ABOUT THIS LOGO

"Le Club de Hockey Canadiens" or the Montreal Canadiens is the oldest playing team in the NHL. The team has won 24 Stanley cups. It is a source of great pride for Montreal. The team was established by John Ambrose O'Brian, the founder of the National Hockey Association in 1909, to capture Francophone Montrealers’ passion for ice hockey. In the early 20th century, most of Quebec's French speaking population found itself relegated to the lower socioeconomic status. Therefore,the local hockey teams belonged to the English speaking bourgeoisie. there were few, if any, French speakers on the teams. So, O'Brian chose to create a hockey club with only French speaking players. The way the team spelled its name,"Canadien" alludes to the team’s connection to Montreal's working class. Hockey is an important aspect in Montreal culture. Like football in the United States, ice hockey in Montreal elicits great pride and deep feelings. Moreover, it plays a significant part in many peoples’ lives. Since the whole province of Quebec was so linguistically divided in the early and mid 1900s, with Anglophones having more opportunities than Francophones, the Canadiens inspired many Montrealers and hockey fans toward success. There is a lot of Francophone pride in Quebec, with this team becoming a huge cultural icon for not only the city of Montreal, but for the whole province. The Montreal Canadiens continue to instill generational pride in the team and in the French language.