Canadiens fans discouraged, but faith remains
Like everyone else at the Bell Centre Tuesday evening, Gideon Zelermyer was disappointed with the result.
Obviously, people here wanted the Canadiens to beat the Buffalo Sabres in Game 4 and take control of the second-round series with a 3-1 lead going back to Buffalo. But, alas, it was not to be. and will head to the Sabres’ home rink tied 2-2 for Game 5 on Thursday night.
Zelermyer has been singing the anthems now and then before Canadiens games at the Bell Centre for well over a decade, but it was his first playoff game. He just hopes Canadiens management doesn’t think he’s a bad-luck charm now.
“I hope they let me do it again,” said Zelermyer, who is the cantor at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Westmount. “I guess I sang the anthems and they lost, but it’s not my fault.”
There has been much chatter in Canada and the U.S. about the hyped-up atmosphere in the Bell Centre in these playoffs, and Zelermyer said it was something else to be right there in the middle of it at ice level belting out The Star-Spangled Banner and O Canada.
“You watch other people doing it on TV over the past few weeks and then, wow, you’re there and you’re hit by this wall of sound,” said Zelermyer. “It’s absolutely surreal. It’s like being in the eye of the storm except that the eye of the storm is supposed to be the calmest place. I felt I had this wall of anthem sound directed at me.”
As for the game, he found it as frustrating as the rest of us did.
“There was a lot of chances, but the one bounce we needed didn’t go our way,” he said, referring to the nutty Tage Thompson goal, a dump-in that took a crazy bounce off of the boards and popped in off Jakub Dobes’s pad. “Look, I don’t think this was our best game. So if we lost 3-2 on a stupid bounce and it wasn’t our best game, I think that bodes well.”
Fair enough, but the Canadiens are beginning to show a disturbing tendency not to be able to close out a series, something that plagued them against Tampa Bay in the first round. You might also say that the team simply must capitalize on that four-minute penalty to Buffalo at the end of the second period. You need to score there.
You also need to shoot. Is it head coach Martin St. Louis who is counselling them to always make that extra pass? All night, notably on the power plays, the Canadiens would have the puck on their stick in a decent position to shoot and elect to pass. Shoot the puck! This is never a bad play.
When I approached Carole Foley outside the Bell Centre on Avenue des Canadiens shortly after the game ended, she immediately told me I wouldn’t want to talk to her. I ignored her advice and soon discovered she’s a Maple Leafs fan from Toronto. But given that Montreal is the last Canadian team in the hunt for the Stanley Cup, she’s cheering for the Habs, like many across Canada. She is in town for work, and she and a friend dropped by to catch a glimpse of the excitement.
“The crowd is amazing, the vibe is amazing and we’re really sad that they lost,” said Foley. “They played really well, and it was one goal.”
She said some in Toronto are cheering for the Habs.
“It’s difficult for us to cheer for the Habs,” said Foley. “Would Montreal fans be cheering for the Leafs? Like last year, when the Leafs were in the playoffs, were Habs fans cheering for them? Probably not.”
Her husband is a huge Habs fan. “He thinks they’re the greatest team in history,” said Foley. “And he’s angry that I’m cheering for the Habs because he would never cheer for the Leafs.”
With her friend Adam Marsella, we talked about how it’s rare to see Canadian teams go deep in the playoffs in recent years — with the exception of the Edmonton Oilers the last two years. But these two Torontonians feel Montreal has built a quality team that will be a consistent competitor.
“I’m usually a Leafs fan, but not this year,” said Marsella. “I’m going to buy my Habs jersey.”
Michael Del Grosso, wearing a Suzuki sweater, said it was a bit of a downer.
“I thought we played a pretty good game,” said Del Grosso. “Their goalie played a good game. Obviously, an unfortunate bounce with the Thompson goal. We got a lot of power plays and they didn’t capitalize. I guess we didn’t really deserve this one.”
François Lavesseur said it’s not over.
“We had a good game, but we had no luck,” said Lavesseur. “They had a lot of luck. Tonight, I still think we were the better team.”
Then Lavesseur quoted from the hit Québécois beer-league hockey comedy film Les Boys — the classic locker-room scene where one of the players, portrayed by actor Marc Messier, talks about what it takes to win.
“Buffalo, it’s true they’re big, they’re tough,” said Lavesseur. “But you know what our strength is? It’s between the two ears. La force du mentale. Mental toughness.”
I love it. The only question now is whether St. Louis, who lived in the U.S. for decades, has seen Les Boys. Let’s hope so.
