Some of us are working alone in the Sports department late at night, hoping beyond anything else that an announcement doesn’t come out of the blue to screw everything up.

See also:

• February 20, 2008 — Comeback of a lifetime
• February 2, 2008 — More changes at The Gazette
• November 10, 2007 — Habs Inside/Out redesigned

With Canadiens development camp open to the public, we’re getting our first taste of amateur video of some of these new prospects, including 6′8″ goaltender Jason Missiaen, seen above looking like King Kong in front of the net.

Some skater shooting drill highlights, courtesy of a very dedicated fan:

• Mathieu Carle
• Patrick Johnson
• David Fischer
• Danny Kristo
• Ryan McDonagh
• Max Pacioretty
• Philippe Paquet
• Greg Pateryn
• P.K. Subban
• Nichlas Torp
• James Wyman

UPDATE (July 14): Some video of the team drills, showing how even the young unproven players can totally pwn the rest of us at hockey.

See also:

• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song
• May 5, 2008 — It’s over

Because NHL contracts are complicated, I figured some training might be useful for us less-than-insane fans and well-wishers. In order to do that, of course, I had to read the collective agreement that was signed in 2005 after the lockout.

Unfortunately, I failed to realize that the agreement is over 450 pages long (PDF).

Didn’t get a lot of sleep that night. And I’m sure I still got a bunch of things wrong.

Not that I’m worried. If I fail at journalism here, I can always sign in Russia, right?

See also:

• July 19, 2008 — TWIM: Can Flashpoint become Due South 2?
• July 2, 2008 — Salaries in perspective
• June 22, 2008 — TWIM: Dion’s carbon tax idea

The deal also opens a (slight) possibility of TSN covering a Canadian team during the playoffs. Basically if all three teams in one conference (Leafs/Sens/Habs or Oilers/Flames/Canucks) make it three teams make it to the playoffs, the CBC will pick two and TSN will get the third. If it’s four, CBC gets the fourth pick, then TSN, then CBC, then the last two go to TSN. Previously, CBC had rights to all playoff games involving Canadian teams, as well as the entire Stanley Cup final.

The Globe has details (thanks Josh)

The deal also gives TSN “broadband rights,” which might mean being able to watch some games online. But the media release doesn’t go into detail about that.

UPDATE: The NHL has also renewed its agreement with its “official beer sponsor” Bud Light, which will see crappy American beer marketed all across the league.

See also:

• July 7, 2008 — NHL free agency explained (I hope)
• July 2, 2008 — Salaries in perspective
• December 22, 2007 — TWIM: Violence in the NHL

Unfortunately.

Should we add it to the Habs song list, or just hope we can forget about it before next year?

See also:

• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 3, 2008 — Your Habs playlist
• April 24, 2008 — Recognize any of these faces?

No need to keep stealing car flags.

See also:

• July 10, 2008 — The young’uns come out to play
• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song

Super Cauchon is doing his part, but that’s not enough. We all need to contribute.

To help warm up your fan muscles so you’re in top shape tonight, I’ve compiled some Habs-related songs from local radio stations. (Local radio stations being as useless as they are, hockey-related parody songs are one of the few things left that they can do pretty well).

I had a larger collection, but sadly most of them refer to a victory off the back of Cristobal Huet (or worse, José Theodore). So I had to scrap those.

Here’s what’s left, in no particular order:

They Made Us Believers

Parody of The Monkees’ I’m a Believer
via Q92

25 Feels a Little Like 93 (Video)

by Annakin Slayd
samples Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’
via Q92

On Va Faire Les Séries

by Rick Hugues
via Radio Énergie

On est plen dans les séries (Video)

by Ruck Hugues with Dominic et Martin
via Radio Énergie
(UPDATE: thanks bebehabs for the link)

On veut la coupe Stanley (excerpt)

by France D’Amour
via Rythme FM

Je déteste les Flyers

by Justiciers Masqués

GO HABS GO (on va gagner)

by Justiciers Masqués

La Fièvre du CH

by Alain Dumas
via RockDétente
a parody of I will Follow Him, which in turn is the English translation of Petula Clark’s French song Chariot (you learn something every day)

Bring the Cup Back Home

by Daniel Iorio
via Team 990

Go Habs Go (Montreal has gone insane)

by Christopher Pennington

Go Habs Go (J’entends crier)

by Christopher Pennington
via Team 990

Bleu Blanc Rouge la chanson

via CKAC

Chanson de Halak

via CKAC
Parody of Brown Eyed Girl

Les Canadiens sont là (Game On)

by Daniel Iorio
via Team 990
Parody of Celebration

Ghosts of the Forum

by Bob Olivier and Sylvie Choquette
via Team 990

I’m too sexy for this team

by Daniel Iorio
via Team 990
Parody of … well, isn’t it obvious?

