In recent memory, there has never been any other season with so much leadup hype as the upcoming Montreal Canadiens season.
Canadiens fans and management are still waiting for new faces Alex Tanguay and Georges Laraque to don le bleu, blanc, et rogue for the first time in their careers. They are hoping they can make a difference in the Canadiens lineup in this historical year.
Include the Mats Sundin rumours that still have not stopped, and this offseason has been enticing, even anxious at times.
Now, with only a few weeks before rookie and training camps open, the realization of something great is dawning—NHL hockey is coming back, and it is coming back with a bang!
With so much potential, hopes, and dreams running on this centennial season, it makes the Canadiens fans more than anxious—it makes them expectant of something great, something extraordinary this season. Something equal to the playoff run of the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs, or even of 1986.
For one of the most storied franchises in NHL and hockey history, they have been playing lower than many of their past teams have been, with only four trips to the second round in 15 years.
And this season, with so many expectations for success, will it finally happen? Will the ghosts of the Forum finally make their way through the Bell Centre doors and live in the rafters with the retired jerseys?
Morenz, Richard, Plante, Geoffrion, and others have gone from this world.
They are still with us—and hopefully they can help the current team on the ice in their biggest celebration yet.
8 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Miah D. 10 months ago
it definitely feels something special to be able to look at ur team and aspire for something better than just making the playoffs. looking at the seasons back, it has been definitely a while that fans could not talk about the east contention ... or more ... the cup ...
they have set the table last season , let's see how they go from there!
can't wait to see Alex tanguay!
by the way, about the sundin rumour. Gainey did an interview today, he said there is no reason to be optimistic on the case. sundin showed no sign of interest, nothing at all . BUT gainey is always having his plan B, since the Habs are not having troubles with the salary cap, they may work with team who have to free their cap ... we'll see!
great read
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mark o'keefe 10 months ago
I think there may be something in the works with the Rangers... maybe Gomez or Drury heading our way... They need the cap space free'd up... i't take either of them. I'm very interested in seeing Tanguay, but i'm really looking to see how Sergei Kostitsyn does this year..
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Wrath of Khan 10 months ago
When we retire Roy's jersey then and only then IMO will the ghosts come to the Bell Centre. There were not impressed with the Habs Mangment of how they handled the Roy situation. It didn't help either when some genius decided to turn the Holy forum into a F'en movie theatre.
Until that happens were gonna have to rely on our players playing on the ice. But I totally agree this year will be special.
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Philippe Larin 10 months ago
The Forum Ghosts are a thing of the past, like the old Forum itself. That was then, and this is now. Professional hockey is a business. Big business. Yes, there's hype. Montreal is well known for it's rabid press corps and thousands of 'off ice' coaches that can presumably predict the future. It's all hogwash and wishful thinking.
What it boils down to is, if the players that we will end up putting on the ice come October decide they want to repeat last year's heroics, and then some, then the team will go past the second round.
There's nothing in the cards for Sundin coming to Montreal (he's heavily rumoured to be going to Vancouver, if he can make his mind up on wanting to play hockey again), or for that matter, Roy's number being hoisted in the Bell Center's rafters. And it's probably a good thing that both won't happen: the addition of Tanguay and Laraque (if he plays a few games) should be a couple of tangible reasons the Habs will go further than last year. The other reason is that Gainey, because he's very prudent in his trade moves, will not want to destroy the team chemistry we have now. The aforementioned Sundin and Roy scenarios would break that chemistry and tradition of honouring those that really deserve being idolized in Montreal.
And then there's the mid-season trade deadline in February...
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Matt Eichel 10 months ago
The Forum Ghosts are maybe a thing that was acquainted with the old Montreal Forum, but things happen in hockey that can be unexplicable, like McSorley's illegal stick, Smith's unlucky bounce into his own net, and sudden, unexplicable momentum changes. With a storied franchise such as Montreal, their history is full of these things.
Ken Dryden's heroics in his first playoffs against the heavily favoured Bruins, Patrick Roy's unbelievable performances in both 1986 and 1993, 10 OT wins, McSorley's stick again. I felt a little of that same magic last playoffs and season and I haven't felt that feeling for a long, long, long time.
The ghosts may still live in the Forum, but the diehard fan wants to believe they can move. If they don't, there are new legends and ghosts to be made in the Bell Centre. Instead of Richard, Beliveau, and Lafleur, they may be Kovalev, Koivu, and Price. We'll see.
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Benjamin Trottier 10 months ago
''unexplicable momentum changes''
The only thing that came to my mind after having read these three word is... the dark and sad day Patrick Roy was traded to the Avs for... well ? Almost nothing valuable.
The momentum of the team took a serious step down right after that and it take us almost ten years to recover from such vital injury...
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Benjamin Trottier 10 months ago
But for real, I think the ghosts clearly left the building the day Serge Savard was fired by president Ronald Corey in the debut of the 1995-1996 season after a negative start of 1-4... The team begun to fall apart right after that...
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Matt Eichel 10 months ago
That was the worst move in Canadiens history to be sure. Whatever Corey's reasons were, it brought the team down and they have never seemed to recover. Here we are over 10 seasons later finally back to a point where the team is as competitive as they were before 1995-96.
And the ghosts may have taken notice...
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