Bell Centre

To anyone who has ever visited, lived, or studied in Montreal, they must have heard the term "Bell Centre" being thrown around a little. I am one of those people who have heard about the centre, but have never expressed an interest in learning more or seeing what it is used for (apart from Habs' games). However, that changed last week.

My friend Katrina and I booked tickets to see the Watch the Throne concert, featuring none-other than Kanye West and Jay-Z. The concert was held last Tuesday, November 22, and Montreal was surely blessed to have these performers since the city was added in a last minute change to the tour. Having witnessed how difficult it was to get tickets at a reasonable price (reasonable being lower than $100), I was fully aware that the concert was sold out and that the centre would be absolutely packed.

We walked over Tuesday night, joining the crowds that were all slowly making their way to the centre, located at the intersection of Drummond and Rene-Levesque. In front of the centre were four statues of Montreal Canadiens' legends including the only name I was familiar with, Maurice Richard. The statues were quite intricate and there was a little bit of information about each player written into them as well. Right before one walks in, there is a line of t-shirts with numbers on it; I'm not sure if they signified the players that are currently on the team or retired numbers representing the all-time best players.

After waiting another 20min for the gates to open, we were allowed into the stadium where we were welcomed with tons of vendors selling everything from extremely overpriced shirts to even more extremely overpriced beer, drinks, and food. However, the halls were lined with photos of performers who had once upon a time blessed the centre with a performance. As we walked along the halls, there were team photos of the Habs, dating back to the 30s! Although the only player I was still capable of recognizing (Maurice Richard), it was very interesting to see how the team had changed over the decades that it has been playing hockey.

The stadium itself if quite large and holds thousands of people. Although Katrina and I were in the nosebleed section, we still had a great view of the stage and eventually the performers. It was nice to feel like we were sitting in seats that had been sat in by so many people, either watching the famous hockey players skate around their rink or scream to the lyrics of various artists that had stopped by to play.

Even if you don't feel the need to go to a concert or see a hockey game (or if you simply can't because, like me, I live off of a college student budget), just walk around the stadium when no events are taking place and look at what it has to offer. The history is quite captivating and you'll find that the Bell Centre is much more than it seems to be.