I’m just not sure I buy it.Typically I root for the under dogs- those discriminated against by the powers-that-be, but I just can’t support ex-NHLer Bob Sirois’ argument that the NHL is biased against French-Canadians.
In his new book, loosely translated as ‘Quebec Bodychecked: Discrimination against Quebecers in the NHL’, Sirois uses draft lists and rosters over the past decade to make his case. He notes that roughly 19 per cent of Quebec players who made it to the NHL were not drafted, compared to a rate of 10 per cent among the rest of the league’s players. He criticizes GM Bob Gainey for only drafting two Quebeckers during his eight-year stint in Dallas.
I’m reluctant to agree with Sirois because I believe that the NHL and its teams care too much about winning and profit-earning to pass up a quality player because he is French. It simply doesn’t make any sense- financially, athletically or otherwise.
Hockey Night in Canada Radio host Jeff Marek counters Sirois' argument by suggesting that the decrease in French NHLers has to do with the league’s globalization. "The reality is the rest of the world has caught up," Marek said. "The days where every year either Gilbert Perreault, or Guy Lafleur or Marcel Dionne were selected first overall, those days are gone. That ship has sailed. Helsinki, Stockholm, Moscow, Prague have all caught up to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League."
If Sirois’ argument is based primarily on statistics demonstrating the lack of French Canadian NHLers, then I’m curious to know when Jarome Iginla’s book regarding the league’s discrimination towards people of colour is going to be published. Or what about Muggsy Bogues- when will his book discussing the NBA’s prejudiced treatment of short guys get released?
There are politics in sports that run layers-deep. But there are other times where great athletes just aren’t great enough to make it to the next level.
This is one of those times.
I think that the lack of French-Canadian players has more to do with the inability of the QMJHL to produce players that can withstand the rigors of the top levels of professional hockey.
ReplyDeleteThe Q is an offensively-geared league that stresses goals and assists over physicality and defensive abilities. This is why you see even big guys like Guillame Latendresse dominate the Q and struggle at the NHL level. Conversely, this is why you see an inordinate amount of Q-trained goaltenders excel at the NHL level: Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, and Jose Theodore have all excelled in the league (Theodore only for three years though). Other goalies like Martin Biron, and Czech-born but Cape Breton-trained Ondrej Pavelec currently hold starting jobs in the NHL.
The players are a result of the culture they were raised in, and in Quebec Major Junior Hockey it just isn't the style that breeds reliable NHL players.