Just before 5 p.m. this afternoon, Richmond’s Jeff Mah will be switching off his phone and shutting himself into isolation in his TV room.
A few minutes later, Richmond high school teacher Mah will quite literally be on the edge of his seat – more likely standing up and pacing – as his beloved Montreal Canadiens take to the ice in their first Stanley Cup Final for 28 years.
Mah, who teaches at Steveston-London, has been a die-hard Canadiens (AKA Habs) fan since he, himself, was at high school in Nanaimo more than 30 years ago.
In that time, the 49-year-old was lucky enough to see his team get to one Stanley Cup Final, in 1993, when the defeated the LA Kings four games to one.
But it has been baron and desolate path ever since for the Habs and, indeed, for Mah, who has had to endure all kinds of ribbing from his Canuck-supporting friends for the best part of three decades.
“I have been nervous from the moment I woke up and been getting more nervous as the day goes on,” Mah told the Richmond News Monday morning.
“It has been so long. Most of my co-workers were just born the last time we were in the final.
“There’s usually a big family dinner on a Monday night. Not tonight, I will be switching my phone off and watching it on TV by myself.”
Mah, whose Steveston-London classroom is homage to the Habs thanks to gifts from students during his 24 years in teaching, said he first started watching the team because the Canucks of the day were “terrible and boring.”
“It was the late ‘80s, Montreal was this great team, full of great personalities, such as LeClair and Richer,” added Mah.
“I still I just have the jersey from 1989, it still fits, I think. It has been a long journey with these guys, 30 years or so.
“We won it in 1993 and it has been a very up and down time since then and, of course, I get all the jabs from my friends.”
This year’s cup run, however, has been “an amazing feeling” for Mah, who knows, if you dish it out, you have to take the punishment from Canuck friends.
“There’s been a lot of punishment over the years,” he laughed.
“I used to watch the Canucks Habs games with friends, but had to stop watching it with them. The amount of ribbing you get for every goal against, for every hit. It was too much.”
