the week of the HABS!!

So I was going to post about the latest tweetup in my last post but I think it works better here.

Since this was second tweet up I was less nervous to attend. I didn't arrive too early this time but there weren't many people there when I arrived. I sat beside the same guy as last time. But the couple sitting across from us were 'first timers'. The guy writes for AllHabs.net his girlfriend didn't even have a twitter account at the start of the night but that was amended before she left the pub! haha There was a guy that had traveled to Montreal from Ottawa just for the tweetup. Then I met a couple of girls from NB...Fredericton, more specially. They both moved to Quebec for school, one of them lives in Montreal, the other in Quebec City. After talking to them one of them for a while, we decided to try and get tickets to Tuesday's game against Florida. [The Habs lost the game on Saturday, which meant they were eliminated from the playoffs, which meant that I only had 3 chances to see them live before a long summer. So that combined with the fact that we figured that the Panthers aren't a huge draw we figured we could get tickets for a reasonable price.] Also I won 2 tickets to the Habs Hall of Fame, at the tweetup. The questions were about the Habs and Flyers, I have no idea how I won, haha. But I will do research for the next tweetup, there is a lot of history between the Habs and Leafs!

Sunday night I made plans to meet a guy for tickets on Monday afternoon. I don't know why I planned to get up early but I check my email and the guy had go out of town that afternoon and he wanted to meet around 10, I read this message at 9:30-ish. I rushed to get ready and called him but left a message he called me back around 9:50, he said he would meet me by my Metro station around 10:05. Now it takes me about 10 mins to get to the Metro and I had to go the other way to get the cash. However, I met him and got the tickets! yay! From there I hopped on the Metro to go downtown, I had to get a few things. Needless to say I was pretty excited!

I didn't really know who was with Florida so Monday night I did a little research. There were a few players that I knew but the one that stood out was their goalie, Jose Theodore. I saw him play in the AHL, in Fredericton, which just made me that much more excited to see the game.

Tuesday I tried to sleep in but it was no use I was too excited. I was meeting my friend around 7 at the Bell Centre. I stayed home as long as I could but by 5ish I was out the door, batteries charged and CF cards cleared. [I still wasn't sure if I would use my 'good camera' but I brought it just in case.]

I grabbed a bite to eat and took my time walking to the Bell Centre, I knew I'd be early but I didn't want to be tooo early... I was still there early so I sat outside by the Howie Morenz statue. It was a pretty chilly night so I eventually went inside by the HabsZone and waited there. I wasn't there long, when I saw a familiar face [what are the odds, eh?!] It was the other NB-tweeter, I knew she was going to the game too but I didn't expect to see her. She and the guy she was with hung out with me till the one I was meeting up with, showed up.

We went into the rink and caught about half of the warm-up. Our seats were on the corner above the Panthers' end. Our seats weren't bad but I'm pretty sure that is the furthest away from the ice I have ever seen a game. I like to be right at ice level, right in the action, but of course can't afford that...just yet. haha

The atmosphere was good at the game but I keep being told that because the season was bad the fans aren't into it like they usually are. I can see that. I hope for a good season next year so I can truly experience the Habs! [and the playoffs, again I am really missing out on the city being alive with playoff action]

Some of the highlights of the game:

- since being in Montreal, being at the game was the closest I had come to an actual Montreal Canadien

- I did end up using my 'good camera' even though some of the pics still look far away. I managed a few good pics of the Louis Leblanc breakaway [read 3 on none]

- the White vs Gudbranson fight happened right in front of us, so I got a few good pics of that too

-even thought the Habs lost it was in the shootout, so I saw 4 periods of hockey and the shootout

- and of course I SAW THE HABS PLAY IN THE BELL CENTRE!!!

After the game I decided not to take the metro that is right at the Bell Centre, toooo many people for this small town girl. So I went to a different station, not nearly as many people there.

The next day I met up with the same girl I saw the game with and we used my free tickets to check out the Habs Hall of Fame. Obviously there is a lot of history with this team [100+ years] and there were some great exhibits. One of our favourites was a map of the world with a players picture and a 'pin' to where they are from. It was cool to see.

We also watched the movie at the end, it was about the passion of the Habs and their fans. One interesting fact was there were 'current' players in the movie, but unfortunately none of them are with the Habs anymore...time to update that! haha

I have a ton of pics from the game and the Hall of Fame but I don't find blogger very easy to post pics, so I will have to link them another time.

The last Habs tweetup of the season is just around the corner, that will be biter/sweet for sure.

~believe.