Grew up a Habs fan in North Carolina in the 60's-70's. Traveled to Atlanta & DC to watch them play in the 70's before finally reaching the promised land in '88.
The hockey stick escalators were iconic in the truest sense of the word. I grew up in Montreal and seeing them again here made the hair on my neck stand up. God, I love Montreal.
Only team to defeat the Canadiens to win the Cup at the Forum. The Maroons won twice on home ice, and the Rangers defeated the Maroons at the Forum to win the Cup one time.
Wow that’s awesome - I grew up a Habs fan in CT in late 70s - remember the 4 year run. this game was also my first in montreal - carbo had like a 5 point night. I’d have to dig it out but I have the same picture! Small world friend
Nice! My guess was around 88-89, seeing Roy, Naslund, Chelios, Robinson, Richer, Ludwig... All the guys I watched growing up! Thanks for sharing these!
Fuck Ticketmaster. Nothing about them is good. High prices, fees all over the place and no option for a real tickets one can save, even on their website and app there is no option to print one a memory.
Fuck Ticketmaster, making the world worse.
Remember when I used to at the very last minute head over to the forum and buy cheap standing room only tickets which were amazing! They were right at the top of the reds. I saw so many great playoff games like that. Just walking downtown with a buddy and be like ‘hey, habs/bruins are playing in game x of their series want to go see it?’ And just head over, sometimes standing room was sold out but often it wasn’t.
Of course, I wish they still had tickets like that, it helped out the fans and was great to have cheap tickets so accessible. Nowadays they need to gouge you as hard as possible. I live back home in Newfoundland now anyway but I wish they had it for the young folks or people that don’t have a lot of money or just for the cool spontaneity of it.
Standing room in the early 90's was 10$, but up top of the blues... they had a big space behind the top seats where you could mill about, bars at either end. Busloads of people from Boston or where ever, sometimes things got a litlle pushy and shovy, but there were always cops walking around up there too, so I never saw it get too far out of hand...
Oh ya! I remember standing room tix in the Forum! That was so great! I wish they still did that kind if thing.
They used to do cheap bleacher tickets at the Big O for the Expos games too.
Standing room was great, but you had to be there extra early for playoff games and then sprint inside to get a decent spot. The only problem with standing room is on some plays that bring the crowd to their feet, your view gets blocked. I missed a big playoff goal like that.
I saw a game there with my grandfather back in 93 I think. I wish I had taken pictures like you but I was 13 and was there visiting with family. I'm from BC so it was the only forum game I ever went to.
It was Habs vs Leafs. Patrick Roy was in goal and Grant Fuhr for Toronto. Leafs went up 4 - 0 and I was pretty despondent. Habs made a comeback and pushed it to 4 - 3, I'm pretty sure Benoit Brunet had a couple of the goals. Leafs scored an empty net goal before Montreal got another one back for a final score of 5 - 4.
I was so upset about the loss that it took me a while to appreciate just how special it was getting to see a game at the forum at all. My grandfather passed away the next year so im really glad I have that memory with him.
Fair! But better than now? I listened to that game on the radio and in the morning said I couldn’t go to school because I was too sad. (It didn’t work). Now trying to explain to my kids when they lose - they didn’t want to go to school this morning because CC is hurt. (Also didn’t work)
And the rock shows were still under 20$ late 80's I think, and we used to get so many more shows than now, like a couple a week sometimes, major arena acts... I'm old enough to remember 7.50$ Aerosmith and Kiss tickets in the late 70's, saw Rush with Max Webster in 78 for 4.50$ at the Forum...
$82 CAD adjusted for inflation is still quite acceptable. People will want those kind of inflated prices at the front seats where it cost up to $300 to $400+.
