Canadiens unveil 100th anniversary plans

The Montreal Canadiens unveiled a full schedule of events Wednesday for a two-year celebration of the team's 100th season.

Owner George Gillett Jr. and president Pierre Boivin were on hand at the Bell Centre to announce plans for the next two NHL seasons leading up to the 100th anniversary of the team's founding on Dec. 4, 2009.

Among the features this season will be a Ring of Honour section, which will open prior to the Canadiens' home-opener against the Boston Bruins on Oct. 15. The team will also set up a wing for a Hall of Fame exhibit at the Bell Centre next April.

"It's a great privilege," Gillett said. "There's so much history.

"We get recognition from people, but the real people who deserve the pats on the back are our fans for being behind us for 100 years. There's a lot of clubs that haven't made it yet and may not make it past whatever, so it's great to have fans of this quality."

The Canadiens used their sparkling new scoreboard, the largest in the NHL, to show fans and media members at the Bell Centre what they can expect through a video montage.

The scoreboard measures 7.6 metres by 12.2 metres and has 47.4 square metres of video viewing area, which is five times larger than the one the Bell Centre had last season.

Along with the various events planned, this season will see the release of a Canadiens video game, a documentary release on DVD of the team's most memorable games, a special set of 200 Upper Deck anniversary cards and even a Canadiens version of Monopoly.

The Royal Canadian Mint will issue 10 million one-dollar coins and Canada Post will issue four million stamps honouring the Canadiens anniversary.

The team will also have 12 Centennial Jersey nights in which players will wear sweaters of past teams. Captain Saku Koivu modelled a blue-and-white one from their inaugural 1909-10 season, while star winger Alex Kovalev donned a striped one from 1912-13.

"It's cool," said Koivu. "I just hope we keep these after the games because it would be a pretty cool souvenir for after my career."

Last week, the team has announced that Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy will be the eighth player to have his number retired at the Bell Centre since 2000, before a game against the Bruins on Nov. 22.

Under Gillett's reign as owner, the team has already retired seven numbers — Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion, Dickie Moore, Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey and Larry Robinson.

The festivities will end with the Centennial Game on Dec. 4, 2009, details of which have yet to be announced.