Before this season, it has been a long time since a full Bell Centre hosted games with NHL playoff implications for the home team. In fact, due to COVID restrictions, and bubble playoffs, you have to go back all the way to April 2, 2019.
That night, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning to keep their hopes alive. Two days later, the team would lose on the road to end their chances to make the playoffs eventually finishing two points out of a spot with 96 points, a record for a team missing the playoffs. (It worked out OK for the Canadiens, they ended up with the 15th pick in the 2019 Draft, selecting a certain Cole Caufield).
The point is, it has been a while. Only two current Canadiens players were in that game: Brendan Gallagher and Joel Armia.
This run has reminded people just what a special place the Bell Centre can be. Through the mid-to-late 2010s, I think it was taken for granted a bit. People always talked about the arena being a special place, especially at playoff time, but it has been a long time since the arena has had a playoff game at full capacity. Since 2017, in fact.
It isn’t playoff time yet, of course, but that’s what makes this current atmosphere so special. You have a large group of players who have never experienced the full Montreal playoff experience (with all due respect to 2021, which was great, it isn’t comparable). You also have a not insignificant portion of the fan base that has never experienced this either. At least not in a way they can fully embrace it.
The result is a sort of positive vicious cycle. You have a crowd that is feeding off the excitement this team is providing them (although needing third period comebacks aren’t ideal, you can’t deny the atmosphere it creates), and you have a team that is feeding off the excitement the crowd.
Brendan Gallagher’s tying goal on Saturday night was a good example of that. Gallagher has been the catalyst for so many Habs teams, and was on this night. His reaction said a lot, and the crowd took it from there. Lane Hutson’s unbelievable effort happened less than 90 seconds after, and the Olé’s started.
The result is a swagger that the players on the ice and fans in the crowd share.
A lot has been said about the famous Forum ghosts not making the move East to the Bell Centre. And true, there hasn’t been a Stanley Cup. The Cup, of course, is the only standard of success for many in Montreal and the ultimate goal for every fan.
I choose to dispute this, however. If the ghosts weren’t around then how do you explain something like 2002? A team that just made it into the playoffs by two points riding the back of the league MVP in goal and a captain who returned after fighting cancer to upset the top seeded Boston Bruins.
How do you explain something like 2010, where after making the playoffs by a single point, an unheralded late-round pick earned the starting job from the appointed fifth overall pick and put the team on his back. Two series against the two best players of a generation, and two series wins.
How do you explain something like 2014, where a ragtag group of promising young players and grizzled veterans were led by their goaltender through two series wins as the underdog until an injury ended their hopes.
How do you explain something like 2021, where a team that limped into the playoffs – literally – left everything on the ice – literally – to make a magical run to the Stanley Cup final. There may have been only 2,500 fans in the building and thousands more outside, but the ghosts were there too.
How do you explain something like Brendan Gallagher. The heart and soul of the team for years having a career resurgence with 20 goals for the first time in years despite immense personal loss, scoring some of the biggest goals in this current run.
How do you explain something like Josh Anderson, a player now on the other side of 30 years old. Burdened (and seemingly buried) by the weight of expectations and the size of his contract finding the perfect role as the team’s warrior and Energizer Bunny and becoming a fan favourite.
The Bell Centre has been the stage for some mystique. Some magic, if you will.
Magic like Lane Hutson, a player constantly overlooked for being under a certain height weaving and creating plays like only a handful wearing a Canadiens jersey since 1996 have done, cementing his claim to the Calder Trophy.
Magic like Nick Suzuki, a player saddled with the weight of a letter on the front of his jersey and a number on his back that many thought kept him destined to be a #2 centre, not quite good enough to lead a contender. A player becoming one of the best in the world and scoring at a pace only seen once since the team permanently changed addresses.
It takes more than ghosts alone to win a Stanley Cup, that much has been proven. For the first time in a long time, it finally feels like the Canadiens are starting to build a team that has what it takes.
They aren’t quite there yet. Even if the Canadiens make the playoffs, they likely won’t win the Cup this year. But this feels different. It feels different because it is different. Of course, it might just be the recency bias, the absence of playoff hockey in front of the biggest crowds possible in North America making the heart grow fonder.
But why try to explain it? It’s why magicians never reveal their secrets. It ruins the wonder.