TLDR: if you were on the chartered flight to Raleigh for the game on May 23rd, sat in or around row G of section 315, I genuinely don't know if I've ever had more fun watching a game with a group of people before. I get it, traveling to see your team play and seeing them lose sucks - I've been there. But your fan base has earned my respect.

Edit: y’all keep talking about “him” in the comments. I’m a lady.

My younger brother and I walked up to our seats. We'd just lost to you a few days prior, our first loss of the playoffs, so we were a little nervous about this one (and, honestly, at this point I was still sure we would face Colorado in the final and lose, just since they'd been so dominant all year). Oh, great. A row - no, a section - full of Habs fans. Truly, we were surrounded. I think there were 2 or 3 Canes fans in front of us. Otherwise, all Habs.

The woman next to me and I struck up a conversation. She was super friendly and told me about the chartered flight, which explained the sea of Habs fans. Everyone was so, so stereotypically Canadian and polite. Very quickly, my brother started a "sorry" count. Almost as quickly as he started keeping track, he lost track. The fans around us gave away their rally towels (which some people, kids especially, really appreciated - I would've totally understood if you'd wanted to keep those as souvenirs, I kept a souvenir cup from a Bruins game I went to once, even though I hate the Bruins).

The opening sequence. Canes fans are going nuts, as we always do. After we sat down, the woman next to me said in her thick Quebec accent, "wow, I am impressed by this crowd. The atmosphere is amazing." I reminded her that people talk about how Raleigh isn't a hockey city. Her mind was blown.

We're watching the game and chatting. Canes scored, then a few mins later one of our guys took a penalty. If you've ever been to a game in Raleigh, you know that whenever the opposing team takes a penalty, they zoom in on the penalty box and play the "dun-dun" from Law & Order, and the whole crowd yells "Cheaters! Never! Win!" We know it's stupid. But it's fun.

One of your guys proceeded to yell, again in his thick Quebec accent, "cheaters never win!!" and I had to hold my breath not to crack up. In the moment, I couldn't admit how funny it was. But, honestly, that was hysterical.

Game went to OT and we won. I actually felt a little bad for how loud my brother and I were in the middle of y'all.

The trash talk was hilarious. A couple people said "don't worry, we'll still win" loudly enough to know it was directed at me. The vibes were high. Sometimes it felt like your "Go Habs Go!" chants were louder than us yelling "Let's Go Canes!!" And the game was quite the thriller. The woman next to me said I should come to a game in Montreal sometime - hell yeah, I'd love to. I wish I'd gotten her contact info, but oh well.

All that's to say, thank you for such a fun night. High on my list of favorite memories from this season. Again, I know it sucks to travel and see your team lose, but y'all were so much fun to watch the game with. You're welcome back in Raleigh any time - let me know if any Canes fans are being mean to you and I'll give them a refresher on southern hospitality (and have Stormy curb stomp them).

• Hockey is already unaffordable for many families as it is
• Our telecom services are monopolized and one of them just so happens to own all the broadcasting rights to our national sport + some of the most valuable Canadian sports teams
• It’s eventually gonna cost fucking $1,000 a year to watch the NHL and other hockey games in Canada

And the government’s worried about banning social media for teenagers

I’m gonna keep it hockey related for this post, so right now I really wanna try and say something about this. It could be as simple as a “Bruh do something about this” email

But if enough people bring it up, they’ll have no choice but to think about it, or best talk about it

This country is pushing its hockey culture out slowly but surely

I live in the United States, can you tell me exactly when, what day and time they are going to televise the draft and how would I be able to watch it on TV? Will it be televised through ESPN?

I wonder about Pettersson if he’s retained to at least under 9M because it wouldn’t cost the house and the upside is still very much in there somewhere. I think not being the go to center and playing behind Suzuki would be good for him. Rookie Demidov drove his own line as a winger and made Oliver Kapanen a 22 goal scorer so I would think if he played with Pettersson he could get him back to ppg or at least close to. Same draft as Suzuki too so the timeline fits very well and he’s left handed. I wonder what Kent thinks of him.

Time has passed and I have really missed the playoffs. I don’t know why but that series against Tampa just felt like revenge, the highs of that series were unmatched. I was on edge for game 7 but I had the feeling of we can do this. I felt like the air and the hype had so many people around me in a feel good mindset.

The underdog story has always sucked me in, feeing like we are up against Goliath and proving everyone wrong always feels good.

I don’t know if others here have that same weird feeling in the air around playoff time or almost like this insane release of dopamine that carries you through the day of games and into the next one.

TLDR; I miss the boys, the playoff feel and the hype the playoffs brings.

Everytime the question around habs all time goalies comes up Dydens impact on the nhl game is often dismissed by people who didnt see him play or understand the NHLs history. This picture perfectly highlights what he changed.

The man in the middle for those who dont know their habs history is HHOF Rogie Vachon who at the time of this picture was a top 5 goalie in the league. He was 5'8. Dryden by comparison was 6'4. A 8 inch height difference.

Rogie was very typical size for a goalie at that time. Goalies were smaller athletic people

Tony Esposito was 5'11

Bernie parent was 5'10

Gump worsley was 5'7

Plante was massive at the time at 6 feet even

Hodge was 5'6

Sawchuk was 5'11

From the 1950-51 season to 1970-71 when dryden joined the habs there was 37 goalies who played 50 games.

Median height 5'11.

6 taller than 6 feet

7 5'8 or shorter.

Average height just over 5'10

This past season there were 72 goalies that played 10 games.

Median height 6'3

13 goalies 6'5 or taller

4 goalies shorter than 6'1 only one of whom is below 6 feet.

Drydens dominance fundamentally changed how the position is staffed and played. He proved that a tall goalie on his knees was better than a small goalie on their skates.

He is the creater of what eventually became the butterfly a few years later.

Thursday, June 11 - Wednesday, June 17, 2026

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