers (2001–02)	12–9–3–1	28
26	L	December 3, 2001	2–3	Chicago Blackhawks (2001–02)	12–10–3–1	28
27	L	December 5, 2001	1–2	New Jersey Devils (2001–02)	12–11–3–1	28
28	T	December 8, 2001	3–3 OT	Phoenix Coyotes (2001–02)	12–11–4–1	29
29	W	December 10, 2001	4–0	Minnesota Wild (2001–02)	13–11–4–1	31
30	T	December 12, 2001	3–3 OT	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2001–02)	13–11–5–1	32
31	W	December 13, 2001	3–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02)	14–11–5–1	34
32	L	December 15, 2001	4–6	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02)	14–12–5–1	34
33	L	December 17, 2001	3–4	Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02)	14–13–5–1	34
34	W	December 19, 2001	3–1	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02)	15–13–5–1	36
35	L	December 20, 2001	0–5	@ Boston Bruins (2001–02)	15–14–5–1	36
36	W	December 22, 2001	2–1	Los Angeles Kings (2001–02)	16–14–5–1	38
37	L	December 26, 2001	1–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (2001–02)	16–15–5–1	38
38	L	December 28, 2001	0–3	@ St. Louis Blues (2001–02)	16–16–5–1	38
39	OTL	December 29, 2001	5–6 OT	@ New York Islanders (2001–02)	16–16–5–2	39
40	L	January 3, 2002	2–5	@ Vancouver Canucks (2001–02)	16–17–5–2	39
41	W	January 5, 2002	4–2	@ Calgary Flames (2001–02)	17–17–5–2	41
42	L	January 6, 2002	6–7	@ Edmonton Oilers (2001–02)	17–18–5–2	41
43	L	January 8, 2002	2–4	@ Minnesota Wild (2001–02)	17–19–5–2	41
44	W	January 10, 2002	4–0	New York Islanders (2001–02)	18–19–5–2	43
45	T	January 12, 2002	1–1 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02)	18–19–6–2	44
46	L	January 14, 2002	3–5	Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02)	18–20–6–2	44
47	W	January 16, 2002	2–0	Washington Capitals (2001–02)	19–20–6–2	46
48	T	January 17, 2002	1–1 OT	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02)	19–20–7–2	47
49	W	January 19, 2002	5–1	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02)	20–20–7–2	49
50	L	January 21, 2002	5–7	@ Florida Panthers (2001–02)	20–21–7–2	49
51	W	January 23, 2002	5–3	@ Washington Capitals (2001–02)	21–21–7–2	51
52	T	January 26, 2002	1–1 OT	Ottawa Senators (2001–02)	21–21–8–2	52
53	W	January 27, 2002	3–1	San Jose Sharks (2001–02)	22–21–8–2	54
54	OTL	January 30, 2002	3–4 OT	Boston Bruins (2001–02)	22–21–8–3	55
55	W	February 5, 2002	1–0	@ New Jersey Devils (2001–02)	23–21–8–3	57
56	W	February 7, 2002	1–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02)	24–21–8–3	59
57	L	February 9, 2002	1–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02)	24–22–8–3	59
58	L	February 11, 2002	2–3	Detroit Red Wings (2001–02)	24–23–8–3	59
59	L	February 26, 2002	2–5	Ottawa Senators (2001–02)	24–24–8–3	59
60	W	February 27, 2002	3–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (2001–02)	25–24–8–3	61
61	L	March 2, 2002	3–4	Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02)	25–25–8–3	61
62	W	March 4, 2002	5–3	Atlanta Thrashers (2001–02)	26–25–8–3	63
63	W	March 6, 2002	5–3	Boston Bruins (2001–02)	27–25–8–3	65
64	L	March 8, 2002	0–3	@ Buffalo Sabres (2001–02)	27–26–8–3	65
65	T	March 9, 2002	1–1 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (2001–02)	27–26–9–3	66
66	L	March 11, 2002	1–2	@ New York Rangers (2001–02)	27–27–9–3	66
67	T	March 14, 2002	3–3 OT	Dallas Stars (2001–02)	27–27–10–3	67
68	W	March 16, 2002	3–2	Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02)	28–27–10–3	69
69	T	March 18, 2002	1–1 OT	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2001–02)	28–27–11–3	70
70	W	March 20, 2002	4–1	@ Florida Panthers (2001–02)	29–27–11–3	72
71	T	March 22, 2002	3–3 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02)	29–27–12–3	73
72	L	March 23, 2002	1–5	@ Nashville Predators (2001–02)	29–28–12–3	73
73	L	March 26, 2002	1–2	Florida Panthers (2001–02)	29–29–12–3	73
74	W	March 28, 2002	2–1	Tampa Bay Lightning (2001–02)	30–29–12–3	75
75	W	March 30, 2002	2–1 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02)	31–29–12–3	77
76	W	April 1, 2002	3–0	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2001–02)	32–29–12–3	79
77	W	April 4, 2002	3–1	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2001–02)	33–29–12–3	81
78	W	April 6, 2002	4–1	Columbus Blue Jackets (2001–02)	34–29–12–3	83
79	W	April 7, 2002	3–1	@ Ottawa Senators (2001–02)	35–29–12–3	85
80	W	April 9, 2002	4–3	Ottawa Senators (2001–02)	36–29–12–3	87
81	L	April 12, 2002	2–5	@ New Jersey Devils (2001–02)	36–30–12–3	87
82	L	April 13, 2002	0–3	Buffalo Sabres (2001–02)	36–31–12–3	87

