A Place for All Things Canadien
If you look throughout he archives of this blog, you'll see that one of my passions is the Montreal Canadiens.
I have been a fan for some four decades stretching back to the days of Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Jean Guy Talbot, Claude Provost and their coach Toe Blake. I grew up listening to the Sunday night hockey broadcast of Danny Gallivan on CBC Radio on clear nights. On nights where the signal could not be heard I would try to understand the call in French on CBF Radio in French by Rene Lecavalier. It would be years before I finally could understand what was being said in French, but it was still a thrill to hear my heroes.
Through those years I was always a fan from far away. On occasion, my Dad would buy tickets at the old Madison Square Garden on 50th Street in New York ($2.25 obstructed view seats three rows away from the ice). Then in 1967 I finally got to Montreal and the famous Forum (that we'll save for future postings). In all the years that Canadiens won Stanley Cups, I celebrated alone. Afterall, where did you find Montreal fans in New Jersey ?
The age of the Internet has changed so much. These days I can hear all Canadiens games over the internet - either in English or in French. There is all-sports radio from Montreal (I don't listen much to that). I can read about the games on the website of the Montreal Gazette (in the old days I could only get a Montreal paper if I traveled into NYC to the "Out of Town" newspaper stand in Times Square.
And now there is a great website. IT is called habsinsideout.com and comes from the Montreal Gazette, and it touts itself as offering "Absolutely Everything about the Montreal Canadiens".
That is quite a boast. But it is a boast that the Gazette staff successfully fulfills. There are blogs, audio podcasts, Red Fisher, and my favorite called a "Blast from the Past" which is described as "an occasional series of photos culled from the file cabinets of The Gazette" (Also from the old Montreal Star and other sources of Canadiens hockey history over the years). Want to see a goal from the 1950's against the Rangers, the old-old Forum scoreboard draped with cigarette ads or a shot in which Gump Worsley is celebrating a post game drink of "coffee" with teammates after a 1960's win.
It's all there, and unlike so much today it strikes all the right tones - comprehensive, knowledgeable, professional, thorough without sounding shrill or like hype. What a pleasure!
Gotta go - I think there's a new posting at habsonsideout.com - makes me feel like a kid rooting for the Canadiens of old. If I could only get to hear Danny Gallivan with Dick Irvin again.
I have been a fan for some four decades stretching back to the days of Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Jean Guy Talbot, Claude Provost and their coach Toe Blake. I grew up listening to the Sunday night hockey broadcast of Danny Gallivan on CBC Radio on clear nights. On nights where the signal could not be heard I would try to understand the call in French on CBF Radio in French by Rene Lecavalier. It would be years before I finally could understand what was being said in French, but it was still a thrill to hear my heroes.
Through those years I was always a fan from far away. On occasion, my Dad would buy tickets at the old Madison Square Garden on 50th Street in New York ($2.25 obstructed view seats three rows away from the ice). Then in 1967 I finally got to Montreal and the famous Forum (that we'll save for future postings). In all the years that Canadiens won Stanley Cups, I celebrated alone. Afterall, where did you find Montreal fans in New Jersey ?
The age of the Internet has changed so much. These days I can hear all Canadiens games over the internet - either in English or in French. There is all-sports radio from Montreal (I don't listen much to that). I can read about the games on the website of the Montreal Gazette (in the old days I could only get a Montreal paper if I traveled into NYC to the "Out of Town" newspaper stand in Times Square.
And now there is a great website. IT is called habsinsideout.com and comes from the Montreal Gazette, and it touts itself as offering "Absolutely Everything about the Montreal Canadiens".
That is quite a boast. But it is a boast that the Gazette staff successfully fulfills. There are blogs, audio podcasts, Red Fisher, and my favorite called a "Blast from the Past" which is described as "an occasional series of photos culled from the file cabinets of The Gazette" (Also from the old Montreal Star and other sources of Canadiens hockey history over the years). Want to see a goal from the 1950's against the Rangers, the old-old Forum scoreboard draped with cigarette ads or a shot in which Gump Worsley is celebrating a post game drink of "coffee" with teammates after a 1960's win.
It's all there, and unlike so much today it strikes all the right tones - comprehensive, knowledgeable, professional, thorough without sounding shrill or like hype. What a pleasure!
Gotta go - I think there's a new posting at habsonsideout.com - makes me feel like a kid rooting for the Canadiens of old. If I could only get to hear Danny Gallivan with Dick Irvin again.
posted by eric model | 3:43 PM
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