Go Habs Go

by Speedhair
via Team 990

(Go Go Go Go) Go Habs Go

by Tag Radio

Go Habs Go (Allez la Coupe Stanley)

via 98.5fm

Any other suggestions? Or more detailed information on some of the songs linked to above? Let me know in the comments.

See also:

• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song
• November 24, 2007 — Sports parody songs
• July 30, 2008 — Crappy British emo bands unite!

Note: Please do not take this literally. Flyers fans are human too. If you see one trying to steal the purse of a helpless old lady, please report the matter to the police immediately and do not — I repeat: do not — beat the person to a bloody pulp.

See also:

• July 22, 2008 — Scissors bomb mailbox!
• July 17, 2008 — Dr. Horrible: Adorable evil
• July 10, 2008 — The young’uns come out to play

See also:

• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song
• April 24, 2008 — Recognize any of these faces?

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

See also:

• August 2, 2008 — Gazette starting Olympics page, photographer blog
• July 25, 2008 — Myles has given up on baseball
• July 22, 2008 — Gazette live-blogging Impact game

I think we’ve found the real reason there was a riot around Crescent St. on Monday night: Bilal and CHOM’s Hockeyville (not to be confused with CBC/Kraft Hockeyville). Time to repent, Bilal…

See also:

• July 10, 2008 — The young’uns come out to play
• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song

More faces from the … ahem … “alleged” rioters of Monday night.

Also posted on YouTube is the security video of a Rogers Wireless store downtown that was looted Monday night. They couldn’t take any cellphones because those were tied to the display tables, and those prepaid phone cards are useless because they have to be pre-activated by the cashier. But have fun with those charging adapters, I guess.

See also:

• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song
• April 24, 2008 — Round 2 begins tonight

Expect a similar kind of overreaction tonight as the Canadiens host the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal tonight, from the police who will no doubt be present in higher numbers; from the media who will actually be present this time (besides just RadCan and TVA/LCN); and from the fans who won’t stand and cheer “Go Habs Go” as police cars are burned.

So don’t expect any riots tonight, win or lose. Just a lot of respectful cheering. (What police will do about moving violations and dangerous-but-only-to-you stupidity like running up and down on the roof of a moving bus is another question)

But in the unlikely event that things do get out of hand again, a few pointers:

1. Don’t even consider the prospect of vigilante justice. You’re just going to get yourself seriously hurt. You might even start a massive drunken brawl that will result in serious injuries for dozens of people.
2. Don’t go up to vandals and take pictures of their faces to show the cops later. Even in their drunken state, they’ll realize what you’re doing and attack you.
3. If you see vandalism and/or violence taking place, don’t stand there and take pictures, go to the nearest police officer and tell him/her what’s going on. Then leave the area so you don’t become part of the problem.
4. Have respect for the authorities. I’m sure most of them would love to be sitting at home or at a bar cheering on their team, but instead they have to miss the game and refrain from celebrating because a few drunken idiots can’t exercise some self-control.
5. Clean up after yourselves. And clean up after others. Litter is bad, and it makes us look bad.

See also:

• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song
• April 24, 2008 — Recognize any of these faces?

As someone who was there, allow me to shine some light on the inaccurate impressions some of these newspaper columnists and radio hosts might be giving you:

Myth: Real fans don’t riot

Reality: Says who? I don’t see anything in the definition of “fan” that precludes such activity. Plenty of pundits are suggesting that the looters wouldn’t know Kostitsyn from Kovalev, but they have no evidence to back up that assertion. The pictures show plenty of the people involved were wearing Habs jerseys and/or carrying Habs flags.

