Ever dreamed of finally having enough room for your Montreal Canadiens' collection?

In hockey-mad Montreal, many avidly collect the Montreal Canadiens merchandise, but nobody does to the same extent as Sunil Peetush. Like many collectors, his passion started with hockey cards, however, as he grew older and earned a regular income, he branched out to different items and memorabilia. The more disposable income he had, the better the items he bought. 

Straight from the get go, Peetush loved displaying his collection, from his childhood room to his first apartment, by way of his first condo to his first house to his now home, there has always been a Canadiens' shrine at home. 

The Habscave

His entire basement is now dedicated to his Montreal Canadiens collection and it looks as if it was made to host this amazing museum worthy assemblage. It's no stroke of luck that it fits perfectly either. Peetush is a general contractor and when he acquired the house it was only half completed. He wanted to finish building it and sell for a profit. When he saw the basement wasn't completed however, he realized it could be the blank canvas he needed to paint the fan cave he always dreamed of.

It took him a couple of years to finish the project, but it was well worth his time. Now not only is his basement the perfect place to display his collection, but it's also a place where he can host his friends to watch games in the perfect setting. A giant screen, a table hockey game, an air hockey table, a pool table, a baby-foot table, a ping-pong table and a poker table are all included. Of course, there's also plenty of seats, a huge couch and a bar to provide the ultimate game watching experience to his guests.

A few years ago, one of his friends arranged for Gilbert Dionne, a Canadiens alumni, to come over to see his collection. What was meant to be a 15-minute visit turned into a three-hour chatting session. 

The Charities Peetush Supports

Since then, many Canadiens alumni have visited the Habscave, and some did more than visit. Peetush has held fundraising events for two charities in the past and when he does, he invites a couple of former "Glorieux" to come and sign autographs. Some even stay to watch the game and chat with the attendees. 

I was lucky enough to attend one night when the fundraisers was for the Kat D DIPG Foundation at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. In short, the foundation amasses funds in the hope of finding a cure for DIPG brain tumors which generally strike children between the ages of five and nine and is fatal within nine months. A worthy cause if there ever was one. As a bonus, Stephane Richer was present to sign autographs and chat with us about his time as an NHL player. 

It's not the only foundation Peetush supports, through social media and alumni contacts. He has also met Chris Nilan, who's the spokesman of the Liam Foundation. It's another one of the Montreal Children's Hospital foundation and it aims to finance research and clinical trials to find a cure to mitochondrial disease, more specifically POLG disease, a genetic disorder that has caused balance and gross motor issues, epilepsy, and autism. Liam, who suffers from the disease, is now seven and when he was diagnosed, doctors told his family he had a life expectancy between three months and 12 years. 

Peetush holds events about four times a year and all proceeds go to one or the two foundations. Each attendee can buy raffle tickets with the prizes to win being Canadiens, Expos or sports memorabilia. 

I've seen a lot of Habs collections over the years, but this one takes the cake. No contest. From the moment you set foot on the staircase to go to the basement, you start seeing Canadiens memorabilia but nothing can prepare you for what happens when you set foot in the basement. You are immediately overcome by the magnitude of the collection and you can't help but feast your eyes on the various items, the bar, the seating area and all the entertainment that's on offer. There's a reason why Peetush was the first Molson Habs Hall of Fan inductee. 

The one alumni who has never been to the Habscave and who occupies a huge part of it is former Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy. If anyone is able to show him this incredible fan cave, he might just make a pit stop the next time he's in town. A visit from his longtime idol would be a dream come true for Peetush.