Montreal Fall Sports Roundup

It doesn’t get more exciting than the fall months for Montreal sports aficionados: not only are all three of the city’s professional sports franchises – the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes and Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact – in full regular season swing, fans hungry for all forms of competition have a varied plate to dine on

The Canadiens will open their season against historical arch-rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 8 in Toronto, and will play their home opener against the similarly vilified Boston Bruins on Oct. 16 at the Bell Centre. For the second time in recent years they will play without a de facto captain, instead sharing leadership responsibilities across four assistant captains on a team that will feature many new faces.

Speaking of the Bell Centre, pro basketball fans will want to take note that the Toronto Raptors will jump off against the storied New York Knicks for a preseason game on Oct. 24 for the third edition of the annual NBA Canada Series.

Following the January retirement of beloved star quarterback Anthony Calvillo after 20 seasons in the CFL, Montreal’s Alouettes have struggled through a rebuilding year, with the perennial Grey Cup contenders sporting an atypical 3-8 record at the time of this writing. All of which means little to the team’s loyal fan base: the striking outdoor Molson-Percival Stadium on the eastern flank of Mount-Royal is always one of the most exciting places to be in the city when the Als are in town.

In recent years football mania in Quebec has also extended to the Canadian university football championship, called the Vanier Cup, in large part due to the dominance of Quebec City’s Laval Rouge et Or, the current reigning champions. This year the Vanier Cup will celebrate 50 years of existence with several special events in coordination with the Nov. 29 championship game at Molson-Percival Stadium, the very first time the Cup has been held in Montreal.

If you missed out on the annual grand spectacle of the Grands Prix Cyclistes which took place across a broad swathe of Montreal on Sept. 14 (and which is one of only two elite-level, UCI World Tour–sanctioned  bike races held in North America each year), it’s not too late to take Montreal Marathon and Half Marathon, a part of the international Rock’n’Roll Marathon Series which sees live bands and other forms of entertainment spread out across the lengths of the varying marathons. The 2013 marathon set a new record with over 32,000 runners from more than 30 countries. The 2014 edition, which features five separate marathons, takes place Sept. 28.

And if ultimate frisbee is more your flavour of outdoor fun, then take note of the 10^th North American Grand Masters Championship for male players over the age of 40, and female participants over 35, which will be held on the grounds of the Douglas Hospital, Sept. 27-28.

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