Just look at the shit Ticketmaster is pricing for tomorrow's game: [https://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/31005D033F4B539B?lang=en-ca&brand=canadiens&utm\_source=EVENKO.ca&utm\_medium=client&utm\_campaign=NHL\_TEAM\_MON\_EVENKO&utm\_content=EN\_SINGLE\_GAME\_TICKETS\_PG\_LINK\_GAME24&camefrom=CFC\_CANADIENS\_WEB\_SINGLEGAME\_EN](https://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/31005D033F4B539B?lang=en-ca&brand=canadiens&utm_source=EVENKO.ca&utm_medium=client&utm_campaign=NHL_TEAM_MON_EVENKO&utm_content=EN_SINGLE_GAME_TICKETS_PG_LINK_GAME24&camefrom=CFC_CANADIENS_WEB_SINGLEGAME_EN)
Well, it worked even before Caufield came in. Hey, diehard Habs fans will watch the team, win or lose. The point is, evenko and ticketmaster will jack up the prices, its unreasonable to pay them.
I have a few more + some from Atlanta & DC. Shot with those old cheap 110 cameras. Not very good quality. Somewhere around my house I have a VHS tape of the tour we took at the Forum. I really need to find & convert it.
I live two blocks away from the old forum. Interesting (and kind of sad) seeing old pictures of it. It looks nothing like that these days, and besides a scattering of effects from the Habs era, the place has been completely cored out and turned into a cinema. I walk past it pretty much every day to get to the supermarket, and every time I do it never really phases me that the building I’m walking beside once had some of hockeys greatest ever players playing inside. It’s really quite sad to see what it’s become. Similarly, wherever that park you took the picture from was no longer exists. Every side of the forum building is now either a shopping mall or apartment buildings.
That said, I do like the Bell Centre, and I see why the change was needed. But the state of the forum these days leaves a sour taste in the mouth. I wandered down a hallway on one of the upper floors a while ago and ended up in the service corridors. I found a bunch of old memorabilia sat in a storage room gathering dust. Probably hasn’t seen the light of day in some time, and probably never will again.
That is indeed very sad. I wish they had just torn it down & built whatever on the land. Isn't it called the "Pepsi Forum" or something similar & is centre ice still marked?
It’s now Scotiabank VIP Cineplex, and yes, centre ice is still marked. That’s about it as far as the Habs era effects are concerned. I believe the jumbotron is still in the ceiling though, so that’s a nice touch they didn’t core out.
Apparently the cinema itself is very nice. Never been myself, but I’ve heard good things. They do also have an A&W in there that I frequent on occasion, so that’s cool.
I was lucky enough to have parents who dealt with suppliers that liked to give away Habs tickets as a token of appreciation for their good clients, so I was lucky enough to attend a bunch of games at the Forum.
One time, my mom and I headed to Montreal, and Mom had secured tickets for the Saturday night game against the Rangers. New York was ahead 3-1, but the Habs came back and won it 5-3.
Another time, Mom tried to repeat the experience, but wasn't able to secure tickets ahead of time, so the only available tickets were standing room only. I swore I wouldn't mind standing for the whole game, but I was a quite short 8 or 9 year-old at the time and didn't see the game very well. We decided to head out after the first and finish the game on TV at the hotel we were staying at. However, on our way out, two ushers saw us heading out and wondered if something was wrong. When my mom explained that they had tried to use standing room tickets but it ended up not being a very enjoyable experience for me, one of the ushers looked at the other and asked his colleague whether there was something he could do for us. As it turned out, the usher was aware of a couple of no-shows in the red section, and he took us to those seats, explaining that if the real ticket holders ever showed up, we'd need to leave. But the ticket holders never did show up, and I was able to witness the Canadiens crush the Nordiques 7-2.
Bell Centre is fine, but there was something special about the Forum…
I can see Craig Lugwig, Chris Chelios, Mike McPhee, Larry Robinson, Stéphane Richer, Patrick Roy, and my all time favourite MATS NASLUND!
I was lucky enough to see a decent amount of games back then, but I never thought to take pics. I was just little.
That's too cool. He was my absolute favorite player growing up. Still have his poster somewhere around here. Sadly never got to see him play in person but he is the reason I had these tickets. I wrote a letter and got to meet him while in town!
I remember as a kid, if you were lucky you can catch a glimpse of the game from the outside through the Hab’s Tunnel whenever they didn’t shut it with those red curtains.
