Montreal sports
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Montreal is famous for its hockey-hungry fans. The Montreal Canadiens is one of the 'Original Six' NHL teams, and boasts the greatest number of Stanley Cup championships.
Montreal is also the site of two high-profile racing events each year: the aforementioned Canadian Grand Prix, and the Molson Indy Montreal of the Champcars Series. Both races take place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Île Notre-Dame. As of 2006, NASCAR is also rumored to be in talks with city officials and the track promoter about a possible racedate, most likely for the Busch Series at first and possibly the Nextel Cup down the road.
On July 13, 1982, Montreal hosted the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game outside the United States. The most important sporting event in Montreal's history, however, was when Montreal played host to the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Once the favoured sport mainly of Montreal anglophones, football fever has spread across Quebec, with the pro football Montreal Alouettes of the CFL drawing packed crowds at the small but picturesque Molson Stadium, part of McGill University and nestled against the slopes of Mt-Royal. As noted above, the Alouettes play their last regular season game and post season games at the much-larger and enclosed Olympic Stadium, which has also been home to a number of Grey Cups, the CFL's championship game.
With football's new-found popularity "en français", the Université de Montréal's "Carabins" draw enthusiastic crowds at its mountainside Outremont stadium rivalling that of English universities Concordia and McGill. McGill itself was rocked by a hazing scandal in 2005 and shut down its program for the remainder of the season.
Montreal has an all-sports radio station, CKGM (The Team 990).
In July 2005 Montreal hosted the 11th FINA World Aquatics Championships.
In 2006 Montreal will attract some 16,000 LGBT athletes, who will participate in the first-ever GLISA World Outgames. The Outgames are being hailed as the largest international event in the city of Montreal since the 1976 Olympics.
[edit] Current professional franchises
| Club | League | Venue | Established | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | NHL Hockey | Bell Centre | 1909 | 24 |
| Montreal Alouettes | CFL Football | Molson stadium | 1996 |
6 |
| Montreal Impact | USL Soccer | Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard | 1993 | 2 |
| Montreal Matrix | ABA Basketball | Centre Pierre Charbonneau | 2005 | 0 |
| Montreal Mission | NRL Ringette | Various | 2004 | 0 |
[edit] Major sports venues
| Venue | Capacity | Team/Tournament/Attraction |
| Gilles Villeneuve Circuit | 100,000 | |
| Olympic Stadium | 56 040 |
|
| Hippodrome de Montreal | 25,000 | Horse Racing |
| Bell Centre | 21,273 | Montreal Canadiens |
| Molson Stadium | 20,202 | |
| Île Sainte-Hélène Aquatic Complex | 13,000 | XI Fina World Championships |
| Stade Uniprix | 12,000 | |
| Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard | 9,500 |
