HABS-TOWN: "I'm no longer a fan of the Montreal Canadiens"

Many of you, like me, may remember Ben Raby from his time in Montreal. He worked at the Team 990 (now TSN 990) for four years with the likes of Mitch Melnick and PJ Stock. He left for Washington D.C. shortly after completing a Master's degree at Syracuse University. He still makes occasional appearances on TSN 990, most recently this week with Conor McKenna on "Melnick in the afternoon".

Ben Raby is a man of many hats in the sport world. I've had the pleasure of knowing him for the better part of a decade. He was a pretty good ball hockey player, has knowledge on a multitude of sports and my own mother confused a picture of him as me - so he must be a pretty good looking guy.

While Ben has moved on to another locale, he is still a Montrealer born and bred, the Habs were an important part of his growing up, and to me that makes him an interesting member of HABS-TOWN.

Many readers may remember you from your time at the Team 990 (now TSN 990) here in Montreal, were you always into sports, or was reporting your first love? 

I think my goal of becoming a sports reporter began when I was still a fetus. It was something I was always interested in as a kid and the interest only grew as I went through high school and university.

Somewhere (hopefully far away) are cassettes and video tapes of simulated sports shows I made from my bedroom when I was between six and ten years old. I also used to put together sports magazines and newspapers with my own writings during that time.  Those are now stored away in boxes and likely won’t be seen again for a very long time… but they were fun to sift through when I last saw them in 2007.

I was just a sports media junkie from a very young age- watching Hockey Night in Canada on Saturdays and the NFL on Sundays and calling Mitch Garber’s CIQC radio show on Sunday nights as nine-year-old with a high voice.

On a serious note, I also had a role model for a career in media with my uncle Jason Moscovitz having worked as a political reporter on the CBC for 29 years. He remains a mentor of mine and an honest reviewer of my work.

For those who don't know what are you up to these days?

I left Montreal in 2007 to pursue a Masters Degree in Broadcast Journalism from Syracuse University. The degree from an American university offered me the opportunity to work in the U.S. and I’ve done so since 2009 in Washington, D.C.

I wear a few different hats in D.C. working as both a broadcaster and writer. I’ve covered the Washington Capitals for the last three years and am part of the broadcast team on the radio side where I host the pregame, postgame and intermission shows. I also cover the Caps as a correspondent for NHL.com and with Comcast Sportsnet in DC and with a few different local radio stations.

When there are no conflicts with the Capitals, I work on the radio broadcasts for the American University and George Washington University’s Men’s Basketball teams and starting with this upcoming season, I’ll also be part of the radio broadcast team for the NBA’s Washington Wizards.

During the hockey and basketball offseason, I work as a sports anchor with WTOP Radio in DC covering all local teams including the Washington Nationals and Redskins. 

Does that make it difficult to still be a Habs fan? 

It may sound sacrilege to say I’m no longer a fan of the Montreal Canadiens but I’m in a different situation living in a different city and covering another NHL team for a living.

When Montreal kids go on to play in the NHL, they may have a soft spot for the Canadiens and look forward to the games against Montreal but their priority is always the team they play for and their upcoming opponents. That’s the way I have viewed things while I’ve been covering the Caps.

If for example, the Caps have an upcoming game against Florida and the Panthers are on the NHL Package in my apartment, but the Habs are also on TV that night, chances are good that I’ll be watching the Florida game in preparation for our broadcast. I really don’t even think twice about it.

There has also been a lot of turnover since I last called Montreal home and followed the Canadiens regularly. I think Andrei Markov and now Francis Bouillon are the only remaining players that were regulars with the team when I last lived in Montreal in 2007. I’ve never really had any allegiance to the current group of players.

That said- the soft spot for the franchise and the history is always there. Just don’t expect me to worry too much when the team hits a rough patch in their schedule next season.

What got you into hockey, more specifically the Habs?

I’m not sure if there was any one specific thing that got me into hockey and the Canadiens. It was probably just a combination of watching Hockey Night in Canada and going to games at the Montreal Forum with my father.

I also enjoyed collecting the old Panini stickers and hockey cards as a kid and when I was five or six years old, my grandfather got me the complete set of Canadiens player figurines from Provigo- a set that I still have today… somewhere.

Do you remember your first Habs game?

