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Took a road trip...


DEATHtoGOMEZ

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Let me start by saying if you have never seen a hockey game in Canada, YOU HAVE TO GO! I got to Montreal on Friday and stayed on Crescent Street (the bar district). Needless to say it’s a lively street always filled with loud drunk people. But at 6:00PM on Saturday it’s like someone turned off a light switch and everybody made sure they got near a television. The place looked like a ghost town, not one person on the street an hour before the game even started. I was able to walk to the game from my hotel as it was only three blocks away. During the walk me and my friend got yelled at and boo'd, but nothing rude(unless the stuff yelled at us in French was rude?). When we got to the area, people seemed amazed to see us. In place of the expected boo's and jeers, people were more curious to see if we came all the way from NJ. Everybody stopped us just to ask us "Hey, are you actually from NJ?" Most people thought it was great that we would travel to see our team.

The game had a crazy playoff like atmosphere. It was sold out (like all games are there) and every fan seamed into every play. They had their crazy upper deck people (like we do), but the downstairs was also lively. Even when we won, the people stayed in their seats to cheer their players who received stars.

After the game we hit the bars still wearing our jerseys. Some people got angry, but nothing like what was talked about in the Philly game thread. Every bar we went into someone from somewhere saw us and bought us a drink. Some bought it because the devils won, and other's because they thought we were nuts for wearing our jersey's. By the end of the night we ended up sitting with a group of 15 hardcore Montreal fans and just talking hockey.

I was expecting the same reaction that some people from this board received in Philly, but it was the exact opposite and I def recommend all of you taking the trip some day.

Wow sounds really cool. I am actually quite jealous of the Canadian fans, particularly in Montreal, obviously nothing to do with the team, but with such tremendous appreciation for the game of hockey. Also, great to hear that you weren’t abused like that Philly story and actually got a decent amount of respect and curiosity from the locals. Very ballsy to wear the jerseys out to the bars, I don’t think I would have done that.

This may sound a bit controversial, but one thing I noticed is that US is seemingly as gungho on football as Canada on hockey. Yet, in my personal experience, all these self proclaimed football fans don’t know jack about their favorite team. Some cases they don’t even know their record and can’t name more than 2 people on the team (the fact that there are 60+ players is no excuse). For most Americans, it seems football is a function of a work betting pool + beer and wings rather than an appreciation of the actual sport. It seems to be very different for Canadians and hockey.

Edited by Ivan
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Montreal fans live and die hockey. Which gets irritating when they boo every offside call, every icing call.... and when the Montreal player took an accidental puck to the face they booed for some unbeknownst reason. Their blind devotion to their team rivals that of any franchise in any sport.

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Montreal fans live and die hockey. Which gets irritating when they boo every offside call, every icing call.... and when the Montreal player took an accidental puck to the face they booed for some unbeknownst reason. Their blind devotion to their team rivals that of any franchise in any sport.

When the Habs were a powerhouse so many years ago, this behavior was called elitist. Now it's just plain old blind devotion. :)

I'm trying to think of another team's fans who are like this, but am having trouble coming up with something. Maybe the Green Bay Packers? The Steelers? The St. Louis Cardinals? The Toronto Maple Leafs? They're all not quite like the Habs fans though.

Generally, though, this blind devotion thing doesn't fly too well on the East Coast.

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Went to college there, guys in the dorm split season tickets. Some of the best memories I have from my 4 years there. Didn't hurt Alan Eagleson's son lived on the floor beneath us so we met tons of players.

Oh yeah what school? My cousin went to McGill graduated in 2001

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I strongly suggest everyone try to see a game in Montreal. Its a blast every time. I try to make it up once a year or so. Like DeathtoGomez said, the crowd is passionate but not hostile.

I was up there when Gio scored goal #48, and you could feel the air rush out of the place when the Devils came back from down 3-1 to win it. But no one left.

Also was in the Bell for USA vs Canada in the 2004 World Cup. US lost, but the fans again weren't too bad. There were a couple of rowdy ones, but one guy came up to me and tapped my beer with his and said, "Oh well, thats hockey! Good game." We ended up on the back patio of our hotel drinking Molsons with a bunch of guys who drove to the game from Ottawa and just talking hockey.

Funny story, after that USA-Canada game, I was still in the street wearing an old school Washington Capitals jersey (it was all I had that was red white and blue) and some Canadian runs up to me, screams "GO CAPS" and pulls down his shirt to show that he had a Caps logo tatooed on him chest. Oh Canada.

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Where did you get the tix ?

and how much were they ?

I've been thinking of going for a few years but always thought the tix were hard to come by :(

I got my tickets on Stub Hub when I went. I paid more, but a ticket site like that is really the only place you can get Habs tickets. That or scalpers.

Edited by MadDog2020
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Where did you get the tix ?

and how much were they ?

I've been thinking of going for a few years but always thought the tix were hard to come by :(

I got the tix on Stubhub..they were $250 each which is a total rip off. But we had great seats, 3 rows off the ice next to the penalty box. It was def worth the money cause at the end of the second period Bryce Salvador tossed the puck over the boards right at me. Fans around me wanted to buy the puck for $50, but I wouldn't sell it.

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