Sports

The most popular sport in Montreal is Ice hockey. The city's professional hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens, are one of the Original Six NHL teams, and boast an NHL-record 24 Stanley Cup championships. The New York Yankees are the only other team in North American sports to have more championship titles with 26.
Montreal has a storied baseball history. The city was the home of the Montreal Royals until 1960 and Jackie Robinson broke the baseball colour barrier with the Royals in 1946 in an emotionally difficult year where Robinson was forever grateful for the local fans' fervent support[38] Major League Baseball came to town in the form of the Montreal Expos in 1969. They played their games at Jarry Park until moving into Olympic Stadium in 1977. After 37 years in Montreal, the team relocated to Washington, DC in 2005 and re-branded themselves as the Washington Nationals.[39] Various groups are trying to bring a Can-Am League team to the city to fill the void created by the departure of the Expos.[citation needed]
The Montreal Alouettes of the CFL draw packed crowds at the small but picturesque Molson Stadium for their regular season games. Late season and playoff games are played at the much larger, enclosed Olympic Stadium, which will also play host to the 2008 Grey Cup. The McGill Redmen, Concordia Stingers, and Université de Montréal Carabins play in the CIS university football league.
The city's USL First Division soccer team is called the Montreal Impact. They play at a soccer-specific stadium called Saputo Stadium. The Montreal games of the FIFA 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup were held at Olympic Stadium.[40]
Montreal was formerly the site of a high-profile racing event each year: the Canadian Grand Prix of F1 racing, and during a one time event, a NASCAR race in the Nationwide Series. These races took place on the famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Île Notre-Dame, where the Champ Car series also raced from 2002 until 2006.[citation needed]. In 2008, after 29 years on the same circuit, the Grand Prix left Montreal, with the event moved to other cities (the 2009 calendar has Abu Dhabi scheduled).
Uniprix Stadium was built in 1993 and is used for the annual Rogers Cup Tennis Masters tournament. The ATP men's tennis tour and the Sony Ericsson WTA women's tennis tour switch between Montreal and Toronto every year.[citation needed]
Olympic Stadium, in the city's eastern section.Montreal was the host of the 1976 Summer Olympics. Until eclipsed by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Montreal Games were the most expensive in Olympic history, costing over $5 billion (equivalent to $20 billion in 2006).[citation needed] Montreal hosted the first ever World Outgames in the summer of 2006, attracting over 16,000 participants engaged in 35 sporting activities. They were the biggest sporting event in the city since the Summer Olympics of 1976.[citation needed]
Five beaches around the island, in addition to a network of parks that include one on the Mont Royal, offer a set of recreational activities enjoyed by the local population.