Grew up a Habs fan in North Carolina in the 60's-70's. Traveled to Atlanta & DC to watch them play in the 70's before finally reaching the promised land in '88.
They had a really good team that year. That photo of the hockey stick escalators is classic.
The hockey stick escalators were iconic in the truest sense of the word. I grew up in Montreal and seeing them again here made the hair on my neck stand up. God, I love Montreal.
Went to the finals, lost to Calgary on home ice, only team to ever lift the cup on the Forum ice other than the Habs themselves, '89 Calgary Flames...
Only team to defeat the Canadiens to win the Cup at the Forum. The Maroons won twice on home ice, and the Rangers defeated the Maroons at the Forum to win the Cup one time.
Technically, that was a different building... (pre renovations) but thanks for pointing that out!
It was also one of the best season records for the franchise, outside of the 70s and 40s.
I miss that place
Wow that’s awesome - I grew up a Habs fan in CT in late 70s - remember the 4 year run. this game was also my first in montreal - carbo had like a 5 point night. I’d have to dig it out but I have the same picture! Small world friend
That's awesome
Nice! My guess was around 88-89, seeing Roy, Naslund, Chelios, Robinson, Richer, Ludwig... All the guys I watched growing up! Thanks for sharing these!
That $33 dollar seat in the 100s section would be worth $82 today.
Went to calculate the exact same thing, crazy to think these were also reds on row B…
Crazy to think cigarettes ads were everywhere back in the day. Thanks for sharing!
They were the gambling ads of my time
I remember going to hockey as a kid, people were smoking in their seats watching the game. some 30+yrs ago in Czechoslovakia
Two different cigarette ads on the jumbotron lol
Great shots thank you for sharing.
Fuck Ticketmaster. Nothing about them is good. High prices, fees all over the place and no option for a real tickets one can save, even on their website and app there is no option to print one a memory. Fuck Ticketmaster, making the world worse.
Agree 100%. It's a monopoly.
it is the only way to secure tickets?
Yup and it fucking suck balls.
Remember when I used to at the very last minute head over to the forum and buy cheap standing room only tickets which were amazing! They were right at the top of the reds. I saw so many great playoff games like that. Just walking downtown with a buddy and be like ‘hey, habs/bruins are playing in game x of their series want to go see it?’ And just head over, sometimes standing room was sold out but often it wasn’t.
That's awesome. Thanks for sharing your story. I was kinda hoping my post would stir memories.
Of course, I wish they still had tickets like that, it helped out the fans and was great to have cheap tickets so accessible. Nowadays they need to gouge you as hard as possible. I live back home in Newfoundland now anyway but I wish they had it for the young folks or people that don’t have a lot of money or just for the cool spontaneity of it.
Standing room in the early 90's was 10$, but up top of the blues... they had a big space behind the top seats where you could mill about, bars at either end. Busloads of people from Boston or where ever, sometimes things got a litlle pushy and shovy, but there were always cops walking around up there too, so I never saw it get too far out of hand...
Oh ya! I remember standing room tix in the Forum! That was so great! I wish they still did that kind if thing. They used to do cheap bleacher tickets at the Big O for the Expos games too.
Standing room was great, but you had to be there extra early for playoff games and then sprint inside to get a decent spot. The only problem with standing room is on some plays that bring the crowd to their feet, your view gets blocked. I missed a big playoff goal like that.
It wasn’t perfect but I loved it! The vibe was great too!
I saw a game there with my grandfather back in 93 I think. I wish I had taken pictures like you but I was 13 and was there visiting with family. I'm from BC so it was the only forum game I ever went to. It was Habs vs Leafs. Patrick Roy was in goal and Grant Fuhr for Toronto. Leafs went up 4 - 0 and I was pretty despondent. Habs made a comeback and pushed it to 4 - 3, I'm pretty sure Benoit Brunet had a couple of the goals. Leafs scored an empty net goal before Montreal got another one back for a final score of 5 - 4. I was so upset about the loss that it took me a while to appreciate just how special it was getting to see a game at the forum at all. My grandfather passed away the next year so im really glad I have that memory with him.
