Montreal was a riot! hayooo!
Montreal Part I
We decided to “rough it” in a hotel right in the heart of downtown Montreal (5 minutes from the Bell Centre). Our first night in the city was also game 7 of the Habs and Bruins series!
We split a pitcher of sangria and I ordered way too much food for the both of us (sorry kimi)
My sister actually got into the game, cheering and high-fiving even (she will deny it)
Montreal blows out the Bruins 5-0. This was one of those times where I was faced with a choice - something amazing was about to happen and I was either going to A: Put the camera down and experience the moment to the fullest, or B: Live vicariously through my viewfinder in hopes of capturing the moment. I chose option C: Try to enjoy the moment and snap a ton of photos without the use of the viewfinder. (EPIC FAIL) My apologies for the rest of these photos.
We ran out onto the street and so did everyone else…
I mean EVERYONE…
This street is the equivalent of Robson street for all you Vancouverites.
It took forever to make our way down this street.
A tin foil Stanley Cup was being tossed around like a pinata.
We made our way slowly down to the arena.
Suddenly this swarm of people and cameras started moving quickly across the parking lot…
At the heart of it, was this guy hahaha!
This was the wrong night to be wearing this jersey. The morning news said he got roughed up but im pretty sure he lived.
We went back to our hotel just as things got CRAZY. Shops were looted and vandalised, police cars were torched and used as trampolines, the Reebok store around the corner from our hotel had its front windows smashed. 16 people were arrested and there was about $500,000 in damage to the police cars alone! The Habs win the first round of playoffs and its like the ‘94 riots in Vancouver! What will it be like if they win the Cup? What if they lose?
The fans here are crazy! I love ‘em! Not the idiot ones that harshed the vibe last night (riot squad could be somewhat to blame) but I just love seeing the passion, as a fellow sports fan - I mean the crowd at the Bell Centre was chanting “na na na na hey hey hey goodbye” after game 1! If Lord Stanley’s Cup was handed out to the team with the most hardcore fans (and loudest building) I think Montreal would have paraded the holy grail down Ste. Catherine Street every year for the past decade.*
*I am still a Canucks fan for life - I’m just saying… you’d probably have to come out to Montreal to understand - it’s inSANITY!
Similar Posts
Radiohead Vancouver was epic! - 20.08.08
Beastie Boys Live - PART 2 - 16.10.08
Flora Hanitijo - 12.11.08
holy frick thats awesome man haha. i cant believe that you were there to experience the whole riot. must have been insane to be there. the fans are 100x more hardcore than vancouver fans, and i thought we were crazy. glad you lived to tell the tale of the montreal riot, and snap a few pics too!
Those pics are intense. To think, its been over a decade since Vancouver fans have shown passion for the game similar to that of the Montreal fans. We got a new GM, by the way (pavel bure’s former agent, and Markus Naslunds current agent). I feel terrible for the dude wearing the bruins jersey. Actually, I take that back. That dude is a moron for wearing that jersey. He is lucky to be alive.