Welcome to the Center of the Hockey Universe

Somewhere in that place you plan to enjoy the greatest sport on earth; played by the greatest team ever to play the game in the world; with the many of the greatest fans of hockey and this storied franchise that you will ever meet. But being a true fan you want to expand your knowledge of the hockey universe.

On October 25th, and sometime before 7 O'clock that evening, you will be settling in to your seat to enjoy the game with all of us that are attending The Habs Inside/Out Fan Summit. But our very first official event to kick off our pilgrimage to hockey's Mecca will be starting at 10:30 that morning at the Centre Bell. At that time we will be gathering outside to prepare for the tour. We want everyone there the extra half hour early - the tour launch time is actually at 11:00 am - so we will not miss out on exploring every possible little nook and cranny of this place that they will let us put our eyes on.

For those of you staying at the hotel with the bulk of the group, the event is within walking distance of the beer in your hotel fridge. For the rest of you that may be driving in for this particular event, here are the driving directions and the prices for parking so you can plan ahead.

The Tour Details:

The price of the tour will be $5.50 per person. We will meet at 10:30 am on October 25th at 1260, de la Gauchetière Street West. The tour should last about 45 minutes. What can you expect on the tour?

Visits include

• Amphitheatre
• Hall of Fame,
• Press conference room
• Jacques-Beauchamp media Lounge

• Press gallery,
• Artists’ luxury suites
• Youppi!ville
• Canadiens dressing room (if available).

The Canadiens dressing room will no longer be available for visits starting on September 15th 2008 and until the end of the regular season and the playoffs.

For a more personal perspective of what to expect on the tour, Robert has a great picture essay on the frist Habs Inside/Out Fans Summit here.

And here are a couple of pictures, taken by Gazette photographer Tyrel Featherstone, of last years Summiteers in Windsor Court - just outside the Centre Bell.

SUMMIT NEWS FLASH - It's Ticket Buying Time

Vicky, also known as Habschick on Habs Inside Out, will be e-mailing all those persons who have requested tickets prior to last weeks deadline of July 31. Shortly, Vicky will be sending out an invoice to everyone for one $68 ticket or $136 for two tickets. Follow the Pay Pal instructions in the e-mail and you will receive a receipt immediately upon payment.

Ian has just paid for his pair of tickets and the process worked well.

Once we have secured our 56 requested tickets and paid for them, we will be inquiring about additional (read single) tickets around the building for people that want more than 2 tickets.

Please make sure you that you have paid for your tickets before noon on Wednesday, August 13, after which time they will be sold to someone else.

For information on purchasing tickets outside of the Fans Summit group, visit the Montreal Canadiens site link here, for information on how to proceed.

In total, there were 87 tickets requested by 40 posters. The demand exceeded our wildest expectations!

While we absolutely would have been happy to undertake these many purchases, the Bell Centre ticket office has informed us that the maximum group purchase is 56 tickets.

In order to supply every fan that requested tickets, we are proceeding in this manner:

Those people who ordered a single ticket will get 1 ticket and those people who requested more than 1 will get 2 ordered from the block of 56.

Any additional will be ordered after August 17, and they will be single tickets scattered in various area of the Bell Centre. As of yet, we have no price on any additional tickets, and we will be receiving information on such once and only once the initial 56 ticket transaction is completed and paid in full.

Everyone will need to have set up a pay pal account online to pay by credit card for these tickets.
Here's how:

Go to http://www.paypal.ca/ and sign up.

When you receive the e-mail from Vicky, it will include a PayPal number for you to forward your payment. You will then proceed to the PayPal account you have set up in your name, and make the payment. Be sure to write down or save all pertinant information as to transaction numbers. PayPal, for those unfamiliar with it, is the most widely accepted and trusted form of internet payment worldwide.

Ian has pulled every string in his bathing suit in attempts to satisfy the overwhelming ticket demand. If you have ordered more than two tickets, hang in there, we will do what is possible to help you out further.

Continue to watch this site closely over the coming days for updates and information. Should we be able to add tickets to our request, it is quite possible that the window for their PayPal purchase will be very brief. Be prepared in that event to act quickly!

If you further inquiries and concerns, click the grenade icon on the sidebar and we'll do our best to respond quickly.

At the Habs Inside Out site, look for Ian, Habschick, Conecticut Man1, Robert L, SmartDog, and Chuck. The six of us are on constant e-mail alert for fast breaking news and changes, if you require any further clarifications.

That's about all for now.

CHeers!

Habs Inside/Out Fan Summit V 2.08

It's time! And we are going to try and make this easy for you... A basic eMail from which we will do the hard work and make the lists. Yes! Call us suckers for punishment but we figure that if it is easy to sign up, you might just go out of your way to make it. Please read all of the following information carefully.

What are we talking about?

Saturday, October 25th

@ Le Centre Bell en Montreal!

And you know you want to be there...

Please remember that we have not purchased tickets yet! But we do need a head count so we can start to move on these things ASAP. This action will only concern ticket requests. [update] Because of the overwhelming response we are setting a July, 31st (11:59 P.M.) deadline for ticket requests.

Please send to ticket requests to habsfansummit@gmail.com with the word "Tickets" in the eMail subject line, and please include the following information:

Name:
email:
Address:
Phone #:
Number of tickets requested:

IMPORTANT INFO FOR YOU TO KNOW:
All information provided will be kept in the strictest of confidence and used solely for the purposes of organizing the "Habs Inside/Out Fan Summit 2008". (IE: Ticket Confirmations, hotel, dinner, party and tour reservations) All tickets will be made available on a "first come, first serve basis" based on the eMail receipt time at our eMail address and subject to purchasing availabilities for the chosen game date. We want to be fair to all of the fans. No firm prices are available as ticket prices have not yet been released. We hope to secure "white" tickets and we estimate anywhere from $65-85 / ticket. Please note that this is an estimate only. Payments will be made via Paypal (fee will be included) once tickets have been secured for this event. So, please familiarize yourself with the Paypal service in advance. And the earlier you all get in your requests the sooner we can move on all of this.

To get a good idea of what to expect, here is a link that leads to last year's Summit info.

Thanks for your patience while we do what we do. Feel free to leave a comment here if you want others to know you will be attending and...

Go Habs Go!

Habs Fan Summit V1.07

The inaugural Habs Fan Summit in 2007

Photo taken from Habs Inside/Out
where you can find Hi-Res versions

Robert provides a great summary of the day's events at his Blog:

"The Canadiens didn't need the 4 - 2 win over Buffalo tonight in order to make the Habs Fans Summit a rousing success - however, it was the proverbial icing on the cake.

Damn, did we all have a good time!

Super sized kudos to Jason Weiss (Jay in PA) for spearheading an evening that will long be remembered by all of those who took part in the days activities. I'm sure that I speak for everyone in saying that this man is a class act for endeavoring to take on the task of coordinating much of what went on.

Jay, who lives in Pittsburgh, had lots of long distance help from J.T., Naila, Jim M, Sami, Kullkullan and Manapart in setting things up from ticket orders to the final gathering at Hurley's Pub. I hope that my documenting of the day does their hard work justice."

(Read the rest...)

Just so you have an idea of what to expect at the Habs Fan Summit V2.08.

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