Montreal's 'Playoff Squad' Ready for Habs Fans

Police task squad coordinates preparations for 'worst fans in professional hockey'

In Montreal, post-season NHL preparations include readying the "Playoff Squad," a special police task force that assembles every year around playoff time. Extra officers are called in from all over the Montreal area to use for mounted duty or to close off key streets to traffic. Police are keen to try out different tactics to avoid the massive property damage often caused by Habs fans, whom GQ Magazine has called the worst fans in professional sports. No one wants a repeat of the 2008 riot in which Habs fans set fire to police cars and looted storefronts following the Canadiens' seventh-game win over the Boston Bruins. And who are the Habs playing in the first round of playoffs? The Bruins.