Playoffs

In the first round of the playoffs, the Canadiens were matched against the Boston Bruins, who finished first overall in the Eastern Conference. Donald Audette lead the way with three goals and Saku Koivu had a goal and an assist to win game one 5–2 for Montreal. Game 2 would prove to be a back-and-forth affair, as both teams traded momentum. Boston won the game by a score of 6–4 despite a four-point performance from the Canadien Richard Zednik. The series shifted to Montreal, and the Canadiens won Game 3 5–3 through by a four-point performance by Koivu. This gave Montreal a 2–1 series lead. The Bruins responded in Game 4 as they won easily, 5–2. Theodore rose to the occasion in Game 5, stopping 43 of 44 shots for a 2–1 win to give the Canadiens a 3–2 series lead going back to the Molson Centre. Theodore was spectacular again in Game 6, and Yanic Perreault scored the game-winning goal to give the Canadiens a 2–1 victory. The Canadiens won the series in six games, upsetting the Conference's top seed.

The Canadiens faced the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the playoffs. The Hurricanes won Game 1 2–0 as Hurricanes goaltender Kevin Weekes was awarded the shutout. The Carolina Hurricanes dominated the Canadiens outshooting them 46 to 16, but Theodore only yielded one goal and Koivu had a goal and an assist and the Canadiens won Game 2 4–1 to tie the series. Game 3 went to overtime and due to the heroics of Theodore, he kept his team in the game. The Habs would win Game 3 just over two minutes into overtime on a goal by Donald Audette, giving the Canadiens the series lead. The Habs had momentum in Game 4, establishing a 3–0 lead early in the third period of Game 4. The Hurricanes, however, would score three-straight goals to send the game to overtime, where 'Canes defenceman Niclas Wallin ended the game in overtime to tie the series at 2–2. With newly gained series momentum, the Hurricanes would win the next two games to win take the series at 4–2, outscoring Montreal 13–3 in the process.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Yanic Perreault	C	82	27	29	56	40	-3	6	0	7
Richard Zednik	RW	82	22	22	44	59	-3	4	0	3
Oleg Petrov	RW	75	24	17	41	12	-4	3	1	6
Doug Gilmour	C	70	10	31	41	48	-7	5	0	2
Joe Juneau	C	70	8	28	36	10	-3	1	0	1
Andreas Dackell	RW	79	15	18	33	24	-3	2	3	2
Patrice Brisebois	D	71	4	29	33	25	9	2	1	1
Brian Savage	LW	47	14	15	29	30	-14	7	0	2
Craig Rivet	D	82	8	17	25	76	1	0	0	0
Andrei Markov	D	56	5	19	24	24	-1	2	0	1
Chad Kilger	LW	75	8	15	23	27	-7	0	1	2
Jan Bulis	C	53	9	10	19	8	-2	1	0	3
Mike Ribeiro	C	43	8	10	18	12	-11	3	0	0
Stephane Quintal	D	75	6	10	16	87	-7	1	0	1
Shaun Van Allen	C	54	6	9	15	20	5	0	1	1
Karl Dykhuis	D	80	5	7	12	32	16	0	0	1
Stephane Robidas	D	56	1	10	11	14	-25	1	0	0
Sergei Berezin	LW	29	4	6	10	4	3	3	0	1
Arron Asham	RW	35	5	4	9	55	7	0	0	0
Gino Odjick	RW	36	4	4	8	104	3	0	0	0
Sheldon Souray	D	34	3	5	8	62	-5	1	0	0
Martin Rucinsky	LW	18	2	6	8	12	-1	1	0	0
Donald Audette	RW	13	1	5	6	8	1	0	0	1
Patrick Traverse	D	25	2	3	5	14	-7	2	0	0
Francis Bouillon	D	28	0	5	5	33	-5	0	0	0
Patrick Poulin	C	28	0	5	5	6	6	0	0	0
Marcel Hossa	LW	10	3	1	4	2	2	0	0	0
Bill Lindsay	RW	13	1	3	4	23	0	0	0	0
Reid Simpson	LW	25	1	1	2	63	0	0	0	1
Benoit Brunet	LW	16	0	2	2	4	-4	0	0	0
Saku Koivu	C	3	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Jose Theodore	G	67	0	2	2	2	0	0	0	0
Benoit Gratton	C	8	1	0	1	8	-1	0	0	0
Eric Landry	C	2	0	1	1	0	2	0	0	0
Craig Darby	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stephane Fiset	G	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mathieu Garon	G	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jeff Hackett	G	15	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Martti Jarventie	D	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Olivier Michaud	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T/OT	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Jose Theodore	3864	67	30	24	10	136	2.11	7	1972	1836	.931
Jeff Hackett	717	15	5	5	2	38	3.18	0	395	357	.904
Mathieu Garon	261	5	1	4	0	19	4.37	0	147	128	.871
Stephane Fiset	109	2	0	1	0	7	3.85	0	60	53	.883
Olivier Michaud	18	1	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	14	14	1.000
Team:	4969	82	36	34	12	200	2.41	7	2588	2388	.923

