On Saturday, former members of the Hockey Inside Out message board and Montreal Canadiens fans gathered at Hurley’s Irish Pub to hold their annual Habs Summit. The group included a lot of out-of-towners, people from different provinces; Ontario, Alberta, and Newfoundland, to name a few, and even one gentleman from Bulgaria.
As always, Stu Cowan from the Montreal Gazette acted as master of the ceremony and held a Q&A with the fans until the guests of honour, Yvon Lambert and Rejean Houle, arrived. The alumni members brought a team-signed stick with them, which ended up being the crown jewel of a prize table, which also included a signed Arber Xhekaj jersey, Jeff Petry game-worn gloves, and autographed pictures of Brendan Gallagher and Samuel Montembeault (generously provided by Memorable Authentic), a copy of Brendan Kelly’s Habs Nation: A People’s History of the Montreal Canadiens, and much more.
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Lambert and Houle also fielded a few questions, and Lambert gave everyone a good laugh when he gave his opinion on Marc Bergevin drafting Jesperi Kotkaniemi in no uncertain terms that cannot be published in this article. Houle poked fun at Lambert, teasing him about the fact that he has one more Stanley Cup ring than he does.
Both men played with the late great Ken Dryden in the 1970s, and they reminisced about their former goaltender and how great and focused he always was in the net. Lambert prompted another round of laughs when he told how Dryden would chase players who would shoot on him above the shoulders in practice. They also had good words for another Canadiens idol, Guy Lafleur, explaining that when he was scoreless in a game, he would often ask goaltender Michel “Bunny” Larocque to show up an hour early to practice the next day because he needed to work on his shot.
After the Q and A, the raffle was held, and everyone left with a prize, even if those who came out of the hat late got smaller prizes.$4,000 was raised for the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation. Overall, it was a great day for those fans who only get to gather once a year but have a blast discussing their beloved Habs while also raising funds for the worthy cause.
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