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Montreal Is A Special Place For All-Stars

The Associated Press

Having grown up near Montreal, Vinny Lecavalier understands the passion of the fan base for the sport.

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By IRA PODELL

The Associated Press

Published: January 25, 2009

MONTREAL - Nothing against Atlanta, or South Florida, or other NHL teams in the Sun Belt, but an All-Star Game up north is really unlike any in a nontraditional hockey market.

And the differences are evident before arriving planes touch down on Canadian soil. Instead of seeing multiple baseball diamonds across vast fields below, one can't help but notice kids and adults bundled up on outdoor rinks with a game of shinny in progress.

The Montreal Canadiens are the proud hosts of this year's All-Star festivities that will culminate with the game tonight. Already the owners of a record 24 Stanley Cup titles, hockey's version of the New York Yankees is in the middle of celebrating its 100th season.

Not even temperatures dropping well below zero during a bitterly cold weekend prevented the Bell Centre from being packed to capacity before 10 a.m. Saturday for Eastern and Western Conference practices.

"For me it's just special," said Dallas Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas, who began his NHL career with the Canadiens. "Montreal is a team with a lot of history.

"Me being here in Montreal, being a kid from Sherbrooke which is not too far from here, I grew up as a Montreal Canadiens fan. Everything is there to make it a perfect weekend."

Montreal hasn't hosted the game since 1993, when it took place just three days after Gary Bettman took over as NHL commissioner.

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, a Montreal native, almost missed his chance to play in front of dozens of family and friends when a groin injury in November forced him to sit out 24 games. He returned to action just more than a week ago and proved he was fit enough to head home for this showcase.

If the game was somewhere else, Luongo likely would have skipped it as fellow banged-up stars such as Sidney Crosby, Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk did.

"It played into it a lot," Luongo said. "I'm sure the fact that I'll be able to play here in my hometown really affected whether I was going to be here or not."

Alex Kovalev didn't have to travel far, being that he currently stars for the Canadiens. His extra honor is to wear the captain's C for the East squad.

It is a distinction that hadn't been bestowed on a Montreal player in the All-Star Game since Hall of Famer Larry Robinson.

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