by Erica, Staff Writer and Fundraising Specialist, All Habs Hockey Magazine
MONTREAL, QC. — This week’s episode of 24CH recapped an especially busy and emotional week. Here’s what we learned:
Team spirit is really important. The episode opens with Marc Bergevin explaining how important he thinks it is for every player and every staff member to understand that the Canadiens’ success relies heavily on their ability to work together and put the team first. This is cemented with the Habs taking their first official team photo of the season. Even the team’s official photographer, Olivier Samson Arcand, understands the importance of team spirit, admitting that he’s gone to former team photographer Bob Fisher for advice.
Team spirit was embodied in this episode by Alex Galchenyuk and Tomas Plekanec, who exchanged barbs at practice, each giving as good as they got. Seriously. I’m not sure who coached them on trash talk, or if they spent a lot of time watching old footage of Muhammad Ali, but they traded quips like rivals in an old movie. Those quips, of course, were all in good fun, pushing each other to become better linemates, and resulting in a really pretty goal by Galchenyuk against the Detroit Red Wings.
The organization loves its fans. One segment focused on all of the positives of the new fan program, Club 1909. Management is especially happy to be able to market Club 1909 to fans across the globe. A photo montage shows fans around the world – it looked like some of them might have just been Canadians on vacation wearing their Habs gear, but I won’t nitpick. The Montreal Canadiens are a global brand, and Club 1909 is a reflection of that. Viewers were taken behind the scenes as a game-worn Brendan Gallagher jersey was taken apart and cut into tiny circles to be affixed to membership cards – kind of gruesome, if you think about it, but those cards will be a way for members to carry La Sainte-Flanelle with them everywhere they go. Even cooler than that? Some fans will have their names printed on the surface beneath the Bell Centre ice.
We also learned that it’s good to be a fan with connections. Every year, at the start of the season, the Canadiens host a dinner for their sponsors. If you happen to be employed by or related to one of those sponsors, you might get a chance to rub elbows with your favourite Habs player (or Tom Gilbert) during a catered dinner at the Bell Centre. It looked like a wedding, except attendees were allowed to wear their jerseys, and the focus was on Geoff Molson and the players rather than a bride and groom. (And no bridal registry to pick through!)
Youth matters. Youth hockey coaches were invited to meet with the Canadiens’ coaching staff in order to improve their skills, and make the next generation of Habs fans even better on the ice. Michel Therrien invited last season’s playoff rival, New York Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, to join him at a Q&A session. They had a good time answering questions and poking fun at each other, eliciting laughs. No, you’re not alone – I didn’t know Michel Therrien was capable of laughter, either.
Later that day, as part of their tradition during Hockey Fights Cancer, a number of young leukemia patients were invited to the Bell Centre to see the Canadiens pull off a thrilling win over the Rangers. These young guests, whose visit was organized by Leucan, were giddy with excitement. One young fan enjoyed the opportunity to make up for a game he’d missed because he wasn’t well enough to go, and another expressed how happy she was not only to see the Habs from a loge at the Bell Centre, but to spend time with other kids she could relate to.
Best bits. A few things that weren’t really lessons but were fun to watch: the team’s excitement over an OT win; P.K. Subban trying to keep his cool while a game official acted pretty rudely; Brandon Prust being awarded the Shiny Boxing Robe of Success for his momentum-shifting fight against Rangers defenceman Kevin Klein.