Myth: The police stood by and did nothing while downtown was destroyed

Reality: The police were caught off-guard (as were, I might add, most news outlets who wrapped up their celebration coverage at 10:30). When the crowd got too big to control, riot police were quickly shuttled to where they were needed and chased down rioters as if they were invading a country. The fact that nobody got seriously hurt should be testament to the fact that the police succeeded in their first priority: safeguarding the lives of citizens. They also did the best they could to protect stores from looting, even to the point of standing guard outside throughout the night.

And just what was the alternative? Should they have started firing into the crowd? Filled downtown with pepper spray to the point where no one (not even the cops themselves) would be able to breathe? Should they have spread out and put their individual lives in danger just to protect their squad cars?

Myth: The destruction was done by only a handful of troublemakers

Reality: Five police cars were torched simultaneously over a span of half a dozen blocks. Members of the crowd chipped in when it became clear the mob was in control and nobody would punish them for wanton acts of vandalism. Dozens of people threw glass bottles high into the air, with the intent to injure others. This wasn’t a few isolated cases, this was a mob.

Myth: It’s those crazy leftist activists who were torching police cars

Reality: Again, no evidence of this whatsoever. Some people involved were clearly homeless. Some obviously had a lot of money to waste. You can’t blame this on one identifiable group.

Myth: Most of the crowd were innocent bystanders there to celebrate their team and looked upon the looting/vandalism with disgust

Reality: There are no innocent bystanders (except the media, I hope). Even those who didn’t touch a thing cheered when vehicles looked on the edge of toppling. Others took pictures and video with their cellphones, posting the crappy, highly-compressed, badly-framed, five-second clips of nothing on YouTube with a bunch of exclamation marks noting how awesome it was. All provided a barrier between police looking to make arrests and those who needed to be arrested.

Just because they didn’t do anything doesn’t mean they didn’t contribute to the situation.

Myth: Montreal hockey fans are normally classy people

Reality: You’re kidding me, right? Have you ever been to the Bell Centre?

Myth: Had the police been more forceful, it would have taught people a lesson and the damage would have been minimized

Reality: The opposite would have happened. An arrest outside a shoe store on Ste. Catherine Street forced police to use pepper spray because they were quickly surrounded by angry fans crying police brutality. Never mind the fact that the guy they were arresting was doing everything in his power to resist them and injure them. Every action by police was met with an antagonistic response.

Myth: Closing Ste. Catherine Street will solve this problem next time

Reality: People will just find other places to congregate. René-Lévesque Blvd., St. Laurent, St. Denis, Sherbrooke Street. There are plenty of places. And closing a street will only work if you have the manpower to back it up. Literally putting police officers on every corner of a metropolis isn’t a simple task.

Myth: Once they look at the videos and pictures, police will be able to arrest everyone involved

Reality: Most of those pictures and videos are of such poor quality you couldn’t make out the face of your own mother on them. Even if they do have faces, they have to be identified, which means someone who knows the person has to come forward and rat them out. Then, assuming a positive identification is made, police have to prove that the person actually caused significant damage. Photos might show them kicking a police car, but few capture the more serious acts of vandalism. And those whose actions were minor will get very minor sentences, assuming they are even prosecuted.

Myth: These actions were planned and carefully orchestrated by the vandals

Reality: There’s no evidence of this, and it doesn’t meet with the facts. People didn’t “carry around jugs of gasoline” or Molotov cocktails, they set fire to pieces of cardboard they found laying around. They threw garbage (and garbage cans) they found on the street. It was entirely improvised. People did these things because those around them did too. That’s the power of the mob.

Myth: They just did this so they could post videos on YouTube

Reality: Not once did I see anyone commit an act of vandalism and ask someone to film it. Vandalism was done for its own sake. It was the bystanders who took pictures of the carnage and of themselves standing in front of it.

See also:

• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song
• April 25, 2008 — Riot remorse

I haven’t been a Habs fan for very long. Once, way back when, I wasn’t really a sports fan at all. I might tune in to the odd championship game and cheer for the home team, but I couldn’t name more than a couple of players, if any.

I never saw Rocket Richard play. Or Jean Béliveau. Or Guy Lafleur. And I think I saw Patrick Roy play once, in that Stanley Cup-winning game in 1993. Really, my affection for the team grew out of necessity. As a copy editor, I was assigned to the sports desk at the Gazette, and I would read everything there is about the team. Now I watch all the games and know all the names of the players.

