MONTREAL - The Winnipeg Jets' triumphant homecoming had just about everything - except an actual triumph.
The Montreal Canadiens took care of that.
It's never easy to be the visitors in the other team's home opener, and this was a whole other level of pomp, circumstance and celebration.
The Jets were playing their first home game after a 15-year absence, and the entire city - if not most of the country - was on their side. The Canadiens were incidental to the proceedings until the puck dropped, and even then, they were interlopers who evolved into full-blown party poopers by the end of the night.
Normally, when the Habs play in another Canadian city, there's a sizeable and vocal contingent of Montreal fans in the crowd. That element was conspicuous by its absence Sunday.
The silence in the building was deafening when Mike Cammalleri opened the scoring a little over three minutes into the first period. The fans were never able to regain their fever pitch, although to their credit, the place was still full at the final horn, even though the Canadiens had affairs well in hand for the last 15 minutes of the third period.
For Winnipeg, last night was not about winning as much as it was about celebrating the return of the NHL. That's probably a good theme to stick with for the season.
Amid all the hullabaloo, the Canadiens delivered a sobering reminder that for the most part, the Jets are still last season's Atlanta Thrashers.
