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Joy turned to a little hell as looters turned to vandalism following the Montreal Canadiens’ Game 7 victory in Pittsburgh.
An eardrum-rattling eruption of joy following the Montreal Canadiens’ Game 7 victory in Pittsburgh turned ugly late Wednesday night when police clashed with dozens of object-tossing youths and fired tear gas.

The trouble erupted downtown a few hours after the Canadiens’ 5-2 victory and after many of the jersey-wearing hockey fans had gone home. Police reported 10 arrests shortly after midnight, although damage to stores was limited.

Shortly after the beloved Canadiens’ 5-2 victory over the Penguins, fireworks erupted over Ste-Catherine Street as people crowd-surfed and held aloft trinkets including Stanley Cups replicas and a stuffed penguin.

The flag-waving crowd was as euphoric as the 21,000 fans who crammed into the Bell Centre to watch the game on giant screens. After the game, they spilled out into the streets chanting, “We want the Cup! We want the Cup!

It’s really a shame because Montreal has a history of hockey related violence.

Cars were burned and downtown stores were trashed and looted after the Canadiens beat Boston in the 2008 playoffs, and there also were riots after Montreal’s Stanley Cup victories in 1986 and 1993. The most famous riot was in 1955 when Habs great Maurice Richard was suspended and fans took to the street to cause such havoc that Richard had to make a public appeal for calm.
posted at Sports News