In my short time as a devout fan, I’ve never been ashamed of that fact. Not after missing the playoffs because of a loss to the Leafs. Not during many slumps. Not when fans would sing “na na na na hey hey hey goodbye” during Game 2, or would so overwhelm other teams’ stadiums you’d think they were playing a home game.

Last night was different. Though the news networks and politicians are stressing until their faces turn blue that last night’s riot wasn’t caused by “real Habs fans” (how do they know?), the images shown to the world speak for themselves.

Timeline

9:30pm: Though I’m supposed to be working, a little more than half my attention is on the game while the puck is moving. The Habs are running away with this game, but I want to see its final moments.

10:30pm: The paper is sent off for its first edition, and I pack up to head for home. I figure I’ll take some photos of the crowd celebrating before hopping on the metro.

10:59pm: Though the streets are littered with garbage (most of it flyers from one organization), Habs fans are celebrating, singing, waving their flags.

11:07pm: The hooliganism begins, as fans rush to topple this truck. It doesn’t occur to them that there are other fans on the other side who would get crushed to death if they succeeded. They’re immediately stormed by riot police.

11:14pm: Traffic can’t get through this part of downtown because of the sea of pedestrian traffic, but they don’t mind. They’re here to share in the celebration, using their vehicles in very hazardous ways.

11:21pm: Police use pepper spray for no discernable reason. Many unsuspecting passersby (including this intrepid young blogger) get a solid whiff of the irritating-for-irritating’s-sake stuff. It won’t be the last time I see smoke.

11:23pm: Riot police, who work by literally pushing people around, hustle innocent bystanders along with the unsavoury characters.

11:27pm: The riot cops form a wall from one building to another, so that nobody can go around. On orders from their commander, they’ll beat their batons against their shields and start running forward. It’s one of the scariest things you can see a police officer do in front of you.

11:28pm: Some idiot in a sports car burns rubber, filling Mountain and Ste. Catherine with smoke.

11:30pm: I don’t care how drunk you are. Taking riot cops on by yourself is stupid. No, they won’t suddenly realize your rights have been violated and apologize to you.

11:33pm: This car was unfortunate enough to be parked downtown last night. Now it needs a new windshield, a new door, a new side mirror and a new paint job. And it got off easy.

11:34pm: Seriously? You’re trying to wreck a garbage container?

11:36pm: This guy, clearly a Canadiens fan (but not a “real” one?) is trying to entice the retreating crowd into storming the riot cops. For some reason they’re not jumping at the idea.

11:39pm: Say goodbye to this car. You’re about to witness its destruction.

11:40pm: This guy tried to be the voice of reason, standing in front of the car and telling people not to destroy it. For his troubles he got a projectile to the back of the head. It might have been worse if a cameraman hadn’t hauled him out of there.

11:41pm: Will these two ever be prosecuted for their (should I say “alleged” here?) senseless destruction of property? Probably not.

11:47pm: This guy (carrying a Canadiens flag, but I’m sure he’s not a “real” fan, right?) thought he could set fire to this car with a lighter. He wouldn’t succeed, though later his friends would find a way.

11:49pm: OMG d00d! Property destruction is SOO AWES0ME!!!111 Hi Mom!

11:50pm: Trash cans were a favourite projectile. This one was thrown by this guy:

who was a very angry, very involved member of the auto-destruction team.

11:57pm: These people (who are obviously not “real” Habs fans right?) try to flip the beaten-up car. They wouldn’t succeed (neither would anyone else). The license plate (FAN1005) is ironic considering the situation.

12:03am: A block away, another car has successfully caught fire, and is filling the intersection with black smoke (not to mention the noise of the stuck-on horn). Before firefighters arrive, some idiots decide to take photos of themselves in front of it (the top photo in this post came moments later)

12:23am: The fire put out by firefighters, riot cops arrive and shoo people out of the way. I get a whack to the chest for my troubles.

12:25am: One of the few arrests for vandalism. This guy (The Gazette identified him the next day as Ioannis Mitzas), shouting expletives at police and trying his best to resist arrest, gets fellow idiots to stand up for him and the POLICE BRUTALITY OMG that he’s being subjected to. His friends are promptly pepper-sprayed.

12:31am: Radio-Canada had at least two journalists on the scene. Shockingly, while doing live reports of the antics of drunken sports fans, some of those fans did stupid drunkenly things to get on TV.

