The Montreal Canadiens are called the "Habs" because it's short for "habitants," a French word for French-descended settlers in Canada. This nickname took off as the result of a misunderstanding about the team's "CH" logo was repeated by sports reporters.

The "Habs" nickname might have been the result of an error in 1924. The first man to refer to the team as the Habs was Tex Rickard, the found of the National Hockey League and the owner of Madison Square Garden. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the "H" in the logo on the Canadiens' jerseys stood for habitants, which is not true.

Habitant or Hab as a nickname for the Canadiens appears to have its roots in a mistake made by Tex Rickard, former owner of Madison Square Garden in New York. In a 1924 interview, he apparently told a reporter that the “H” in the Canadiens’ logo stood for “Habitants”. This, however, is not true. Regardless, the nickname caught on.