Jon Cooper calls for more fans at the Bell Center.

Lightning head coach does a solid for Habs fans.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
Jon Cooper calls for more fans at the Bell Center.
Jamie Sabau/NHLI/Getty

The Stanley Cup Playoffs have been amazing to watch this year and I suspect that the return of fans across several markets has played a huge role in amping up the excitement level throughout the playoffs. We now know that the Tampa Bay Lightning will enter the Final as a heavy favorite over the Montreal Canadiens, who have had one of the best underdog runs through the playoffs I've seen in years, but unfortunately that fan generated excitement won't be everything that it could be.

The Lightning have had their attendance situation return to something akin to normal with their attendance steadily increasing throughout the playoffs. Most recently the Lightning revealed that they had increased attendance to a capacity of 14,800 for their semifinal series against the New York Islanders. That represents an impressive 78% capacity and when you consider the fact that there have been no reports of any transmissions of any kind it would seem that they have done so to an impressive degree of safety and security.


The other side of that coin however is the attendance at the Bell Center for the Habs, a situation that remains woefully restricted for fans that have not seen a Stanley Cup Final game in their hometown since their run to the Cup in 1993. The Canadiens are currently only allowed to host a total of 3,500 fans for their home games but it would seem like everyone is hoping that the Canadiens and the local authorities will find a way to allow more fans to show up for the final.

That list of hopefuls includes Lightning head coach Jon Cooper who likely won over the hearts of many fans in Montreal over the weekend when he made a plea of his own in order to see more fans at the Bell Center for the Stanley Cup Final. 

"I hope they let more fans in there," said Cooper. "The fans of Quebec, they haven't been back since '93, they deserve to watch their team play. I hope they get in there because ... this game was meant to be played in front of fans."

Fans in Montreal have been particularly starved for championship hockey and I agree with Cooper's sentiment here that it would be a shame to think that so few fans will get a chance to be on hand for what could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see their team play for a championship live.

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