Before the puck dropped in Friday’s pivotal NHL playoff match, hundreds of Montreal Canadiens fans took their seats in a two century-old Catholic cathedral. However, they were not there to pray that the Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in game 3 of their first round series — they were there to drink beer and watch the game.
“Hockey is a religion in Quebec,” said Francoise Dancause, director of the Cargaison collective, which curates cultural events in Quebec. She had the idea to host a hockey viewing in a church when she woke up on New Year’s Day.
“The Canadiens had a good team. I said to myself, for sure we’re making the playoffs,” Dancause said.
Photo: AFP
It took months of work, but by the time the NHL playoffs started, the ornate Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec was ready to host — with a projection screen strung across the sanctuary.
“The Canadiens are larger than life,” she said of the Montreal club, which has the most wins in NHL history with an passionate fan base.
“We often say they’re our gods, so the parallel is really easy to make,” she said.
Photo: AFP
For her, a church is an ideal setting for a high-stakes game in a hockey-mad society.
“It’s the essence of the church: gathering, being together, living together,” she added, conceding that some of the 650 people in attendance on Friday night likely had never been inside a church before.
For 94-year-old Aline Tremblay, watching hockey was the new part of the experience.
Photo: AFP
She had been to the cathedral — about a 40-minute-drive from Montreal — for an earlier match in the Montreal-Tampa Bay series.
“It was fantastic, I had so much fun. I screamed, I lost my voice,” she said. “For once I shouted out loud in a church.”
People drank beer and “everyone was happy,” she said. She came back for more on Friday, in what was the second hockey game she’d ever watched. The church-going crowd didn’t leave disappointed. Montreal won in overtime on Friday, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
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