Canadiens de Montréal

[mtlurb]

I heard that when the Molsons wanted to sell the team, they really kept it low profile and asked a few people if they were intrested, that included Gillett... not sure if its what happenned, could explain why no one from the city bought the team.

[ToxiK]

I heard that there were many Montreal businessmen that would have been interested to buy the team if they had know that the Caisse de dépôts was willing to invest.

[WestAust]

Hey Habsfan,

 

Yes you are right about the 1998-2001 era. It was a sad time to be a Montreal Canadiens fan and it was quite a surprise to see that no one in the province was willing to purchase the Habs. However that was a different time and is not representative of the situation we are in today. Back then, the dollar was at $0.62 US, the team was losing money and they weren't making the playoffs. Today, the dollar is at par, we have a new collective bargaining agreement which introduced the cap, and the team is doing very well. The way things are going right now, yes we can fill another Bell Centre-sized arena for a hockey game.

 

I remember several years ago when there used to be thousands of empty seats (sometimes attendence levels dipped lower than 18,000), but those were the dark ages. The Habs have embarked on a new marketing campaign and our team is more popular than ever. That's just my two cents.

 

There is nothing that says or guarantee us that in 5-10 years we won't be back at that same point, weak dollar, cap will be very high, not so great team... It happened in Montreal, when companies signed for the corporate box in 1996, everything was beautiful for the habs, they had binding contract, everybody was paying, then came the tech burst, some companies went bankrupt, cancelled their suites, and upon renewal never did so. It took a couple of years for them to be sold again to companies for a whole season

 

Its like everybody in Quebec city saying they could make a team work over there, for the first couple of years maybe, attendance would be great cause of novelty+signed contracts, and current economic conditions, but you gotta look farther in time, and see can the team survive with a couple of bad years without being for sale.

[Habsfan]

I heard that there were many Montreal businessmen that would have been interested to buy the team if they had know that the Caisse de dépôts was willing to invest.

 

 

I say that sounds like a load of Bull-Shit!

 

Those are easy excuses used by these "businessmen" so they don't look too bad in the eyes of the public and the media(for not even trying to buy the Habs).

 

I still don't believe that this city has the corporate strength to support two NHL teams. Had we really been that strong of a hockey market, the weak dollar and a bad Habs team would not stop the Bell Centre from selling out. I think we have too many fairweather fans in this city, people who just jump on the bandwagon when things are going well. I seriously doubt we could support (successfuly) 2 NHL teams and fill up two arenas on a regular basis!

 

The Leaves have sucked for the past 3 years, yet they still sell out the Air Canada Centre. My guess is that Toronto is the only city in Canada that could support two NHL teams. It has the population and the corporate strength to do so!

[Gbx]

Voila un set sur la statue de "Jesus" Price square victoria

 

http://flickr.com/photos/samuelhalle/sets/72157604655810724/

 

La ville est hockey!!

[yul_love_mtl]

Good post. I doubt any city in Canada gets a second team for the previous post I made. Another things though is there where other people who bid. Dennis Green said that he and Rene Angelil bid for the Habs, and according to him the bid was more lucrative and yet the Molsons picked Gillette. He also said that Steven Bronfman and a group of investors bid for the Habs at an undisclosed time. I'll try to find the link. It was somewhat surprising when I first read this.

[jesseps]

One of the two players that we traded to the Capitals lives up the street from my place.

[MontréalYul]

3-3! On s'en va en prolongation! Quel but de Kovalev!

[MontréalYul]

Montréal mène désormais la série 1-0!

 

GO HABS GO!

[Habsfan]

kovy, Kovy, Kovy!!!!!!