2005-06 final roster: 32 players

Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu, Michael Ryder, Mike Ribeiro, *Andrei Markov, Jan Bulis, Sheldon Souray, Christopher Higgins, Craig Rivet, Richard Zednik, *Tomas Plekanec, Steve Begin, Francis Bouillon, Mathieu Dandeneault, Alexander Perezhogin, Niklas Sundstrom, Pierre Dagenais, Mark Streit, Mike Komisarek, Garth Murray, Aaron Downey, *Andrei Kostitsyn, Jonathan Ferland, J.P. Cote, *Maxim Lapierre, Todd Simpson, Raitis Ivanans, Cristobal Huet, Jose Theodore, David Aebisher, Yann Danis.

Dearly departed

17 players not returning from 2003-04 pre-lockout roster include Patrice Brisebois (bought out of contract and signed as FA by Colorado August 3,2005), Yanic Perrault (signed as a FA by Nashville October 3, 2005), Joe Juneau (retired), Andreas Dackell (signed as a FA by Brynas Sweden May 14, 2004), Jason Ward (signed as a FA by New York Rangers August 4, 2005), Stephane Quintal (traded to Los Angeles for future considerations June 27, 2004), Donald Audette (released by Montreal, sign as a FA with Florida January 15, 2004), Jim Dowd (signed as a FA by Chicago August 5, 2005), Chad Kilger (claimed on waivers by Toronto March 9, 2004), Darren Langdon (signed as a FA by New Jersey July 3, 2004), Marcel Hossa (traded to New York Rangers September 30, 2005), Ron Hainsey (claimed on waivers by Columbus November 29, 2005), Benoit Gratton (signed as a FA by Lugano Swiss June 9, 2004), Jozef Balej (traded to New York Rangers March 2, 2004), Gordie Dwyer (played in Hamilton 2003-04, signed as FA by Carolina August 11, 2004), Karl Dykhuis (Signed as a free agent by Amsterdam, January 3, 2005), and Mathieu Garon (traded to Los Angeles June 26, 2004).  

2005-06 Players stats / Canadiens games / NHL Season Summary

2005 Draft: 7 players players selected 

Rd 1 # 5 - *Carey Price G - Tri-City Americans (WHL) 

Rd 2 # 45 - *Guillaume Latendresse F - Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)

Rd 4 # 121 - Juraj Mikus F (--) - Skalica HK 36 (Slovak)

Rd 5 # 130 - Mathieu Aubin C (+) - Lewiston Mainiacs (QMJHL)

Rd 6 # 190 - *Matt D'Agostini F - Guelph Storm (OHL)

Rd 7 # 200 - *Sergei Kostitsyn F (+M) - Gomel (Belarus)

Rd 7 # 229 - Philippe Paquet F (P) - Salisbury School (Conn. H.S.) Compensatory pick from New Jersey signing Darren Langdon as a FA.

July 30 - Canadiens trade 2005 2nd round pick (Marc Andre Cliche, D) and 2005 3rd round pick (Brodie Dupont) to New York Rangers for 2nd round pick (*Guillaume Latendresse, F).

Free agency and season's transactions

August 2 - Canadiens sign F Peter Vandemeer (-H) as a FA.

August 5 - Canadiens sign D Mathieu Dandenault (-M) as a FA.

August 16 - Canadiens sign D Jonathan Aitken (-H) as a FA.

September 30 - Canadiens trade F Marcel Hossa (-MH) to New York Rangers for F Garth Murray (-MH).

January 14 - Gainey replaces Claude Julien as head coach.

March 8 - Canadiens trade G Jose Theodore (-MH) to Colorado Avalance for G David Aebisher (-M).

March 9 - Canadiens acquire D Todd Simpson (-M) from Chicago Blackhawks for 2006 6th round pick (Chris Auger).　

(*) denotes players currently on the Canadiens NHL roster.

(+H) denotes players currently on the Hamilton Bulldogs AHL roster.

(+HM) denotes players currently on the Hamilton roster who have played with Montreal.

(P) denotes prospects who have yet to sign a professional contract (NHL, AHL, or ECHL) with the organization.

(-M), (-H) and (-MH) denote players no longer in the organization who have played either in Montreal, Hamilton, or both.

(--) denotes a player who has never played in Montreal or Hamilton. The final group likely never signed a professional contract with the club and were simply not retained by the organization. A final tally of each category will follow these chronological yearly listings.