MONTREAL – It’s only taken a week for Montreal’s newly elected mayor to have a run-in with the local NHL team.
Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens.
During last night’s game he tweeted: “Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to Hamilton for David Desharnais please…”
It was a rather run-of-the-mill remark for a hockey fan. Droves of them tweet running commentary on Habs games and a number of them have criticized the play of the struggling forward.
But it drew a little more attention, coming from the mayor.
The team is pushing back at Coderre. Coach Michel Therrien called the remark inappropriate. Forward Max Pacioretty called it embarrasing. And Josh Gorges said it’s wrong to kick someone when they’re down.
Coderre’s outspokenness and penchant for grabbing the spotlight is a distant cry from the city’s last elected mayor — the understated, Harvard-educated Gerald Tremblay, who was eventually felled by a controversy over corruption at city hall.
The first week alone has demonstrated that in abundance.
In Coderre’s first week since the election, he has already had a run-in with the Parti Quebecois provincial government over its religion charter; with the powerful mayor of Quebec City over a perceived slight to him; and now with the Montreal Canadiens.
