Thursday, September 25, 2008

Canadiens Unveil 100th Anniversary Plans

The sweater retirement ceremony for Patrick Roy, left, with coach Guy Carbonneau, centre, and GM Bob Gainey, will be one of several events marking the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Canadiens. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

From The CBC:

The Montreal Canadiens unveiled a full schedule of events Wednesday for a two-year celebration of the team's 100th season.

Owner George Gillett Jr. and president Pierre Boivin were on hand at the Bell Centre to announce plans for the next two NHL seasons leading up to the 100th anniversary of the team's founding on Dec. 4, 2009.

Among the features this season will be a Ring of Honour section, which will open prior to the Canadiens' home-opener against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 15. The team will also set up a wing for a Hall of Fame exhibit at the Bell Centre next April.

"It's a great privilege," Gillett said. "There's so much history.

"We get recognition from people, but the real people who deserve the pats on the back are our fans for being behind us for 100 years. There's a lot of clubs that haven't made it yet and may not make it past whatever, so it's great to have fans of this quality."

The Canadiens used their sparkling new scoreboard, the largest in the NHL, to show fans and media members at the Bell Centre what they can expect through a video montage.

The scoreboard measures 7.6 metres by 12.2 metres and has 47.4 square metres of video viewing area, which is five times larger than the one the Bell Centre had last season.

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