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG
Donald Audette	RW	12	6	4	10	10	2	0	2
Doug Gilmour	C	12	4	6	10	16	1	0	0
Saku Koivu	C	12	4	6	10	4	1	0	1
Richard Zednik	RW	4	4	4	8	6	2	0	0
Yanic Perreault	C	11	3	5	8	0	2	0	1
Oleg Petrov	RW	12	1	5	6	2	0	0	1
Joe Juneau	C	12	1	4	5	6	0	0	0
Bill Lindsay	RW	11	2	2	4	2	0	0	0
Andrei Markov	D	12	1	3	4	8	0	0	1
Stephane Quintal	D	12	1	3	4	12	0	0	0
Andreas Dackell	RW	12	1	2	3	6	0	0	0
Craig Rivet	D	12	0	3	3	4	0	0	0
Sergei Berezin	LW	6	1	1	2	0	1	0	0
Patrice Brisebois	D	10	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
Karl Dykhuis	D	12	1	1	2	8	0	0	0
Gino Odjick	RW	12	1	0	1	47	0	0	0
Arron Asham	RW	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
Chad Kilger	LW	12	0	1	1	9	0	0	0
Sheldon Souray	D	12	0	1	1	16	0	0	0
Shaun Van Allen	C	7	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Jan Bulis	C	6	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
Stephane Fiset	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stephane Robidas	D	2	0	0	0	4	0	0	0
Jose Theodore	G	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Jose Theodore	686	12	6	6	35	3.06	0	413	378	.915
Stephane Fiset	38	1	0	0	3	4.74	0	19	16	.842
Team:	724	12	6	6	38	3.15	0	432	394	.912

[3]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

• Jose Theodore, Hart Memorial Trophy
• Jose Theodore, Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award
• Jose Theodore, Vezina Trophy
• Saku Koivu, Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft held at the National Car Rental Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	7	Mike Komisarek	United States	University of Michigan (CCHA)
1	25	Alexander Perezhogin	Russia	Avangard Omsk (Russia)
2	37	Duncan Milroy	Canada	Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
3	71	Tomas Plekanec	Czech Republic	Rabat Kladno (Czech Republic)
4	109	Martti Jarventie	Finland	TPS (Finland)
6	171	Eric Himelfarb	Canada	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
7	203	Andrew Archer	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
9	266	Viktor Ujcik	Czech Republic	Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

See also

• 2001–02 NHL season

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

1. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2002.html
2. "2001–2002 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 31, 2012.
3. "2001–02 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.