12:59am: Guy and Ste. Catherine.

1:06am: A Reebok store with Canadiens merchandise in its display window got those windows broken, showing how much fans care about the team. Here, one guy, wearing a red Canadiens cap he just stole from under a pile of broken glass, goes in for more looting by trying to grab the jersey off a mannequin. He flees when riot police move in.

1:10am: Boston fans look on a torched cop car (one of five I saw that night) with a “so cool” expression. It’s fantastic the lessons we’re imparting on other teams’ fans, not to mention tourists.

1:12am: Sad.

1:15am: One of the few bright spots of the evening. This group picks up a toppled mailbox and puts it back in its place.

1:36am: Police officers, who could be out there solving crimes or protecting our neighbourhoods, are instead forced to act as security guards to prevent looting at a Foot Locker.

An SAQ outlet was among the storefronts with broken windows. Rioters quickly climbed through the broken glass to take bottles for use as weapons. Someone might have enjoyed the wine in this bottle one day, but instead it ends its life in the most senseless way possible, as ballast in a glass projectile.

Analysis

Because this happened late at night, today’s papers focus more on the game than the post-game riot (not to mention all the canned Earth Day stuff, ironic since downtown is littered with trash). The story is leading local and national newscasts (though Brenda Martin is stealing some of that fire now).

Expect the papers tomorrow to be filled with analysis up the rear end about what happened. Should we blame the cops for not doing enough to protect downtown (including their own cars?). Should we blame the media for making rioters famous? Should we blame the fans who stood by and filmed the carnage on their cellphones to post to YouTube, providing a protective human shield so the cops couldn’t move in and make arrests? Should we blame the cop cars themselves for being so flammable, and the store windows for being so breakable?

Of course not. We should blame the looters, and the rioters. They should be found, prosecuted, and forced to pay for the damage they’ve done.

The reaction in the blogosphere has been unanimously negative, but that doesn’t change anything. It still happened, and everyone who did so much as kick a cop car or toss a beer can is responsible.

Saying “these weren’t real Habs fans” doesn’t cut it. It doesn’t make us look civilized. We need to do more than just join a Facebook group denouncing this.

If this is how we react to a conference quarterfinal win, against a team we beat eight times in a row in the regular season, I hope we don’t win the next series. Having self-respect is much more important than winning some stupid hockey tournament.

More reaction

• Four Habs Fans
• Chaos Theory (an ironically-named blog today)
  
• Mike Boone and Habs Inside/Out
• Gazette readers
• Jim Duff
• Barry Wilson, CTV News Postscript
• Patrick Lagacé
• Slushblog
• Citynoise
• Steven Mansour
• Montreal LiveJournal
• Irrelevant Opinions

See also:

• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song
• April 25, 2008 — Riot remorse

P.S. You need to find a new mascot.

See also:

• July 10, 2008 — The young’uns come out to play
• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song

Everyone’s getting into the spirit.

See also:

• April 10, 2008 — Habs fever
• August 6, 2008 — 11 problems with STM’s new magnetic fare card
• July 30, 2008 — STM, media need to learn Bullying 101

Some might decry this as a lack of class, but really Canadiens fans deserved this after Boston beat us in overtime yesterday: Bruins fans heckling Habs fans in the bathroom at [Corporate name here] Garden in Boston, singing “you’re gay, you’re gay, you’re gay, you’re-gay-you’re-gay-you’re-gay”

See also:

• July 10, 2008 — The young’uns come out to play
• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song

On behalf of the city, we’d like to apologize to anyone who tried to sleep after 10pm last night. (And, very possibly, anyone trying to sleep after 10pm tonight or 10pm Tuesday night.)

People got a little excited.

Not that they weren’t toying a bit with our heartstrings to begin with.

Actually, on second thought, no we’re not sorry. If you were trying to sleep during a playoff game, there’s clearly something wrong with you.

See also:

• July 10, 2008 — The young’uns come out to play
• May 17, 2008 — 56 rioters and counting
• May 12, 2008 — The Great Canadiens Conference Quarterfinal Riot Song

And they have their first scoop: Guy Carbonneau is hot.

Well then.

See also:

• July 13, 2008 — Steep learning curve
• March 20, 2008 — La Presse to pay its bloggers
• March 1, 2008 — Local newspaper union news