The Montreal Canadiens' officials have strongly denied that their players were told to stay in their hotel and carry their passports at all times while in Minnesota, calling reports “fake news.”
Sports reporter Luc Gélinas, who covers the team, made the claims in an appearance on Quebec radio station FM Charlevoix, with his French-language remarks reported in English by Dose, a Canadian sports website.
Gélinas is “one of the most prolific sports journalists in Quebec,” according to an online profile shared by his booking agents, MVP Sports Marketing, and has covered the Canadiens for broadcaster RDS (Réseau des Sports) for more than 25 years.
According to Gélinas, Dose reported that the club told players to avoid going outside and that management recommended they eat at the hotel rather than explore local venues. The club advised players to travel to the arena on a bus rather than walking outside, Gélinas claimed, adding that the team stayed an extra night in Buffalo, New York, before traveling to Minnesota, saying they were there on Monday night instead of heading to Winnipeg to avoid getting caught in any late-night “disturbances in the city.”
In an email to The Independent, Chantal Machabée, Vice-President of Hockey Communications for the Montreal Canadiens, pushed back strongly on the reporting by Gélinas.
“The problem is, it's not true! I have no idea why the reporter said this, it's simply not true,” Machabée said, adding an emoji of a shrugging woman that is often used to convey confusion or frustration.
Brad Klein, Director of Corporate Communications at the NHL, which oversees 32 North American teams, including the Montreal Canadiens, likewise told The Independent the reports regarding advice to stay in the hotel and carry passports were “not true.”
Machabée explained it was the hotel’s suggestion that players stay close to the property, “something like a three-block radius,” and “nobody advised the players to bring their passports.”
She confirmed the team didn’t travel immediately from Buffalo to Minneapolis, but said that had been planned since August and had “nothing to do with the events in Minnesota.”
Machabée said it had been standard practice over the last two seasons for the team to stay in a local hotel after a game “and fly the next day,” which also explained why they had stayed in Minneapolis on Monday night.
“We want to give our players some rest,” she told The Independent. “It’s easier when you have a good night sleep than arriving in the next city at 2am.”
The Independent has attempted to reach Gélinas regarding his reporting, but has not yet received a response to requests for comment made via social media, to the RDS broadcast, and to his booking agent.
The Canadiens faced the Minnesota Wild on Monday evening and lost 4-3 in overtime.
The security claims came amid heightened concern for the safety of international athletes and fans, with fears they could be caught up in the aggressive federal immigration crackdown currently sweeping Minnesota streets that has caused widespread outrage and seen two American citizens shot by federal agents in separate incidents.
Earlier this month, San Francisco Giants star Jung Hoo Lee was detained by immigration officials, prompting Representative Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat and former House Speaker, to intervene.
The 27-year-old outfielder was stopped by Customs and Border Protection at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, January 21, because he forgot documents in South Korea, Pelosi’s office said in a statement.
Lee was later released, the Giants said, after his “brief travel issue at LAX due to a paperwork issue."
"The matter was quickly clarified with the appropriate authorities, and he has since been cleared to continue his travel. We appreciate the professionalism of all parties involved,” a spokesperson for the team told the media.
President Trump’s harsh stance on immigration has also thrown into disarray travel plans for fans of two prominent African football nations following the implementation of a U.S. travel ban. Senegal and Ivory Coast were added in December to a list of countries facing partial entry restrictions into the U.S., which is a co-host of the upcoming tournament alongside Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.
Fans from Iran and Haiti, two other countries that have qualified for the World Cup, will also be barred from entering the United States; they were included in the first iteration of the travel ban announced by the Trump administration.
The restrictions include an exception for players, team officials, and immediate relatives traveling to the World Cup, but no allowance has been made for supporters.
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