Thursday, January 08, 2009

Les Habitants Nation

Okay, so perhaps Steelers Nation isn't all that:

And then there’s Justin Margolis, who sports a brown T-shirt with the CH crest. Raised in a small town north of Cleveland, the 20-year-old McGill student rooted for the Ohio State Buckeyes and Pittsburgh Steelers until he fell in love with Quebec during a family trip to Mont Tremblant six years ago. Like so many converts, his devotion – to Quebec’s French language, culture and the gods of hockey – is unflinching and absolute. ...

... Margolis said it wasn’t until he saw the team in Florida during the Christmas break that he saw Canadiens’ fervour as a religious experience.

“It was Habs nation on vacation. There were at least 12,000 Montrealers. ... It was almost like a crusade, he said. “They had to infuse sound when Florida scored because they couldn’t make enough noise themselves.

“Every Montrealer I knew who was in Florida was there. You got your plane ticket, you got your Habs ticket. ... It felt like we were taking over a stadium.

“I just saw the look on the Florida fans faces.They were scared – it was like, ‘Oh, my god, these guys are crazy.’ ”

Small town north of Cleveland? I guess French Canadians don't get the same geography lessons common in the rest of the country. Wait a second ... there is a Cleveland, Quebec and Margolis was a Buckeye's fan? This story is great on so many levels. Also, I'm a member of Habs Nation. Sorry, Penguins.

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