Les Canadiens begins on the Plains of Abraham in 1759 when a French-Canadian soldier throws his rifle to his son and it becomes a hockey stick. It ends in the Montreal Forum on the night of November 15, 1976, when Montreal Canadien fans turn a hockey game into an election victory rally for the indépendantiste Parti Québécois. In between, it is a play about Quebec and Canada using hockey as a metaphor—and a play about hockey using Quebec and Canada as its setting. Les Canadiens was commissioned by and first performed at Centaur Theatre in Montreal in February, 1977. The book contains a preface by Ken Dryden, former goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, and an introduction on hockey, politics and theatre by Rick Salutin.