While there hasn’t been any hockey in town since the end of April, there are still some Montreal Canadiens players in town, especially when there are some special events on. This weekend, the F1 circus is in town, and thousands of fans are congregating at the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit in Parc Jean Drapeau.

Amongst those fans are at least a few Canadiens’ players. Alumni Patrice Brisebois was spotted chatting with blueliner Arber Xhekaj and center Alex Newhook. Brisebois has been a Formula 1 fan since 1993, when the Canadiens paraded with the Stanley Cup on the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. It was four days after the Cup conquest, and the players had been flown in by helicopter from the Molson Brewery.

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At 22 years old, the parade on the famous track, with thousands of fans’ acclamations, was a memorable moment for the young defenseman. He felt like he was on cloud nine, and he then watched the Grand Prix. Until then, the F1 wasn’t even on his radar, but the adrenaline, the noise from the cars, and just the spectacle converted him.

On that day, Alain Prost had won the race driving a Williams-Renault 14 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher, who was with Benetton-Ford. In the paddocks, Brisebois encountered a former classmate who worked for Ferrari and became a fan of the Scuderia.

Since then, he’s been a regular attendee at the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, and it’s far from surprising to see him chatting away with current Canadiens there this time around.

Captain Nick Suzuki and his fiancée Caitlin Fitzgerald were also in attendance, taking in the action of the qualifying session, just like Patrik Laine and his fiancée Jordan Leigh. The two couples are set to marry this summer. Laine and Leigh will have a destination wedding this month, while Suzuki and Fitzgerald will marry in Montreal in July.

Photo Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

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