THE PRICE WAS CERTAINLY RIGHT!
Intra-squad game draws 17,000 fans
Canadiens goalie Carey Price greets fans as they stream into the Bell Centre for a no-charge intra-squad game yesterday. Many waited for hours in the cold to catch the action and complimentary snacks.
When the doors opened at the Bell Centre for Thursday’s intra-squad Canadiens game, fans walked in from the cold, oblivious to the group of players lined up near the entrance.
But the buzz quickly grew when they spotted who was there to greet them: Carey Price, Josh Gorges, and Tomas Plekanec and other Habs players.
“Oh my gosh!” one woman exclaimed.
It didn’t take long for chants of “Ca-rey! Ca-rey!” to start.
Fans, several of them wearing their Habs colours again, moved along the line of players, shaking their hands. Many held up cameras, snapping pictures. More players were pressing the flesh at another entrance.
“I’m still in shock,” said AnneFrédéric Morin, 22, from Quebec City, who came to Montreal for the game. She got to meet her favourite player, Plekanec.
“It’s amazing,” said Amy Shaber, 13, whose favourite player is Price.
The free admission intra-squad game is part of the Canadiens efforts to make amends to fans for the National Hockey League lockout.
It didn’t attract the usual 21,273 crowd that has filled the Bell Centre to capacity for Habs games since January 2004. But more than 17,000 people showed up for the two-period game featuring Canadiens and Hamilton Bulldogs players along with the Habs first-round draft pick last June, Alex Galchenyuk.
Many fans braved the cold to line up outside, waiting for the Bell Centre doors to open at 5 p.m. At about 4:30 p.m., the line snaked east to Peel St. then south to St. Antoine and curled back toward the back entrance to the Bell Centre.
Chris Pike, who had been in line for about 90 minutes, had his hands shoved into his pockets to try to keep warm.
“I’m starting to think I made poor decisions at home, Pike said about his clothing choices.
“The NHL owes me. So I’m taking all the free stuff I can get at this point. And I’m not going to pay for much in terms of hockey this year,” Pike said, good-naturedly.
He noted a few other NHL teams have had similar events for fans.
“I think the Canadiens are just getting on a bandwagon. I think it’s a nice gesture. But, to be honest, I don’t think it’s enough,” said Pike, who was irked by the lockout.
Benoit Rochon, 25, said he thought the Canadiens overtures to fans were a good thing because the team doesn’t need to do it — there would be people just the same. “But it’s fun that they’re doing little things like this anyway.”
Rochon landed good seats five rows back — “seats that we couldn’t normally buy,” he said.
There were long lines at the concession stands, not surprisingly, given the offer of a free hot dog, bag of chips and soft drink or bottle of water for each fan. The Canadiens are offering the same free food on Saturday at the Canadiens season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs and earlier in the day, as well, at the Habs and Leafs morning skates, which they have opening to the public.
“We made sure that we’ll have of course 60,000 hotdogs,” said Donald Beauchamp, senior vice-president, communications and community relations.
The Canadiens planned to hire 40 more concession staff and another extra 30 people to help clean up for each of the three events, Beauchamp said.
Canadiens principal owner Geoff Molson was also there to greet fans as they arrived at the Bell Centre. There were also a few famous Habs faces from the past — Guy Lafleur, Yvan Cournoyer and Réjean Houle — who shook hands with fans and posed for pictures with them.