{"id":563669,"date":"2026-04-30T21:09:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T21:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/563669\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T21:09:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T21:09:23","slug":"theres-lots-and-lots-of-volume-but-theres-more-to-bell-centre-than-the-noise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/563669\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s lots (and lots) of volume, but there\u2019s more to Bell Centre than the noise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Fans of the Montreal Canadiens have made the Bell Centre incredibly loud during the team’s series with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Canadiens have a chance to close the series out on Friday at home.Christinne Muschi\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more than just the sheer noise that makes Montreal\u2019s Bell Centre the best building in the NHL<\/a>, although the cliff face of almost frightening volume is definitely a factor. <\/p>\n

The jumbotron registered 108 decibels last Friday after the Canadiens\u2019 thrilling overtime win in the Game 3 of the playoffs\u2019 first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning \u2013 right around the average human pain threshold, and about as loud as a steel mill. (Again, this was after the game.)<\/p>\n

It is also the quality of the noise that makes the Habs\u2019 rink such a joyful place to watch a hockey game, and such a forbidding place for opponents to play \u2013 as the Lightning are about to be reminded in Game 6 on Friday, with Montreal looking to clinch. <\/p>\n

Canadiens fans don\u2019t just cheer goals, hits, and saves; they are hockey connoisseurs who whistle their appreciation of timely poke checks and intelligent decisions to dump the puck in for a change. <\/p>\n

That patina of civilization evaporates, of course, the second a referee calls a questionable penalty, or Nikita Kucherov deigns to step on the ice. Then, a tidal wave of venom descends from 21,000 red-sweatered hooligans, and a tent revival turns into a pitchfork-wielding mob. <\/p>\n

Quebec church becomes unlikely Habs playoff watch hub<\/a><\/p>\n

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper played it cool when he was asked about the atmosphere at the Bell Centre ahead of last Friday\u2019s game. \u201cWe\u2019re not playing against the fans, we\u2019re playing against the Montreal Canadiens,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Sure, Jon. Tell that to Habs centre Kirby Dach. He was the goat in Game 2\u2019s loss after a couple bad defensive plays led to the winning goal, but was met with reassuring chants of his name during warm-ups before Game 3 and promptly scored a goal to redeem himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely meant a lot,\u201d said Dach after the game. \u201cWe pulled together and used the crowd to our advantage.\u201d <\/p>\n

Athletes always praise their public, but possibly only players for the Montreal Canadiens speak of their arena like an infectious disease that afflicts sufferers with synesthesia. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s contagious,\u201d said defenceman Jayden Struble last Friday night. \u201cIt\u2019s the loudest building you\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his overtime goal with teammate Kaiden Guhle (21) against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of their playoff series, at the Bell Centre on April 24, in Montreal.Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Fans cheer Montreal Canadien Cole Caufield after he scored his 50th goal in a regular season game against the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this month.Christopher Katsarov\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

The sounds of a game die down once fans reach the commuter train platform, but Montreal hockey also has something non-fungible that makes its home permanently electric: history. Team organist and unofficial mascot Diane Bibeau has been piping in ambiance since 1987. The building is plastered with team colours of unparalleled evocativeness, the blood red and royal blue and ice white of 24 Stanley Cups. The rafters look like the T-shirt rack at Winners, so crowded are they with championship banners and retired sweaters. <\/p>\n

At the Bell Centre, there\u2019s a chance you might actually bump into former player and 10-time Stanley Cup winner Yvan Cournoyer. He opened the game on Friday by walking out of the tunnel holding a torch aloft with the same puckish smile that helped make him a fan favourite in his playing days. <\/p>\n

They can\u2019t pull that kind of thing off in Tampa. (The most celebrated former player in Lightning history is probably Martin St. Louis, who is currently head coach of the Canadiens.) <\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at all these great names, and you just want to be part of that,\u201d said Struble. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Montreal Canadien and 10-time Stanley Cup winner Yvan Cournoyer holds up a torch ahead of Game 3 of the team’s first round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Montreal.Christinne Muschi\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

In some ways, being part of Habs history is something the Bell Centre is still trying to achieve. For all the arena\u2019s atmosphere and cachet, no Canadiens team has raised a Cup in its confines. The fabled ghosts of the Forum didn\u2019t migrate with the team when it moved east to its new home in 1996. Fans don\u2019t yet talk of a Bell Centre curse, but they might start if something doesn\u2019t give. <\/p>\n

This building gives its skaters every chance to succeed. A recent NHL players poll<\/a> overwhelmingly proclaimed Montreal to have the best ice quality in the league. Captain Nick Suzuki\u2019s place in the locker room sits under a portrait of fellow short king \u2013 and, oh yeah, 11-time Stanley Cup winner \u2013 Henri Richard. In case he needed extra motivation. <\/p>\n

The venue and its rabid inhabitants let the players know every home game what glories await them if they make it to the promised land. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe city would just set on fire if we won the Cup,\u201d said Struble, with a pyromaniac\u2019s glint in his eye. <\/p>\n

If any Habs team of the past 30 years can strike the match, it\u2019s this one. No group has taken the Bell Centre\u2019s immaculate ice with such promise: young stars like Suzuki, 50-goal scorer Cole Caufield, offensive phenom Ivan Demidov, and Game 3 hero Lane Hutson threaten to make their building painfully loud for many years to come. <\/p>\n

Now, all they have to do is win. And give life to some new ghosts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Fans of the Montreal Canadiens have made the Bell Centre incredibly loud during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5103],"tags":[1018,1001,1019,967,991,1020,19,990,1008,1009,1004,992,989,265,1014,1016,1013,1007,1000,1030,993,994,1006,5,1002,1003,997,1021,264,21,5147,998,1025,1026,4,1028,1023,1027,786,1024,995,1011,1012,333,1010,1022,86,1015,1017,1005,999,996,1029],"class_list":{"0":"post-563669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal-canadiens","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-canadiens","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-hockey","32":"tag-life-news","33":"tag-lifestyle","34":"tag-local-news","35":"tag-manitoba","36":"tag-montreal","37":"tag-montreal-canadiens","38":"tag-montrealcanadiens","39":"tag-national-news","40":"tag-new-brunswick","41":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","42":"tag-nhl","43":"tag-northwest-territories","44":"tag-nova-scotia","45":"tag-nunavut","46":"tag-ontario","47":"tag-pei","48":"tag-photos","49":"tag-political-news","50":"tag-political-opinion","51":"tag-politics","52":"tag-politics-news","53":"tag-quebec","54":"tag-sports-news","55":"tag-technology","56":"tag-travel","57":"tag-trudeau","58":"tag-us-news","59":"tag-world-news","60":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}