Axl Rose was nowhere to be found, and folks in Montreal found a reason to riot anyway.

Reports say 41 people were arrested in the revelry and debauchery that ensued after the Montreal Canadiens knocked off the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals and one step closer to the Stanley Cup.

Based on the video below, though, it looks like most of the Montreal faithful were simply out to celebrate a good time. Well, maybe except for the guy stripping on a street pole, but the cops took care of him.

Check it out and try to tune out the annoying music…

The 2008 Winter Classic in Buffalo, N.Y.

With excitement building for the NHL’s annual outdoor Winter Classic, guest blogger Perry Espardinez takes us on a little trip down an icy memory lane:

This New Year’s Day, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins will square off in the Winter Classic, an NHL annual event that brings ice hockey out of the arenas and into the cold of winter. This regular season match tries to bring the sport back to its roots, plus gives sports fans something to watch aside from the usual New Years hangover helpers of parades and college bowl games.

Now, the NHL is considering a Canadian outdoor game each season, which should make us wonder why the Winter Classic isn’t already played in Canada.

In fact, it was … on a technicality.

The Heritage Classic, as it was billed in 2003, was the NHLs first regular season game to be played outdoors.

Hosted by the Edmonton Oilers, it was held on a rink set up at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. The Montreal Canadians beat the home team 4-3 with 57,000 in attendance.

Keeping with tradition, the NHL plans to feature Canadian teams in an outdoor Canadian venue in the new annual outdoor game, which would start. All six Canadian NHL teams have expressed interest, but there’s been no announcement on when or where the game would be played.

The Habs or the Leafs?

That’s the question at hand as Canadians try to nail down, once and for all, which is “Canada’s Team.”

According to a new poll, one-third of Canadians believe the Montreal Canadiens are Canada’s team, while 47 percent of them consider the Canadiens to be “the greatest hockey team in history.”

On top of that, 65 percent of those polled said that the Canadiens are to Canada what the New York Yankees are to the United States. Yankee haters would agree that’s not necessarily a compliment.

“To a large number of Canadians, hockey is Canada and the Montreal Canadiens are hockey’s greatest success story,” said Andrew Cohen, president of The Historica-Dominion Institute — which is dedicated to promoting Canadian history and conducted the poll, which was reported by The National Post.

Meanwhile, the lead singer of the band Glass Tiger (you might remember the ’80s hit, “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)” — that was them) is facing some heat from folks outside the Greater Toronto area for the song, “Free to Be (a.k.a. “The Leafs Song”).

Alan Frew wrote the song as an anthem for the Maple Leafs, and it has been used to rile up the crowd at home games this season. But one line, in which he sings, “Oh! Oh! Oh! This is Canada’s team. Go Leafs Go!”

“I knew full well what I was getting into with the ‘Canada’s team,’ ” Frew told The National Post. “I grew up with the Glasgow Rangers and Celtic (Scottish soccer rivalry), and I didn’t know you were supposed to write a song for your team that pleases the other guys. It is about antagonizing the other guys. And the other thing is, if you don’t like my song: too bad. Write your own song.”

Finally, the NHL approved the sale of Canada’s Team — that’s the Montreal Canadiens, in this case — back to the Molson family (yes, the beer people), which will take control of the team for the third time, according to the CBC.