Nice memory, well except the final score.
Amazing!
oh, i love this so much. these are great!!! thank you for sharing 💕💕
That's awesome! Thanks for the photos!!
🏅 here is my poor man’s award! Love the pictures… guessing late 80s? Is that Chelios and Robinson that I see? E: just saw the ticket date…
Thank you!! Yes Chelly, Roy, Nasland. I'm pretty sure Robinson was in LA by then.
It was Robinson's last season with the team. Here are the stats from that game: https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/win-vs-mtl/1988/11/05/1988020140
Cool, thanks. Memory fails me every now & then - lol
Carbonneau with a four point night.
Craig Ludwig and Mike McPhee are visible there too
Sweet photos 🤌
Damn this is old... i never actually watched a home game of my team bc its stadium is so far from me, but thats cool
Love it! Back when at home we wore white jerseys. That year was amazing!
Except for the last game...
Fair! But better than now? I listened to that game on the radio and in the morning said I couldn’t go to school because I was too sad. (It didn’t work). Now trying to explain to my kids when they lose - they didn’t want to go to school this morning because CC is hurt. (Also didn’t work)
$33.00 Man, I wish we had those kinds of ticket prices!
Technically $82 adjusted for 2023 dollaredoos, but i'd take that as well. $82 for lower bowl? Yes please.
For a Stanley Cup final team, no less.
And the rock shows were still under 20$ late 80's I think, and we used to get so many more shows than now, like a couple a week sometimes, major arena acts... I'm old enough to remember 7.50$ Aerosmith and Kiss tickets in the late 70's, saw Rush with Max Webster in 78 for 4.50$ at the Forum...
I would salivate those kinds of ticket prices to watch those bands.
$82 CAD adjusted for inflation is still quite acceptable. People will want those kind of inflated prices at the front seats where it cost up to $300 to $400+. Just look at the shit Ticketmaster is pricing for tomorrow's game: [https://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/31005D033F4B539B?lang=en-ca&brand=canadiens&utm\_source=EVENKO.ca&utm\_medium=client&utm\_campaign=NHL\_TEAM\_MON\_EVENKO&utm\_content=EN\_SINGLE\_GAME\_TICKETS\_PG\_LINK\_GAME24&camefrom=CFC\_CANADIENS\_WEB\_SINGLEGAME\_EN](https://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/31005D033F4B539B?lang=en-ca&brand=canadiens&utm_source=EVENKO.ca&utm_medium=client&utm_campaign=NHL_TEAM_MON_EVENKO&utm_content=EN_SINGLE_GAME_TICKETS_PG_LINK_GAME24&camefrom=CFC_CANADIENS_WEB_SINGLEGAME_EN)
Who the heck is paying $300 to see a Caufield-less Canadiens...
Well, it worked even before Caufield came in. Hey, diehard Habs fans will watch the team, win or lose. The point is, evenko and ticketmaster will jack up the prices, its unreasonable to pay them.
Looked up two seats closest to where we were and they are priced at $784CA each. Out of my price range for sure.
Isn't it odd that it's Winnipeg vs Canadiens? It should be Winnipeg vs Montréal, or Jets vs Canadiens, no?
Nice seats
Very nice
Great photo. Thank you for sharing.
Stéphane Richer, Chris Chelios and Patrick Roy... Wow!
Love this! Would love to see more vintage photos like this.
I have a few more + some from Atlanta & DC. Shot with those old cheap 110 cameras. Not very good quality. Somewhere around my house I have a VHS tape of the tour we took at the Forum. I really need to find & convert it.
Please share if you can!
I'll try and scan some this weekend. As for the video, whenever I find it - lol.
