Montreal

Montreal


Well, the pace is fast and furious and we are now in Montreal. There wasn't much to see on the way here, because we drove straight from the afternoon game in Ottawa, and it was dark by the time we left. After a few turns in the wrong direction, we finally found our way downtown and secured a hotel room for the night. We were three blocks from the Bell Centre where the Habs play. I had been to the old Forum years ago, but this is my first time to see the new arena. Sunday was a long day and it was late, so it was nice to crawl into bed. Monday was a catch up day. Catch up with reading, paperwork, and computer work. We didn't venture too far from the hotel room. Graham isn't feeling well today. Must have picked up the flu the Canadiens have going through their team. On Tuesday, Graham attended the game day skate and visited with a number of players. Saku Koivu and Sergei Samsonov graciously signed our two posters. They are filling up with signatures and hopefully should be a collectors item for someone. We then made our way (slowly - the highways are terrible in Montreal) to visit Don Liesemer with Hockey Ministries. Running of the office is a family affair with his son, daughter and wife helping out. Hockey Ministries runs hockey camps all over for approximately 1600 boys and girls during the course of a year. It was good to visit again with Don and meet some of his family. He spoke at Dan's funeral and we haven't had a chance to see him since then. After finding our way back to the Bell Centre (once again, it was slow - the roads were still terrible to navigate) Graham went in to do some media stuff and I did some typing on the laptop. We had some supper and then it was back into the rink to watch the game. The Canadiens organization has preserved some of the glorious history of their team in many of the displays and pictures around the arena. It was fun to walk around and view everything. The Habs were playing the Thrashers and it was hard to decide which team to cheer for. We've never had any Habs fans at our house and the Thrashers are of course always near and dear to our hearts. But, we have cheered for the home team at each stop, so we had to stick with the plan and cheer for the Habs. Graham even bought (gaaaasp) a Montreal t-shirt. It has a number 4 and Belliveau's name on the back, so that made it OK for him. Montreal came out on top over the Thrashers and brought our record to 12 wins and 6 losses when we are there. This is also our 18th stop giving us 12 more to go. We left about an hour after the game and drove for the border. After crossing into Vermont, we drove to the town of Burlington and stopped for the night. It will be up early in the morning and on to Boston.

Graham's Game Report

Jan 9, 2007
Bell Centre
Atlanta Thrashers vs. Montreal Canadiens


I have always enjoyed taking in a game in Montreal even though I have not been (ahem!) a big Habs fans. The atmosphere is always exciting and tonight was no exception. The Habs have been slowed by a flu bug the last few games and tonight they fell behind 2-0 to the Thrashers despite an overall edge in play. They scored late in the second to cut the lead to 2-1 and came out firing in the third for a 4-2 victory in this important conference game. Michael Ryder was the scoring hero tallying the winning and insurance markers for the home side. The Thrashers battled hard late in the game to come back but had zero luck around the net despite some outstanding opportunities. The home side were deserving winners tonight and showed how important perseverance and teamwork is. Thanks to our gracious hosts we were able to check out some behind the scenes areas of the new arena which has done a fine job of preserving the rich history of Les Canadiens. You can check out my picture in front of the wall depicting all of the Habs Stanley Cup triumphs. Yahoo!