Don Cherry complains that they don’t draft good Ontario boys all the time.
Well, I tend to believe that a professional sports team should give something back to the city and region in which it is situated. Of course the Canadiens do this, they hold charity golf tournaments and such, but by having only a handful of Quebec players on their roster, they don’t contribute as much as they could to the development of Quebec hockey. I understand that the job of the GM is to build the best team he can, and looking at the provenance of the players would detract from this. And I do know that today most players get traded or change teams through free agency, often more than once, in their career, so they’re not tied to a city as much as they were in the 70s or before. But surely there can be a middle ground that would allow the Canadiens’ GM to build a team the fans can really identify with. Especially since a Quebec player may have a stronger attachment to the city and actually want to stay and build the team for a long period.
But this said, Habs fans are serial complainers. There’s no decision the team may take that will ever please them.
The thing is, in which way can we say that an American or Swede is “non-local” in Toronto? Something like 50% of Toronto’s population is foreign-born after all, and your American or Swede speaks English, can speak with the fans and appear to be like any other Torontonian by all measures. In Montreal non-Quebec players often do not speak French (which is apparently different from what it was in the past; I’ve been told that until the 70s or 80s English Canadian players who were in Montreal for a long period usually learned French, but as I’ve said players today usually change teams much more often) and it’s questionable in which way they are “Montreal’s” players rather than any other team’s.
:smack:
I’m glad, obviously. But you’d think the Citizen would verify the story before putting that on their web site.
Oh, and let’s explain the Richard Riot a little less briefly shall we. 
Maurice Richard wasn’t just a hockey superstar in Quebec in the 50s. He was in some ways a working-class hero. He’d basically reached the highest position a francophone working-class Quebecer (the majority of Quebec’s population at the time, especially in Montreal’s region) could reach: becoming a business leader, a scientist, a professional, was impossible. But becoming a famous hockey player, that was what young boys were dreaming about. (A similar dynamic is visible among other marginalized minorities, notably African-Americans today.) And, something I’ve learned watching the movie, Maurice Richard was also a political or at least politicized figure, speaking out against the treatment of francophone players in the NHL which paralled the situation of francophones in Quebec. The NHL wasn’t especially happy about Richard’s political activities. So when he was suspended, it wasn’t only a hockey player being suspended for his on-ice actions. It was perceived as a political hero being punished and silenced. And the fact that NHL president Clarence Campbell attended the next game (sparking the riot) was perceived as further provocation, which may very well actually have been his intention.
Was it the “catalyst” for the Quiet Revolution? Quebec society was already very much changing in the 50s, and all that was left to do was for francophones to gain more economic power. Maurice Richard (not just the riot) may have been a symptom of these changes, but I don’t think he caused them.
Yeah, but Burns did go to Magog. Really, what’s the difference?!
Actually, Magog is a perfectly fine little tourist trap. The joke would be better IMHO had he gone to another town…even I’m finding it tasteless to mention that the Townships is home to a town called Bury… sorry!
Yesterday’s headline: Kuba feeling ‘100 per cent’ healthy for new season
Today’s headline: Kuba leaves ice five minutes into first practice with knee injury
:smack:
Cherry should go back to yelling at the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn. Or else hunting up old lady’s sofa covers to turn into sports coats.
Not good: Penguins Staal Expected to Miss Start of Regular Season
Dammit.
Not quite. Close, though. He actually goes around to fabric stores and has the “end of the roll” material made up into sport jackets.
I was listening to a hockey podcast yesterday and they came up with a good questions which I don’t the answer to.
Does Colorado have any Quebec Nordiques history on display in their arena? If Quebec City gets a team, I’m sure they’ll want to use the “Nordiques” name.
I haven’t seen any Winnipeg Jets history at the Coyotes arena
According to Wikipedia, the Nordiques’ retired numbers weren’t left retired by the Avalanche, so I suppose they don’t show any banner or other stuff from their Nordiques days either.
Neither the Jets nor the Nordiques won anything of significance during their NHL time in Winnipeg or Quebec. The Nords won a pair of Adams playoff crowns in '82 and '85, and an Adams regular season title in '86, but that’s about it.
I’m not sure, but I think that the 'Yotes still keep jersey numbers 9 and 25 out of circulation for Bobby Hull and Thomas Steen, respectively.
Been to the Pepsi center many times over the years (and McNichols prior to that). The Avs have not embraced the past. No Quebec history that I have seen exists there (maybe a throwback jersey for Sakic in the gift store). I am not sure if the decision was made by the ownership to start fresh, or if there was some agreement with the NHL when they moved.
They were Eastern Conference regular season champions in 1995, their last season in Quebec.
It’s been a roller-coaster off season, can’t wait for the regular season to get started already!
Forgot about that…thanks; although that was the first year in 25 that Montreal missed the playoffs, so I don’t have a lot of great memories about the lockout season.
Preseason starts tonight.
Here is an article from CNNSI, by Jim Kelley. In it there is a video that the league has sent around concerning how various hits will be called. I just hope that these hits to the head are called consistently. Nobody wants to see another hit like Marc Savard took.
Why are there shootouts in preseason hockey? The game doesn’t count in the standings.
Because they’re entertaining? I love a good shootout myself.