Hockey in Montreal

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I know very little about hockey and I remember very little from French in school. These two things are very important in Montreal leaving me very confused.

I was just at the Canadians vs. Winnipeg game at the Center Bell, Montreal. I was right up in the nosebleed section with the cheapest tickets I could find and it seemed like I was with all the rowdy die-hard fans; I was the only one without a Jersey on. They absolutely love it up here! It was a sellout crowd of almost 22,000, absolutely crazy compared with the 100 odd you would get at a UConn hockey game.

Most people here speak English as a second language to French, so I could only understand a small number of the announcements. I've found this the most difficult thing coming across the boarder from the US. The cheerleader was shouting at me in French so that I would join in with the cheers but I didn't get a chance to say my well rehearsed 'Parlez-vouz anglais' over the crowd, so I made some noise and went along with it.

I was told that the home team wasn’t having a great season with only 6 wins, and after the opposition scored in the first few minutes I wasn't hopeful. Anyway, tonight they were either on their game or the other team was shit because it was 2-1 to the Canadians after the first third (I know right, what sport plays in thirds?) and in the last third this guy Eller got on a hat trick (and a total of 4 goals for the night) within 8 minutes ending with a score of 7-3, everyone was on their feet chanting his name and doing some more French chants. His last goal was a penalty; a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, where he did this crazy spin move and got the goal, it was amazing!

I got to see a fight as well, which is the real reason why I went. It was awesome, a bit of push and shove then it was sticks down, gloves off and laying into each other. Helmets came off and there were some pretty sweet headshots. The crowd loved it and the Refs know it so they let it continue for about a minute.

Anyway, most of the game I didn't really know what was going on with rules/penalties/language etc. but I had a great time, I definitely recommend catching a game if you head to Canada.

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