With the recent return of Saku Koivu to the Bell Centre, possibly for the last time, the mind starts to roll through history of the various homecomings of sort. Any sports fan has to concede that the fans in Montreal are some of the best when it comes to draping their former players in adoration upon their return home. The history of the Canadiens is rich in moments just like this one; however one has always stuck out among all the rest. It was a high scoring affair in 1989 with the Canadiens defeating the New York Rangers 7-5. It was a night in Montreal that had never been seen before or since.
It was the night that The Flower came home to Montreal, in unfamiliar colours.
The ovation during the pre-game skate was to be expected, the two goals from Lafleur were improbable and the idea of the Forum cheering that loudly for an away team scoring was and is unheard of.
Fan bases across all sports are increasingly becoming more and more fickle as it relates to the athletes they call their own. Players go from goat to G.O.A.T. (greatest of all-time) from year to year. Fandom has gone from a model of what have you done for me to what have you done for me lately?
It is increasingly refreshing when fans can take a moment, press pause and spend a night celebrating an athlete for what they have meant to a city and a franchise.
The two-minute clip embedded above of Guy Lafleur’s return to the Montreal Forum likely does not do justice for anyone who was in attendance that evening. For the sports fans among us who were not, it speaks volumes of what a player meant to a city. It is rare circumstance for the loudest ovation of any competition to go an out-of-towner. The reason the fans in Montreal do this best is that even when the colours of the jersey change, you’re still viewed as one of their own.
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