We have seen the return of a beloved goal song, a superlative performance from a young Dane, protests in front of the Bell Centre and the return of a playoff hero.
And we are barely ten days into 2012.
After a brief, but welcome, holiday hiatus, Plus/Minus takes a look at some of these topics, namely the emergence of Danish hockey, Cammalleri's performance and Mouvement Montreal Francais' protests.
Plus
The Emergence of Danish Hockey: Little known fact: Lars Eller was not the first Dane to be a part of the Canadiens' organization.
Kim Staal, who hails from Herlev, Denmark, was drafted 92nd overall by the Habs in 1996. He never suited up for the team, playing most of his career in the Swedish Elite League.
With the exception of Poul Popiel, who was raised in Canada, Danish born players have been an exceptionally rare sight in the NHL.
But, over the past decade, that has changed dramatically.
Forwards Frans Nielsen, Jannik Hansen, Mikkel Bødker, Peter Regin and Lars Eller all ply their trade in the NHL nowadays. Not only that, but they are hardly fringe players, each playing top-nine roles on their teams.
Philip Larsen, a defenceman, splits his time between Dallas and Texas. Meanwhile, Nicklas Jensen, a first round pick of the Vancouver Cancuks, is lighting up the OHL at a point-per-game pace.
Other players, such as Frederik Andersen, Morten Madsen and Kiril Starkov have all heard their names called at the NHL draft in recent years.
In the end, Lars Eller's four goal night not only symbolized how far he has come as a player, but how far Danish hockey has come as a whole.
Minus
Cammy: Remember the Mike Cammalleri who was a 30 goal threat in the NHL?
Neither do I.
Watching his disinterested style of play, it is hard to fathom he ever performed at that level.
Yet, in 2008-09, he notched 39 tallies as a member of the Calgary Flames. The following year, in Montreal, he added 26 goals in only 65 contests.
This year, the winger is on pace for a mere 18 goals.
Even more shocking is the apparent disinterest with which he conducts himself on the ice.
He hesitates to get overly involved along the boards - be it on the forecheck or defensively - preferring simply to angle the puck carrier.
He turns over the puck with an unusual frequency. In 67 games last season, the winger had only 31 giveaways while his year he already has 24.
He shows virtually no emotion regardless of the events. A goal, an assist, a goal against, a win, a loss. Through it all, the Richmond Hill native maintains the same stoic glare.
Now, though, the fans are glaring back and they do not seem pleased.
And it is hard to blame them.
No bilingualism: On Saturday night, Mouvement Québec Francais set up shop in front of the Bell Centre to protest the lack of francophone presence in the Canadiens' organization.
MQF president Mario Beaulieu issued a release - in French - in advance of the demonstration. One of the organization's many gripes stood out amongst the rest.
“The music played in the Bell Centre is English. All announcements made in the arena are bilingual" complained their press release.
Really? Bilingual announcements are a bad thing?
Over 500,000 Montrealers speak English at home. And the Habs fan base extends far past Quebec's largely francophone borders.
From coast-to-coast, the Canadiens are easily one of the most storied and beloved franchises in Hockey.
Our very own Rosalyn Roy hails from Maritimes while long-time blogger Dennis Kane writes from the confines of his home in British Columbia.
Apparently, these many fans, who speak and interact in one of Canada's two official languages, do not deserve communication in their language.
Apparently, investing your emotion and money into a team should be worth less if you do so in English.
---
Louis is an Associate Editor at HabsAddict.com and an Editor at HabsWorld.net. Born in Chicago, Louis grew up in Quebec City where he earned Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Université Laval.
He currently resides in Ottawa and works for the Coaching Association of Canada. Find him on twitter @LouisMoustakas
(Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
4 comments:
Great stuff as always Louis!
I have to start with a huge LMAO for the following line:
"Really? Bilingual annoucments are a bad thing?"
!!! Love it!
As for this ridiculous protest, the one thing you left out (which I would say would go under PLUS), is that only 100-150 people showed up for the protest.
I would say that makes it a resounding non-success. It is a small faction of people who think it is so important an issue that they have to protest.
It is a handful of people being used by political organizations to forward their agendas. Lame. A non-issue, imo.
Re: Cammy - this is a bad, bad situation. One that was bad at the beginning of the year and is seemingly getting worse every day.
I think he is a prime candidate to be moved at or near the deadline. Sure his $6-million price tag will make many teams run in the other direction, but this is a guy who can easily bag 40 goals under the right circumstances. And that is something that Stanley Cup aspirants can't just overlook.
The announcements thing is ridiculous. How is a fan who only speaks english suppose to understand that his lights are on, on his car or other circumstances? Does he have to poke the person beside him and say "what did they say?" Haha as for the music I don't hear any music that people know that pumps up a team in french, not that I know of. I just don't understand their thought process especially if 99 percent aren't even fans just out for their own personal gain or agenda. Blows my mind how ignorant some people can be!
How interestingly ironic...
"Apparently, these many fans, who speak and interact in one of Canada's two official languages, do not deserve communication in their language."
This statement precisely describes the feeling of the many people who were irked by the nomination of a unilingual coach (even though they are not part of the fringe that protested).
Not to mention the hilarious "Apparently, investing your emotion and money into a team should be worth less if you do so in ..."
@Anon
You are right, there is certain irony, dare I say contradictions to my viewpoints I suppose.
Your point also illustrates the folly of MQF's position. They demand what they are unwilling to give.
I suppose that I, as a bilingual Quebecer, have some soul searching to do! At the end of the day, though, I still firmly believe that, while local content is appreciated, having a winning team and winning coach should be the first criteria.
Fans and coaches can interact through the media, who have the ability and resources to translate. In arena annoucments, well, not so much.
Thanks for reading.
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