Last night's Eastern Conference Final game between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers lived up to being a game where one team had its first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 20 years at stake and the other was trying to fight off elimination to force a Game Six. It turned out to be an exciting and unpredictable game. Regardless of which side you were cheering for, the atmosphere in the Bell Centre was incredible last night.

I would highly recommend that any hockey fan, regardless of team loyalty, put a trip to Montreal to see the Canadiens play in the Bell Centre on their “Bucket List." Stay at a downtown hotel and walk to the game, that in itself is an experience. Don’t worry -- it is safe.

While in Montreal, stop at a few watering holes along the way and listen to the conversation. The conversation is passionate and to the point – the player can play or he cannot play, it is as simple as that! No talk of the modern day stats, but they do talk about heart – that I believe, is what is most important to the Montreal hockey fan. The modern day players in Montreal are held to a high standard and it is discussed everywhere in town.

I did not root for the Habs as a kid, never played for them during my NHL career, nor do I typically pull for them nowadays. However, I do have immense respect for their history and legacy and anyone who loves hockey has to enjoy the passion for the game in Montreal.

The non-hockey world stops in large part when Montreal plays in the playoffs. The entire city's focus is on what happens at the Bell Centre. It's not the legendary Forum but it's the people who still make the atmosphere special.

During your stay in Montreal, there are a couple of musts that you just have to go to. First of all, there is the Bar-B-Barn it has been there for almost 50 years – the best ribs and chicken around.

While you may not see the modern day players hang around there, you will have a very good chance of seeing some Alumni players there. It was always a favourite of players from years ago. The neat thing about the Bar-B-Barn is that I don’t think it’s changed since it opened – I even think some of the original servers are still working there!

The next stop I would recommend is Dunn’s Famous Deli. The place has been around for almost 90 years – we all have had smoked meat before, but you really haven’t had smoked meat until you have had the original Montreal Smoked Meat from Dunn’s. Trust me, you will like it and want to come back for more!

With all of the eating that you will be doing you just have to save a little bit of room for a Chien-Chaud while at the game itself – it’s a hot dog, yes, but this is a dog that is like no other. I’ll just leave it at that, maybe it will help you book your trip.

Anyway, I have taken a lot of heat over the past number of weeks. People who have read my blogs want to know why I don’t like the Montreal Canadiens. Just about everywhere I go these days, people ask me what I have against the Habs.

I was in bar here in Ottawa this past Saturday my son was tending bar and singing a few songs with the band. A concerned (and maybe a little tipsy) Habs fan wanted to know why I didn’t love the Bleu Blanc et Rouge like he did -- he said he just couldn’t understand it!

Well, here it is: When I was a kid there were two teams in Canada. There were the Maple Leafs and Canadiens. You cheered for one and hated the other. In the Marsh household, we were Leaf fans. Therefore, in our house, we rooted against the Canadiens. It was as simple as that, and when the Leafs could not beat Montreal, you cheered for whichever of the other four NHL teams were playing the Habs to beat them.

When I reached the NHL as a player, I craved playing for the first time against Montreal. I wanted to beat them so bad! It wasn’t so much because I truly "hated" the Canadiens. It was because I respected them, and didn’t want to be embarrassed by them.

At the time, they were the best team in hockey and had been for a long time while winning four straight Stanley Cups after dethroning Philadelphia. I knew if me and my teammates weren’t ready for the game, it could be ugly.

In my first few NHL games, I was nervous. For this game, the nervousness was gone but I had a different type of anxiousness. I was so excited I could not wait for the game to start: I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, tonight I am playing against the Montreal Canadiens!"

My Dad and his buddies drove down from London, Ont. for the game, it was almost like this was the "real" start of my NHL career. We won the game 2-1, I had an assist and I remember hitting Yvon Cournoyer in open ice with a body check – sweet! Needless to say, the celebration that night with my dad after the game was a lot of fun.

That feeling of wanting to beat Montreal stayed with me my entire career – it was always very special to play Montreal and if you ever beat them -- especially at the old Forum in Montreal -- it was even more special. You felt like your team had accomplished something important, regardless of whether the game was in October or a playoff game.

Even today, I cheer against them because of an envious respect. When you look at their collection of Stanley Cups and Hall of Fame alumni, it's staggering. The Habs have been and continue to be the franchise that many sports teams should strive to be.

Let's play a word association game: What comes to mind when you say Montreal Canadiens? The first words that pop to my mind are tradition, loyalty, respect, and championships. The list could go on and on.

Montreal as a hockey club has had its up and downs since their 1993 Stanley Cup championship but Montreal as an organization has always been the class of the league. As famed wrestler Ric Flair loved to say, "To be the best, you have to beat the best." So that is why I have always strived to beat the Montreal Canadiens. They had Cup rings galore. I just wanted one!

The Canadiens have shown a lot of resiliency in these playoffs and I have a gut feeling that Montreal will come back and beat the Rangers. I can't say that I'll ever be a Habs fan, but I never count out that team.

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