Die-hard Montreal Canadiens fans showed the Tampa Bay area what team spirit is all about at Friday's playoff game.
By BRADY DENNIS
Published April 24, 2004
[Times photos: Chris Zuppa]
Reflected in the barrier surrounding the ice, Paul Parenteau, 65, of Montreal watches the Canadiens warm up Friday before the playoff game against the Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum. He attends most Canadiens games.
Wearing Montreal Canadien jerseys, David and Linda Mollica wait outside the St. Pete Times Forum for game time. "For us, this is religion. It's bigger than religion," David Mollica said. The couple traveled from Montreal for the big playoff game.
Jamie Chenciner, 11, and his family split time living in Sanibel and Montreal, but they cheered the Canadiens on Friday.
TAMPA - The rock band was playing, the stilt man was pacing, the clown was blowing balloons and the tailgaters were slugging back beers.
David Mollica - scarf around his neck, wool hat on his head and Montreal Canadiens jersey covering his chest - looked around and shook his head.
This isn't how the hockey pregame routine goes in Montreal.
"The atmosphere here is more like a party," said the 27-year-old Canadian, who made the trip south with his wife, Linda. "For us, this is religion. It's bigger than religion."
Exaggerations aside, Tampa Bay Lightning fans could learn a lesson or two about passion from the Montreal faithful who flocked to the St. Pete Times Forum on Friday evening for the first game in a playoff series between the two teams.
They were easy to spot - specks of red and white in a sea of Lightning blue and black. They were fat and skinny, French-speaking and English-speaking. They came in different ages, like 65-year-old Paul Parenteau, who attends most Canadiens game, and 18-year-old Stephanie Desrochers, who plays on a city hockey team back in Montreal.
But this much was certain: They all were devoted.
"Well, it's much easier to get tickets here than there," 42-year-old Dan Holmes said.
Understand that he said this after hopping in a Dodge Caravan with his wife, Debbie, and driving 24 hours from Oshawa, a town near Toronto. That's 2,300 kilometers, for those of you using the metric system (and about 1,400 miles for those not).
Still, Holmes seemed to have adapted to Florida just fine. In addition to his Montreal jersey, he wore a bathing suit, sandals and Oakley sunglasses. He'd grown a five o'clock shadow, and he lit a cigarette in the warm evening.
An incredibly unscientific poll Friday evening showed that Canadians who have come to Tampa Bay this weekend are focusing almost exclusively on hockey. But they plan to find time for other ventures, too. Among them: visiting the beach, the Florida Aquarium, Busch Gardens, the sea port, the golf courses and International Plaza.
And what about Montreal's legendary cuisine? Have the natives found any food in Florida to compare?
"This Outback Steakhouse thing is the coolest ever," said 24-year-old Simon Abboud, who flew in for the weekend. "Beef O'Brady's is pretty good, too."
As game time approached, the Canadiens took to the ice to warm up, and Abboud bounded down the stairs and pressed his face to the glass. He whipped out his cell phone, dialed a friend in Montreal and began screaming in French.
"I told him I'm right here!" he said. "I told him they're going to win. They look good."
Just as quickly, he put the cell phone away.
"It costs like five bucks a minute (to call Canada)," he said, but worth every penny.
Jamie Chenciner, 11, and his family split time living in Sanibel and Montreal, but they cheered the Canadiens on Friday.