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MONTREAL - Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury asked a question of the media Monday.
“What is ‘heckling’?”
He’ll find out Tuesday night, you have to figure.
The Montreal Canadiens faithful will welcome back their team at the Bell Centre for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal, their first chance to let them know how they feel since the Habs knocked off the Washington Capitals in Game 7 last Wednesday and then earned a split of the first two games of this series in Pittsburgh.
Loud?
The Bell Centre might as well be in the middle of a runway at Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport.
In a hurricane.
During a Megadeth concert.
“There’s no more passionate fans than here come playoff time,” said Canadiens forward Dominic Moore.
Fleury, despite the fact he is native son (from Sorel, Que.), is sure to hear it from the Habs fans who will likely serenade him with a derisive “Fleu-ry, Fleu-ry,” chant when they aren’t cheering on La Sainte Flannelle.
“Well, I hope my family and friends are still cheering for my team,” said Fleury. “Everybody’s such a big fan of the Canadiens back home. Everybody’s been nice to me so far. I think it should be interesting and fun to play.”
Handling the atmosphere at the Bell Centre has been a talking point in the Penguins camp.
It is sure to be a firepot, but it’s hard to believe the defending Stanley Cup champions could get rattled.
“We’ve talked about it, we’re aware of it. We make adjustments or we talk about the emotions based on certain buildings and we’re aware it’s going to be pretty crazy there. We’ve talked about for a lot of guys this is going home,” said Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. “But I think we talk about it more because it’s Montreal and there is the history of the Canadiens. No one asked me that question when we played in Detroit last year. It’s my favorite team growing up and home team.
“There are certain aspects of (playing in Montreal). I think the atmosphere in the city and the building is unique and something that we have to be aware of. And the building’s loud and we know that. It’s going to be loud, it’s part of the playoffs, there’s going to be that atmosphere.”
Pittsburgh forward Maxime Talbot said the challenge for the Penguins will be to turn the Canadiens fans - who can quickly turn impatient - against the Habs.
“It is a tough building, it’s a loud building. You go and there is a lot of emotion. For us, we can use that emotion and that crowd and that building in a different way. Obviously, you know they are going to be really loud coming out and cheer for their team,” he said.
“The Bell Centre is a place where you get a goal, you try to kill penalties really well and take the momentum away and sometimes the crowd will go the other way. It can play in your favour by it being really quiet and sometimes even being tough on their own team. We can use that to our advantage.”
Canadiens fans could get a challenge living up to their reputation for enthusiasm if the Game 3 follows form which is basically the Penguins looking like they are the only team on the ice for long stretches.
It’s tough to cheer really loud when you’re holding your breath.