I don’t remember when exactly I saw my first Canadiens game, but it had to have been sometime in the late 1980s when I was four or five years old.

Apparently I was confused when the game started because there was no play-by-play announcer like all those games I had watched on TV. I’ve been told that I then took it upon myself to do the play-by-play from my seat, causing those around us to wonder what the heck this kid was doing. Guess it was a sign of things to come.

My father introduced me to the Montreal Forum when I was a little guy. I also remember my cousin Ben Raby taking me to see Wayne Gretzky and the L.A. Kings when I was five or six. 

Do you really have a cousin with the exact same name as you?

Yes. Yes I do. He's a doctor.

Do you have a favorite Habs player ever?

Russ Courtnall was among my favorite players when I was still a little guy. He was a goal scorer with plenty of speed- was just fun to watch. I used to always request jersey #6 in my house leagues because it’s the number that Courtnall wore in Montreal.

Shortly after he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars for Brian Bellows, I got a custom made Stars sweater with his #26 on the back (they didn’t exactly have those hanging on the racks in Montreal).

I also liked Chris Chelios which was more a result of his being my older sister’s favorite player. Wearing a Chelios jersey at the Bell Centre in the early 2000s always garnered plenty of reactions. 

More recently Saku Koivu was another favorite of mine and his name is one of the few that I still look for in the box-scores. He was a gamer in Montreal. Captained the team during the worst decade in franchise history and he put up with so much nonsense in the media. I’ll always remember his comeback in 2002 and his going up against Boston’s Joe Thornton in the 2002 and 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I was actually at the game in Dec. 1996 against the Chicago Blackhawks when Koivu suffered a serious knee injury. He was the NHL’s leading scorer at the time with 38 points in 30 games, but after the injury he never produced points at that rate again.

 

Is it easy to turn the "fan" off and on when appropriate? 

I don’t think it’s too difficult to turn the “fan” off when appropriate. Selfishly speaking, you usually want to see the teams you cover do well because it’s usually good for business (more people tuning in or reading your coverage), but that doesn’t mean you need to cheer in the press box or forget that you have a job to do.

When you deal with the players you cover regularly you develop a relationship that differs from a fan-athlete relationship. It’s a professional relationship that may also allow for a casual conversation when time permits, but I’ll put it this way- reporters can’t talk to players the way fans may talk about the team on a call-in radio show.

The best example I can give of tossing away the fanhood is when you’re working on deadline. When writing a story on a tight deadline the last thing a reporter needs is an overtime finish or a crazy late-game comeback. In those situations, regardless of whether “your” team is leading, sometimes you just want the game to end quickly regardless of who comes out on top. It makes life as a reporter a whole lot easier.

What's the best hockey game you attended? what do you remember about it?

Some of the best hockey games I attended were the first few times the Colorado Avalanche visited the Molson Centre in the late 1990s. At the time the Avalanche were one of the best teams in the NHL, they were still only a couple of years removed from Quebec City (brining out plenty of Nordiques jerseys to the arena), and their goalie Patrick Roy had a little bit of history in Montreal. The atmosphere at those games was always special.

I’ll also always remember attending the final game at the Montreal Forum on March 11, 1996. The Canadiens beat the Dallas Stars 4-1 and the postgame ceremonies included an eight minute standing ovation for Maurice Richard.

A couple non-hockey questions, you moved to DC right around the same time as the Expos, now you work for the team, does that make it that much easier to be a Nationals fan, or do you still feel the pain of the Expos loss? 

The Expos were my favorite team growing up so I’ll always have a soft spot for the team’s history in Montreal and the memories of seeing some great players at Olympic Stadium (say what you want, but I maintain that it had to have been one of the most under-rated fan experiences in all of baseball).

That said, this is my fifth summer in D.C., and having covered the Nationals in some capacity since 2008, I have gotten to know the folks who work with the club, I have followed the growth of the team and I have seen them evolve into a pennant contender. It’s been a great ride which should only get better.

I do acknowledge the unique situation I’m in. I understand that most Expos fans don’t care about the Nationals, just as most Washington baseball fans don’t care about what the franchise did while in Montreal. 

