Storied franchise? They have arguably the most forgettable history of any original team. They have something like 13 retired numbers and a majority of hockey fans don’t even know who most of those players even are outside of Leetch, Richter, and Hank.
11 retired numbers, 8 of which belong to Hall of Famers.
HOFers: Howell, Bathgate, Gilbert, Giacomin, Ratelle, Leetch, Messier, Lundqvist
Non-HOFers: Hadfield, Richter, Graves
The majority of hockey fans who haven't delved deep into the league's history probably hasn't heard of several of those guys... but that's literally true of every team. Many fans probably know names like Richard, Beliveau, Lafleur, Roy, and a few others. Would you say a majority of hockey fans know Butch Bouchard, Guy Lapointe, Dickey Moore, Yvan Cournoyer, or Elmer Lach? I also somehow doubt the majority of fans know guys like Bernie Geoffrion or Serge Savard.
My point isn't to denigrate any of those names. As someone who has read up on a lot of league history, I know who all of them are. Each one rightfully deserved to have their numbers retired by Canadiens, but outside of the Habs fanbase they're not that well known.