Crowd control

By Eric Wilbur

3 minutes to read

They could be rioting in the streets of Montreal again tonight, for an entirely different reason than what prompted them to do so a year ago.

This was the scene north of the border just about a year ago, after the Canadiens beat the Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup quarterfinals.

You can understand the excitement over a No. 1 seed slipping by a No. 8, I mean, can’t you? Just ask Jack Edwards.


In preparation of tonight’s possible first-round sweep at the hands of the Bruins, merchants along St. Catherine St. are boarding up their shop windows in fear that a mere disappointing end to a sports season might translate into severe devastation for Habs fans. Or, at least those looking for a riot.
Hockey fans in Canada will maintain that last year’s riots were started mostly by local gangs looking for an excuse to wreak havoc. And perhaps at least some of that is accurate. Hockey fans in Canada will also maintain that they really don’t hate America. And perhaps at least some of that is accurate as well.
Of course, the 20,000 or so at Le Centre Belle on Monday night displayed otherwise, booing their way through the American National Anthem, an international sign of disrespect. That prompted a plea from Canadiens coach Bob Gainey:
“They feel booing the anthem is supporting our team in that the anthem represents the Boston team,” he said. “I think if they could separate those two things, then we could respect the anthem of the United States of America and they could still participate loudly in any way they want to disrupt the Bruins.”
You might recall that we went through all this in 2004, resulting in this classic response from the crowd at the Garden:

It seems we run into this issue repeatedly across the country lines. San Jose Sharks fans booed “O Canada” three years ago. Boston fans boo “New York, New York.” Oklahoma natives probably despise moe’s “Nebraska.” What’s the big deal?
That isn’t to take away from the significance of the anthem being played prior to a sporting event, just to underscore just how emotionless the practice can tend to be, despite any overall intentions of having a moment to honor all that it means. But if it’s so integral to every event, why pray tell don’t we see them televised prior to regular season baseball and football games? The same people whining about this whole escapade are the same ones who haven’t even found their seats yet by the time the anthems are being sung.
It’s self-righteousness at its worst.
Of course, the anthem can serve as inspiration at sporting events, most recently Jennifer Hudson’s stirring rendition prior to this year’s Super Bowl. But sing the anthem on foreign soil, friendly neighbor or not, and you’re asking for some sort of dissention. Wait, you mean some people actually have a problem with American policy? Why didn’t I know about this until Monday at 7 p.m.? Sparking international incident since 2004, Les Habitants.
As for Americans booing “O Canada,” well those people obviously just don’t have any appreciation for the country that gave us Glass Tiger, Tim Horton’s, Robin Sparkles, and the Old King Clancy.
Game 4 is this evening. Booing and looting night in Montreal, where they may love hockey, but with a passion that’s scarily starting to reminisce the kind displayed by soccer hooligans across the pond.

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