The Nationals themselves (perhaps under orders from MLB) do a very good job of acknowledging the Expos past. Any time a franchise record is broken for example, you’ll often hear a reference to a Montreal Expo. Whenever the Nats begin a home stand, the press notes will always include the club’s all time record (dating back to 1969) versus the upcoming opponents.

I would say that in each game broadcast, there are least three or four references to the Expos. On the TV side, former Expos outfielder FP Santangelo is the color analyst, so many of his anecdotes or references come from his time with Montreal.

It was also special in 2010 when the Nats honored Andre Dawson and Gary Carter by including them on the team’s ring of honor at Nationals Park. The Nats wore the tri-colored Expos hats during batting practice that day and the players then had to sign the hats for charitable auction purposes.

Adam Dunn, Ian Desmond (third-round pick by Montreal in 2004) and Drew Storen (an Expos batboy in the late 1990s in St. Louis) weren’t happy about having to give up the hats and apparently went out and bought their own Expos hats after the fact.

The point is- the Expos actually have a bigger presence in D.C. then some may realize. 

Before I let you go, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you - have you gotten around to seeing The Godfather or Goodfellas yet?

I have in fact gotten around to seeing the Godfather and Good Fellas, and the latter is actually among my all-time favorite movies. 

The origin to this question dates back to 2006 when I was working with Mitch Melnick and it was discovered in an on-air conversation that I have seen very few must-see movies.

I think I was given a list of ten classics that I was instructed to watch… I only wound up watching four of them- Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather and Good Fellas- but I’m forever grateful that they were brought to my attention.

I still have never seen the Wizard of Oz. 

For more from Ben Raby, follow him on twitter: @BenRaby31

or read his articles at CSN Washington.com

HABS-TOWN: "It would be wrong to ride it out with those crap assets"

Often times during the evening I sit on the couch after my day of work. The dishes are done, dinner has been eaten, and it's time to veg. Sometimes I have my smartphone in hand and the wife will ask: "What are you doing?", my usual answer "I'm on Twitter".

The conversation usually ends there, because the phone goes away, but when it doesn't - it's usually because I am having a long drawn out discussion with CTV's Brian Wilde.

For those of you who follow @BWildeCTV on twitter, you already know that he is a very active tweeter. He is passionate, articulate, and opinionated on many things. Movies, Music, Tennis, The Impact, but mostly The Habs.

Brian Wilde has been with CTV Montreal since the mid-90's, and he has been on the Habs beat that entire time. Before that he covered the great Gretzky led Oilers dynasty in Edmonton.

Being a reporter is different from being a fan. Reporting requires someone to be impartial, and yet Brian Wilde in his impartiality is also passionate. He frequents Randy Tieman's TSN 990 show when there is something Habs related to talk about and he speaks with unwavering conviction about his point of view.

Whether you like him or dislike him, whether you agree with his opinions or not - Brian Wilde is an asset to the Montreal sports scene - and in particular an asset to this HABS-TOWN.

What got you into hockey, or later on more specifically the Habs?

Growing up I was just another kid who wanted to play hockey and loved it but who wasn't talented enough. Later on, I worked firstly with the Oilers as their host and then moved to Montreal. I Got the Habs gig when the previous guy quit but it wasn't too surprising because I am passionate about it.

You grew up in Edmonton, so I doubt your first NHL fan experience was at Habs game. Or was it?  Do you remember your first NHL game? when was it? who took you? What do you remember about it....

My first best memory is actually an Edmonton Oil Kings junior game. Al Hamilton was the best player. My dad took me. It was at the Edmonton gardens which has since been demolished - a real old barn. I just Thought it was the greatest thing ever. One of the moments where you are looking around all the time. Time flew. 

First NHL experience was the Oilers first game in the league or close to it. Against Detroit. I remember thinking "how much are Oilers gonna get killed?" They did by 3 if memory serves. Greatest memory was the red wheel uniform. Looked so red!!!

Do you have a favorite Habs player ever on ice? if so, whom, and why?

My favourite players are not conventional. I usually like them as people and not players. So my favourite player though we never became close at all and all conversations stayed on hockey is Hal Gill. Just so obvious that he sees the bigger picture! The one about team and commitment and winners are winners because they stand up and care for each other. 

I've seen the great Oilers cup winners and lousy teams up close and Hal gets what becomes obvious over time. Josh (Gorges) too. Matt Darche too. Gotta have players who want a "team to be proud to be a team" as Ken Dryden says.

