Les Boys warming up
Kanata, ON – It was Heritage Night at Scotiabank Place when the Montreal Canadiens came to town for their first game of the regular season against the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 4.
It may as well have been a home game for the Habs.
The crowd was a sea of bleu, blanc, rouge and the chants of Go Habs Go were loud and clear. When the in-house announcer introduced the Sens Army, the boos rang through the rafters.
As great as it was to be surrounded by Habs fan (there were less than a handful of Sens fans in my section), I couldn’t help but feel bad for the Senators and their fans; it must be a terrible feeling to play at your home rink and not even have the home support.
Decked out in my Habs gear for the game
Decked out in a Maurice Richard jersey, a baseball cap and scarf I was tingling with excitement for puck drop. It was my first time seeing Les Boys play live since the season before the lockout.
During the first period there was an announcement put on the big screen to enter a competition to win a heritage Ottawa jersey. To enter, you had to take a picture of yourself at the game wearing an old Sens jersey and tweet it to the official Sens account (@NHL_Sens) with your seat number and the hashtag #Sportcheckheritage.
I decided to take a picture of Mike in his jersey and send it in and he ended up winning a signed Neil jersey! The sportcheck representative came up to our seats and whisked Mike away to go on the big screen with his new jersey.
Mike and I at the game; He's sporting his newly won heritage jersey
I asked why I couldn’t go, since I had sent the tweet, and the lady told me I could not go with Habs gear on. She offered to let me go on camera too, as long as I put a Sens jersey on.
I obviously refused.
Our whole section cheered at my loyalty to Les Canadiens.
Everyone in our row won a $25.00 Sportchek gift certificate as well.
Tony came all the way from Scotland to see the Habs play!
I found out a fellow Habs fan on Twitter (@Habs_Clan) was going to be at the game too, all the way from Scotland! I met Tony during the second intermission to give him a Canadian welcome.
All-in-all it was a fantastic game. The Habs won (2-1), we won a jersey worth over $400 and we only bought the cheapest tickets in the house.
Habsolutelywonderful 
It must be pretty embarassing for Senators fans to be so heavily outnumbered. It wasn’t just at the game you went to, it is like that whenever the Canadiens come to town. Just recently last week it was like that although there were not as many Montreal fans as the November 4 game. I heard that one of the three stars of the game was an Ottawa Senator and when he came out after the game, he was booed. Were the Sens booed mercilessly in their own home during the pre-game warm-up and during the player introductions as well? I feel a little sorry for the Senators and their fans in that case. I know that when a penalty was called against Montreal, the fans booed the call.
Yeah, that happened at the game we went to as well. When the Sens came out for the warmup they were booed, when the starting roster was announced they were booed, when they scored they were booed…etc. It actually bothered me, a lot. As a hockey player myself, I know it must be the worst feeling in the world to be at home, and be booed because the visiting team has more fans than you do. Plus, it’s pretty unsportsmanlike in the first place to boo a team. I can understand if there’s a missed call or something and you boo the player, but not for all the reasons I listed earlier. Not cool.
how expensive are Senators tickets? I know Leafs tickets are nearly impossible to get, but I did manage to go to a Habs vs. Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre last year. I would love to go to a Habs vs. Sens game at Scotiabank Place. They visit Ottawa once more on March 16. I hope to make a visit for the weekend and go to a Habs game there. Are you going to the March 16th game?
The Habs vs Sens tickets we got (for the Coke zone) were less than $60 a ticket. Almost any other team you watch in the same section is $15-$30.
I have never seen a live Habs vs Leafs game, that is on my bucket list.
I am not going to the March 16 game, but am going to the March 17 game between Ottawa and Toronto. My fiance has never seen the Leafs play Ottawa so he really wanted to go to that game, since we already saw a Montreal vs Ottawa game this season.
not surprised. Are you originally from Montreal? I was born in Montreal but live in a suburb of Toronto now. I also bleed, bleu, blanc, rouge!
Yes, I was born in Montreal but I too live near Toronto now. I travel to Ottawa a lot, so it made sense to get tickets there since they’re cheaper and it’s just like being at the Bell Centre.
Hi, I am a fellow Habs fan here. What was the percentage of Habs fans at this game you went to? 60%? 70% or even higher? You said the crowd was a sea of red, white, and blue. I know Ottawa is always like a home game for the Canadiens. Hope to get a reply on this sometime!
Hi,
Actually was probably more than 70% to be honest. In the section we were sitting in (one of the Coke Zones), there was literally 3 people wearing Sens jerseys instead of Habs gear…