One of my favorite hockey road trips was in 2012 when a bunch of friends and I headed north on I-87 from NYC to Montreal, CA. Once we got to the NY State Thruway, it’s a straight shot up to Montreal, about 6.5 hours. There were 8 of us altogether, and 6 of us had been to the city numerous times before, but never to a Canadiens game at the Bell Centre, let alone in visitor NY Islanders jerseys. The journey itself was uneventful; we stopped in Albany for lunch as it is about the halfway point to Montreal, and then back on the same road which by then was now called simply ‘the Northway.’
The first time the excitement really started to kick in for me was when the signs on the road started to become multilingual (Exit/Sortie). This was because I knew we were getting very close to our destination. After a quick pit stop at the duty free shop on our side of the border, we got on line at the border hoping for a quick and uneventful pass. When it was our turn, the Customs agent asked a number of questions and then told us to have a good trip and we were off, now in Canada, and only 45 minutes from Montreal. It was hard not to exceed the 100 kilometer speed limit on this dark, poorly lit road as we were now desperate to get there already. We then reached my favorite part of the trip up there, crossing the Champlain Bridge and seeing the lit up skyline of downtown Montreal, the frozen waters of the port below, and a distant Olympic Stadium off to the right, the former home of the Montreal Expos.
We zigged and zagged through the downtown streets that we’d come to know even better than the streets of New York City in recent years. At the hotel, we changed into our Islanders gear and headed to a quick dinner at a great Italian restaurant on Crescent Street called Weinstein and Gavino’s. Due to its proximity to the Bell Centre (about 3 blocks), the place was packed with Habs fans, every one of which stared at us as we were led through the place in our Isles jerseys to our table. In every other arena I’ve been to, you would at least come across a handful of fellow fans but up in the frozen north of Montreal, Canada, it was pretty much just the 8 of us.
After dinner, we walked to the arena, continuing to attract glances from people, but I began to realize something. The glances weren’t necessarily because they hated us or hated the Islanders, but it seemed to be more out of respect for the trek we likely had made to get there, all in the name of their national pastime, hockey. I found the same thing at the game as we made our way all the way to the top row to our seats. The people were nodding and grinning at us to acknowledge and give approval of our dedication to our team.
The pre-game intro at the Bell Centre was like nothing else we’d ever seen. The building went dark, the ice lit up in Canadiens red, with full ice sized images of each player, giving the crowd a chance to clap for each one. The music continued to play, and ultimately ended with the Habs taking the ice to a huge ovation. What an awesome feeling.
During the game, there were noticeable differences between this place and the Nassau Coliseum (“The Barn,” as we call it, where I grew up attending games frequently). For example, at the Bell Centre, the sound of the crowd gets increasingly louder as the Canadiens player skates the puck out of the defensive zone, through the neutral zone, and into the offensive zone. If they get a shot off, the building roars and shakes like it’s the Stanley Cup Finals.
Another thing I noticed is the concourse during the period. I went to get a drink and I was literally the only person out there while the game was still going. Nobody gets up until the intermission. Nobody. Yes, they may wait on long lines causing them to miss some of the next period, but once they sit, they stay.
A third difference is the buzz around town after a game. As the crowd filtered out of the arena and into the downtown streets, strangers that saw us wearing our jerseys (it didn’t matter that it was the visiting team) asked us specifics about the game. Not simply who won, but how did certain players play? Who assisted on the goals? Were the goals even strength or on the man advantage? This was a shock to us, as we grew up scanning the TV channels to even find our game, and maybe getting lucky enough to have the score mentioned on the news if we missed the game.
Lastly, what I found to be truly awesome was the fact that you can turn to whoever is next to you in any bar in downtown Montreal and have an intelligent conversation about hockey into the wee hours of the night. You may not want to, given all of the other activities the city has to offer. All I’m saying is that you can.
This was a pretty descriptive review of my favorite hockey road trip experience but it can all be summed up as follows. If you’re a hockey fan, or even if you’re not, you must get up to Montreal to catch a game at the Bell Centre. So bundle up, pick a game from the schedule, search for a nearby hotel, price out flying versus driving versus the train, search yelp for all the good restaurants, convince your friends that it’s not as far away as they think, decide who’s driving, and get up there. Or just click a button and come with us!
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