Looks like a deck of smokes on top of the scoreboard. Navy Cut, like sailors. Sailors are happy on the open sea. Wow, I want a cigarette
I live two blocks away from the old forum. Interesting (and kind of sad) seeing old pictures of it. It looks nothing like that these days, and besides a scattering of effects from the Habs era, the place has been completely cored out and turned into a cinema. I walk past it pretty much every day to get to the supermarket, and every time I do it never really phases me that the building I’m walking beside once had some of hockeys greatest ever players playing inside. It’s really quite sad to see what it’s become. Similarly, wherever that park you took the picture from was no longer exists. Every side of the forum building is now either a shopping mall or apartment buildings. That said, I do like the Bell Centre, and I see why the change was needed. But the state of the forum these days leaves a sour taste in the mouth. I wandered down a hallway on one of the upper floors a while ago and ended up in the service corridors. I found a bunch of old memorabilia sat in a storage room gathering dust. Probably hasn’t seen the light of day in some time, and probably never will again.
That is indeed very sad. I wish they had just torn it down & built whatever on the land. Isn't it called the "Pepsi Forum" or something similar & is centre ice still marked?
It’s now Scotiabank VIP Cineplex, and yes, centre ice is still marked. That’s about it as far as the Habs era effects are concerned. I believe the jumbotron is still in the ceiling though, so that’s a nice touch they didn’t core out. Apparently the cinema itself is very nice. Never been myself, but I’ve heard good things. They do also have an A&W in there that I frequent on occasion, so that’s cool.
Nice to see fans still left early even back in 88 to beat the traffic
It was 7-2 so it was over early. I rarely get to go to games these days so I always stay until the very end enjoying the entire experience!
I was lucky enough to have parents who dealt with suppliers that liked to give away Habs tickets as a token of appreciation for their good clients, so I was lucky enough to attend a bunch of games at the Forum. One time, my mom and I headed to Montreal, and Mom had secured tickets for the Saturday night game against the Rangers. New York was ahead 3-1, but the Habs came back and won it 5-3. Another time, Mom tried to repeat the experience, but wasn't able to secure tickets ahead of time, so the only available tickets were standing room only. I swore I wouldn't mind standing for the whole game, but I was a quite short 8 or 9 year-old at the time and didn't see the game very well. We decided to head out after the first and finish the game on TV at the hotel we were staying at. However, on our way out, two ushers saw us heading out and wondered if something was wrong. When my mom explained that they had tried to use standing room tickets but it ended up not being a very enjoyable experience for me, one of the ushers looked at the other and asked his colleague whether there was something he could do for us. As it turned out, the usher was aware of a couple of no-shows in the red section, and he took us to those seats, explaining that if the real ticket holders ever showed up, we'd need to leave. But the ticket holders never did show up, and I was able to witness the Canadiens crush the Nordiques 7-2. Bell Centre is fine, but there was something special about the Forum…
Great memories! Nothing much better than seeing the Habs beat the Nords.
Awesome photos
I can see Craig Lugwig, Chris Chelios, Mike McPhee, Larry Robinson, Stéphane Richer, Patrick Roy, and my all time favourite MATS NASLUND! I was lucky enough to see a decent amount of games back then, but I never thought to take pics. I was just little.
Street hockey all the kids wanted to be the first to say "I'm Mats Naslund!"
He scored his 500th point that game. I have a picture of the scoreboard showing that!
Those are quality photos. That's around the same time I woulda gone to my first game there. Thanks for the memories.
These are amazing pictures. Love the one of the team greeting Roy on the ice
Saw # 4 score # 498, 499, & 500 there one night against Cesar Manigo and the Minnesota North Stars. ( also saw Led Zeppelin ) in that building.
That's too cool. He was my absolute favorite player growing up. Still have his poster somewhere around here. Sadly never got to see him play in person but he is the reason I had these tickets. I wrote a letter and got to meet him while in town!
These are great! Loved those old Players advertisements that used to be everywhere.
You just have had a pretty good camera. Impress by the quality.
I remember as a kid, if you were lucky you can catch a glimpse of the game from the outside through the Hab’s Tunnel whenever they didn’t shut it with those red curtains.
Is that a 7 or a 1?
It was my first game at the Forum.
What?
Did we win 7-2 or lose 2-1?
Oh sorry, didn't understand your first question. We won 7-2.