Thanks for the memories
How about those Canadiens?
Their incredible playoff run captured this country’s imagination, including many people who had vowed to never cheer for Montreal in hockey.
But the narrative was so compelling — a determined, resilient underdog scrubbing teams they were never expected to beat and advancing all the way to Stanley Cup finals.
Many puck pundits feel, because hockey is fullcontact and its playoff schedule is so gruelling, that the Stanley Cup is one of the hardest sports trophies to win.
Les Habitants came oh so close. And that could not have come at a better time.
After 16 difficult months of life distanced and disrupted by COVID-19, Canadians needed a unifying and distracting force as we begin to emerge from the pandemic.
That force may just have been the Montreal Canadiens.
The deeper the Habs went in the playoffs, the more people gathered in front of screens to watch, the more hilarious memes filled social media feeds, the more non-hockey fans talked excitedly about our game, and the more we were temporarily not thinking about lockdowns and that virus.
Of course, in the middle of Montreal’s playoff run came the discovery of hundreds of unmarked Indigenous children’s graves at a residential school in B.C.
Non-Indigenous Canadians started grappling with the actions of their ancestors, feeling the pull towards reconciliation. That will take a lot of education, understanding and time, especially since thousands more gravesites are expected to be discovered.
The skill and poise of Canadiens goaltender Carey Price just might have helped inch the healing process along.
Descended from Ulkatcho First Nation in B.C., his grandmother was a residential school survivor.
His hockey brilliance was the train Montreal rode to the Cup finals and he became a hero to many.
His game was stellar, but so was the respectful way he quietly addressed the first disturbing discovery at a former residential school.
The thing about our heroes is that we tend to listen to them. When asked about the unmarked graves, Price encouraged people to learn more about residential schools.
En route to a game in Winnipeg, Price stopped to meet with residential school survivor Gerry Shingoose.
“You could see the kindness and caring,” Shingoose told reporters.
Price’s actions had more people rooting for Montreal and his quest for a first Stanley Cup.
And the compassion he exemplifies can serve as an example to us all.
So, thank you, No. 31. And thank you to all the Montreal Canadiens — Weber, Gallagher, Anderson, Toffoli and the others.
You all gave us something to cheer about and something to work toward.
As they sing from the rafters in Montreal when the Canadiens win, “Olé, Olé, Olé.”
A team from Canada did not win the Cup, but we are all better for this playoff run.