Canadiens...is the city really hockey?

An article published on the French version of Canoe has me a little troubled and perplexed at the moment.

What it basically states is that the Canadiens, le Tricolore, les Glorieux, 24 time Stanley Cup Champs, whatever you wanna call them, are overrated when it comes to their popularity around Montreal and Quebec.

The article specifically quotes like this:
"If you think that the Canadiens are as important in Montrealers' eyes as the Red Sox are for Bostonians or the Yankees for New Yorkers, you are sadly mistaken..."

It claims that, according to a study/survey done by Turnkey Sports and Entertainment, Montreal finishes a lowly 74th out of 122 sports cities in North America when it comes to exposure in their local area.
"Exposure" here meaning "being a fan" or "who really cares about the Habs", in short, the real "fans".

The Habs media group has been using the phrase "The City is Hockey", "La Ville est Hockey" as the Habs slogan, and I gotta admit, it's quite appealing, appeasing and thankful to hear as a fan, as I truly believed our city was hockey, but this newfound report, like I said, has troubled me.

Aren't the Habs supposed to be hockey's bread and butter? The greatest sports franchise to arguably exist?
The winningnest franchise in NHL and sports history? A city where people are hockey-crazy and hockeylific?

The study shows that the Sabres (4th overall); Red Wings (20th) and Penguins (30th) are the top 3 NHL teams in North America.

The Canadiens?

A very surprising finish at 74th, or 15th in the NHL rankings.

I find this extremely hard to swallow, both as a Habs fan and person.
There is no doubt in my mind that Turnkey did not ask Francophones what they though about hockey in Montreal, where it stands for them, but rather the less, but equally fanatic Anglophone side.
I don't want to start any language wars here, but seriously, to think that Turnkey probably didn't get a French speaking surveyor to communicate with the larger population of Montreal, the Francs is insanely absurd!

So if Turnkey did ask them what they thought of the Habs, they'd probably and almost certainly be a lot higher on this list.
When asked "but they sell out every game", Haynes Hendrickson (VP of Turnkey) simply answered it's not about selling out, it's whether or not people go to the Bell Centre to see the Habs or the opposing team.

Jesus Almighty.

End of story right there, the City is hockey, period, point final, that was really the final nail in the coffin for me to mark this "revelation" as understudied, ignorant and certainly illogical.

The Canadiens...the best team ever in the history of hockey, les Glorieux, 24 time Stanley Cup Champs, le Tricolore...74th?!

You must be joking Mr Hendrickson,

GO HABS GO!

-BBeR