CBC-Sports

Montreal knows how to put on hockey show

January 27, 2009 06:22 PM | Posted by   Craig Simpson  

There are a couple of things that really stood out for me during the NHL All-Star festivities this past week.

1. There is no better place to watch a hockey game than from the Bell Centre in Montreal. The atmosphere is spectacular. The tight cozy bowl of seating puts the fans closer to the action than any other arena and the picture perfect clarity and the sheer size of the video screen is second to none. At times you can’t help watching the action on the larger than life screen instead of live on the ice. From our vantage point up in the broadcast booth, there is no better place to call a game.

2. Hockey is alive, well and thriving in Canada. There is no other place in the world that cares as much about the game than Canadians and in Montreal, fans of Les Canadiens should be extremely proud of the support they showed over the weekend.

Over the course of this two-day celebration of the NHL’s best players, more than 63,000 hockey fans from around the province and around the world packed the Bell Centre, and thousands more enjoyed activities across the street at the NHL Fan Zone. At 7:30 a.m., they were lined up to watch the all-stars morning skate. In all, more than 21,000 people watched their heroes practice. Later that night, another packed house watched the NHL Super-Skills competition. On Sunday, yet another 21,000 plus enjoyed what my partner Jim Hughson called the “greatest shinny game in the world.” Well done, Montreal.

3. The all-star game will never be like a REAL hockey game, so don’t go there expecting much more. Just sit back, relax and enjoy. The thing that makes hockey so great to watch is the intensity and the effort that goes into trying to win. That emotion is hard to manufacture when the players don’t have anything on the line to win for. At least this year, with a tie game late in the third the players picked it up a notch and showed some personal pride in trying to win. The wild end-to-end action of the 4-on-3 in overtime had most intensity we have seen from this event in a long time.

The only suggestion I have is that maybe there should be some money on the line for a charity of choice for the winning team. Zdeno Chara engaged the players he was going up against in the hardest shot competition to put in money for charity. In the end, he raised $24,000 for his charity Right to Play. At least with a substantial donation to a charity that they care for on the line, the players would feel like they are making a difference to an important cause of theirs by putting in an effort. Just a thought.

Heroes of the past

Finally, one of the most special moments of the entire weekend for NHL fans and for the all-star players themselves was getting a chance to be around the great Montreal Canadiens players from the past.

To get to meet and talk to the likes of Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Dickie Moore, Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard and Guy Lafleur was such an added thrill. Those six men alone have an incredible 50 Stanley Cups between them. As talented as the current players are, they were left in awe talking with their heroes from the past.

No team has a more impressive history than the Montreal Canadiens and, in this, their 100th anniversary season, they have done a great job celebrating their accomplishments with their fans.

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