I was a fan in the seats the night Saku Koivu made his triumphant return from cancer. What was it like covering that moment?

Saku. 

The fans stick out most. It was that kind of Montreal welcome that is so famous. The fans appreciation can be the story even when a guy comes back from cancer. It is just that way here. Saku tried to minimize the moment in clients about cancer. Natural from him.

Anyone who follows you on Twitter can tell you're a big fan of the Impact. Are you able to be a Habs fan?
I don't cover the impact so I've let myself have a little fun there. I don't have contact with the players so I don't worry about it.

With the Habs I most definitely have to and find it easy to keep an objectivity. I talk to the players every day. I can't let them believe at all that there is a line I am willing to cross. As far as being a fan -  no way. I am however a fan of my more enjoyable life so there is a natural hope that I can travel in the playoffs. But that pervades in only a very general sense but doesn't impact the day to day. The love of the soccer team is also a love of the city. If this city has another Expos moment I will actually feel crushed.

If someone asked you to fill in the blanks: "My ideal place to watch a game is______ with _____" how would you fill the blanks, and why?

I'm a very nostalgic person. I have a high value for things older and simpler - so I wish I could have time back with my dad because inward robbed of too much of it and I wish I could have it back. So my dad and I'd combine that with another trip down memory lane and say the old Chicago stadium. Wow what a place to see a game. I opened a telecast at the organ loft once. Incredible.

What's the best game you ever went to? what do you remember about it?

Best game I ever went to? Man. You'd think I'd pick out an Oilers game having season tickets for 4 of the 5 cups but Habs comeback vs NYR from 5 goals down. The press box went from "these guys aren't that good" to "holy these guys can do anything". At 5-3 everyone knew the Habs would win. 

Then 2nd would be take 7 in Pittsburgh to beat the penguins in the playoffs. That was memorable because of my cameraman Jason Clarke who was so stoked that he could barely control his enthusiasm. Just his reaction was priceless.  

I seem to recall you talking on air with (Mitch) Melnick or Randy Tieman that you had a bleak outlook for that Pittsburgh Series. That you just didn't see any way that the Habs could possibly beat the Penguins. Somewhere deep down inside, do you think you may have felt something like what Jason was feeling?

I saw Pittsburgh as a more complete team. Playoff ready.

Well, it meant traveling another round in the playoffs which is fun work to do. 

What do you think of the hiring of Marc Bergevin and his moves so far?

Bergevin has done perfectly for me. He seems to get it in every way and my initial impression is he is going to be an all timer at it. Yep I said it. He seems to understand about overvaluing an asset. He passed up on Jagr and Parenteau when it would have been easy to seek more strength short term.

He is going to be a great one. People need to let him plan. That's all.

You wrote a fantastic blog posting about 2014-2015 being the year for the Habs. Many veteran contracts expire then, many younger players may be ready to step in. What do you think fans can expect to see in the interim? 

Short term before all the money and assets come available I think it s going to be lean. Not as lean as last year but lean. (Former General Manager) Pierre Gauthier acquired some awful assets. No one talks about Markov and I have stopped too because of the flak but I am on record maintaining that there is little left in that knee. He played very fearfully so that besides Bourque, Gomez, Kaberle is a 4th big money suspect asset. Sorry but teams don't win in the face of stupid issues like that. That is 4 of 20 players and almost 20 million in payroll. That's scary. There is a lot for Marc Bergevin to patiently get off the books.

Are you scared to see how much room those assets are given this season? I'd personally rather let the prospects dominate in Junior or in Hamilton and let the assets that are here bring what they got in the interim. 

Normally it would be wrong to ride it out with those crap assets and let them play out the string but nothing is happening now on this big transformation to greatness, so this season is always going to be limited. 

If you have a long term view on how to win the Cup, then you just quietly don't worry about this season. Just don't jeopardize any long term plan and have the money available when you need to fill the gap. Just don't tell the fans who shell out the big money to attend your limbo season.

For more from Brian Wilde, I encourage you to follow him on Twitter: @BwildeCTV

I also strongly urge you to listen to Randy Tieman on TSN990 weekdays 12-2pm

and of course, catch them both nightly on CTV Montreal News at 11:45pm for Sports night.