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Reporter’s notebook
In ice hockey-crazy Montreal, the Canadians participated in the Stanley Cup final for the first time since winning the championship in 1993, setting off a frenzy among fans.
Montreal, Canada- Twenty-eight years: How long has passed since the Montreal Canadiens or any Canadian hockey team last raised the Stanley Cup.
With the ultimate prize of the National Hockey League (NHL) within reach once again, it would be an understatement to say that a special feeling has conquered the city; here, people’s love for hockey, especially the ball The love of the team often reaches embarrassing heights.
Almost everyone has their own story ResidentsFrom decades of celebrations at the Montreal Forum, the team has called it the legendary stage of home for most of its 100-year history, to the recent riots-whether in good times or bad times-along the backbone of the city center Road to St. Catherine Street.
But few Canadian fans and even fewer NHL experts predict that the team will achieve such a big result in the 2021 season, and this season was cut off by the coronavirus.
In the context of months-long curfews and restrictions in Quebec, and the closed border with the United States restricted the teams that Montreal can participate in, the Canadians barely made the playoffs at first.
After a particularly brutal regular-season loss, they fired their head coach in February, and the sports columnist called for the appointment of general manager Marc Bergevin (Marc Bergevin) in charge. But now most people are singing different tunes.
After falling behind 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs and on the verge of elimination, the team united to defeat Toronto, one of its biggest opponents in history. Then it swept Winnipeg, and crossed Vegas to come here, Monday night to face the defending champion Tampa Bay. “Is it for adults?” A friend asked recently. This is for big shots-most people here can’t believe it.
“Something is happening,” the headline of the Montreal newspaper read press In the third game of the semifinal series, the Canadians defeated the Vegas Golden Cavaliers 3-2 in overtime. “Those who know the forum’s heyday will tell you… it feels like the good old days,” wrote hockey journalist Richard Drabe.
But so many Habs fans-myself included-never knew those days.
Most of the happy Canadian stories we share are second-hand, from grandparents and parents, who told us about the “forum ghosts” that helped the team win; the league’s leading 24 Stanley Cups, or the team’s favorite star One Morris “Rocket” Richard has done for decades. My father Richard is named after him.
Montreal Canadiens fans welcome players before the third game against the Vegas Golden Cavaliers [Jean-Yves Ahern/USA Today Sports]
I’m too young to remember 1993, when the Canadians led by local goalkeeper Patrick Roy won the Cup for the last time. I vaguely remember watching a game on the forum before it turned into a movie theater, but that was all. I have seen the current Bell Center Arena change its name, but most of the past 28 years have been marked by disappointing, heartbreaking, and sometimes problematic deals in the playoffs. Did I mention the riots?
But now, with the talented Cole Caufield, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki and the determined Nets Kyrie Price, the younger generation of Habu fans finally have the opportunity to leave their memories. On June 24, Quebec’s national holiday Saint-Jean-Baptiste’s overtime victory over Vegas is the best way to get the team to the final.
The streets of the city center were crowded with people waving Canadian flags and setting off fireworks. Some people rush to this city from other parts of the province, just in case the impossible happens. Jubilant fans raised orange traffic cones—almost always a perennial symbol of cities under construction—in place of the Stanley Cup. A police car was overturned and more than a dozen people were arrested. Montreal police fired tear gas to disperse the loudest people in the crowd. It all feels very real.
Now, as the finals progress, the team has a long way to go to surpass the popular team Tampa Bay Chargers. But no matter what happens, after a devastating year for so many people, the simple fact is that there is something to cheer about that is fun. Aouille, boys.
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