I Googled Habs, thinking that it might mean Habaneros.
But it didn't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Canadiens
According to About.com, the first man to refer to the team as "the Habs" was American Tex Rickard, owner of the Madison Square Garden, in 1924. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the "H" on the Canadiens' sweaters was for "Habitants".[59] In French, the "Habitants" nickname dates back to at least 1914, when it was printed in Le Devoir to report a 9–3 win over Toronto on the ninth of February.[60][61]
hab·i·tant
noun
plural noun: habitants
1.
archaic
an inhabitant.
2.
an early French settler in Canada (especially Quebec) or Louisiana.
"the habitant farmhouses of old Quebec"
Origin