Canadien (ice hockey)

Lore & Background

In 1969, a group of 15 investors formed a hockey stick manufacturing company called Les industries du hockey Canadien, Inc. Among the investors were Montreal Canadiens players Serge Savard, Yvan Cournoyer, and Guy Lapointe. The company established its operations in Drummondville, Quebec, the hometown of Cournoyer. Canadien grew rapidly and by 1976 held 17 per cent of the hockey stick market, the second largest market share after Sher-Wood. In 1977, graphic designer Georges Huel designed the company's wordmark and triangle logo.

In late 1978, the Canadien company was acquired by Action Traders, Inc. of Toronto, and the following year it was sold to Amer of Finland. Amer had previously bought Koho, and it continued to produce hockey equipment under both the Koho and Canadien names until 1986, when it sold its hockey operations to Karhu of Finland. Karhu had entered the hockey market in 1972 by acquiring Titan, and later purchased Jofa and Heaton, creating a portfolio of five hockey brands. In 1998, Karhu's hockey operations were acquired by SLM International, the holding company for Sport Maska, Inc., which owned the CCM brand. SLM renamed itself The Hockey Company in 1999, becoming the dominant player in the hockey equipment market with six brands.

In June 2004, Reebok acquired The Hockey Company and phased out all brands except CCM, introducing its own RBK line. In August 2005, Adidas acquired Reebok and continued to produce hockey equipment primarily under the CCM brand. In July 2017, Adidas sold its hockey holdings to Birch Hill Equity Partners of Toronto for around $110 million, consolidating the six brands under Sport Maska, Inc. Since then, CCM has remained the flagship brand, though products using the Canadien name appear sporadically.

Reader's Guide

The Canadien brand holds a notable place in ice hockey equipment history as a once-dominant stick manufacturer that captured 17 per cent of the market by 1976, second only to Sher-Wood. Its founding by a group of investors that included three Montreal Canadiens players—Serge Savard, Yvan Cournoyer, and Guy Lapointe—gave it immediate credibility and a direct connection to the sport's elite level. The brand's original manufacturing base in Drummondville, Quebec, Cournoyer's hometown, rooted it in a region with deep hockey traditions. Over the decades, Canadien passed through multiple ownership changes, from Action Traders to Amer of Finland, then to Karhu, and eventually into the portfolio of The Hockey Company. This consolidation under The Hockey Company in the late 1990s placed Canadien alongside CCM, Jofa, Titan, Koho, and Heaton, creating a powerful multi-brand hockey equipment group. After Reebok's acquisition in 2004, most of these brands were phased out in favor of CCM and Reebok's own line, but the 2017 purchase by Birch Hill Equity Partners preserved the brand rights. While CCM remains the flagship, the occasional reappearance of Canadien-branded products keeps the brand's legacy alive, serving as a reminder of its origins in Quebec and its role in the evolution of hockey stick manufacturing.

Did You Know?

• Graphic designer Georges Huel created the Canadien wordmark and triangle logo in 1977.
• Since 1998, Canadien has been part of a consolidated group of six hockey brands that also includes CCM, Heaton, Jofa, Koho, and Titan.