Mtl police regain control after clashes with youths following Habs win:
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MONTREAL - Montreal police regained control of the downtown core early Thursday after firing tear gas at hundreds of bottle-tossing youths, many of whom looted businesses following a stunning playoff victory by the Canadiens.
The vandalism occurred after the area crammed with tens of thousands of jubilant hockey fans had mostly emptied out following the Habs' Game 7 win over the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
Looters wrapped their faces in garments ? in some cases the ones they'd stolen ? and dashed into a liquor store.
With their identities concealed, they leaped through the smashed front window and emerged moments later with their arms full.
One man warned his lady friend, as they dashed away, to be careful with the loot.
"Hide the bottle," he snapped.
"The police."
He was referring to the line of officers who watched impassively from the closest street corner.
Their reinforcements were on the way.
Rows of black-clad riot cops charged in from the peripheries, rattling their shields as a warning to the crowd.
That's when they began blasting tear-gas canisters into the unruly mob.
As people coughed and scurried away, they followed; the slowest members of the crowd were jammed repeatedly in the ribs to prod them along.
One man complained he'd had a tooth broken. Stragglers who paused and tried to pleacefully explain why they needed to be there received the same reaction: a few swift, painful jabs in the torso.
Police said about 25 people were arrested. Two officers suffered minor injuries.
The evening began as an eardrum-rattling eruption of joy that crested into a sea of red, white and blue in the hockey-mad city.
Thousands of ecstatic Canadiens fans streamed into the streets to celebrate the team's elimination of the defending champion Penguins.
Fireworks erupted over Ste-Catherine Street as people crowd-surfed and held aloft trinkets including Stanley Cups and, in one case, a stuffed penguin.
Ronnie Cukier went downtown with his daughter and her friends because he wanted them to experience a true Montreal hockey celebration ? a rarity since the Habs delivered their last championship in 1993.
"We've been waiting for this Cup for a long time," Cukier said.
"I've seen a few already. But let the kids see a few of them. Now's our time. This is our year to win the Cup."
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Idiots.