Meet the Montreal Canadiens’ famous Jewish trumpet player

Photo courtesy Kid Mercury

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Once upon a time, when the Montreal Canadiens still played at the Forum, their unofficial team mascot was a trumpet-blowing super fan known as Kid Mercury. The trumpeter was a fixture in Montreal, and his siren’s call could be heard blaring during the Habs’ last two Stanley Cup victories, in 1986 and 1993.

Kid Mercury has been retired for a few years… until a couple of weeks ago, when he got thrust back into the public spotlight. His hometown NHL team, on the road to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since that 1993 victory, invited him back to perform at the Bell Centre during the teams’ three home games against the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Now that they’ve beaten Vegas and are vying for the championship itself, Kid Mercury’s 15 minutes of fame have once again been extended into overtime.

But underneath Kid Mercury’s trademark cape—and his lightning bolt–studded cap—is a nice Jewish boy from Côte Saint-Luc whose parents got him his first trumpet as a bar mitzvah present. In fact, not only does he play the trumpet, but he blows a mean shofar, too.

As the Canadiens now struggle against Tampa Bay in the NHL finals—their dreams may be dashed as soon as this evening, if they lose Game 4—Kid Mercury says that, no matter what happens, the surprising success of the Habs this season has brought hope back to Montrealers from all walks of life after their city was devastated by COVID-19.

What we talked about:

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.