The Minstrel of the Holy Flannel asked me to compose this song for our valiant knights. We, liege men of the fortress of the Kingdom of Hockey of the Habs, celebrate resilience in battle. Let our heralds cry out across every square and every esplanade the bravery of our valiant warriors, from Maurice Richard unto this very night. This is a song of deep joy, a song for the resilience of athletes, for in the heart of the clash on Ontario soil there was the Battle of Ontario. And we shall be remembered. We are few, but we are happy. We are a band of brothers. For he who shed his blood with me today shall be my brother. Let him never be so base as to deny this night. And the gentlemen of Quebec, now in their beds, shall think themselves accursed for having gone to sleep before the end of the game. They will hold their manhood cheap while men speak of those who fought beside us on the day of the Battle of Ottawa. He who survived this day and returned home safe and sound will stand tall upon his heels whenever this day is spoken of, and will grow in stature at the mere name of the victory of January seventeenth, twenty-six. He who has seen this day and lived to old age, each year, on the eve of this date, will treat his friends and say: “Tomorrow is the Battle of Ontario.” Then he will roll up his sleeve, show his scars, and say: “I earned these wounds on the seventeenth day of January, twenty-six.” And the gentlemen now lying in their beds will deem it a curse that they were not here, and will make cheap their nobility when they hear spoken of those who fought with us on the day of the battle against the Senators. Go Habs Go. Go, Glorious. Go Habs Go. Alleluia.
