Jump to content

Oct. 12, Habs vs Canucks, 10 PM


dlbalr

Recommended Posts

I think it would take one player learning French to change the culture in the room, and others would follow when they saw that it was worth it (and Seb's right, it would be worth it, for many reasons). PK Subban just saying a few words in French when accepting the Norris won him a lot of goodwill. Same for Crosby when he would answer questions in French. I wouldn't be surprised if Galchenyuk is the guy to do it - he already knows Italian (as a side note, where are his goofy ads for pasta or something). PK or Eller also seem like good candidates when they sign long term.

I hope Cucumber is right, and that if in a few years we have a contender and need a new coach, we make a choice from all the available options. It's one of the top jobs in hockey, after all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crosby stopped speaking French because some French media guys mocked his pronunciations.

What a bunch of deebags! Where is their French superstar that gets 1.5 points a game? Aside from Giroux and pre-pre-lockout Lecavaliwr, they don't even have a major trophy candidate. And if they did, he would crack up faster than Jose Theodore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a bunch of deebags! Where is their French superstar that gets 1.5 points a game? Aside from Giroux and pre-pre-lockout Lecavaliwr, they don't even have a major trophy candidate. And if they did, he would crack up faster than Jose Theodore.

Is Marty St Louis french?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crosby stopped speaking French because some French media guys mocked his pronunciations.

That's a shame if true. He dealt with a lot of flack early in his career for no good reason.

You guys can't be serious? As usual, you've added absolutely nothing to the tired old language debate. Nothing.

Thank you for your thoughtful and constructive comment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am totally for a meritocratic system, sign the best players regardless the language or origin. Of course that a few francophones are important to keep the dressing room more motivated and so on but what about the anglophones in Quebec too? Or even the anglos outside of Quebec that chose the Canadiens as their hockey team, there are bunches across Canada.

Having said that, I agree that the coach should be willing to or speak some french as he is direct channel with media for the group. Yet french(or any language) should not be imposed. People have to come here and feel the joy of learning. They have to come here and feel part of one of the most traditional organizations in all sports' history, connect with the roots and feel the urge to speak french. But how are we going to keep this alive if the organization has not been successful in recent decades as a partial result of silly french bias? In other words, francophone bias can contribute(one of the factors but not the only one) to implode the organization's importance and fan base (and I say implode to give the idea of destruction within).

We are wasting so many opportunities because of this pointless debate and here we are 20 years without a cup. And then maybe 10 years from now we'll win another one with a few francophones and then the media will praise the importance of the franco dressing room and so on. Winning a cup every 30 years will slowly fade away the importance of the Canadiens as Detroit, Chicago, Boston and others slowly move up in the tradition ladder. In the long run, any bias towards language is harmful IMHO.

(I do speak french and I have nothing against it, it is a beautiful language and it is part of the Canadian history. I just think there is a trade off between choosing franco players and coaches for the sake of language AND being a successful organization in the long run. And it is not hard to show why).

Go habs go!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am totally for a meritocratic system, sign the best players regardless the language or origin. Of course that a few francophones are important to keep the dressing room more motivated and so on but what about the anglophones in Quebec too? Or even the anglos outside of Quebec that chose the Canadiens as their hockey team, there are bunches across Canada.

Having said that, I agree that the coach should be willing to or speak some french as he is direct channel with media for the group. Yet french(or any language) should not be imposed. People have to come here and feel the joy of learning. They have to come here and feel part of one of the most traditional organizations in all sports' history, connect with the roots and feel the urge to speak french. But how are we going to keep this alive if the organization has not been successful in recent decades as a partial result of silly french bias? In other words, francophone bias can contribute(one of the factors but not the only one) to implode the organization's importance and fan base (and I say implode to give the idea of destruction within).

We are wasting so many opportunities because of this pointless debate and here we are 20 years without a cup. And then maybe 10 years from now we'll win another one with a few francophones and then the media will praise the importance of the franco dressing room and so on. Winning a cup every 30 years will slowly fade away the importance of the Canadiens as Detroit, Chicago, Boston and others slowly move up in the tradition ladder. In the long run, any bias towards language is harmful IMHO.

