Buff,
I rented a room from a little old lady right up from the University. She would always tell me she didn't mind social drinking but would not stand for drunks in her house. I don't think there was a night the entire month and a half I didn't haul myself up slowly up the banister to the fourth floor.
My friends used to call me 'the mayor of Montreal' (not bad for a NYC dude) because the jazz club owners and bartenders all knew me by name. We usually didn't have to wait on line, either. Even the ushers at the Forum on top of Red where I'd SRO knew me. Is the Bar B Barn still there?
I got tell you this story:
Now I've been a Habs fan since I was seven. Ken Dryden's first year. I used to get the radio feed in NY on cloudy nights but only in French. This was way before the dish. Flash forward to adulthood when I can travel and I'm there all the time, over 100 games at the Forum. Got into the locker room once, had Grapes flippin me off another, Sundin and Sakic turned the corner one morning as I checked my friend into the Boulangerie wall and were patting me on the back for a good hit, some great times, too many to list.
Anyway, in the beginning of the '92-'93 season, a buddy of mine who didn't even like hockey came along on a trip( We usually left NY fri night around 4 am, were checked in at the Maritime by ten, breakfast, bar, barbbarn, game,bar, crash and leave. this was automatic, at least once a month if not more). So this guy comes along, has a great time, starts following hockey THAT year. He ends up coming up with friends to meet me at game 5 of the finals. After the season, when the NHL tape comes out, he's featured cheering when they win as the announcer says "and the montreal faithful...' I was nowhere in sight, probably hugging so many people or on the ground or something.
Some dude from Staten Island is forever the face of the 'Montreal Faithful'