the 1st playoff series win occurred last night...

... north of the border, that is!

somebody get out the brooms, 'cause I think a sweep just occurred! 

If you thought the fact that Montréal being the only Canadian team in this year's NHL playoffs, out of 7 teams up there (Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, & Vancouver), was enough pressure, then remember this: the last time a Canadian team won that...

...was 1993, & coincidentally, Montréal defeated L.A. in 6 games that June to win championship #24 in that franchise's storied history! Perhaps even more coincidentally, L.A. defeated 2 western Canadian teams (Calgary & Vancouver), & 1 "western" Canadian team (Toronto) to make it to the Finals to face Montréal that season! 

For those of you who've never visited that city before, 1st, what the **** are you still doing not visiting that city, & 2nd, I'm sure you've already figured out that it's mostly French, but, perhaps somewhat oddly, it's less French than most of its suburbs & the province's other major city, Québec City! Despite the different primary language (French 1st, then English, whereas it's English & then everything else here), their hockey is practically the same as everybody else's hockey, except with both main languages represented rather equally within the arena's walls! The main difficulty with getting into the arena is the sellout streak: the fans up there have sold out almost every game since January 2004, meaning that 21,000+ fans have crammed themselves in there almost every game for the past decade+! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7DNau3UBqQ That's just part of the spectacle that goes on up there before every game... recent highlights not just on the 4 video boards above center ice, but also down on the ice surface via a bunch of super powered video displays! Mind you, unlike the rest of the wimpy NHL, which reserves such spectacular shows for the playoffs, the Bell Centre makes sure to have 1 of those types of pre game presentations every regular season, constantly update it throughout the playoffs (obviously, when they do make it there, which they didn't, most recently, back in 2012), & debut a new presentation the following regular season, at least from what I've noticed up there! 

If you don't think the fans respond to such displays, then I've got news for you: they almost always do so, especially when their guys are leading a game!

http://www.lapresse.ca/la-tribune/la-nouvelle/sports/201005/22/01-4282994-une-fievre-des-series-drolement-forte.php <<Une fièvre des séries drôlement forte>> - "An especially strong playoff fever"

... in which it is mentioned that crowds inside that building have reached up to 135 decibels at their loudest, specifically in the 2010 East semifinals against Pittsburgh, & the following comparison is made later on:

«On a évalué à 135 le nombre de décibels dans le Centre Bell ce soir-là. Je me suis informé, 135 décibels c'est comme se tenir à côté d'un train qui siffle ou à proximité d'un avion à réaction.»

(approximate) translation:

"People have evaluated 135 as being the # of decibels in the Bell Centre on this night (5/10/10, game 6 of those East semifinals). I've (Pierre Turgeon of La Presse of Montréal) been told that 135 decibels is similar to being on a moving freight train or in proximity to a plane at takeoff."

I've got just 1 word for you people to describe such loud settings: ddaaaaanngg! Fortunately, there have been very few instances of people needing hearing aids/cochlear implants/etc. after visiting that building , myself included, so that's certainly a positive in that situation!