The Bell Center, home of the Montreal Canadiens, will open to full capacity starting October 8th. Only fully vaccinated fans will be allowed in the building. The Canadiens face their first regular season opponent on the 13th of October.
Starting October 8, the Bell Center can officially be at full capacity for the @CanadiensMTL games. Only for the fully vaccinated obviously.
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) September 30, 2021
Bell Center Now At Full Capacity
The stadium that can seat over 21,000 fans is finally back open to full strength. During the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, every Canadien arena was nearly empty, save for a few people watching. Other than that, tarps covered most of the lower bowl seating. In contrast, U.S. stadiums were sometimes packed to the brim (take the Carolina Hurricanes/Nashville Predators series for example). The advantage a home crowd gives a team, playoffs or not, cannot be understated. It was sorely missed after the pause last season, and it’s refreshing to see fans in the seats again. Hearing the roar and cheers from the crowd and their reactions to big plays never gets old.
Moving Forward For the Canadiens
The Canadiens were one of the few teams without a full capacity stadium just a few weeks ago. However, with Bell Center surely packed through the nosebleeds, this advantage will only help the Habs. And they’ll certainly need it against their first opponent.
On October 13th, the Canadiens will open their season against a strong contender in the Toronto Maple Leafs. A determined squad that had an untimely end to their playoff run last season, Toronto will look to put a win on the board. However, the Canadiens are looking to recapture their magic from their playoffs last season. Montreal is looking to start off the season with a statement win, backed by goaltender Carey Price (or Jake Allen if Price is still injured). No matter the speculation of the winner, the fans will certainly be loud inside of Bell Center from opening puck drop to the final whistle.
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