I was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. From a very young age, I remember how hockey was such a big part of the life of people in Quebec. Saturday night was Hockey Night in Canada and I would be glued to our grainy black and white TV to watch the hometown Montreal Canadiens play one of the original six NHL teams.

Even though I lost my dad at a young age (car accident), my mom made sure that I had a pair of skates, a hockey stick and shin pads. I would go to the local rink to play hockey after school with boys in the neighbourhood. I remember my mom taking me to the Montreal Forum to see “Rocket” Richard and some of the other stars of that era. The love of hockey and the Habs never left me, even though I have lived in Toronto since 1976.

The game and the team have changed significantly over the years. Back in the 60s and 70s, the team was known for its home grown, French Canadian stars - - - Jean Beliveau, Boom Boom Geoffrion, Jacques Plante, Patrick Roy, Jacques Lemaire and of course, the Flower, Guy Lafleur. The team was admired for its high-speed offense and for its scoring stars. Even in the late 60s, the Montreal Canadiens had a junior team in Montreal, the Montreal Junior Canadiens. The Habs could select the top 2 players from this team every year. This changed in the early 70s and it allowed the Buffalo Sabres to draft the great Gilbert Perrault, who would have been another Habs star of that era.

When you fast forward to today, the nature of the team has changed drastically. While the Habs have a French-Canadian general manager and coach, the team had only French-Canadian player on their roster for the series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philip Danault. Their other French Canadian player, Jonathan Drouin, was on a leave of absence.