Canadiens plan indoor/outdoor game for November

Because the Montreal Canadiens apparently haven't thanked fans profusely enough for their centennial season -- four games and out in the 2009 playoffs was

Michael Farber | Jun 25, 2009

Canadiens plan indoor/outdoor game for November /

Because the Montreal Canadiens apparently haven't thanked fans profusely enough for their centennial season -- four games and out in the 2009 playoffs was barely what an earlier generation would have called a bread-and-butter note -- the 100th birthday party apparently will continue with an "indoor/outdoor" game in late November at Olympic Stadium.

The stadium game at the problematic Big O should be announced within the next two weeks once an opponent and scheduling issues are addressed.

If you were going to bet on an opponent, try the Ottawa Senators.

At the competition committee meeting ON Thursday in Montreal prior to this weekend's entry draft, the NHL pulled the proposed Winter Classic doubleheader game on New Year's Day in Calgary off the table --- NBC had expressed concern that it would diminish the impact of the Boston-Philadelphia match in Fenway Park -- and instead subbed in a match close to the date the Canadiens played the first game in franchise history: Dec. 4.

Montreal GM Bob Gainey, a member of the committee, positioned the stadium game as a celebration for fans rather than a cash grab, which would mean reasonably-priced tickets in a venue that, other than the occasional football game, soccer match and some trade shows, has been fallow since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C.

While the fan-friendly sentiment is surely noble for a team that picked every wallet clean during a 2008-09 season that fell far short of giddy expectations, there is little doubt that it will be a boon to the bottom line. The Bell Centre seats 21,273. Olympic Stadium held close to 60,000 for baseball. With seating on the field, the Canadiens could basically triple their usual attendance.

The NHL is also looking for a way to take more advantage of the anticipated bump in hockey interest coming off the Olympics in Vancouver next February. While yet another outdoor game was discussed -- yawn -- it is more likely the Pittsburgh Penguins (read Sidney Crosby) and Washington Capitals (read Alexander Ovechkin) will play on Saturday, six days after the gold-medal game, in a match that will be embroidered with some sort of folderol, perhaps a concert.

Published Jun 25, 2009

MICHAEL FARBER

Along with the pages of Sports Illustrated, you'll find senior writer Michael Farber in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Farber joined the staff of Sports Illustrated in January 1994 and now stands as one of the magazine's top journalists, covering primarily ice hockey and Olympic sports. He is also a regular contributor to SI.com. In 2003 Farber was honored with the Elmer Ferguson Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame for distinguished hockey writing. "Michael Farber represents the best in our business," said the New York Post's Larry Brooks, past president of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. "He is a witty and stylish writer, who has the ability to tell a story with charm and intelligence." Farber says his Feb. 2, 1998 piece on the use and abuse of Sudafed among NHL players was his most memorable story for SI. He also cites a feature on the personal problems of Kevin Stevens, Life of the Party. His most memorable sports moment as a journalist came in 1988 when Canadian Ben Johnson set his controversial world record by running the 100 meters in 9.79 seconds at the Summer Olympic Games, in Seoul. Before coming to Sports Illustrated, Farber spent 15 years as an award-winning sports columnist and writer for the Montreal Gazette, three years at the Bergen Record, and one year at the Sun Bulletin in Binghamton, NY. He has won many honors for his writing, including the "outstanding sports writing award" in 2007 from Sports Media Canada, and the Prix Jacques-Beauchamp (Quebec sportswriter of the year) in 1993. While at the Gazette, he won a National Newspaper award in 1982 and 1990. Sometimes Life Gets in the Way, a compendium of his best Gazette columns, was published during his time in newspapers. Farber says hockey is his favorite sport to cover. "The most down-to-earth athletes play the most demanding game," he says. Away from Sports Illustrated, Farber is a commentator for CJAD-AM in Montreal and a panelist on TSN's The Reporters (the Canadian equivalent of ESPN's The Sports Reporters in the United States, except more dignified). Farber is also one of the 18 members on the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee. Born and raised in New Jersey, Farber is a 1973 graduate of Rutgers University where he was Phi Beta Kappa. He now resides in Montreal with his wife, Danielle Tétrault, son Jérémy and daughter Gabrielle.