(I do speak french and I have nothing against it, it is a beautiful language and it is part of the Canadian history. I just think there is a trade off between choosing franco players and coaches for the sake of language AND being a successful organization in the long run. And it is not hard to show why).

Go habs go!

My all-time favourite hab - ken Dryden, said it best over 30 years ago.... The habs will have to one day choose between being french and being a winner (i'm paraphrasing - too lazy to pull out "The Game" for the exact quote). We've seen 20 years of them trying to be french.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You guys can't be serious? As usual, you've added absolutely nothing to the tired old language debate. Nothing.

There actually isn't a debate in this thread right now. It's a discussion. Happens to be about language.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My all-time favourite hab - ken Dryden, said it best over 30 years ago.... The habs will have to one day choose between being french and being a winner (i'm paraphrasing - too lazy to pull out "The Game" for the exact quote). We've seen 20 years of them trying to be french.

Actually, since the 93 Cup the team has gone the other direction. The 93 team was one of the most French Canadian packed in Habs history. Since 93, the best French Canadian players they have had on the team is Pierre Turgeon, Jose Theodore and Alex Tanguay.

However, it's next to impossible to assemble a French Canadian team that could compete. There would be next to nobody to play defence.

What much of the French media gets frustrated about is Montreal's drafting record. However, the statistics prove that the Habs draft the most French Canadians in the league. Where they might miss from time to time is drafting the best quality French Canadians. It all really comes back to taking Eric Chouinard over Simon Gagne.

What happened after 93 was inexplicable. The team made so many decisions rooted in no logic or foresight what so ever. Trading away Desjardins with a young promising forward in John Leclair for Mark Recchi left a hole in the defence. Trading Muller and Schneider for Turgeon and Malakhov weakened the defence even further. They dismantled their young D core in the pursuit of high scoring forwards and left the team in a serious imbalance. It had little to do with French Canadian bias and everything to do with the fact after Cup 24 the team didn't know what to do with themselves. When you're trading your captain for Jim Montgomery just to avoid a bit of negative PR, the train is off the tracks.

Montreal going through Carbonneau, Muller, Keane, Turgeon and Damphousse for captain between 1994 and 1996 should be all one needs to see how directionless the organization was. Just a few years of that dismantled a Cup winning team and left the team with a bare cupboard and little direction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a shame if true. He dealt with a lot of flack early in his career for no good reason.

Thank you for your thoughtful and constructive comment.

I'm still waiting for a thoughtful and constructive comment on the issues. We've been beating this topic for years. Stay on topic, it's the Habs vs Canucks thread.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm still waiting for a thoughtful and constructive comment on the issues. We've been beating this topic for years. Stay on topic, it's the Habs vs Canucks thread.

Whoa! You mean internet forum discussions tend to circle back to the same topics over and over??? And that threads sometimes go off-topic?!? Stop the presses!!!!! :rolleyes:

Actually, I thought the point about coaches being offered intensive French-langauge training in the offseason represented at least a marginal advance on the usual argument. Sorry to bore you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whoa! You mean internet forum discussions tend to circle back to the same topics over and over??? And that threads sometimes go off-topic?!? Stop the presses!!!!! :rolleyes:

Actually, I thought the point about coaches being offered intensive French-langauge training in the offseason represented at least a marginal advance on the usual argument. Sorry to bore you.

You never bore me, and yes, learning French would be a novel idea, I speak it myself. My reaction is more to do with reality. Just look at the coaching staff Bergevin assembled. When I see references to soccer coaches in England, I just laugh. Another person who just doesn't get what goes on in this province. I'm not defending it, just pointing out the obvious. Another favorite is going after francophone coaches or players. Obviously, that limits the pool of qualified people. The sky is blue, and grass is green. Many people here don't care. And neither does the organization. I'll step away from the discussion. Knock yourself out gentlemen. But if some of you have a problem with it, you may have chosen the wrong team to cheer for. It's not about to change.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You never bore me, and yes, learning French would be a novel idea, I speak it myself. My reaction is more to do with reality. Just look at the coaching staff Bergevin assembled. When I see references to soccer coaches in England, I just laugh. Another person who just doesn't get what goes on in this province. I'm not defending it, just pointing out the obvious. Another favorite is going after francophone coaches or players. Obviously, that limits the pool of qualified people. The sky is blue, and grass is green. Many people here don't care. And neither does the organization. I'll step away from the discussion. Knock yourself out gentlemen. But if some of you have a problem with it, you may have chosen the wrong team to cheer for. It's not about to change.

