HOCKEY’S BACK
Canadiens mascot Youppi! gets a kick out of being on stage as the 2017-18 team is presented to fans following an intra-squad scrimmage Sunday at the Bell Centre
There was already a party atmosphere outside the Bell Centre an hour before the Canadiens held their annual Red vs. White scrimmage Sunday afternoon.
There was music, games for the kids and Youppi! posing for photos with fans. Two guys who looked to be in their 20s were standing in front of a big banner with a Canadiens crest on it, posing for photos with an inflatable Stanley Cup.
There was a time in Montreal when that would have been seriously frowned upon — and probably still is by Canadiens fans old enough to remember when the Stanley Cup parade would take the “usual route.” But this season will mark the 25th anniversary of the Canadiens’ last championship and those two guys hoisting the inflatable Cup might not even have been born back then.
So on a gorgeous, late-summer day with the music blaring outside the Bell Centre, Montreal fans could be forgiven for getting excited about the return of hockey, even if the Canadiens were listed by the Bodog betting website at 20-1 odds heading into training camp to win their 25th Stanley Cup. No Canadiens fan age 40 and under has been able to legally celebrate a Habs’ Stanley Cup victory with a cold beer.
Newcomer Jonathan Drouin was born two years after the Canadiens’ last Stanley Cup victory and got his first chance to skate at the Bell Centre as a Hab during Sunday’s scrimmage, which the White team won 3-2 on an overtime goal by defenceman Mark Streit. Tomas Plekanec had the other two goals for the White team, while Karl Alzner and Daniel Audette scored for the Red team.
Drouin’s parents — Serge and Brigitte — were among those in the stands and at age 59 his father is old enough to remember the Canadiens winning the Stanley Cup. “He has a lot of memories and still talks about the old days with the Habs,” Jonathan said.
Drouin was born in Ste-Agathe and his favourite players growing up were former Canadiens Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev, players he has tried to emulate. On Sunday, Drouin was at centre between Max Pacioretty and Ales Hemsky — a line that might be together again Monday night when the Canadiens play the first of eight preseason games against the Boston Bruins in Quebec City
(7 p.m., RDS). The Washington Capitals will be at the Bell Centre on Wednesday, followed by the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
Drouin said it was cool to be in the Canadiens’ locker room at the Bell Centre. “You see the logo, all the faces (on the walls) — even in Brossard it’s kind of the same setup,” he said. “They try to copy here. But it is cool and it is awesome to look at the names that sat here in this room.”
Those Hall of Fame names have also been engraved on the Stanley Cup.
On a sunny day in September with hockey finally returning, it was OK for Canadiens fans to dream a little.