Habitant. The C / H is Canadien Habitant
Actually, that’s not true. The ‘H’ does not stand for ‘Habs’ or Habitants. This misconception stems from an error by an English language newspaper reporter in the 1950s. It actually stands for ‘Hockey’, as in ‘Club de Hockey Canadien’, the official name of the team.
According to NHL.com, the first man to refer to the team as “the Habs” was American Tex Rickard, owner of Madison Square Garden, in 1924. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the “H” on the Canadiens’ sweaters was for “Habitants.”
Actually, the C/H logo goes back to the early days of the team, when they first adopted their name as the Club de Hockey Canadien — i.e., the Canadiens Hockey Club.