DISCLAIMER: This was the blog post that was supposed to go up on Monday. Due to a faulty modem I was unable to post it until today. This blog post was obviously written before the Montreal Canadiens got eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 on Tuesday night.
Hello and welcome to this week’s blog entry. Enjoy your stay.
I don’t know anybody who’s a bigger Montreal Canadiens fan than my mom. She watches every game, listens to every post game show, keeps statistics and interacts with other fans about the Canadiens on Twitter. The only thing she doesn’t do is attend live games because tickets are pricy and to a lesser extent because driving to and from Montreal is a chore.
For Mother’s Day, my sister and I decided to take care of the former and bought a pair of tickets to Game 5 of Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now, this plan was entirely contingent on the Canadiens MAKING it to Game 5. They were down two games to nothing to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday when the possibility of purchasing tickets arose. In order to make it to Game 5, they would either have to win Game 3 on Wednesday night or Game 4 on Thursday night.
Game 3 was a heartbreaker. The Lightning scored with one second left on the clock to win a game that looked like it was going to overtime. At any rate, the first opportunity to assure a fifth game was unsuccessful. Game 4 was much better. The Canadiens CRUSHED the Lightning 6-2 and so the plan to attend Game 5 was a go.
We sprang the news to my mom on Friday night and she was, in a word, thrilled. Plans were made for my mother and I to make a day of it in Montreal (my sister wanted no part in attending the game). This included a little shopping, attending the Fan Jam and of course, watching the game.
The shopping was great! We found new board games to play at Carta Magica. King of Tokyo, Ticket to Ride the Card Game and The Battle at Kemble’s Cascade for me, and NHL Playoff Team-Building Card Game and a Skip-Bo variant for my mom. Woowoo!
The Fan Jam is an event put on by the Canadiens organization (I think) to allow fans of the Canadiens to get together to celebrate their team. Local sports radio hosts broadcast from the Fan Jam and talk with fans on the air, local bands put on a live concert, there are make-up booths, as well as haircut and temp tattoo stands where kids can have the Canadiens logo painted on their face, arms or shaved into their heads. There was a mechanical bull to ride and I’m sure I’m missing stuff.
I’m not a big fan of live music that’s so loud you can’t hear the person standing next to you (unless the music is specifically what you’re attending the event for). I therefore had to get as far away from the stage as quickly as possible. The rest of the Fan Jam was nice…until it started raining. And when I say rain, I mean DOWNPOUR. The Fan Jam was about three blocks away from the Bell Centre and we were soaked by the time we got to the entrance. What a happy coincidence then that the Canadiens were handing out free white towels to all attendees to wave around during the game!
We got to our seats about thirty minutes before the game started so we got to see the pre-game warm-ups which is kinda nifty. The game itself was a good one, the Canadiens scored about midway through the first and were able to maintain their one goal lead until about halfway through the third when the Lightning tied things up. Carey Price made some great saves to keep the score tied and late in the third, the Canadiens were able to score the go ahead goal and win the game! Canadiens fans rejoice!
Okay, but how did I help the Canadiens win the game?
Before the game started and between each period, there were screens all around the building that reminded us that we, the fans in attendance are the seventh player for the Canadiens (3 forwards, 2 defensemen, 1 goalie and us). The Canadiens therefore count on us to do our part to help the team, i.e. Cheer our heads off and wave our towels.Which I did. Therefore, as the seventh player, I claim part of the Canadiens victory as my own.
Driving home from an event is always less fun than driving to it, because by the time the event is over, you’re already feeling drained from the event and then you have to drive home before you can even think of going to bed. Nevertheless, we made it home safe and sound. Sunday was a day of relaxation and then it was back to work today.
So that’s it for this week’s blog. Thanks for stopping by. Have a good seven and we’ll do it all again next Monday. Carja V.