As pandemic restrictions lift, Montreal comes alive for Habs' improbable playoff run

After a long winter, much of it spent under strict public health rules, Montreal is in transformation: flowers are blooming, restaurants and bars are open again, andsmall gatherings are permitted.

And the Canadiens in the midst ofa playoff run not seen in decades are at the centre of it all.

But the team's success this time around has taken on greater meaning, as the city emerges from the dark days of the pandemic.

Kristina Millett, who has been cheering for the Habs (despite protests from her family back home) since moving from Ontario in 2007, says the team has been a "lifeline for me and potentially a lot of people out there."

"It's been really tough for me, just as I know it's been tough for other people," Millet said of the past year. "Hockey has actually saved me from not spiralling into a super deep black hole."

With COVID-19 cases down and vaccination rates on the rise, Quebec Premier Franois Legault has, in recent weeks,lifted many of the restrictions that limited getting together to watch games.

Bar closing hours were pushed back to accommodate late gamestarts in Las Vegas, and the capacity at the Bell Centre in Montreal was increased slightlyto 3,500.

Still, many people, including Millet, continue to enjoy the games from the comfort of home. Once a regularat a downtown pub, last year sheinstalled an overhead projector at her place east of downtown.

Millet has watched many of the games with a close friend, re-creating a bar-like atmosphere with the help of carefully plannedsnacksand an 80-inch display.

Embracing underdog status

On Thursday, she plans to have over a few more people for a game against the Vegas Golden Knights that could put Montreal in the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 1993.

The Habs, who lead the seven-game series 3-2, have embraced their status as perpetual underdog.

They were pegged by the vast majority of pundits to be ousted by theToronto Maple Leafs, then the Winnipeg Jets and now the Golden Knights.

Millett saysthe teamwork on display in the face of it all, and the performance of her favourite player, star goalie Carey Price, has been inspiring.

"It just keeps building. I trusted we could get here and it feels very surreal."

WATCH| 1993 Stanley Cup winner Stphan Lebeau on this team's chances

All about the team play

3 years ago

Duration 1:49

Montreal Canadiens forward from 1989-94 Stphan Lebeau says they may be underdogs but the Habs' level of play as a team in these playoffs is what's most striking, and it reminds him of his 1993 team.

A full moon and a script

Thursday night's game coincides with the Quebec's Ftenationale, celebrated every year on June 24, as well as the first day of summer holidays for many school-aged children. It's also a full moon.

"The stage is set. The script is made," said David Gow, a longtime Habs fan who lives in Saint-Lazare, west of Montreal.

"They have come so far. Even Habs fans didn't think they would make it this far."

Avi Goldberg, asociologist at Vanier College in Montreal whoteaches a course on the sociology of sports, said the confluence of events is impossible to ignore.

The Habs, oftenlikened to a religion in Quebec, are surging just as the pandemic fog is lifting.

"It's kind of a feeling of social liberation, even though we're not totally there yet," Goldberg said. "Sports are powerful."

Montreal has a history of riots after playoff success, and Mayor Valrie Plante sayspolice will have a heightened presence for game night.

Plante urged people to respect public health measures still in place to avoid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The sale of Habs gear, notsurprisingly, has spikedsince the end of May, when the Habsupset the Leafs in Game 7.

Santana Enrique, the manager of a sportsstore in downtown Montreal, said flags, T-shirts and jerseys of the team's young stars, including Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki,have beenespecially popular.

"We are covering a lot of what we lost in the previous months," he said.

Ahead of the big game, Mark Bourgeois, another Habs fan, said the playoff run is "starting to percolate."

"What I'm hoping is that it ramps up it's going to help businesses, it's going to stimulate this thing."