Canadiens fans flocking to town for 6th HI/O Summit

There is a long history of Canadiens fans in the Sherrington family.

Fred Sherrington, a 69-year-old owner of an apple orchard in Hudson, N.Y., remembers his father telling him about watching Howie Morenz play for the Habs.

“I remember sitting with him when we lived in Montreal — 4991 Kensington Ave., below Somerled — we used to sit in there and listen to the games (on the radio),” Kensington said over his cellphone Wednesday afternoon while tending to some young trees in his orchard.

“That’s one of the few things my dad and I did together and didn’t argue about,” he added with a laugh. “We listened to the Canadiens.”

Sherrington and his wife, Gilliane, will be among close to 200 people coming to Montreal this weekend for the annual Hockey Inside/Out Summit, bringing together Canadiens fans who follow the team on The Gazette’s hockeyinsideout.com website.

The group will attend Saturday’s game against the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre.

The first HI/O Summit was held in 2007, but last year’s event had to be cancelled because of the National Hockey League lockout.

Sherrington missed the first Summit, but has been to every one since.

“It’s nice just to be at a real game once in a while, even though the prices are getting out of reach for people like me,” said Sherrington, who has the NHL Centre Ice package and says he never misses a Canadiens game on TV.

The Summit will officially start Friday night with a get-together at Hurley’s Irish Pub on Crescent St., followed by a breakfast the next morning and a trip to the Canadiens Hall of Fame and a Bell Centre Tour. A pregame meal will be held Saturday at the Baton Rouge restaurant near the Bell Centre (1050 de la Montagne), along with a raffle for prizes, with money going to the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation. After the game, members of the group will get together again at Hurley’s.

Rob Hing, a 36-year-old high school teacher from Calgary, is coming to the Summit, where he will be joined by two cousins from England who he “converted” into Habs fans.

“They’re soccer fans, but I turned them onto hockey,” Hing said. “I said, ‘You should come over for this event. … It’s a fun time if you want to get into hockey.’ So they’re coming over from England for the weekend. It’s just a great weekend for Habs fans.

“The coolest thing is getting to see what all these people (on the site) actually look like,” added Hing, who will be attending his second Summit. “If you’re making the trip just for the game, if the game doesn’t go your way … it’s a lot of money for a crappy game. But this way, if the game doesn’t go your way, the rest of the weekend is a fun time anyways.”

Gerald Dueck is coming from Burlington, Ont. The 45-year-old, who is in the leasing/finance business, says he became a Habs fan after watching the famous 1975 New Year’s Eve game between the Canadiens and the Central Red Army team.

“That game resonated with me,” Dueck said, adding that his childhood idol was Guy Lafleur. “Watching him play, to me, he was the best.”

As for being a Habs fan living in Leafs Nation, Dueck said: ”It’s tough, but I enjoy it. ... I thoroughly enjoy it.”

Dueck subscribes to RDS to watch the Habs and get some French lessons at the same time.

Ian Cobb, a 69-year-old lifetime Habs fan who grew up in St-Lambert and now lives in Belleville, Ont., organizes the Summit every year. On Wednesday afternoon he said had everything in order — but was very tired.

“As of right friggin’ now, I’m done ... I’m fried ... what’s my name?” he said with a laugh.

But HIO fans needn’t worry. Cobb says he’ll do it again next year. “Yeah ... I’ll do it again,” he said. “I have a lot of fun with these people. There’s some great people coming.”

Join Mike Boone for his live blog during every Canadiens game and post your comments at hockeyinsideout.com