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Chris Selley: 'Don't watch hockey,' says the NHL

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“Allowing fans of the Habs to gather only 40 minutes from the doorstep of the Canadian Tire Centre (in Ottawa) doesn’t make any sense for the league or the Senators.”

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In that perfectly accurate sentence, veteran Ottawa Citizen sportswriter Bruce Garrioch succinctly describes the absurdity of North American professional sports.

Chris Selley: 'Don't watch hockey,' says the NHL Back to video

The issue is as follows: Three local organizations decided they would co-host a watch party for Saturday night’s playoff game between the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes at the wonderfully named Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau, Que., where the Olympiques major-junior hockey team plays.

These watch parties have cropped up all over Quebec during the Habs’ thrilling playoff run, from the Centre Vidéotron in Quebec City — were more than 15,000 showed up for a second-round game against Buffalo — to the Saint-Jean-l’Évangéliste Cathedral in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

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