Forum seat

up for auction in aid of Gazette Christmas Fund.

Are you still looking for a Christmas gift for that special hockey fan on your shopping list?

How about a blue seat from the old Forum signed by six members of the current Canadiens roster?

Beginning at 11 a.m. Thurs- day and continuing through 11 a.m. Tuesday, The Gazette will be auctioning off the Forum seat through eBay on our hockeyinsideout.com website with all the money going to The Gazette Christmas Fund, now in its 47th year of putting food on the tables and gifts under the holiday trees of less fortunate Montrealers. The starting bid will be $500.

The six Canadiens players — Carey Price, Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, Colby Armstrong, Josh Gorges and Brandon Prust — signed the seat during another Gazette Christmas Fund fund-raiser last month in which Montrealer Caroline Tardif bid $3,300 in an eBay auction through hockeyinsideout.com to dine at Montreal steak house Moishes along with the Canadiens players and The Gazette’s Dave Stubbs.

“It sounds like an odd thing to say, but I was happy to see how really ‘normal’ all the guys were,” Caroline told Stubbs about her dinner with the players and her partner Éric Legault. “They’re so down to earth and easy to talk to. They totally made us feel included and welcome, like we were part of their group, not two outsiders just looking in.”

Caroline added: “I’m also happy to think I may have contributed in helping less fortunate Montrealers enjoy a more pleasant holiday season. As for me, my Christmas sure came early this year and I’ve loved every second of it.”

You can bid on the Forum seat beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday by going to hockeyinsideout.com/auction. For more information on The Gazette Christmas Fund, go to montrealgazette.com/christmasfund.