The provincial government’s request to hold the Canadiens’ game behind closed doors last Thursday was met with great disappointment by the Montreal organization.
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This is what the sports and entertainment president of Groupe CH, France Margaret Bélanger, told TVA Sports on Saturday.
“At the end of the afternoon, we received a call from the government asking us if we could present this match behind closed doors,” she said. Of course, for us, the priority has always been the safety and health of our fans, our players and our employees. ”
“That being said, it is sure that with a very short notice like that, we were extremely disappointed. We had several supporters who were on the way. ”
“We issued our press release, we sent e-mails to the ticket holders, but that doesn’t mean that these people were in a position to read this. There are people who learned that the game was behind closed doors when they arrived at the Bell Center. ”
“It’s a shame. In addition, we won this game, it was a good game for us this season. ”
Despite the health situation, the 12 games scheduled at the Bell Center in January should take place in front of fans.
“We have obtained the government’s assurance that our games will be presented at 50% of the capacity as is the case in Ontario now,” promised Margaret Bélanger.
As for the draft, whose performance in Montreal could be compromised, it is too early to give up hope.
“It’s far,” said the lawyer by training and businesswoman. The draft will be held on July 7 and 8. We are hopeful. There will be ups and downs for sure. With the new variant [Omicron], it’s very unpredictable at the moment and it’s dazzling in terms of transmission. But we very much hope that in July, we will be there and we will welcome everyone. ”