Broken bones to big smiles; young fans get casts in Habs bleu-blanc-rouge

Five years ago, children entering the Up urgent pediatric centre with a broken bone, got a chance to leave with a touch of local Habs-inspired pride and a cast emblazoned with Montreal Canadiens colours.

This year, they get the same chance.

Instead of rooting for the likes of Carey Price, Phil Danault and Alexander Romanov to push the Habs in the playoffs like they did in 2021, young fans are looking to Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov and Sam Montembeault in 2025.

“With the playoff run again, we restarted making sure to support our community, support the Montreal Canadiens, and allow children, despite their stress levels and concerns coming in with injuries, to have that positive experience and feel like they’re contributing to the community support as well,” said Up co-founder and pediatric emergency doctor Mher Barbarian.

In Up’s two locations in Saint-Eustache and Brossard, Que., over 30 children have left this year with casts in Canadiens colours. The medical professionals create the casts after interacting with the families, who chose the numbers, design and any details.

A vote for the best design will produce a winner, who will get a prize.

The most popular numbers will come as little surprise to anyone who has followed the team.

“[Nick] Suzuki often comes up quite a bit being our captain. No. 14 is often very big hype and at the beginning of the series, we did see a lot of Demidov hype as he came on, so the number 93 was there for a lot, and that was also the last time we won the Stanley Cup,” said Barbarian.

At Up, about 50 per cent of the patients are active athletes that are injured, Barbarian said.

“De-dramatizing” the situation is a key to care at the centre.

“Oftentimes when they come here and they’re coming for their injuries, they’re already at a high stress level and they already feel that they might be headed for an immobilization and so we start immediately de-dramatizing at the door and making sure that they’re coming into a low-stress environment,” said Barbarian.

The cast challenge is a big part of that.

“It’s just adding a little bit of a playful nature to a difficult and stressful situation,” said the doctor. “Making the experience of having a cast and being immobilized positive.”