Quote:
Originally Posted by freeweed
Go watch a Coyotes game when Detroit comes to town. It'll blow your mind.
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I know but these are mostly transplants are they not?
Gatineau has many transplants from other parts of Quebec (including Montreal) but Hab-fandom here is not primarily a transplant thing.
Most locals are Hab fans intergenerationally from before the Sens returned to the league, and unlike most of the people in Ottawa for the most part they did not switch over to the Sens in 1992 or in the years following.
Prior to 1992, Ottawa was divided between the Leafs and Habs. Franco-Ontarians were massively for the Habs while anglos were more split between the Habs and Leafs. Most of the Franco-Ontarian population in Ottawa and eastern Ontario has switched over to the Sens, as did most of the anglo population.
There is still a pretty strong nucleus of Leaf fans also in the Ottawa Valley northwest and west of Ottawa, but contrary to the situation with the Habs in Gatineau the Sens do have good majority support in these areas.
When the Leafs come to town there is a large segment of the crowd that cheers for the away team, but these are mostly out of towners or people from rural areas outside the metro.
The people who cheer for the Habs at Canadian Tire Centre are for the most part from inside the metro itself.