Why is it that Canadian cities keep trying to outdo eachother when it comes to playoff celebrations? From the red mile in Calgary and the Blue Mile in Edmonton, to the “Red and Blue” Mile in Montreal, things are getting way out of hand.
I don’t know if it was the Montreal police being unprepared, or if last nights police car burnings and riots were simply a result of too much Molson Canadian being served at the Bell Centre, but whatever it is, things have to change.
If we look back at the most recent hockey celebrations that took place north of the border we can learn a few things. Edmonton Police took a soft approach at first, but when they realized that the crowds were getting out of control, they went heavy handed and in turn eliminated any of the fires and general destruction that was present in earlier rounds.
There were complaints that the police were doing too much, but once people started to realize that the blue mile was once again a safe place for true hockey fans to celebrate.
People can say that Montrealers or Montrealites, whatever they are, may be the truest of hockey fans, but from the demonstrations in Edmonton a few years back, its safe to say that 90% of the trouble makers were not hockey fans at all. They were just caught up in the mob mentality and used the playoffs as an excuse to wreak havoc. Hopefully fans and police in Montreal take note, and we see peaceful celebrations from here on.
PS: Here is a youtube video of some of the mayhem from last night:
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