As everyone knows, last night was game 7 of the Bruins-Canadiens series. It promised to be a great game, even if it was possibly the last one of the season for the Habs. As luck would have it, I had a class I couldn’t miss. Doh!

I sat in class watching the scores on my PDA browser, constantly reloading. I could see at least two other people around the class doing the same thing. Others would sporadically look at us expectantly, and we’d just shake our heads “No”, and make two “zero” hand signs. It was unspoken, but completely clear where everyone’s mind was.

Finally the professor stopped for a break, and a frenzied flurry of cell phones quickly came out: “C’est quoi le score?” “C’est quoi le score?” “C’est quoi le score?”.

As I drove home towards the end of the second period, one of my classmates stopped his car beside mine at a red light. He smiled, and pointed to his radio and then his ear. I nodded “Yes, of course I’m listening to it”.

I got home for the third, and with each goal scored, I heard the cheers of several of my neighbors mingling with my own.

I’ve always loved how powerfully hockey seems to break every social barrier in this town, how it unifies not only jocks, but computer geeks, artistes, and even the future corporate suits at HEC.

Go Habs!