Stars shine on fun-to-watch 2024-’25 Habs team
Montréal is hockey, and when the city’s professional, National Hockey League (NHL) team the Montréal Canadiens are playing at home, there is a palpable energy that can be felt throughout the city. And excitement is high in 2024-’25 for the 24-time Stanley Cup champions, who have a few new faces on the ice, including emerging and established rising stars.
The sacred game
If hockey is a religion in Montréal, then the Bell Centre is its temple. The 82-game NHL regular season includes 41 home ice games at the 21,302-capacity Bell Centre, where the Montréal Canadiens moved in 1996 from former epicentre of Habs hockey awesomeness in the city, the Montréal Forum. (The Forum is now an imaginatively repurposed entertainment, business and resto complex that pays innovative tribute to its former self.) The Bell Centre boasts the most electric atmosphere in the NHL, which essentially makes Montréal vibrate for six months between October and April, and is unmatched anywhere else in the NHL.
A lineup that lights up
It’s never boring in Habs land, and that’s certainly true again this year with this highly talented phalanx of both new and veteran players. This season's powerful offensive lineup includes Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovský, Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach to name a few of the top goal-getters. Quebecers Rafael Harvey-Pinard, David Savard, Mike Matheson, Alex Barré-Boulet and goalkeeper Samuel Montembeault are among those adding a homegrown presence to the lineup. And Lane Hutson is an exciting new addition to the Habs’ defensive line, having already demonstrated the ability to put on a highly entertaining puck rock show when he takes to the ice.
Hot tips for hot tix
The Habs are so deeply ingrained in the city’s psyche that tickets can be hard to come by — but not impossible. In addition to single tickets, group tickets for those special occasions such as birthdays or employee events can be had at a discount depending on the size of your group. There are also 5- to 10-game packs, an exceptional family offer, and affordably priced tickets for students: special CEGEP Nights and University Nights feature reduced tickets and come with special promo offers such as free popcorn, hotdogs or beer.
Also worth noting: while many of the regular season seats are sold out before the very first faceoff, the Canadiens organization will release a certain number of tickets on game day (unused tickets that were previously reserved by the NHL or the opposing team, for example), so be sure to check the Habs official website.
Are you experienced?
And great hockey watching is made even greater by the many premium fan “experiences” the Bell Centre has on offer, from sweet suite packages, to fine pre-game dining, to behind-the-scenes guided tours and, for the ultimate fan, an equally ultimate experience encompassing all of the forementioned and more.
In addition, named for the year the Canadiens were founded (the Habs are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team in the world), Club 1909 is the official points program and online portal for Canadiens fans. Anyone can join, it’s free, and you can earn points for cool Canadiens items like player bobbleheads, Habs books, signed pucks, retired jersey pins and more. Rewards also include access to unique and exclusive offers, like the chance to catch a game from the press gallery with free food and drinks. Go Habs, go!
To get your hands on some of the hottest Habs tickets in town, and explore your whole range of options and experiences, click here.
Original article in English by Jamie O'Meara, adapted into French by Alex Gauthier.
Jamie O'Meara
Jamie O'Meara was the Editor-in-Chief at C2 Montréal and the former Editor-in-Chief of alt-weekly newspaper HOUR Magazine.