MONTREAL, QC. — The All Habs team was grateful to attend the NHL Entry Draft in Philadelphia a few weeks ago. And we were thrilled to be joined by almost 50 of our readers and social media followers. They represented a third of NHL teams and came from more than a dozen North American cities to be with us. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with hockey fans in person and further build our All Habs community.
One of our attendees, Angie wrote, “What I like most is that you guys care about your fans. You guys make us feel part of it without actually being part of the team.” Thanks Angie, people are our number one focus at All Habs.
Terri, a Habs fan, and her sister Candy, a Flyers fan, were also winners of Draft tickets. Terri wrote, “I also want to thank you for providing such a cool site like All Habs. I’m going to be perfectly honest with you, I didn’t really know you guys did so much. I’ve been a Twitter follower of you guys for a little while now but never even ventured to the website. Since winning the tickets I’ve visited the website and officially bookmarked it.”
“For someone who’s loved the Habs for over 40 years and grew up having to listen to games in French the internet and Twitter has made it so much easier to be a Habs fan and feel like a part of a community. And it’s thanks to people like you and Amy who spend so much of your valuable time providing me with information, entertainment, and live opportunities to engage with the team and fans. For a lonely Habs fan in Pennsylvania, its a really cool thing.”
Thank you Terri. Habs fans are everywhere and we do our best to help them feel connected to the team and to fellow fans.
Leah is a Flyers fan from Philadelphia and was happy to join us as a contest winner and share memories from her All Habs Draft experience.
Leah wrote, “My favorite memory was probably just taking in the whole thing, especially all the cheering and booing. It’s the best, and I wasn’t expecting anything less from this crowd. I was waiting just to boo Bettman, and I think yelling ‘SUCKS’ after each team was my favorite. I doubt it was planned, but I guess we can’t help it, right? Getting loud and rowdy is the best part of being a Flyers fan.”
Leah continued, “It was special because it’s probably a once in a lifetime thing, unless they plan on holding the draft in Philly anytime soon and I happen to get tickets just as amazing as the ones we got this time. It was great being surrounded by the Flyers faithful, but it was also cool seeing fans repping teams from all over the NHL as well. I starting keeping a list, and I saw every single team besides the Sens and the Coyotes, and we also saw North Stars and Nordiques fans, people in USA, Canada, and Sweden team jerseys, and a handful of junior and AHL teams. So that was really cool and I don’t know if I’ll ever see that again.”
“Also it was really crazy seeing kids my age getting drafted. It’s kind of surreal and I dunno if I’ll be able to explain it, but this is the only time I’ll be able to witness guys born the same time I was go through this crazy life changing experience, and seeing it live was incredible. It’s kind of embarrassing but it made me emotional and when I got home I was just like, wow, I can’t believe these 18-year-olds are doing this.”
Leah concluded, “Once again, thank you for this amazing opportunity. It’ll be one of those things I’ll specifically remember when I look back on early adulthood, and when I see some of these guys life the cup one day, I’m gonna be like ‘I saw that kid get drafted!'”
In addition to building a fellowship of Canadiens fans, we are most proud that our All Habs community includes fans from all over the world, regardless of team affiliation.