from Katelyn Thomas of the Montreal Gazette,

First the Habs won, then Montreal became a playground.

Fans outside the Bell Centre celebrating their team going to the Stanley Cup final for the first time since 1993 — on la Fête nationale of all days –— were quickly dispersed by Montreal police, who shot tear-gas canisters into the crowd.

Though fans appeared generally well-behaved — aside from the incessant lighting of fireworks between narrow buildings outside the arena and one guy who kept climbing a lamppost — police tweeted Thursday that projectiles had been thrown in their direction.

“Absolutely ridiculous, for no reason,” said Habs fan Max Debelle in response to the tear gas. “But you know, Habs clutched up, that’s all that matters. That’s all that matters.”

“The Habs played really well,” added Eddy Freytag. “I couldn’t really see much, I lost my voice as you can tell. … I wasn’t really there for most of it, I went around the corner, and I felt the tear gas in my eyes.”

A total of 15 people were arrested, with charges ranging from armed assault, assault and obstructing the work of a police officer, Montreal police Constable Julien Lévesque said Friday morning. Another 60 infractions were handed out for violating numerous city by-laws.

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