Before you exit, though - do you think Québécois fans would tolerate or maybe even be gracious toward an anglo coach who made a genuine effort to learn and use French? E.g., if Cunneyworth and Gauthier had really emphasized a commitment to this and laid out a concrete plan for making it happen, do you think the hostility might have been meaningfully mitigated? I've been suggesting as much, but am curious as to your opinion. Because if this IS an option, it represents one possible way around the whole "affirmative action" trap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before you exit, though - do you think Québécois fans would tolerate or maybe even be gracious toward an anglo coach who made a genuine effort to learn and use French? E.g., if Cunneyworth and Gauthier had really emphasized a commitment to this and laid out a concrete plan for making it happen, do you think the hostility might have been meaningfully mitigated? I've been suggesting as much, but am curious as to your opinion. Because if this IS an option, it represents one possible way around the whole "affirmative action" trap.

I think if there was an unquestionable best coach in the league and the Canadiens signed him to coach, he would be given a chance. Actually, he wouldn't have to be the very best but one of the best.

Randy Cunnyworth is quite possibly the worst coach in Habs history and he couldn't speak French. That's a lot to swallow. Imagine instead of Cunnyworth it was some Russian coach.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think if there was an unquestionable best coach in the league and the Canadiens signed him to coach, he would be given a chance. Actually, he wouldn't have to be the very best but one of the best.

Randy Cunnyworth is quite possibly the worst coach in Habs history and he couldn't speak French. That's a lot to swallow. Imagine instead of Cunnyworth it was some Russian coach.

Well, nobody knew he would be terrible when we hired him, though. I'm not talking about asking fans to accept a clown, but rather a coach with a respectable pedigree who had committed to learning French. Would they accept it? That's the question as I see it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, nobody knew he would be terrible when we hired him, though. I'm not talking about asking fans to accept a clown, but rather a coach with a respectable pedigree who had committed to learning French. Would they accept it? That's the question as I see it.

I think so. Most just want their culture recognized and respected. Honestly I think every Hab on the team should learn French in their off season if they are expected to play here long term. Just as if you goto the KHL and you are committed to playing there for longer than a year, you better learn the language of the city your team plays in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before you exit, though - do you think Québécois fans would tolerate or maybe even be gracious toward an anglo coach who made a genuine effort to learn and use French? E.g., if Cunneyworth and Gauthier had really emphasized a commitment to this and laid out a concrete plan for making it happen, do you think the hostility might have been meaningfully mitigated? I've been suggesting as much, but am curious as to your opinion. Because if this IS an option, it represents one possible way around the whole "affirmative action" trap.

I love that idea. Check out my favorite Habs. I live here, and cheering for Quebecois players for me is a bonus, not a necessity. I'll get political now. People in my area would, I believe, accept anyone who gives learning a try. That won't work with people like Francois Gagnon, or Ron Fournier. People in other areas of the province, and I'm being as delicate as I can, you Mr. Cucumber can understand, won't accept it. Unless, of course, cups are won. Just remember Celine Dion's husband. He floated the idea about buying into the team, and filling the roster with Quebecois players.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go ahead. Try to figure out with a D core would look like with Quebec only players. Especially if the team can't get a Letang.

wow... there are barely even 6 top 6 quebec d-men in the nhl atm :/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Go ahead. Try to figure out with a D core would look like with Quebec only players. Especially if the team can't get a Letang.

Letang - Robidas

Beauchemin - Vlasic

Scandella - Demers

*Bouillon (born in NYC, grew up in Montreal)

That's probably it. Samuel Morin, 2013 1st pick for the Flyers, will eventually get there as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Letang - Robidas

Beauchemin - Vlasic

Scandella - Demers

*Bouillon (born in NYC, grew up in Montreal)

That's probably it. Samuel Morin, 2013 1st pick for the Flyers, will eventually get there as well.

A couple of reasonable names, but nothing that inspires dreams of "Flying Frenchmen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...