Yep, it’s time to step away from the burning-house Habs talk and relax. I got to thinking about how much I miss the Montreal Forum, but the cold reality then set in: the Bell Centre has been a part of my life for nearly as long as the Forum has. In fact, if you ignore those early years where nothing really seems to matter except toys and more toys, the Bell Centre indeed has been more a part of my life than the old shrine of hockey on Ste-Catherine & Atwater. Lining up for hockey tickets, or concert tickets on the upper floors of The Bay in Fairview or at the Dorval mall were always the spots to go. Lining up for tickets was part of the experience, but I’ll sacrifice that part of the journey in favour of the conveniences offered by the internet.
From Habs games, to Montreal Roadrunner games, to concerts, the Montreal Forum holds many amazing memories for me: Standing room playoff games vs the Bruins (Roy’s return from “appendicitis” most notably), Stopping the Leafs season opening winning streak in 93, Green Day on the day of the Referendum on Quebec separation, WWF events, Harlem Globetrotters…the list goes on and on. I wondered how the Bell Centre has stacked up, and I have to say, that as much as I’ll always favour the Forum for nostalgic reasons, the Bell Centre has provided many great times for me. Here’s a list in no particular order:
Habs at Penguins – Game 7 of the 2010 playoffs
Say what? Habs AT Penguins? Bell Centre? Huh? The Canadiens were on the verge of knocking off another Eastern Conference powerhouse and the Bell Centre was opened to the masses. A $10 ticket got you inside the Bell Centre to watch the game on the scoreboard. In the day leading up to game 7, all I could think about was how odd it would be to watch a game at the Bell Centre without the team actually being there. It was a phenomenal experience. I wrote about it here, but looking back, it really is astonishing to me what a crowd of 22,000 people can do to simulate a real game. The team was hundreds of kilometres away in Pennsylvania, but it was definitely my favourite and most unique Habs experience at the Bell Centre. The celebrations (and sadly, the looting) all made for a crazy, crazy night.
Foo Fighters, 2011
If Dave Grohl wasn’t considered one of rock’s great frontmen already, may have ascended right to the top of the list during this summer’s tour that landed in Montreal. For nearly 150 minutes the Foo Fighters blew the roof clear off the Bell Centre with a rip-roaring show for the ages. I’m not one for big arena shows, but the energy in the building that night was simply off the charts, and it all came from the band from the very first note. It’s hard to think about what today’s rock landscape would look like if Nirvana hadn’t been abruptly torpedoed. Everyone that I speak to that was at that show still raves about it to this day, and indeed it was probably the best rock show this city has seen in some time.
All Star Weekend, 2009
I didn’t have tickets to the game, to the skills competition or to any event in the city that weekend. I didn’t see any of the players, I wasn’t a part of the legion of people that got to pick up players at the airport as they arrived from out of town. Instead, I hung around the Bell Centre, checked out the miniature Hall of Fame / media tent that they had set up and just took in the sub-zero atmosphere. To see the Bell Centre decked out with massive banners of Carey Price, Alex Kovalev and Sidney Crosby was terrific. The exhibits around the Bell Centre were fantastic. It was well worth freezing myself half to death to get all of these cool pictures.
Canadiens Fan Appreciation Night, 2002
What was so memorable about a regular season finale where the Habs mailed it in for a 3-0 loss? Well, it was the second home game for Captain Saku Koivu after returning from cancer treatments, so there’s that. But what really made it memorable for me was around half way through the games when one of the usherettes came to us and asked us to check under our seats. Taped underneath my mom’s seat was a sealed envelope that said that she had been selected to meet a player at ice level at the game’s conclusion and get an authentic jersey signed by a randomly chosen player. My mom is a big Habs fan, but she passed off the winning ticket to me knowing that this would mean a lot more to me. About 5 minutes before the end of the game, all winners gathered at ice level in the corner of the arena (where the zambonis come out) and randomly selected a number between 1 and 25. I chose 24, my lucky number. It failed me that night, as I drew Yanic Perreault. Don’t get me wrong, he was the Habs best forward and leading scorer that year. He was a nice player, but ultimately a footnote in Habs history. It was even more disappointing to learn that choosing number 23 would have put me face to face with Doug Gilmour and 25 would have been Jose Theodore, who had his Hart Season that year. He was kind of a big deal. Anyway, it made for a really great experience. Being introduced by Michel Lacroix was a thrill, even if the building was 75% empty by that point! Shaking hands with Perreault, hanging around on the ice for a few moments with the winners & Habs players is something I won’t soon forget. I still have the jersey and the team 5×7 photo from that night.
Metallica, 2005
I first got in to Metallica in 1989, when I was just 11 years old. A bit young for such weighty subject matter in music, but I digress. I remained a fan for a relatively short period, until a couple guys named Vedder and Cobain came on to the scene. “Alternative” was in, metal was out. It remained that way for about a decade. While Metallica was falling off the map, other bands were making big names for themselves, at least in my mind. The earth’s axis was put back in proper order in 2005 when one of my best friends (and roomate at the time) came home from work with box seats to that night’s show. Without giving Metallica a second thought for a decade (except to make fun of Kirk Hammett’s painted fingernails), I was instantly stoked, and my anticipation was well rewarded. Metallica just so happens to be the tightest, most powerful band I’ve ever seen live, and I’ve seen more shows than I can count. When you’re sitting up in a box and still feel the intense heat from the pyrotechnics at stage level, you know something is going very, very right. Fortunately, the only face-melting that night was due to Hammett’s shredding. Hey, having your face torched in the same city twice was probably too much for one guy anyway. This show may be the loudest I’ve ever heard a crowd at the Bell Center, and that’s counting any and all Habs games. The other contender for loudest event at the Bell Center? Read on…
Honourable Mentions:
WWE Smackdown (sometime in the early 2000′s)
Ain’t no fan like a wrasslin fan! Growing up I was a huge wrestling fan. As they say, it’s a soap opera for guys. I had been to see the WWF at the Forum several times, and saw the greats; Macho Man, Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Big Boss Man, The Undertaker…but I had never been to one of their live-for-TV events. The old farts from the 80′s had passed the torch to the likes of Triple H, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin and they did not disappoint. If Metallica wasn’t the loudest event ever, then this was. The WWE had come a long way in terms of razzle dazzle since the 80′s, and it was a viciously fun time, even if pro wrestling is the biggest joke this side of Kim Kardashian’s views on marriage.
Star Wars in Concert, 2009
I was always able to evade the “dweeb” label growing up. As a scrawny kid with glasses, there should have been no other way to describe me. I had unhealthy obsessions with Star Wars (and still do), and comic books (it’s back). But I could always play sports as well as anyone, so I was given a break…I guess. But when it was announced that the music of Star Wars could be heard live and in concert, I could barely contain myself. An evening hosted by Anthony Daniels (that’s the “gay robot” from Star Wars for the clueless) where I got to hear John Williams’ iconic score performed by a live symphony orchestra? Yeah, it was awesome. Here’s a quick video that pretty much sums up what Montreal is all about:



