Montreal 2014

Saturday morning i flew out to Montreal for a hockey weekend with my friends from Morocco .The day started off on an interesting note when i stopped in to Rabba (convenience store ) and the guy behind the counter greeted me as though i was a Muslim . I guess it is my beard and it made me smile as it seemed to be a sign , i mean i am going to visit my Moroccan friends who are Muslims .When i arrived at the airport in Toronto there was the most ridiculous lineup to get to the check in counter , there were hundreds of people and to be honest i still don't know why . When i got to the actual labyrinth entrance right before the counter i was asked when my flight was and where i was flying ....then i was told to go to another line , with less people working the check in . I went to the airport early hoping to get into the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (VIP) as i had 3 passes and they were about to expire , you would think over 2 hours would be enough but not with a day like this .

As i said i am rocking a beard and when i got to security i found out what looking like a Muslim meant :( The first security person i approached in the lineup tested my hands , belt and jacket for bomb residue with his magic wand ... i jokingly told him it must be my beard , he said its random . Then i get to the security counter remove my belt, sweater , toque and empty my wallet and go through the scanner ... i was then chosen to be randomly patted down ???? my bags were on the conveyor and you guessed it , they were searched for mysterious materials ... no i am not joking , and yeah i kept my cool even though with every passing security check i am knowing my VIP pass will not be used and i am kinda hungry too . I passed all the tests but the whole time it makes me wonder if it is always this bad for my beard wearing friends or if it is because my olive skin and my beard makes me look like a Muslim ? By the time i reach the gate we are boarding :( so i quickly went for a wander to find a weary traveller and i found some guy half asleep by himself and offered him a lounge pass , he took it but looked very confused when i walked away LOL .... i hope he used it , and hopefully this brings me some good karma .

The flight was great , i watched Gravity and when i arrived i met Adil El Farj ( finally) ... we have been in contact for a few years , my trip to Morocco is all because he had invited me to go over there and it is because of him that i met Khalid who is also in Montreal this weekend . Before you know it i am already sitting in Schwartz's deli ... for those of you that know your smoked meat , this is the shit ! oh how i love it there ... Montreal is very well known for its amazing food and my Moroccan buddies are well known for their ability to eat :) Moroccans love their food ! So i was bound to get stuffed eating everything you can imagine is Quebecois . This was going to be a pure hockey weekend and Adil made sure it was stopping me at the Maurice Richard arena which is not for hockey ???? We also went to play some shinny at CEPSUM Arena after meeting up with Khalid ... can't forget meeting both of their lovely families which was really my pleasure ! When we met Khalid we all went to the rink where Adil and i finally got to strap the pads on and hit the ice together .

The rink was really nice and smooth the guys were all given different colored CEPSUM jerseys for shinny and some of them were pretty good , some were kinda weak but it was a good mix . The rink itself had small dressing rooms that were oddly shaped with giant butcher block tables in the middle ... it was an old rink . The ceiling above the ice had some art installation ? i am not sure it had white squares hanging from it and i can't understand or explain why to be honest it was a bit of a distraction when i was on the ice . There was a guy on the other team that could dangle , he potted a few on me but i fed him the glove on one of his many breakaways . It was a lot of fun ... whenever i made a save Adil would cheer me on from the other end and i did the same when he robbed someone ,which he did quite often .

After our skate we went for some beers at Dieu du Ciel which is a very trendy bar , it was rammed in there and the beer was AMAZING . I chugged 2 pints , wish i had more or checked to see if they sold cans or even bottles to bring home . We then took off and went to Complexe Bell where the Montreal Canadiens practice , beautiful building with a few ice pads in very good condition . There are a couple indoor soccer pitches and a really nice bar upstairs . Its too bad its wasted on the Habs LOL ! had to do it guys being a Leafs fan and all :P We had booked ourselves to skate at another shinny ice time for 10:30 pm at Les 4 Glaces so we went over there and checked out the competition .... there were only 6 skaters so we decided to skip it , not really worth dressing for 6 guys to shoot at us on a Saturday night . So instead we went for poutine at some place called Lafayette in the east end , it was good and HUGE but i gobbled it all and made plans to meet an old friend . Vince Fazio ! I met Vince in Cortina at a tourney , we drove over to Chislers Bar which is not far from Adil or Khalid which made things way easier ! Just had a quick beer but it was great seeing Vince , we all had to wake up early the next morning to watch the big game .... Canada vs. Sweden for the Gold Medal . Vince , buddy i wish we had spent more time chatting and got on the ice together maybe next time eh ?

We ended the night when Adil dropped me off at Khalids' place . He was also excited about the big game the next morning so we just chilled out and talked for a bit and went to bed around 1 am , with only 6 hours to the big game it was time to get some sleep :)

GO CANADA