{"id":625797,"date":"2026-04-24T15:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625797\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T15:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T15:32:08","slug":"montreal-transit-shows-its-love-for-the-habs-with-players-making-next-station-announcements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/625797\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal transit shows its love for the Habs with players making \u2018next station\u2019 announcements"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A ‘Go Habs Go’ slogan is shown on a Montreal city bus on Thursday.Graham Hughes\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

About a year after coming under fire for removing the words \u201cGo! Canadiens Go!\u201d from the electronic signs on city buses over concerns about Quebec\u2019s language legislation, the Montreal transit agency is trying something new to show its love for the Habs.<\/p>\n

The agency has recruited four members of the NHL team to announce the names of underground metro stations in French during trips as the cars pass through the stops next to the team\u2019s home at the Bell Centre.<\/p>\n

It means commuters can now hear the voices of Lane Hutson, Juraj Slafkovsky, Jakub Dobes and Alexandre Texier as they approach the Bonaventure and Lucien-L\u2019Allier metro stations in downtown Montreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Lane Hutson, next station Lucien-L\u2019Allier,\u201d says the voice of the Canadiens star defenceman, in one of the recordings now being played on the metro.<\/p>\n

Texier, who represented France at the Winter Olympics in February, told The Canadian Press it felt \u201cincredible\u2019\u2019 to hear his voice in the metro. \u201dSome friends sent me the announcement,” he said, adding, \u201cI think people might be excited to take the metro … to hear the voices, because Montreal is all about hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n

A transit agency spokesperson says the campaign also marks a first for the metro system, as it introduces new voices to a familiar part of the ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time we\u2019ve specifically switched that voice for the next station to this one, which features our four Canadiens players,\u201d said Laurence Houde-Roy.<\/p>\n

She said the initiative is meant to bring the energy of the Stanley Cup playoffs into everyday commutes, giving riders a small but noticeable reminder of the excitement surrounding the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really a way to get in on the playoffs hype,\u201d said Houde-Roy.<\/p>\n

Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Dumas, president of Influence Communication, a Montreal-based media analysis firm, praised the campaign, saying it draws on \u201cthe strong emotional attachment and sense of belonging Montrealers have toward the Canadiens and their roots in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it also demonstrates how the Habs are \u201cwoven into everyday life\u201d in Montreal and part of the city\u2019s broader cultural identity.<\/p>\n

Houde-Roy said the idea stemmed from a social media video produced in partnership with the Canadiens, showing players inside a metro station setting, delivering short phrases in French.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt generated so much interest that we thought, \u2018Why not recreate the voices saying that famous next-stop line?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The transit agency said the team selected the four players based on their availability.<\/p>\n

\u2018We wanted to have Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois players, but their schedule didn\u2019t allow it, but [we] still have one player who is 100 per cent francophone with Alexandre Texier,\u201d said Houde-Roy.<\/p>\n

The response from the public has been largely positive, with commuters sharing their reactions online and in media coverage, Houde-Roy added.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can still see from the recordings that they\u2019re doing very well. They\u2019re really eager to take part in this recording. We really appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quebec\u2019s language watchdog now says it\u2019s okay to use \u2018go\u2019 to support sports teams<\/a><\/p>\n

The initiative builds on a long-standing partnership between the transit agency and the Canadiens, whose games significantly increase transit use, particularly around the Bell Centre before and after puck drop. \u201cWe are, of course, adapting our service accordingly,\u201d said Houde-Roy, noting adjustments to operations to reflect the surge in passengers around home games.<\/p>\n

Some city buses are also joining the playoff push, displaying \u201cGo Habs Go!\u201d on their digital destination signs. It\u2019s up to the bus drivers to showcase the message, but the phrase has to be manually added to every single bus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t take long, but you have to make the change manually for each circuit board,\u201d explained Houde-Roy.<\/p>\n

Until then, you might be able to see a few \u201cAllez les Canadiens\u201d messages, the French equivalent, on a few buses.<\/p>\n

The agency had previously dropped the word \u201cGo\u201d on the buses after a complaint to Quebec\u2019s language watchdog, which pressed transit officials about the issue in a series of e-mails sent between May, 2024 and January, 2025, according to correspondence obtained by The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n

The language watchdog would later update its online dictionary, following a public outcry, to confirm that use of the word \u201cgo\u201d was \u201cpartially legitimized\u201d in Quebec as a way to show encouragement for a sports team, but that \u201callez\u201d was still the preferred term.<\/p>\n

As of now, about 38 per cent of buses \u2013 705 out of 1,838 \u2013 have been updated to display \u201cGo Habs Go!\u201d The transit agency aims to have all buses capable of displaying the message by April 30.<\/p>\n

Houde-Roy said \u201cGo Habs Go!\u201d is deeply rooted in fan culture and widely used by the team.<\/p>\n

Meantime, the special metro announcements will remain in place for the duration of the Canadiens\u2019 playoff run \u2013 or, as Houde-Roy put it, \u201cuntil they win the Stanley Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A ‘Go Habs Go’ slogan is shown on a Montreal city bus on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,2338,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":{"0":"post-625797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-ca","15":"tag-canada","16":"tag-canada-news","17":"tag-canada-sports","18":"tag-canada-sports-news","19":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","20":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","21":"tag-canadian-news","22":"tag-economy","23":"tag-education","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-federal-government","26":"tag-foreign-news","27":"tag-globe-and-mail","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","29":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","30":"tag-government","31":"tag-life-news","32":"tag-lifestyle","33":"tag-local-news","34":"tag-manitoba","35":"tag-montreal","36":"tag-national-news","37":"tag-new-brunswick","38":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","39":"tag-northwest-territories","40":"tag-nova-scotia","41":"tag-nunavut","42":"tag-ontario","43":"tag-pei","44":"tag-photos","45":"tag-political-news","46":"tag-political-opinion","47":"tag-politics","48":"tag-politics-news","49":"tag-quebec","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-technology","52":"tag-travel","53":"tag-trudeau","54":"tag-us-news","55":"tag-world-news","56":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}