Prince Albert's Chris Hudon posing in his Montreal Canadiens attire. (Submitted photo/Chris Hudon)

By Ian Gustafson

Long-time Montreal Canadiens fan looking forward to Stanley Cup Final

Jun 27, 2021 | 12:21 PM

For the first time in 10 years a Canadian team in the National Hockey League (NHL) will compete to win the Stanley Cup. Although, unlike in 2011 it will not be the Vancouver Canucks fighting to lift Lord Stanley but rather the Montreal Canadiens.

The underdog Canadiens have returned to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993 when they beat the Los Angeles Kings. This time around Montreal will take on the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

Chris Hudon, a 66-year-old man from Prince Albert has been cheering on the Habs for as long as he can remember. His father was a massive Canadiens fan, which led him to follow suit.

“I was probably six-years-old,” he said. “We used to watch hockey with our dad when we were just little, and they used to show the games after the first period.”

In unexpected fashion, Montreal is just four games away from becoming champions. In every series they came in as the lower seed knocking off the No. one seed Toronto Maple Leafs, the No. three Winnipeg Jets and the No. 2 Las Vegas Golden Knights. Despite being the lower seed once again, Hudon likes his team’s chances.

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“I think they’ve been the underdog for every series,” he said. “It’s hard to make a solid prediction but they’ve been playing so well, they’re playing as a team, and I mean they’ve got some really good contributions from some young guys and also some old guys and I think the mix is really good.”

Hudon remembers well when the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 1993. He fondly remembers the play of Montreal’s goaltender at the time Patrick Roy saying the goalie “stood on his head.”

“It was a similar situation, kind of an underdog all the way through,” he said. “I think the difference that year and this year is that in 1993 a couple teams got knocked off early and Montreal had maybe a little bit easier road.

“It’s not an easy ride this year.”

It’s been said at the highest level in sports a lot of variables need to go right for a team to win a championship and Hudon believes the credit should go to the team defence.

“They’ve gone 30 consecutive penalty kills without allowing a goal that’s by far a record,” Hudon said adding they’ve also gone 13 consecutive playoff games without allowing a powerplay goal.

“They’ve been really good defensively so far and they’ve got some timely scoring. They’re five and one in overtime so you know a lot of good things happening. It always has to happen like that.”

As a rule, Hudon explained he tries not to watch the games with anyone else because he doesn’t want to insult anyone.

“I enjoy watching the games and we can talk about it after but during the games it can get a little intense,” he laughed. “You don’t want to make enemies over a hockey game, and it makes it a lot easier if you’re doing your cussing and complaining when there’s nobody else around.”

As a prediction, Hudon believes Montreal will come out victorious in six games in the best-of-seven series.

“I think Montreal can win it in Montreal, but I think they’d be hard pressed to win it in Tampa,” he said. “Three or four years ago I went to Montreal and watched a couple games in the Bell Centre and the atmosphere there was fantastic so it would’ve been really nice to have the place packed with fans but hopefully the 3,500 will do it.

Game one begins Monday evening at 6 p.m. Central Time.

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Ian.Gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12