Written by Alyssa De Rosa, Guest post to AllHabs
MONTREAL, QC. — While the Bleu, Blanc, Rouge trail behind in the standings, their fans are at the edge of their seats. Not out of excitement, but because the last time they remember the Montreal Canadiens being this bad was back in the 90’s.
Fans are literally giving up blood, sweat, and tears as they watch their team sit in 15th place in the conference.
The level of excitement at the Bell Centre when our favorite team scores a goal is still deafening, but it’s been a rarity this season. Same goes for people who are watching at home. I remember the days when the Habs had us jumping out of our seats. Those days weren’t too long ago. Yes, we can all wonder why they’ve been playing so badly and blame it on management all we want, but it doesn’t change the fact that die-hard fans are biting their fingernails whenever Scott Gomez gets the puck.
I see people huffing and puffing when P.K. Subban gets a stupid penalty, or when Carey Price lets a lemon pass through his legs. The blood pressure goes up and they start yelling at the television screen. To strangers, they are two sandwiches short of a picnic basket.
So why get so pumped over a team that we barely know? From what I know, no one in my family knows any teammates personally, so getting stressed out when a stupid play is made is beyond me. I’ll take a whack at answering my own question—it’s because this city hates to lose.
Whether you’re a 70-year-old man who’s been following the Canadiens since you were five, or a 20-year-old woman who thinks a handful of players are good looking, having the team lose just sucks. It’s like a losing a sense of oneself. Habs fans believe they owe it to their city and to their team to yell, get drunk and be rushed to the E.R. for heart palpitations—I’ve seen it happen.
This season, I think the blues have taken over more than the stress. Nonetheless, the Montreal Canadiens can always count on their fans to win them a fight.
The guy standing in the picture is me. I live in Ottawa; 7 of us from Mtl, TO and Ott went to Florida in February to see the Habs/Panthers and Habs/Lighting games. This photo was taken in Tampa. I just got home from the Habs game in Ottawa tonight. There were four guys with the exact same bags on their heads. They are imposters.
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