The Montreal Canadiens have joined the Jersey Tosser’s Club

Cam Lewis
Cam Lewis
The Montreal Canadiens have joined the Jersey Tosser’s Club

The Montreal Canadiens are officially bad.

The Habs started the season with a five-game losing streak, they sit near the basement of the league’s standings and they just fired their general manager, but you aren’t officially bad in Canada until a fan throws a jersey on the ice. That’s when it becomes official.

During Thursday night’s 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche (which, ironically, was the 26th anniversary of Patrick Roy demanding a trade after being shelled for nine goals), a Habs fan decided enough was enough and threw a jersey on the ice.

According to John Lu of TSN, this is the first time in the Habs’ modern era that a fan has thrown a jersey on the ice. Welcome to the club, Montreal. This is nothing new for angry fans in Canada.

Back in October, a fan in Toronto threw a jersey on the ice after the Leafs lost a lackluster game to the San Jose Sharks.

That situation seemed particularly dramatic, as the loss put the Leafs at 2-2-1 for the season. It made a lot more sense back in 2014-15 when multiple fans threw jerseys on the ice as the Leafs were in the middle of an 11-game losing streak.

The tradition unsurprisingly began in Edmonton as the Oilers trudged through their seemingly neverending rebuild in the pre-Connor McDavid days. Back in 2014, the Oilers suffered an 8-1 loss to their provincial rivals, the Calgary Flames, and a jersey wound up on the ice.

Goaltender Ben Scrivens picked up the jersey with his stick and flung it back into the stands. After the game, Scrivens teed off on the fan for disrespecting everyone who had worn the jersey in the past.

“You’re not just disrespecting guys in the room, you’re disrespecting guys who wore this jersey before us. All the great guys who played for this organization and pulled that sweater over their heads. The Messiers, the Gretzkys, they take pride in wearing that jersey. Joey Moss, every day. The unsung heroes around the rink who pride themselves on that logo.

“Like I said, you’re a fan, you get to say and do whatever you want. Call me whatever name you want. But when it comes to that logo, that’s a sacred thing for us. It’s disheartening for me to see our fans treat it that way.”

We also saw it happen in Ottawa back in 2017 when the Senators were in the middle of imploding after reaching the Eastern Conference Final the previous spring.

It’s certainly a strange way to protest, given you paid around $200 for the jersey, the organization already has your money and you’ll very likely wind up eventually paying again to replace it, but jersey tossing has become a tradition in Canada.

Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, now Montreal. Who’s going to be next? I’m looking at you, Vancouver.

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