If the Montreal Canadiens succeed in forcing a Game 7 in their Eastern Conference Final series against the New York Rangers, they will be playing it without their lucky charm in the building.
If the Canadiens win Game 6 against the Rangers on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS) then Ginette Reno will sing the Canadian national anthem prior to Game 7 on Saturday via video link from a downtown Montreal concert hall and not Bell Centre, according to a report in the Montreal Gazette.
It would be the first time in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that the Canadiens play a home game without Reno singing "O Canada" live in the building.
Reno will be giving a concert at Place des Arts, about 10 blocks east of Bell Centre, starting at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Reno's publicist, Narimane Doumandji, told The Gazette that the iconic Quebec singer will sing the national anthem during her concert and that it will be broadcast live on the video board at Bell Centre.
Reno's presence at Canadiens games this spring has become almost as big an event as the games themselves. Her arrival on the ice is preceded with chants of "Ginette! Ginette! Ginette!" and the customary crowd of 21,273 at Bell Centre is whipped into a lather just before the puck is dropped for the game.
The Canadiens have scored within the first three minutes of the game in four of their eight home games in the playoffs.
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