‘A step too far’ says fan about new Habs jersey

For the first time in history the Montreal Canadiens jerseys will include advertising leaving many who love the team – on the fence about what this all means.

“The two of them don’t go together…There shouldn’t be advertising on the ice,” says Michael Donovon, a fan of The Montreal Canadiens,

Donovon remembers when advertisements in Hockey began, something he says turned him off and something he never thought The Montreal Canadiens would do.

“I sort of love the idea of Montreal Canadiens being a gold standard of some sort. The fact that you have to be in somebody’s pocket it, bothers me,” he said.

NHL teams are now allowed to include a small crest on both the left and right side of their jerseys, in exchange for an annual sponsorship payment for the placement. The Montreal Canadiens are one of seven taking advantage of the move. Starting in the new season, their home jerseys will now include the RBC logo for the next 5 years.

Moshe Lander a Sports Economist says the advertisement in the sport is not something new, its been around for the past 30 years. When it comes to the Montreal Canadiens’ jersey he says “it’s not some sort of desecration of a holy vestment. It’s a hockey jersey,”

He makes note that the team plays in the Bell Center an advertisement in its own right. “There’s advertising on the ice. There’s advertising on the boards. The pre-game show, when the post-game show was brought to you by some sponsor, do not tell me that all of a sudden this is one step too far.”

Souriez! ????

Say cheese!#GoHabsGo | @rbcfr pic.twitter.com/fwBwuAKCdg

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 12, 2022

But for one Maurice Richard fan, the change is a step too far. “If the Rocket saw us with the RBC logo he wouldn’t be happy , because he worked so hard to establish the team,” he said.

“You could have sent a statement to your fans saying that our jersey is sacred. We’re not putting any logo on there,” says Georges Laraque, a former NHL player for the Montreal Canadiens. He says, he was shocked to hear of the decision and while he’s not against advertisements, to him the team’s Jersey represented something.

“That jersey is sacred,” Laraque repeated “I grew up in Montreal and I remember reading the book, The Jersey of Rocket Richard, you know, talking about the jersey. It was sacred,”
And the sentiment is the same for fans of the team.

“They’re a franchise that stands for sports and in a wonderful way, I’ve been proud to be a fan of them my whole life, they’ve never let me down until now,” says Donovon.
For Lander, he says this won’t matter after the season begins.

“In six months, if the team is decent, nobody’s going to be making a big deal about it and in six months that the team stinks, people are going to have enough to complain about and it’s not going to be put at the feet of RBC in their logo,” he says.