The NHL play-offs are in full force. My beloved Leafs did not even make the play-offs this year…..again. With the Maple Leafs out of contention I had to pick a new team to cheer on. I chose the Washington Capitals because in a six degrees of separation sort of way I kind of know the coach. (Although he wouldn’t have a clue who I am any longer)
So along comes the Montreal Canadiens. This is a team that only made the play-offs because they managed to tie the Leafs in the final game and then relied on
Everyone assumed it would be a short series with the Capitals having an easy time of it. But as any kind of sports fan now knows, the underdog Canadiens came through and some how beat the powerful Capitals.
All through the series as it became apparent Montreal might some how win, you could hear the thumps of everyone jumping on the band wagon……..including my dear Jen living in Kingston. Because of her proximity to
The next round brought on
That band wagon is getting very crowded right now. But I still can’t do it. No way, no how, can I cheer for the Habs. Now they are playing the Philadelphia Flyers. They are down in the series two games to none. They are definitely the underdogs. They are the only Canadian team left in the play-offs. But they do have GTA boy Mike Cammelleri who is really cute. Can I do it? Can I actually start cheering for
Me….a Habs fan? Say it ain’t so.
2 comments:
When I was a young man living in the Chicago area, I became a huge hockey fan. The Blackhawks were my team, of course, and the Canadiens were their big rivals. With players like Jean Beliveau, who could score goals at will, and John Ferguson,the "policeman" on the ice, the Habs were always tough to beat. But we had Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Phil Esposito (for a while),Tony Esposito, Keith Magnuson, and many others to take care of Montreal when they needed to. What a great game hockey is, and what a history the Montreal team has, even if they are hated by many folks.
And please tell this transplanted Yank what "GTA" means
Hey Ed! Good hearing from you. Yes, the Habs are a love 'em or hate 'em kind of team. Over 100 years of history.
You wouldn't be expected to know GTA - a local term for "Greater Toronto Area" Mike Cammalleri is originally from Richmond Hill which is a city just outside of Toronto.
Southern Ontario is so built up now, Toronto just sort of blends into an assortment of lots of other cities, so the whole area is referred to as the GTA....sometimes they call it the "905 area" as well because originally all of the phone numbers in that area started with 905 while Toronto proper area code is 416. Of course now with the proliferation of cells phones, everyone has a different area code and you can't seem to keep track of matching area codes to actual areas anymore.
WOW! That was a long answer to a very short question.
By the way...Chicago is playing San Jose right now in the western conference. Did you ever think when you were living in Chicago one day the Black Hawks would be playing a team from San Jose?????
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