The Heights Team: Hockey's Best Team Ever - Coming Soon!

- The Three Greatest Consecutive Seasons in Hockey History: 1975–76 · 1976–77 · 1977–78 Montreal Canadiens
 By Jeff Olson

In the 1976–77 NHL season, the Montreal Canadiens won 60 games. They lost 8. They racked up 132 points. They lost one home game in 40. Then they swept the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals.

It wasn't a fluke. They did it the year before — 58 wins, 127 points, a four-game Finals sweep of the two-time defending champion Flyers. And the year after — 59 wins, 129 points, a third straight Cup.

Three seasons. Nine Hall of Famers. 282 games. One coach: Scotty Bowman. No team before or since has matched these three consecutive seasons. Not Gretzky's Oilers. Not the Islanders dynasty. Not the 2023 record-setting Bruins.

Now, fifty years after the greatest season in hockey history, The Heights Team: Hockey's Best Team Ever tells the complete story for the first time.

Written by hockey historian Jeff Olson, The Heights Team is a forensic narrative of the 1975–78 Montreal Canadiens — the three consecutive seasons that remain the gold standard of team sport. The book arrives in September 2026, just as the NHL's 2026–27 season marks the 50th anniversary of the legendary 1976–77 campaign.

Inside the Book

Olson reconstructs every season — game by game, player by player, from the torch-passing opening night at the Montreal Forum to the championship-clinching victory in Boston Garden 282 games later. He profiles all nine Hall of Famers in dedicated chapters: Ken Dryden, the cerebral giant in goal; Guy Lafleur, "The Flower" at the peak of his powers; Larry Robinson, the 6'4" cornerstone of the legendary "Big Three" defense; Serge Savard, the Conn Smythe–winning leader; Guy Lapointe, the offensive defenseman; Yvan Cournoyer, "The Road Runner" — the 5'7" captain with 10 Stanley Cups; Jacques Lemaire, the two-way center who later coached the Devils to a Cup; Bob Gainey, the checking-line pioneer with four straight Selkes; and Steve Shutt, the left wing who scored 60 goals off Lafleur's passes.

The Heights Team also traces the extraordinary legacy these players left behind: six became NHL head coaches, four became general managers, one served as team president. Decades later, the fingerprints of these 282 games were still visible on champions from New Jersey to Dallas to Detroit.

The book features archival photographs from the era — many never before collected in a single volume — and places the Canadiens' run head-to-head against every NHL dynasty in history.

The Heights Team: Hockey's Best Team Ever is the first book to tell the complete story of this dynasty. Jeff Olson reconstructs every season — from opening night at the Montreal Forum when the torch passed from Henri Richard to Yvan Cournoyer, to the championship-clinching victory in Boston Garden 282 games later. Game by game, player by player, Olson brings you into the locker room, behind Bowman's bench, and onto the ice with the men who set a gold standard that endures fifty years later.

Three Seasons, One Dynasty

- 1975–76: 58 wins, 127 points. A 12–1 playoff run capped by a four-game sweep of the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Flyers. Lafleur's 56 goals and 125 points announced a new era. Dryden's 2.03 GAA.
- 1976–77: 60 wins, 8 losses, 132 points. The single greatest regular season in NHL history — and 2026–27 marks its 50th anniversary. Only one home loss in 40 games. Dryden's Vezina. Lafleur's Art Ross and Hart (136 points). Shutt's 60 goals. A 216-goal differential. No team in any era has matched these 132 points in an 80-game schedule.
- 1977–78: 59 wins, 129 points. Lemaire's career-best 97 points. Lafleur's 60 goals. A third straight Stanley Cup — the quietest masterpiece, and the capstone of a run unmatched in any team sport.

Why This Book, Why Now

The 2026–27 season marks the 50th anniversary of the 1976–77 Canadiens. No book has ever told the full story of these three seasons as a unified work. Olson fills that gap with meticulous research and the passion of a lifelong hockey historian. Archival photography, season-by-season breakdowns, and head-to-head comparisons with every NHL dynasty make this the definitive account. Coming soon in English and French editions.

For readers who loved: The Game by Ken Dryden · Searching for Bobby Orr by Stephen Brunt · The Boys of Winter by Wayne Coffey

Book Details 

Title: The Heights Team: Hockey's Best Team Ever
Subtitle: The Three Greatest Consecutive Seasons in Hockey History: 1975–76 · 1976–77 · 1977–78 Montreal Canadiens
Author: Jeff Olson
Publisher: 8th House Publishing (Montreal / New York)
Format: Paperback and hardcover | 392 pages | 6×9 inches | B&W photographs
Language: English and French editions
Price: Softcover $29.99 USD | Hardcover $39.99 USD
Publication Date: September 2026
ISBN: Paperback 978-1-926716-86-2 | Hardcover 978-1-926716-85-5

About the Author

Jeff Olson is a hockey historian and the author and co-author of seven books, including Masters of Hockey Scoring Magic (the story of Hall of Famers Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell-Pohl), QW Top 10 NHL Greats, Kindred Spirits: Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, The Shot: The Reed Larson Hockey Story, Hockey Shot Guide, and Minnesota Hockey Greats: Homegrown Talent in the NHL. Olson has served as a youth hockey coach, high school assistant coach, small-college assistant coach, and hockey referee — bringing decades of on-ice experience to his writing. He lives with his wife, Sue, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.