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Montreal is bracing for a defining night of hockey, and for many fans, Game 7 of the Canadiens’ playoff series is as much about ritual and memory as it is about the score.
Hours before puck drop, the energy is already building across the city, from fully booked sports bars to families making their way downtown for the winner-take-all playoff game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bell Centre, home of the Canadiens, will open its doors for a public viewing of the game on the big screen, with tickets priced at $12 — an offer that sold out quickly, with 21,000 people snapping up the chance to be part of the atmosphere.
For Melissa Parise, a 46-year-old from Montreal’s South Shore, the evening will turn into a multi-generational celebration.
“It’s actually a triple birthday celebration,” Parise said. “My sister-in-law Julie’s birthday was April 28, mine is today, May 3, and my daughter Noemie’s is tomorrow, May 4.”
The usual cake has been set aside. “We’re all Canadiens fans, so we traded the birthday cake to celebrate with 21,000 people,” she said. “We’re hoping they can give us a great gift tonight.”
“We managed to get 32 tickets,” she said. “We’ll be spread out across sections 106, 107, 110, 120, and even up in 321.”
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Her group includes her partner, their children, extended family, and close friends — many of whom gathered at her home to watch the previous game together on Friday night.
On Sunday, they’ll travel into Montreal from Saint-Philippe and Sainte-Catherine, suburban communities on the South Shore across the St. Lawrence River, taking the REM — the city’s automated light metro system — in the mid-afternoon to soak in the atmosphere.
Among them is her 75-year-old mother, who will be visiting the Bell Centre for the first time.
The group will be dressed for the occasion.
“Almost everyone has their Canadiens jersey,” Parise added. “I usually take my partner’s jersey, but tonight I’m giving it to my mother. I’ll wear last year’s playoff T-shirt instead.”
Melissa Parise and members of her family, wearing Montreal Canadiens jerseys, prepare to watch game 7 of the playoff series at the Bell Centre in downtown Montreal as the Canadiens take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa. (Submitted by Melissa Parise/The Canadian Press)
That sense of marking time through hockey is shared by other fans making their way to the Bell Centre.
Marc Fournier, a 54-year-old from Terrebonne, will attend the game with his three sons, his 81-year-old father, and a few friends.
“It was too expensive to go see regular games at the Bell Centre, but this is almost as good,” Fournier said.
For Fournier and his father, the memories go beyond this season. The two were in Montreal on June 9, 1993, when the Montreal Canadiens last won the Stanley Cup, a memory that still looms large.
“We remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. “It was crazy, the city kind of just exploded.”
Fournier was about 21 at the time. Now, 33 years later, he hopes to share a similar moment with his own children tonight.
Cheering from home
Not all fans will be inside the arena or downtown. Many will be watching from home, turning living rooms into their own version of a playoff watch party.
Fanny Ginchereau, who is turning 42 today, said she’ll be celebrating her birthday at home with friends while watching Game 7.
She said the timing only adds to the occasion.
“That’s one more reason to celebrate,” Ginchereau said. “We’re hoping for a win.”
While thousands will pack into the Bell Centre, many more are expected to fill bars and restaurants across Montreal, where watch parties have become nearly as coveted as game tickets.
Several popular sports bars were fully booked by this morning, including Bruno Sports Bar in Montreal’s Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie neighbourhood, a residential area in the city’s north end. Other venues are operating on a first-come, first-served basis. At One Punch Mickey’s, another neighbourhood bar in the same area, staff said fans should expect lineups well before puck drop.
