By Michael Calcutt, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
POINTE-CLAIRE, QC. — Everyone in Canada, or just about everyone, enjoys hockey. The game is in the culture and casts a shadow on all other sports. The sports networks and sport pages are filled with stories about the game and its players.
Many of our stories and legends are laced with references to hockey. It is an effort to find someone who does not have a least a passing interest in the sport. With this constant bombardment of hockey information comes a deeper understanding of the history of the game which invariably leads to the most successful franchise in NHL history, the Montreal Canadiens.
The storied past filled with championships and the plethora of stars that have gone through the Habs have allowed the team to garner a healthy fan base throughout Canada and the northern parts of the U.S. The history is such that in many of the hockey playing nations in Europe, the logo is not only recognizable but is associated with excellence in the sport. Everywhere there is adequate access to hockey information there is a following for the Canadiens but when your franchise is as great as Montreal the fans can even be found in unlikely places.
Scotland and Ireland are by no means members of the hockey mainstream. Ireland remains a stronghold of traditional sports of Hurling and Gaelic football, whereas Scotland remains the birthplace of golf and curling. Of course, being part of Europe, it goes without saying that soccer also takes up a large portion of the sporting landscape. You would not expect there to be too many hockey fans in the area, but there are and some of them are as passionate about the Habs as any local!
The questions that immediately come to mind are: how are these fans formed and how do they become followers of the Bleu, Blanc, Rouge from such a distance? One sure fire way would be to have grown up in Canada like ex-pat, Jeffrey Yates. Jeffrey has been living in Ireland for some time now and manages to maintain his fanatic love for the team despite feeling misunderstood on the emerald isle. Jeffrey’s earliest memory was of seeing his dad rejoicing the Habs cup win in 1993, this made him a Habs fan for life. Even though he now feels like an outcast.
“In Ireland people don’t understand the fanaticism because hockey really doesn’t exist there, they don’t understand wearing Habs socks/ jerseys/shirts on game days or the day after a big win…”
This seems to suggest that Jeffrey is the only person on the street wearing the most beautiful crest in all of sports with matching socks no less. This fanaticism is completely understandable. Jeffrey is from Ottawa and grew up in a household that was Hab-friendly.
This upbringing allowed for a better than average chance that he would grow up to carry a flame for the Canadiens, but what of those who were born and bred in the North Atlantic? Who are the fans that fit this description? They are people like Scott Campbell who can enlighten us on the situation. Scott, and his brother who is also a fan, live in Scotland. They were introduced to the speed and finesse of ice hockey by their father who played in Glasgow in the 1960’s.
Their father instilled a love for the game and particularly the Canadiens. Truth be told with all the success the Habs enjoyed in the late ’50’s through to the late ’70’s, the choice of a team in those days was pretty obvious. When the boys began watching games for themselves in the 1980’s they followed in their dad’s footsteps and took the Canadiens as their team. Apparently Scott and his brother are not alone in loving the team. Among the supporters of their local team there are a number of fans that throw their support behind the team.
Modern technology has created access to information that can be overwhelming. These fans are not only casual supporters but have the same insight as the locals. Scott states, “I watch most games live on game center live.” This fact coupled with the web pages and radio shows available on the web, fans like Scott are no longer in the dark. They have the information needed to speculate about trades, signings and coaching changes.
To quote Scott once more, “The last five or so years with the growth of the Internet and high speed connections has been great.” This has provided previously unknown depth of knowledge about the game and its participants. This bodes well for the future of the game and the number of potential Habs fans abroad.
In Scotland, and Ireland, where hockey is an afterthought there are fans and even leagues. The teams may play to very few fans, but the supporters are true fans of the game. Anyone willing to follow a semi-pro league for the love of the game is the type a person that will likely look into the roots of the game. As these leagues grow and information continues to flood the internet, we can expect more fans like Jeffrey and Scott who will continue to promote the glory and history of the Habs. Our number of loyal fans will continue to climb even in non-traditional markets and the team will continue to occupy its place as the most supported team in NHL history.
Besides, let’s not forget that the founder of the Montreal Canadiens way back in 1909 was a fellow by the name of J. Ambrose O’Brien.