I was always curious as to where the “habs” (Montreal) came from...
I was always curious as to where the “habs” (Montreal) came from...
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We think the “Habs” nickname was the result of an error in 1924. The first man to refer to the team as the Habs was Tex Rickard, the founder of the National Hockey League and the owner of Madison Square Garden. Rickard apparently told a reporter that the “H” in the logo on the Canadiens’ jerseys stood for habitants, which wasn’t true. The C-wrapped-around-H logo stood for the hockey team’s official name, le Club de Hockey Canadien. The “H” stood for “hockey”, but Habs stuck. They’re still referred to as the Habs even today.
I remember it being short for "habitants", French for "people who live there", referring to the original settlers. The internet tells me I'm wrong.
“LES HABITANTS”