Habs Nation: A People's History of the Montreal Canadiens

The history of the Montreal Canadiens is not just a story about hockey. It's also the story of how hockey's most legendary team has always skated hand-in-hand with its home province of Quebec. Brendan Kelly takes a fresh look at the ups and downs of the Habs since the heyday of the "Flying Frenchmen" in the '50s, '60s and '70s and shows how the history of the team mirrors the tumultuous changes in Quebec over the past decades.

Kelly talks to former Canadiens greats like Serge Savard and Bob Gainey, journalists, politicians, filmmakers and even to Lord of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen, maybe the Canadiens' most famous fan?and they tell the tale of a team and its unique bond with its local fans.

The glory years of the Habs in the '70s reflected the exciting times in Quebec back then. In the '80s, the team and all of Quebec struggled to regain that former glory. However, in the past 25 years, both the team and Quebec have grappled to find their identity. One conclusion is that when the team's roster was at its most Québécois it had its greatest success on the ice. Since Montreal's last Quebec superstar, Patrick Roy, was unceremoniously booted out of town, the franchise has failed to win a Stanley Cup and has rarely been amongst the NHL's elite squads.

Everything changed for the Habs in 1995 when Serge Savard was fired as general manager and Roy was traded to the Colorado Avalanche?just as everything changed for Quebec that year with the razor-thin loss for the Yes side in the second referendum. Thirty years later, Stanley Cups and referendums are a distant memory for Quebecers.

The Canadiens may no longer be the "Flying Frenchmen" winning Cups nearly every year but the ties that bind the team to the people remain as strong as ever.