Montreal Canadiens Vs. Montreal Maroons: An NHL Expansion Dream

At the corner of Atwater and St. Catherine streets in downtown Montreal sits the old Montreal Forum, the cornerstone of a run down stretch of the city that was once teeming with tourists, tavern-goers, and tried and true hockey fans.

Like the neighbourhood itself, the building is a shell of its former glory, its history hallowed out by progress, replaced with a movie theatre, comedy club, electronics store and an Italian restaurant.

For decades, the Forum was the home of the Montreal Canadiens and if its walls could talk, it would regale us with stories of Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau, Ken Dryden and Guy Lafluer, and talk at length about the banners that once hung high along its rafters.

It may surprise you to learn, however, that the Forum was never built for the Montreal Canadiens but for Montreal's other NHL hockey team of lore, the Montreal Maroons.

Favoured by Montreal's English-speaking community at the time, the Maroons enjoyed moderate success in the 20's, winning two Stanley Cups of their own, with help from roster players like King Clancy and Toe Blake, men who would also leave sizable footprints in hockey history.

The Great Depression was the beginning of the end for the Maroons, both that club and the Canadiens struggling to find a fan base during those difficult times. Ultimately, despite a Cup win in '34-'35 season, hard times caught up to the Maroons and, with the Habs having a much larger francophone fan base, the owners decided to sell the team to interests in Philadelphia. 

Fast forward a few decades and Montreal has no shortage of hockey fans.  

The Canadiens consistently sell-out every home game, every season. You'll find all 21,273 seats filled with rabid, boisterous fans. They are the Habs' harshest critics but the proudest supporters. There's a reason the Canadiens sell the slogan: "The City is Hockey."

With that kind of loyalty, that much dedication to the team, and sport in general, perhaps it's time the league, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, look at bringing back the Maroons to Montreal.

The only reason the Maroons left in the first place was financial instability. Of course, in the 1930's, it was tough to find any one who was financially secure. 

These days, despite a tough economy, it's feasible Montreal could handle two NHL teams. New York does to much success. New York also has a very profitable hometown baseball rivalry; so does Chicago. There's no reason Montreal couldn't have its own cross-town rivalry as opposed to a provincial one, like it had with the defunct Quebec Nordiques.

While fans may enjoy it, it's unlikely current Canadiens owner George Gillette would be in favour of it. Right now, he's got the monopoly on hockey in Montreal and to start sharing in the cash cow that is the Canadiens fan base is not something he'd be willing to do. For that matter, it's unlikely any owner would want a second team in Montreal when there are other untapped markets to exploit.

Still, in a hockey-hungry city like Montreal, a second NHL franchise could result in a profitable return on somebody's investment. 

Sure, it's a pipe-dream but there are whispers of it scrawled at online bulletin boards, anonymous posters who would embrace a second hockey club in Montreal offering, perhaps, an alternative to what they perceive as overpriced, corporate-owned, non-existent Habs tickets.

Either way, it would be a great way to honor the game, its fans, and the city as the league prepares to celebrate the Canadiens centennial.

Who knows, it may even breathe some new life in to the old Montreal Forum, its great history—much like the Maroons—disappearing like so many of the businesses around it, lost among the blockbuster movies, bad jokes, HDTV's, and stale bread-sticks.