The SBN megaverse is responsible for a couple of great grassroots campaigns from Throw The Snake to Japers' Free Alex. Today, I'm going to revive a movement that every hockey fan can get behind. Today, the No Habs No campaign is back! As with all good things, the revival began on Twitter:
mlse: @silversevensens Time to bring back the No Habs No campaign!
silversevensens: @mlse #nohabsno needs to come back. The hockey gods punished me for it last year; you've got nothing to lose, want to take over?
mlse: @silversevensens To me from failing hands you throw the torch. It's mine to hold it high. I accept the legacy of #nohabsno
Although Peter's a Senators fan I have to give him credit for putting this together. If you're wondering what the letters look like here's one batch of letters that was sent out. One interesting note is that the only player that replied was noted bad guy Dion Phaneuf. After a few quick e-mails the details of the transition were sorted out and they are after the jump:
Dear hated rivals,
It is with mixed feelings that I give up my beloved No Habs No! campaign, for you to continue. Although it was an enjoyable and rewarding undertaking, it was obviously frowned upon by the hockey gods, and so I offer it to representatives of a team with nothing to lose: The Toronto Maple Leafs.
The origin story of the No Habs No! campaign is an epic tale. It started when Montreal was taking on the Bruins, and--of course--their fans were Ole-ing. Even though it was a tie game. When Milan Lucic got the puck, my girlfriend shouted that she'd give him a dollar if he scored to shut them up. I said I'd give whoever scored a dollar, and although it took until overtime, Blake Wheeler finally came through. Every player thereafter was sent a commemorative letter to go along with a dollar in recognition of their efforts in keeping Montreal down.
The magic of the first part of No Habs No! was how catastrophic the Canadiens' collapse was after the campaign started--culminating in the four-game sweep at the hands of the Bruins. Heading into 2008-09, Montreal fans--obnoxious at the best of times--approached their centennial season with such self-entitlement that it seemed they expected Gary Bettman to present them with the Stanley Cup at a drawn-out opening ceremony at the first game. Watching them fail horribly seemed like sweet justice. I can only hope it's as rewarding for you.
There are, however, a few conditions to the transfer of No Habs No! that you have to uphold:
- All letters must be hand-written, and coinage taped to the letter. It's an elemental part of No Habs No!
- Use local currency. I suppose that, should you continue the campaign into next year, you can offer Leafs scorers actual Canadian money, instead of Canadian Tire money.
- Keep in mind the past contributors to No Habs No!, such as Joe Corvo, Alexander Semin, and Tomas Fleischmann, who have the opportunity to ascend to No Habs No! hero category in this series.
- It's our idea, of course. Keep that in mind.
So good luck. Although seeing the Capitals get knocked out in the first round would be pretty fun, too, I'd hate to see the city of Montreal go down in flames as a result--which would inevitably happen, knowing Habs fans.
Sincerely,
Peter Raaymakers
Managing Editor
Silver Seven, the Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators blogs
www.SilverSevenSens.com
Founder, the No Habs No! campaign
cafepress.com/nohabsno
Facebook.com/nohabsno
Tonight is the first chance for a player to claim his prize. I hope it's Ovechkin so I can mention Vancouver.