The Hockey Hall of Fame is a can't-miss attraction for any hockey fan who visits Toronto. It's impressive to see so many pieces of hockey history, but my latest visit left me disappointed with one part of the exhibition...
If you’ve ever been to the Hockey Hall of Fame, you know that its recreation of the Montreal Canadiens’ dressing room is one of the best parts of their offering. You’ve got players’ stalls, pictures of the greats that have graced the Habs dressing room over the years, the line from In Flanders Fields, plaques of the team’s roster from different years; it’s all there. It’s sure to give goosebumps to any Canadiens fans.
One of the player stalls that’s on display and that has always been popular with Habs fans is Patrick Roy’s. You can sit in his place and pose for a photo wearing pads, as if you were the goaltending great in between periods. When I first went to the Hall in 2018, there were pads similar to the ones he wore in his rookie year in his stall, and that’s what you wore for the picture.
However, this week when I went to introduce my son to the Hall, there were bright red, white and blue Stomp pads in Roy’s stall. Yes, the color scheme is the right one, but has Roy ever worn Stomp pads? Can anyone remember him wearing them? If they had to move away from the rookie year gear, the right (and only way) to go would have been Roy’s classic, red and blue Koho Revolution pads with white straps. Those are the ones people remember, the ones he wore when the Canadiens won their 1993 Stanley Cup.
My son didn’t mind; he didn’t know any better; he wasn’t born when Roy was the face of the Canadiens’ franchise. He didn’t see him raise two Cups and two Conn Smythe trophies wearing the Sainte-Flanelle. The hockey purist in me did mind, though. To me, that’s a major faux pas that cheapens the recreation of the Canadiens’ iconic dressing room, and that’s a shame.
