‘Hockey city’: experts say Canadiens fever fuelled by team’s winning history

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“It’s a challenge, for sure. The place was loud tonight. You feel the energy and you’d feel that they had momentum off of it,” Thompson told journalists after the Canadiens won the third game of the series last Sunday night.

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Experts attribute that enthusiasm to the team’s 117-year history — it is the oldest team in the National Hockey League — and how it has intertwined with Quebec history.

“Montreal is a hockey city,” says Nicolas Moreau, a social sciences professor at the University of Ottawa and author of the book “Le Canadien de Montréal: une légende repensée.”

Moreau says fans historically rallied around the team in the 20th century to celebrate seeing local heroes who were the best in the world. It was during an era when tensions ran high between anglophones and francophones, and some felt English-speaking Canadians and Americans were always coming out on top.

“French Canadians in general weren’t experiencing such obvious successes … there were no major economic or cultural achievements. So, the Canadiens filled a void. Success came through them,” said Moreau.

He says the current geopolitical climate is similar today as many Montrealers and Canadians are jumping on the Habs bandwagon this spring.

“By winning games on American soil, by hosting a team from the United States here and beating them, in a way, it’s a symbolic revenge against the economic dominance Canada might face from the U.S. tariffs,” said Moreau.

He added that though each team is a mix of Canadian and American players, “that doesn’t matter; they’re wearing the Canadiens’ jersey.”

Though the Canadiens are the league’s winningest team, it’s been more than three decades since it last brought the Stanley Cup home. Fans are clearly hungry for it, says Benoît Melançon, a French literature professor at Université de Montréal who wrote three books on the Canadiens de Montréal.

He says there is something organic about the frenzy — especially after a long winter — but adds there’s a “feedback loop” where fans are told they’re the best and the loudest, and they make sure to live up to the reputation.

“There is a very strong sense of identity, and that didn’t come from outside — it came from the Canadiens themselves,” says Melançon. “The marketing team is saying, ‘Look, we are Montreal.’”

According to Melançon, it’s a “good time to get invested” in the team.

Most players are here to stay, he says, which adds to the enthusiasm that seems particularly strong this year, and several of them are from Quebec.

“Historically, Canadiens players stayed in Montreal for a very, very long time,” he said, referring to former superstars such as Jean Béliveau and Maurice Richard, who stayed with the team for their entire playing careers, winning multiple Stanley Cups.

Moreau agrees, saying “it’s also been a long time since we’ve had such an exciting team with young players who can create plays.”

Even those using homelessness resources centres make sure to tune in on game nights, placing bets on the final score and rooting for their favourite players.

It’s no wonder hockey has a special place in Montrealers’ hearts and is bringing the city together, Moreau says. Sports can help “forge a social bond that cuts across society, bringing together people who are very different and putting our economic and social differences aside for a while.”

But Moreau says that effect is typically short-lived.

“Next we’ll have the World Cup,” he said.

— With files from Daniel Rainbird in Montreal

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on

The Canadian Press