First and foremost, I think the Montreal Canadiens are a great team with exciting players, a good coach and from what I can tell from watching him play so far, a very good goalie. What I despise are the fans of the Montreal Canadiens. This is not referring to how they lambaste the team after every loss and numerous fans claiming the season is over every time they lose to the Senators. I am talking about the beginning of the most annoying tradition in hockey history; the Ole chant.
Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that a fan paying upwards of 150 to 200 dollars for a ticket has every right to chant whatever they want. The problem I have with this chant is that it is taken from the worst sport created by humans that rivals things such as old NHL All-Star game uniforms on a list of things I never want to see or hear about ever again.
If I had to parade that up and down the ice on national television I’d probably pick up my Blackberry and text Chris Simon to come and stomp on my ankle for a few minutes until dementia started setting in.ANYWAY, I hate the Ole chant because of two main reasons.
- It is a soccer chant and it should stay in soccer.
- It is followed(usually) by the second most annoying thing Habs fans do and that is the Goodbye chant.
I wouldn’t have a problem with the Goodbye chant if their fans didn’t chant it EVERY SINGLE GAME. I was watching the first regulation blowout win for the Habs this season, an October 22nd win against the Boston Bruins. They were up 6-1 by the end of the game and started chanting Hey Hey Hey…Goodbye. Then they went on to play the bruins 8 more times in the same season.
So why the chant? Is it necessary to chant the losing team goodbye every single game? I can understand that chant if its the elimination game in a playoff series and the score is out of hand but these people do it at any opportunity they get no matter how ridiculous. Tie game going into overtime hey hey hey goodbye. The habs are losing 4-1 to the Peterborough Petes in an inter-league game hey hey hey…goodbye. Habs fans are born without a sense of time and place when it comes to chanting. I can surmise by their behaviour that they laugh at funerals and cry at birthday parties.
I can only guess that Montreal’s harsh winter months and surplus of strip-bars contributes to this over exuberance and ill-timed chanting. The fact that most Habs fans are still not over the departure of Patrick Roy and the subsequent stagnation of the franchise points towards a city lost in it’s own self-loathing. Keep chanting you hooligans, maybe one day you’ll realize exactly what sport you’re watching.
Tags: All-Star game, chanting, lame, Montreal, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, soccer
March 24, 2008 at 3:01 am
I agree with your point about Goodbye chant, it looks dumb saying goodbye to a team in game 3 of the regular season. But I got nothing against the Ole chant. Sure it started off in soccer games, but it easily translates to other sporting events. What’s wrong with borrowing the chant? I understand, and even share, your dislike for soccer, but the chant is completely independent of the game of soccer. I am not too worried that by borrowing a chant, hockey is going to turn into the travesty that is soccer.
also your sweeping comments directed towards all habs fans are ridiculous.