Chris Chelios as Snowbirds Fly Over Bell Centre at 6:15 p.m.

chris chelios and the Canadian Armed Forces Snowbirds will fly over the Bell Centre around 6:15 p.m. Monday, about an hour and 45 minutes before Game 3 between the Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes. The timing puts the flyover directly into the early-evening arrival window for roughly 21,000 fans.

Bell Centre arrival window

Game 3 starts at 8:00 p.m., and the series is tied 1-1. The Canadiens are also using giant screens in front of the Bell Centre during the playoffs, which adds another layer to the crowd flow on Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal.

That combination leaves a tight stretch for people heading downtown. The Snowbirds will be over Montreal for a second day in a row on Monday, after the Canadian Forces demonstration team flew over the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit on Sunday before the start of the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.

Snowbirds in their final season

The Montreal flyover comes during the Snowbirds’ final season with their CT-114 Tutor jets. Those aircraft are set to be retired and replaced in the early 2030s by modern CT-157 Siskin II aircraft.

On Facebook, the Snowbirds said there will be "two legendary teams in red, white and blue" in Montreal on Monday night. For fans, the practical takeaway is simple: the flyover lands right in the busiest part of the pregame rush, before the Bell Centre fills for a 1-1 Eastern Conference Final matchup that starts at 8:00 p.m.