Montreal rioters have once again embarrassed their city and their beloved Canadiens.

The Habs treated their hometown crowd to a 5-0 whomping of the Boston Bruins on Monday night to take the seventh and deciding game of their opening NHL playoff series against the rival Boston Bruins.

But instead of heading for the pubs to celebrate — as most hockey fans do — hooligans took to the street to raise hell in a dangerous riot reminiscent of the Richard Riot of 1955.

When the smoke cleared Monday night, vandals had torched and smashed more than a dozen police vehicles and damaged several Montreal businesses.

And this is just the first round.

If the Canadiens manage to go as deep into the playoffs as many expect them to this year, there may be nothing left of Montreal by the time they win the Cup.

This is not just an eastern Canada phenomenon. Let us think back to the chaos that erupted in Vancouver in 1994 when the Canucks lost out to the Rangers in the championship series.

Edmonton also suffered under the stupidity of hockey hooligans when they made their lengthy playoff run in 2006. Whyte Avenue was full of maniacs starting fires, assaulting police, and damaging public property.

What should have been a joyous, unifying celebration turned into a revolting scene of destruction and violence, forever tainting the glory the Oilers achieved in their underdog playoff success.

Real hockey fans celebrate their team’s victories by cheering loudly, singing in the streets, waving flags, or drinking themselves stupid. Real hockey fans don’t burn police cars.

Calgary’s famed Red Mile has been a shining example of how hockey fans should honour their home team — granted, I am a little bias as I am a Flames fan.

A little nudity and public drunkenness aside, (OK, a lot of nudity) thousands of Calgary fans have managed to celebrate the Flames’ playoff victories in peaceful fashion. When the Flames made their surprise playoff run in 2004, the insane parties on the Red Mile didn’t result in looted stores or burned police cars.

It bothers me that every time there is a ‘hockey riot’ many news stories imply that the people doing the looting and rioting are hockey fans. These people are not hockey fans, they could better be described as hockey terrorists.