While Canadians currently natter about a plastic sock puppet, a bigger controversy two weeks ago involves the comments by Canadian hockey announcer Don Cherry, on Janaury 24^th, that many of the players in the NHL (particularly Europeans and French) were turning into "weanies":

"Hockey players such as the 'Europeans and French guys' were 'turning into sucks' for wearing visors on their helmets to protect their eyes".

For 25 years beginning in the mid fifties, the Montreal Canadiens dominated the National Hockey League. They won 15 Stanley Cup titles between 1956 and 1979.

The league had a territorial draft back then, which allowed the Canadians to garner the best talent (mostly French Canadians) from the province. Montreal's hockey team has fallen onto hard times the last 25 years, wining the Stanley Cup only twice, in 1986 and 1993. 

Toronto's drought has been even longer, dating back to 1967. Canadian glory in winning the Stanley Cup has come primarily from Edmonton, which won the Cup five times, with stars Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. 

In the last decade, Canada teams have won nothing: it is all Detroit, Colorado, and New Jersey winning the title. Canada's real embarrassment is not rhetoric, it is the loss of control of the Stanley Cup. 

There is no longer a territorial draft, but it doesn't matter to the Canadians, since French Canada  doesn't seem to be turning out many great hockey players any more. In  part the League now showcases bigger players, many from Europe, not the smaller French Canadian skating artists of decades past such as Canadien stars Maurice and Henri Richard.  So there is a severe loss of pride in Quebec and Canada over their humiliation on the rink. 

When Canada's Olympic hockey team defeated the US team in the finals in 2002 in Salt Lake City, the entire country breathed a sigh of relief. It had been 50 years between Olympic Golds for the Canadians, in a sport they see as their national game.  A defeat in the Olympic finals would have been a national disgrace similar to the way Mexicans reacted to their World Cup soccer loss to the US in 2002. 

But 2002 is temporary respite for the cold Northland. The Stanley Cup is unlikely to be headed back to Canada this year. And unlike America's spectacular Olympic victories on ice in 1960 and 1980, in both cases totally unexpected surprises by amateurs beating Russian professional teams, Canadians always  fear hockey failure in the NHL and the Olympics. With such a bruised psyche over their national game, it is therefore no wonder the country suffers a breakdown at a few crude jokes from an American comedian on site, on their nickel.

Posted by Richard 02 14 04