Christos Kostas "Chris" Chelios (born January 25, 1962) is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman. He was one of the longest tenured players in the National Hockey League, and is a three-time Stanley Cup champion - one with the Montreal Canadiens and two with the Detroit Red Wings. On January 27, 2017, in a ceremony during the All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, Chelios became part of the second group of players to be named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. Chelios played for the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and briefly for the Atlanta Thrashers.

In 1984, he made the Montreal Canadiens for good, and distinguished himself with his play. During his early days, Chelios was known for his offensive abilities, and his teammates even called him "Soft Hands Chelios." He earned a trip to the National Hockey League All-Star Game and was named to the 1985 NHL All-Rookie Team. He scored 64 points in 74 games, a high total for a defenseman, even in the higher-scoring 1980s. He came second to Mario Lemieux for the Calder Memorial Trophy. In the playoffs that year, he scored 10 points in 9 games, with a +17 plus/minus. Although he only played 41 games in the 1985-86 season, he won his first Stanley Cup, playing in front of Conn Smythe Trophy winner Patrick Roy.  Following two more good seasons, Chelios really broke out in the 1988-89 season. He scored 73 points in 80 games at +35, was named to the All-Star First-Team, and won the James Norris Memorial Trophy. During that year's Wales Conference (now Eastern Conference) Finals series against the Philadelphia Flyers (which the Canadiens won in six games), Chelios became reviled by Flyer fans for a dirty hit on Brian Propp that left the Philadelphia winger with a serious concussion and forced him to miss the next game. For the remainder of the series, the Flyers did not retaliate against Chelios until finally, after the series fate was sealed late in Game 6, Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall memorably skated out of his net to attack Chelios in retaliation, which got Hextall suspended for 12 games.  After playing only 53 games in the next season (in which he served as co-captain, with Guy Carbonneau), on June 29, 1990, Chelios was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks with a 2nd-round draft pick for Denis Savard. This trade happened one day after Chelios was accused of fighting with two police officers as they tried to arrest him for urinating in public outside a bar in downtown Madison, Wis., according to a criminal complaint.

Answer the following question by taking a quote from the article: Who were the Montreal Canadiens?