March 13, 1998
Poor Grant Needham. Either the Montreal forward’s a target for opponents or he’s simply unlucky. In any case, on this Friday the 13th of March 1998, Needham leaves Molson Centre in the fourth period of the Impact’s game against the Buffalo Blizzard. He’s broken his ankle, the Canadian Press reports. But the Bleu-blanc-noir wins one for him: player of the game Eloy Salgado scores the winning goal in a tight 14-13 success. It’s Montreal’s fifth in a row and an encouraging one at that: Paul Kitson’s men stand in third position in the North Division, but they’ve just defeated the leaders.
March 17, 2000
Paul Kitson’s time as Montreal boss ended after the 1998 season, but the former Impact head coach is back in town – at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex – to take on the Bleu-blanc-noir with, well, the Buffalo Blizzard. Kitson, a good sport, “wishes luck to John Limniatis, the home team’s new player-coach” before the game, a scene that photographer Bernard Brault captures for the next day’s edition of La Presse. But has Kitson shot himself in the foot? The Impact’s in complete control that night and wins 17-8, with Nick De Santis scoring the game-winner in front of 2,542 supporters.
