MONTREAL - Like he had done so many times before, Eddy Palchak sauntered out of the tunnel to the edge of the boards behind the Habs' bench.
Palchak, a trainer and equipment manager for 10 Stanley Cup-winning Montreal Canadiens teams, emptied a couple of buckets full of pucks onto the ice.
As the vulcanized rubber dropped to the rink, echoes of "Eddy, Eddy, Eddy" descended from the Bell Centre's bleachers.
The Habs' blast to the past marking their 100th birthday had begun.
Before Montreal's game Friday against their longtime nemesis -- the Boston Bruins -- the storied club held a two-hour-long ceremony to commemorate its Dec. 4, 1909 founding and to honour a pair of the team's all-time greats.
The Bell Centre crowd roared as Palchak's pucks were scooped up by about two-dozen former Habs -- who had hopped on the ice in full gear -- including the legendary Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy and Guy Lafleur.
Former head coaches Scotty Bowman, Jacques Demers, Jean Perron and Claude Ruel watched from behind the bench.
"For all of you fans who supported the team for 100 years -- it was special for you guys -- but for us, as players, it was something unbelievable," Lafleur told the crowd from a podium on the ice after being introduced by Hollywood actor, and enthusiastic Habs fan, Viggo Mortensen.
"You guys partied some nights -- we partied every night."
In an unexpected segment of the pre-game ceremony, the Habs made room in the arena's crowded rafters for the numbers worn by the two oldest-living Canadiens -- Elmer Lach's No. 16 and Emile (Butch) Bouchard's No. 3.
The retired jerseys of Lach, 91, and Bouchard, 90, now hang with the club's 24 Stanley Cup banners and the numbers of 15 other Habs greats.
The Habs have honoured many of their past stars in recent years leading up to the anniversary, retiring the numbers of the likes of Dickie Moore, Yvon Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Larry Robinson, Bob Gainey, Bernie (Boom Boom) Geoffrion, Roy and Dryden
Dryden suited up in his brown goalie pads Friday for the first time since he played his last game with the Canadiens.
"It was a bit terrifying first going out," said Dryden, adding he wore a few pieces of the bulkier, modern equipment owned by current Habs netminder Carey Price.
"Actually, it felt better than I thought it was going to feel."
He reminisced about his run with the team in the 1970s, when he backstopped the Habs to six Stanley Cups.
"We were a really good team and we were the kind of team that could beat you just about any way you wanted to play," said the Hall of Famer.
"We had the best general manager, we had the best coach, we had the best players, we had the best arena, we had the best atmosphere to play in."
During the ceremony, former Detroit Red Wings star Gordie Howe walked out onto the red carpet holding Maurice (Rocket) Richard's iconic No. 9 jersey. He introduced one of his old rivals -- Habs great Jean Beliveau.
Beliveau, who won 10 Cups with the Canadiens, drew one of the biggest ovations of the night.
Boos rained down when the Bruins took the ice for the pre-game warm-up and when a taped video message by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's played on the big screen.
Harper's congratulatory address was mostly drowned out by the jeering crowd. But the boos quickly turned to cheers as a similar message by Celine Dion's husband and manager, Rene Angelil, rolled on the scoreboard.
