Thursday evening, my friend Stéphane and I arrive at the Bell Centre.
This is the last game of the season: Canadiens-Boston. Stéphane and I have known each other since our law school years. The first time we watched our national sport together was Game 7 of the Canadiens-Hartford series in 1986. Claude Lemieux scored the winning goal in overtime. From then on, we said to ourselves that we brought good luck to the Habs. So we made an appointment for all the crucial matches of that spring. And our magic worked, the Canadian won, against all odds, the Stanley Cup!
Since then, our batting average has not been bad, despite the last disappointing decades of our favorite club. Bet99 punters should therefore bet, tonight, on CH against the best team in the National League, since the Steph are reunited, for this final meeting. Not so fast. Winning isn’t what it used to be. If the Canadian wins the game, he wins nothing. He is already eliminated. Discarded. On the other hand, if the Canadian loses the match, he gains a few more chances to win the Connor Bedard lottery.
PHOTO HEYWOOD YU, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Connor Bedard plays for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.
Connor Bedard, the next big hockey star. The team that gets their hands on it in July will be as happy as the team that gets their hands on the Stanley Cup a few days before. Connor Bedard, it’s not just one great moment of ecstasy, it’s hundreds of moments of ecstasy that his game will give fans. Connor Bedard is more than a gifted player, he’s an attraction.
Attractions are rare. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, New York has the Empire State Building, an NHL team will have Connor Bedard. What if it was us?
Lucas Condotta has just scored. No, we are not one match away from CF Montreal. Lucas Condotta plays with the Canadian. Since this morning. He was recalled from Laval, due to Mike Hoffman’s injury. Is he the best player in Laval? Not far from here. I know, normally, a big league team recalls the best player from its school club. We did the opposite. We sent the Canadiens’ best scorer since January, Raphaël Harvey-Pinard, to Laval to help him earn a place in the playoffs. And we called up a player whose absence won’t hurt the Rocket’s chances. I know, it’s illogical. And do you know what is even more illogical? It is that the illogicality has just counted a goal.
People are standing, applauding wildly. We should not. Because Bedard. But it’s stronger than us. It’s been 100 years that we’ve been programmed to be happy when the Canadiens score a goal, especially against Boston.
Six minutes later, Trent Frederic scores for the Bruins. Normally, when an opponent scores a goal against the hosts at the Bell Centre, a great silence of disappointment emanates from the bleachers. Tonight there is a great silence of relief. Lighter, less heavy.
It’s the first time I’ve seen this. Watching a Canadiens-Boston game and being indifferent to the score. If we count, it’s thefun. If the Big Bad Bruins matter, it’s thefun Also. Can’t wait for Connor Bedard to be drafted so that we stop playing with our heads. For a victory to fill us with joy. So that a defeat puts us in your.
The game is over. Final count: 5-4 for the others. Stéphane and I look at each other. It’s also good the same. This defeat will not alter our lucky charm attributes. On the contrary.
Special ceremony on the ice rink. Canadian players give fans, chosen at random, their jerseys. All the injured are there. Even Carey Price. If we played an Injured vs. Valid, I would bet on the Injured.
What a funny year! Never experienced one like this. And we won’t be seeing one again anytime soon. Because next year, there will be no more Coco prizes for the losers. There will be no more Bedard jam to swallow the shit of mediocrity.
A season without head or tail. Where the head was inaccessible. And where the tail was not a tail, but the start of something.
31 wins, 45 losses and 6 losses in overtime or shootout, a humiliating record. And yet, we love coach, we love Caufield, we love Suzuki, we fall for Raphaël, we believe in our young defenders, and Montembeault, does that well. Without forgetting Dach and Slafkovsky, who will be very good. We were told the most demanding supporters in the world of sport, we are made as complacent as a fan club of boy band.
Geoff, Jeff, Kent, Martin, Chantal, enjoy it, it won’t last. And it’s better that way. For you too.
Stéphane and I are leaving the Bell Center after a defeat against long-time rival Boston, and we are as zen as if we had just seen a play at La Licorne. It is not normal.
Hopefully the issue comes back. Strongly that the defeats hurt.
Above all, don’t ask us to be patient. A follower is not patient. A supporter is passion.
Wish she was back. Wish our passion put pressure on you.
Because the patients at the Bell Center are the absent. The empty seats. Enthusiasts are your customers.
If you want to keep us, let the defeat affect us, affect you. How it affects winners.