Réjean Houle

Drafted as the first pick overall in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft by the Montreal Canadiens, Houle played for the Canadiens from 1970 to 1973 and from 1976 to 1983. He won five Stanley Cup championships with the Canadiens. In between his NHL stints, he played for the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association (WHA).

After retiring as a player, Houle became an executive with Molson, one of Canada's leading breweries and the then-owner of the Montreal Canadiens organization. A disastrous start to the 1995–96 season resulted in team president Ronald Corey conducting a "house cleaning" with the firing of head coach Jacques Demers and general manager Serge Savard. The team saw Houle, with his business background and history with the team, as the most viable replacement candidate for Savard, while Mario Tremblay was appointed the new head coach. ^[1][2]

Houle then served as general manager of the Canadiens from 1995 to 2000, though his tenure was largely viewed as a disaster by many fans. Houle had held his role for just six weeks, when Tremblay kept Patrick Roy in net for 9 goals during a 11-1 drubbing to the Detroit Red Wings; Roy told Ronald Corey that he would not play for the Canadiens again so Houle initiated the infamous trade that sent Roy and Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Ručinský and Andrei Kovalenko. Following this trade, he dealt-away marquee players including Mark Recchi, Vincent Damphousse and Pierre Turgeon in exchange for players of little value to the team. He was also criticized for frequently trading with non-contending teams, being unable to land widely coveted free agents and for signing marginal players to inflated contracts.^[3]

Houle's drafting was considered even worse, however, as he was criticized for selecting players such as Matt Higgins, Jason Ward, Eric Chouinard and Marcel Hossa, the younger brother of then-rising talent Marián Hossa, with his first round selections. Houle was fired from his post two months into the 2000–01 season.^[4]

Houle also served as president of the Canadiens Alumni Association for 36 years over two stints between 1984 and 2025, relinquishing the role while he served as GM of the Canadiens.^[5]

Houle and his wife Micheline have three children; two sons, Jean-François, who is the head coach of the NCAA's Clarkson University Golden Knights and Sylvain, as well as a daughter, Annie.

• 1968–69: Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy

Regular season and playoffs

More information Regular season, Playoffs ...

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1966–67	Thetford Mines Canadiens	QJHL		43	30	30	60	80		11	10	12	22	27
1966–67	Thetford Mines Canadiens	M-Cup		—	—	—	—	—		19	14	16	30	12
1967–68	Montreal Jr. Canadiens	OHA		45	27	38	65	102		11	12	8	20	10
1968–69	Montreal Jr. Canadiens	OHA		54	53	55	108	76		14	13	10	23	13
1968–69	Montreal Jr. Canadiens	M-Cup		—	—	—	—	—		8	6	2	8	20
1969–70	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		9	0	1	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
1969–70	Montreal Voyageurs	AHL		27	9	16	25	23		8	3	2	5	4
1970–71	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		66	10	9	19	28		20	2	5	7	20
1971–72	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	11	17	28	21		6	0	0	0	2
1972–73	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		72	13	35	48	36		17	3	6	9	0
1973–74	Quebec Nordiques	WHA		69	27	35	62	17		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	Quebec Nordiques	WHA		64	40	52	92	37		15	10	6	16	2
1975–76	Quebec Nordiques	WHA		81	51	52	103	61		5	2	0	2	8
1976–77	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		65	22	30	52	24		6	0	1	1	4
1977–78	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		76	30	28	58	50		15	3	8	11	14
1978–79	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		66	17	34	51	43		7	1	5	6	2
1979–80	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		60	18	27	45	68		10	4	5	9	12
1980–81	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		77	27	31	58	83		3	1	0	1	6
1981–82	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		51	11	32	43	34		5	0	4	4	6
1982–83	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		16	2	3	5	8		1	0	0	0	0
WHA totals				214	118	139	257	115		20	12	6	18	10
NHL totals				635	161	247	408	395		90	14	34	48	66

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International

More information Year, Team ...

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1974	Canada	SS		7	1	1	2	2
Senior totals				7	1	1	2	2

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