FAN FOCUS | Reconnecting For Habs Playoff Hockey, Fan Culture, NHL Playoffs, Stanley Cup, Montreal Canadiens, COVID-19 Pandemic

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA — One of my favourite things about hockey is how it really brings people together. No matter where you are in the world, you can always find people who have watched at least one hockey game at some point in their lives. If you’re lucky, you may even find people who like the same team as you do. And in our increasingly digitized world, there are so many ways to watch hockey and connect with other people who love it as much as you do.

And at post-season time, options for connecting with other like-minded people increase as casual fans join dedicated fans in the enjoyment of the game and in sharing the excitement of the Stanley Cup playoffs via a community.

Connecting through hockey

For me, part of why I love this sport so much is again the fact that we are all over the world and watching this great thing play out in front of us. Sure, Twitter is great for keeping up with highlights, but it doesn’t feel the same. It’s not that same sense of community that I get when I can watch them play myself and form my own thoughts about how the guys are doing and what’s going on on the ice.

That’s the beautiful thing about hockey – the community that different hockey fandoms create. We are all so passionate about this sport and it brings people from all over the world, from all walks of life, together to cheer for this incredible team. I’m a natural introvert, so for me, finding this community was such a godsend because I had finally found people I felt comfortable talking to even when I didn’t know them in person. It was a place I could really belong and that I wouldn’t be judged for not necessarily having the more technical knowledge that a lot of hockey fans have.

But what happens when those options aren’t available to you? What happens when you aren’t able to connect with hockey the same way you used to?

Limited availability

For a few years now, it has been an increasingly uphill battle for me to be able to watch the Habs play. I was very lucky for a few years because by some miracle, my mom and I had access to channels that broadcast the games. But over time, we stopped being able to watch the games because they weren’t available in our area (we live in Southwestern Ontario). We paid for all the fancy hockey channels, but every time we tried to watch the Habs we were met with a message telling us that they weren’t available in our region.

After over a year of trying to watch the Habs play, I sort of just gave up. I stopped trying to watch games. And because we live in the country, our internet is not exactly the most reliable for trying to watch games online. We have a limited amount of data, and that needs to be used for work, school and other important things. Hockey is sort of on the back-burner when you need that limited amount of internet to study for exams or do a job.

COVID impact

During the pandemic, it’s only made me feel more and more disconnected; it’s like I am losing my place amongst hockey fans, let alone Habs fans.

I think the one thing that we can all agree on is that the COVID-19 pandemic has made us all feel so isolated because we can’t go anywhere or see anyone. We can’t gather, we can’t go sit in a pub and watch hockey games together, we can’t go to games. We can’t really do much of anything. The one way that we have been able to keep that sense of community going is by watching the games and interacting online with other fans of the game. It’s made a lot of people feel so much less alone throughout all of this because they’ve been able to talk to and interact with other hockey fans.

Reaching out

For me, it’s been the complete opposite. Even though I am surrounded by the people I love most in this world, I have found myself craving that sense of community I got from talking to other Habs fans and cheering on the guys together from behind a screen. I don’t feel alone, far from it, but not being able to really get into the game has been really sad and very isolating. But it doesn’t and shouldn’t have to be that way.

I’m going to make it a goal to get on social media and follow along again because at least it’s something to help me stay in the loop and get talking with Habs fans again.

The All Habs community are some of my favourite people to chat with and it will be nice catching up with everyone again. And while I may not necessarily be able to actually watch games thanks to my crummy internet, there are so many options for people who don’t have satellite or cable to watch games and get that connection that we need, especially during the pandemic. If you’re looking for somewhere to watch the game, I’ve included a few websites here where you can access games online.

Viewing resources

• CBC Sports (through their website or the CBC Sports App)
• Sportsnet NOW (It does cost about 19.99 per month, but its Blackout free which is a definite plus!)
• TSN (you can either sign up for TSN Direct or login on the TSN website using your tv service provider login to watch games and coverage online)
• NHL Live (designed to let fans from other regions watch games from their favourite teams outside the region they live in)

All Habs team is here for you

Of course, if you can’t watch the game, you can also always follow along on the All Habs twitter account too or follow any of the contributors from All Habs for super comprehensive and fun game coverage.

No matter how you choose to consume hockey, especially right now, the important thing is just to do it. It’s so important when we aren’t able to come together physically that we find any way we can to just make sure we are still getting that human interaction that we all crave. And what better way to do that than chatting about the Habs?

By Cate Gilpin, Hockey History Researcher.
All Habs Hockey Magazine
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