It’s true that teams strive to attain hometown advantage in order to gain the upperhand in a tough series, and last night’s two games involving the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames were perfect examples of a team who needed to hear from their fans to turn the momentum of the 2-0 series deficit they both faced. Despite the obvious presence of supporters in both the Bell Centre in Montreal and the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, only the latter benefitted from the noise, perhaps partly due to their demeanor.
The Calgary Flames were able to fight off the Chicago Blackhawks for the first time in the series, cutting the lead to 2-1, when Rene Borque scored an ugly goal to put them ahead by one late in the second — a lead the Flames would not let go of. And of course, the “C” of Red was in full force that night, cheering on their boys in Cowtown to propel the team to the win. Unfortunately, for the other Canadian team on the ice that night, things didn’t turn out so well, especially without thanks to the fans.
In the Bell Centre, the night opened with a roar of “boos” in an unlikely and disrespectful place: the American National Anthem. Believing they were supporting their team — and that the anthem represented the opposing Boston Bruins — the fans in Montreal made their voices heard much to the chagrin of home team GM Bob Gainey.
“I feel like there’s a confusion there with our fans,” says Gainey. “They feel like booing the anthem is supporting our team, in that the anthem represents the Boston team. And 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 whatever way they want to disrupt the Bruins.”
The show of “support” from the fans seemed to have been counter-intuitive to the Habs’ efforts; the Boston Bruins delivered a 4-2 loss to the Canadiens’, possibly inspired by the anthem-antics that began the night. Although Montreal has one more chance to begin making up lost ground in their current 3-0 series deficit, they will definitely need their fans to rally behind a cheer that will actually motivate their struggling team. As for the Flames, their fans seem to have already found that secret to success.
Both teams hit the ice once again in game 4 on Wednesday.