2021 Stanley Cup Final: Bell Centre earned its status as postseason spectacle

Bell Centre is a special place when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

While we are slowly getting back to normal and life as we knew it is making a comeback in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic, there are still elements of the past year and-a-half that exist, including restrictions in Canada that directly impact the Montreal Canadiens and the Bell Centre.

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With the border still shut for now, although special permission was given to the NHL for the latter stages of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canadiens do not have the luxury of playing in-front of a packed out building.

That was the case for the semifinal against the Vegas Golden Knights, and only 3,500 fans were allowed in Bell Centre for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, with the Quebec public health authorities denying the franchise’s request to increase capacity to 10,500.

Now, we could debate for hours the logic behind that decision given that thousands upon thousands of Habs fans have been gathering outside the arena for viewing parties, but the truth is there doesn’t appear to be much sense behind the government’s decision to keep capacity at 3,500 inside.

Bell Centre was absolutely rocking for Game 3 despite limited capacity

Anyway, those are the rules and it meant that the Canadiens did not have the luxury of playing in-front of a packed and incredibly noisy building, as was the case for Tampa Bay in Games 1 & 2 with Amalie Arena pretty much at full capacity.

And it was a crying shame given that Bell Centre has a reputation for being an absolute cauldron of noise during the Playoffs, and you can only imagine the atmosphere a bumper crowd would create given that Montreal is playing in their first Stanley Cup Final since 1993.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens stand at attention prior to Game Three of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

However, while 3,500 fans isn’t a lot, those inside Bell Centre for Game 3 certainly gave the impression that there were more people inside the building than was being reported. It was incredibly loud and there certainly looked to be more the number allowed.

The arena was rocking as early as warmups and the noise only increased the closer to puck drop, while Canadiens staff did a superb job of dressing up the building and ensuring that it still came off as intimidating as it normally is when every seat is taken.

Montreal players were met by a wall of noise and when Lightning starters were booed during the National Anthems, you could have been forgiven for thinking that there were 35,000 fans in attendance rather than the allowed 3,500.

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It was just one hell of an atmosphere throughout despite the fact that Canadiens fans didn’t have a lot to cheer about in Game 3, but it just hammered home that Bell Centre is one of the best venues in hockey when it comes to Playoffs hockey, even when there are only a few thousand fans in the building.

Just imagine the level of noise if the Montreal Canadiens are able to win Game 4 on Monday.

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