One of the highlights of our stay was watching the L.A. Kings hockey team play in Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. Hockey is huge in eastern Canada so it was a treat to experience it.
We began with a Thursday evening game at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the epicenter of hockey (although folks in Toronto would dispute that claim). The Montreal Canadiens have won 24 Stanley cups, more than any other team, and their banners hang all across the ceiling of the arena. In their pregame show they project team photos of all 24 winners on the ice. Our game was the season home opener for the Canadiens so they had special ceremonies for that, and they also honored the 1993 team on the 25th anniversary of their Stanley Cup. Kind of hard to believe it’s been 25 years since the Cup was in Canada.
A game in Montreal is unique because most of the announcements are in French, with English translations thrown in here and there. The national anthem singer sang the first stanza of “O Canada” in French and the second in English. You hear French all around you in the stands.
On Saturday we drove over to Ottawa for the Kings’ afternoon game with the Ottawa Senators. The arena in Ottawa is out in the suburbs, adjacent to the freeway right next to an auto mall. Quite a contrast to Montreal, where the arena is right downtown (we took the Montreal subway to that game). Announcements in Ottawa are also in French and English, since many fans come over from Quebec, but the vibe was more that of English-speaking Canada.
In the parking lot before the game Charlie started chatting with a man wearing a Kings cap. As it turned out, he and his wife are the parents of Tyler Toffoli, one of the Kings’ players. They had driven up to Ottawa from their home in Toronto for the game, and they will attend Monday’s game in Toronto, as well. The Kings have more Canadian players than any other NHL team, most of them from Ontario. Many family members attend the games when the Kings play in eastern Canada. It was a special treat to get a glimpse into the Kings family.
Our third and final game was in Toronto. It’s a five hour drive from Montreal so we made it an overnight trip. We stayed in a downtown hotel so we could walk to the arena, about a mile. Toronto’s downtown is modern, clean, and safe, but no surprise there – it’s Canada!
Like in Montreal, the arena in Toronto is in the center of the city, adjacent to their very busy train station. There is extra excitement in the air when the arena is right downtown. The arena is rather new and very large, and it has an adjoining outdoor plaza where fans gather for big games to watch on a huge big screen TV. The staff that runs the jumbotron in the arena seem to have a good sense of humor. Whenever the Maple Leafs score a goal (which, unfortunately, was four times during our game) they show a few hilarious short clips of movie and TV stars (and cartoon characters) jumping up and down, dancing, hugging, etc.
