The Montreal Canadiens are enjoying a strong start to the 2026-27 season and are currently tied for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Tampa Bay Lightning with 28 points each.
Among the highlights in Montreal's season thus far is the 2026 Heritage Classic back on October 25th in Winnipeg. It marked the fifth time in franchise history that the Montreal Canadiens have played an outdoor game and thanks to a solid effort from rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler, they took home two points.
Montreal Canadiens Owner Geoff Molson has advocated for quite some time to get his team involved in one of the league's marquee events - the NHL Global Series. Rumours have circulated in recent years about the potential for the Canadiens to play in Paris, France and it appears that talks regarding a game in the French capital picked back up again at the NHL GM Meetings in Florida this week.
Montreal Canadiens Could Reportedly Play Outdoors in Paris?
While making an appearance on JiC on TVA on Thursday, NHL reporter Renaud Lavoie spoke about the Canadiens' push to play in Paris in the years to come and it sounds like there's a want from those involved to play the game outdoors at the Stade de France.
Note: the quotes in this story are translated from French.
"Behind the scenes, I was told there is a strong desire for the Canadiens to play a game in Paris. Obviously, we want to play at the Stade de France," Lavoie said.
He went on to add, "I've been told that even without that, the Stade de France will be full for the Montreal Canadiens,"
It's unclear at this time when or if the Canadiens will actually head to Paris for a Global Series game, but with the rise of Martin St. Louis' group in recent years, it would be the perfect time for the National Hockey League to capitalize on the popularity of their oldest franchise.
Stade de France would be a really good spot if the NHL wanted to host an outdoor game, especially in Paris. The stadium has hosted some of the biggest events in football (soccer) including the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2016 UEFA European Championship, as well as a few UEFA Champions League Finals.
Back in August, National Hockey League Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly eluded to the possibility of playing outdoor games in Europe saying that they could come in the near future.
"I think it's going to happen, for sure. When it's going to happen, I couldn't tell you, but I would say relatively near future would be a good guess." Daly said.
Germany seems to be a prime spot for an outdoor game in Europe for the National Hockey League, but France and even England are legit options, in my opinion.
Montreal Canadiens Are No Stranger to Playing in Europe
While the Montreal Canadiens have yet to play a regular season game outside of North America, they have played in Europe before. In fact, the Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings were the first two teams in National Hockey League history to play games across the Atlantic.
In 1938, the Canadiens and Red Wings embarked on a nine-game European tour over a span of three weeks. The first was in London, followed by Brighton, then onto Paris for three games before returning to England for the final four games of the tour.
It took 52 years for the Canadiens to return to Europe as in 1990, along with the Minnesota North Stars, they took part in what was called Friendship Tour '90. That September, the Canadiens participated in five games over eight days in Sweden, Russia and Latvia.
Two years later, the Canadiens played their most recent games in Europe. In September of 1992, the Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks faced each other in a pair of games at Wembley Arena in London, England. The Canadiens won the first game of that two-game exhibition series and that season, would go on to capture their 24th Stanley Cup in franchise history.
It's been a long time since the Canadiens have made the trek to Europe, but if talks continue to go positively between the NHL, NHLPA and the organization, it looks like we could see them in the Global Series very soon.