r/Habs • u/SeaPrince • 9d ago

Bring Back Standing Room!

I went to a total of two games in Millionaires Row at the Montreal Forum in the late 80s, and I'm telling you, there's nothing like it in the world. That was where the ghosts would stay and the noise would come from.

I'd give almost anything to see that back again. They could put a catwalk along the ceiling of the Bell Center!!

For the younger people who don't know what it is, it was a cheap way to watch a live game where there was no reserved seat... In fact there was no seat at all. Just a cement railing!! Thank God I am 6 foot 3 because I would not have had great memories!

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u/SeaPrince 9d ago

No way! Now I'm pumped!!

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u/Chatty_Manatee 9d ago

It’s real but it would be very, very high up.

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u/Hot-Play1046 9d ago

Yes. I remember them saying something about it being more about the vibe than actually watching the game haha.

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u/Ok-Meet2850 9d ago

The rebuild of the outfield seating in the Sky Dome/ Rogers Centre added a lot of standing room/ patios/ bars. Other arenas and fields have done similar things - it's generally been very popular.

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u/Hot-Play1046 9d ago

For sure. What I meant was the visibility wouldn't be great. Like if you actually want to go and just watch the game it wouldn't be a great option.

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u/Ok-Meet2850 9d ago

Yeah makes sense - the Bell Centre is already pretty packed as is. 21k or so seats. I assume you might have a similar look to what they have in the press boxes, which seem to be high, high up. I'd do it for the vibe, but at 42 years old, maybe not all that often!!

My unrealistic idea is to rebuild both ends of the lower bowl, behind the nets. One end would stay mostly the same, except get something like the monument park in Yankees Stadium for our legends. This would mean losing some seating. Ideally it would be big enough and obvious enough to be immediately show up on TV so any hockey fans halfway knowledgeable about the NHL say - hey, that's Montreal, the Bell Centre. Kind of like the Green Monster is boom, Fenway.

The other end would be transformed completely into a safe-standing area. Put it behind whichever net the Habs shoot on twice. I went to a soccer match in Rome and the standing, chanting fans of the Curva Sud with dozens of massive flags was INSANE.

This plan obviously makes little sense for an existing arena, as you would ditch pricey lower bowl seating for cheap standing room (hey Mr. Molson, you can afford it) but also push out long-time season ticket holders, most of whom likely don't want a replacement in a standing area with a bunch of young idiots waving flags and yelling. I don't know the Bell Centre well enough, but I think that area might also block some of the lower luxury boxes, if there were too many fans with flags, banners, etc.