Last month, former Montreal Canadiens blueliner Josh Gorges was appointed as an assistant coach with his junior team, the Kelowna Rockets. The gritty former defenseman gave an interview to The Gazette’s Stu Cowan, then spoke to RG.org’s Marco D’Amico. Since then, one part of that interview really stuck with me.
A defensive defenseman, Gorges didn’t get to score and celebrate that many goals in his career, but he says one memory that really endures with him is that improbable playoff run in 2009-2010. That was a fantastic time to be a Canadiens fan…
Canadiens’ Goalie Tandem Receives New Ranking
Canadiens: A Preview Of The Second Line?
Canadiens: Important Dates For The Season Start
Back then, I still lived in London, England, and this was before I had started writing about the team professionally, and I was just a fan, but a really dedicated one. With the five-hour time difference between Montreal and London, the games would start at midnight on my side of the pond, but I couldn’t even entertain the idea of missing a second of those playoff games. So every other night, I would stay up until at least 3:00 AM to watch my team play.
Early on, it looked like I wasn’t going to do that for much longer, but as Gorges recalls, the Canadiens came back from the 3-1 hole they had dug for themselves in the first round against the Washington Capitals. They fought tooth and nail, but they got there, and when I heard Pierre Houde say, “C’est terminé! Direction Pittsburgh!” I had goosebumps, and it was then that I knew that for me, hockey was much more than a hobby.
The next morning, as I walked to the Upminster train station to make my way to work at the Crown Prosecution Service, I had Anakin Slayd’s “Feels like ‘93” playing out loud on my phone, and believe it or not, I met a couple of Canadiens’ fans on the 10-minute walk, and when the puck dropped on the second round, I wasn’t alone watching it in my couch, I had a couple of friends.
The series with the Pittsburgh Penguins was just as spectacular and irresistible as tired as I was, running on three or four hours of sleep a night on game nights, I didn’t miss a single minute of the action. By the time the Canadiens booked their ticket to the Conference Final against the Philadelphia Flyers, there was a real buzz for the team all the way to London.
Even though the Habs went on to lose that series 4-1, that playoff run left so many people with so many memories. Whether they were on the ice like Gorges, at the Bell Centre like the 21,000 fans who were lucky enough to attend in person, or anywhere else in the world rooting them on, its impact cannot be denied.
Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens’ page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens’ roundtable on The Hockey News.
