Tribute 25 Years Ago Today: Montreal Forum Closes

[Chili]

I would not call Vincent Damphousse drafted 6th that year a long forgotten name personally. He was a much better player than Murphy. Brian Leetch drafted 9th was pretty damn good too

When Leetch was drafted, we were scratching our heads because the Rangers had Reijo Ruotsalainen who was a very good powerplay qb. Leetch had a great career. There are very few from that draft who had a better career then Adam Graves (including Murphy), that was my point.

It was fun going to drafts at the Forum.

 

[1909]

Get choked up every time i watch this .What an array of superstar hockey players we once had.Seems as soon as the last game was over at the Forum and the move to the Bell Centre everything went downhill.Could watch this over and over except for one thing...seeing that piece of dirt Mario Tremblay behind the bench makes me want to throw up.

As a coach, Tremblay was indeed a farce... But as a player (feisty and gritty) and as a proud Canadiens de Montréal ex-player, you can't blame his excitement. During this ceremony , he was mainly pointing out to his players, how great were those ex-players on the red carpet. And that they should be proud too, to be part of this History and Dynasty.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Old Forum.
Look at this picture. Big three. True winners. They walk like kings, no hang-ups.
And they wear brown like it's the coolest colour of the world.
Love the seventies, what a great time it was.

edit : I realise many posters doesn't see my images cause I'm on their ignore list, hahaha.

 

[Habs13]

And we've sucked ever since we shut down this monumental building. It should have been better used than the half-dead shopping mall it is today. Truly sad. I miss the old Forum. The atmosphere in that building was beyond comparison. I still go over and tap the Rocket on the shoulder each and every time I go there. Screw the barrier. I'll do it anyway.

I'm thankful that I had the chance to see some games at the Forum. My uncle brought me to see the Habs take on the Capitals one night. First row seats, on the goal line! Patrick Roy! Mike Luit. It was the highlight of my year and one of the top moments of my childhood. Man, do I miss that place.

 

[Habs13]

Another recent memory I want to share, is a little mundane and not hockey related in any way. My girlfriend and I went to see the Bohemian Rhapsody movie at the AMC theatre that's now in the old Forum. We're sat there, and it hits me... Queen played this very building we were watching this film in. A happy accident. So I whisper that in her ear, because I hate people that talk during movies, and she looked at wide eyed and mouth agape in a "Oh wow, yeah, you're right" look. Like I said, mundane, but a memory I cherish regardless.

After the film, we went looking for any old Queen memorabilia that might still be in the display cases. It's there! Pretty cool.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Right around the time the organization lost its soul, sorta speak

 

[habdynasty]

Old Forum.
Look at this picture. Big three. True winners. They walk like kings, no hang-ups.
And they wear brown like it's the coolest colour of the world.
Love the seventies, what a great time it was.
View attachment 406979

Ladies and gentlemen please welcome.... the Beatles.

 

[BigDaddyLurch]

I remember back in '97 when I was in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu I had the chance to buy a pair of seats from the Forum but the seller wanted waaaayyyy too much for them...now I'm kinda sorry I didn't buy them anyways, just to add to the Habs half of the Man Cave...one of the seats still had a bunch of gum stuck underneath it...

 

[JianYang]

Ray Ferraro has mentioned in the past how he loved to play in Montreal, and he really seemed to like the forum in particular.

He talked about the the original 6 rinks like Boston garden, and maple leaf gardens, and how they were kind of dirty and gross.

The forum to him was an exception in that it was relatively clean and well kept, like a shrine.

I never went to the old Boston garden, but it looked dirty and dingy even on TV.

 

[Catanddogguitarrr]

Ray Ferraro has mentioned in the past how he loved to play in Montreal, and he really seemed to like the forum in particular.

He talked about the the original 6 rinks like Boston garden, and maple leaf gardens, and how they were kind of dirty and gross.

The forum to him was an exception in that it was relatively clean and well kept, like a shrine.

I never went to the old Boston garden, but it looked dirty and dingy even on TV.

So true. Boston Garden was a dirty place, first and second degree of the word dirty.
About Ray Ferraro, I think his father's first name is Enzi.

 

[yianik]

I already talked about it...but my father who was a usher (at the Olympic Stadium, Forum, Bell Centre and Molson Centre) who died in 2010, is the last usher to have been in the Forum. When they were destroying it, he was chosen to be at the main door to open it for various people working in it.

And the story that always resonate with me is that one player, who was in town, wanted to come in the forum one last time with his wife. My father said that he seemed really touched by it seeing how part of the stands were already out and so on.....It was Adam Graves. For the oldest guys like me who remember him, a really great 2-way tough player.

Do you know who the Asian lady usher was who was always behind the Habs bench ?

 

[Chet-Nick]

Right around the time the organization lost its soul, sorta speak

Yup. The 1995-96 season. Hiring Houle , Tremblay and Cournoyer. Traded Roy. What a way to close a iconic building. Or as some, in the media, referred to the Forum as "Hockey's Cathedral." Which it was.

Almost hard to believe they finished with 90 pts. after a rocky 0-5 start. Crazy thing was, I travelled up and watched a Tremblay's coaching debut. Turgeon scored with 7/10's of a second remaining for the winner against Toronto. It was in our end of the Forum.

They introduced the hirees on Saturday afternoon. We arrived at our hotel Friday evening.

For the exception of Koivu, the slow demise of the Canadiens had already begun with Savard's poor drafting from the early 90's and on. It caught up with the organization. Houle's term just accelerated it.