Want to know what Shane Doan said? From the Globe and Mail:

Doan says he was trying to calm down goaltender Curtis Joseph, who was upset that a penalty hadn’t been called in a game against the Canadiens, when linesmen Michel Cormier though he heard the Phoenix Coyotes captain utter a slur against Francophones.

As an enraged Joseph hovered around centre ice, Doan says he skated over to him and yelled: “Four French referees in Montreal, Cuje, figure it out.”

Want the punchline?

All four officials were French-Canadian that night.

Not all that funny, but not all that slanderous either. So that’s what all the hubbub is about. Doan said the French Canadian refs in Montreal were biased, and said so out loud.

Don Cherry committed the ultimate sin today, he agreed with me. From another Globe and Mail article:

Hockey commentator Don Cherry blasted Canadian politicians who have revived a controversy involving comments made by Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan in 2005.

“Is this the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard?” Cherry said Wednesday on CBC’s “Coach’s Corner” segment. “All the things going on in the world, and we have a debate in the House of Parliament . . . because somebody said something?

“It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

I don’t really care for Cherry all that often, but he’s right, mostly because I’m right.

I know there’s more to come on this issue, but unless something really funny happens, I think I’m going to leave this one alone for now. Don’t expect that to be too long, though, this is all pretty silly.

Technorati : Cherry, Doan, Hockey

Apparently, I was wrong. This is all the Canadian Government has to do right now. From the Toronto Star:

Canadian Press
OTTAWA – A parliamentary committee has summoned Hockey Canada officials to explain their choice of Shane Doan as captain of the national team at the World Hockey Championship.

This is becoming completely stupid. A thesaurus couldn’t come up with a better term.

Best quote of the year:

The Phoenix Coyotes forward has denied making a slur and was cleared by the NHL – but almost two years later a referee still insists that Doan called him a “blank Frenchman.”

That could win an award. I mean, who calls anyone a “blank Frenchman.” Now this all makes complete sense.

A Conservative MP on the committee who once worked for the National Hockey League Players’ Association – Michael Chong – defended the committee decision.

He said the public appearance would allow Hockey Canada to tell its side of the story after having been bashed in Parliament over the Doan captaincy.

Or, the more common phrase, witch hunt.

He dismissed the suggestion that politicians are sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong, saying Team Canada is not like the NHL because it receives federal funding.

“It’s not in the business of government to involve itself in professional hockey matters. But what we’re talking about is amateur hockey,” said Chong, who was an information officer with the NHLPA.

Of course, the fact that the ALLEGED incident happened in the United States, in a professional hockey game, has no bearing on the matter. The fact that it happened completely in the professional arena, between two professionals (which means paid members of the sport) means nothing.

“We’re talking about Team Canada. We’re talking about an organization that receives millions of dollars a year in government money – in public funds.

“They are accountable, in part, to the government of Canada.”

So, if you may have called someone a blank Frenchman, that’s wrong and you shouldn’t be the captain of Team Canada, but this is OK? (via Wikipedia):

On 24 June 2004, the criminal justice branch of the British Columbia Ministry of the Attorney General announced that Bertuzzi was formally charged with assault causing bodily harm. On 22 December 2004 Bertuzzi pleaded guilty to the assault charge after arranging a plea bargain with prosecutors. He was given a conditional discharge and one year’s probation. (Under Canadian law, Bertuzzi’s successful completion of the probation means he has no criminal record from the incident.)

This is OK for being a member of Team Canada? This is acceptable? Someone explain this to me?

Remember, sticks and stones my break my bones, but words will cost you the Captaincy.

Technorati : Canada, Championship, Doan, Hockey

I can’t imagine this is old news, but this story just caught my eye. From the CBC:

Workers have voted to strike at the Ottawa Senators’ hockey arena and are in a position to walk off the job on the day of a possible NHL playoff game.

Sixty-one workers at Scotiabank Place represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees voted Monday 86 per cent in favour of striking, CUPE said in a news release.

They can legally walk off the job May 7, when the Senators are scheduled to play at home against the New Jersey Devils if Game 6 is necessary in their Eastern Conference semifinal. Ottawa has a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The workers, who include ice-resurfacing machine drivers, maintain the arena and prepare it for events ranging from hockey games to concerts.

They are trying to negotiate wages, benefits, job security and scheduling with Capital Sports Properties Inc., the company that owns the arena, for their first contract since they unionized in June 2006.

They unionized in June ’06 and haven’t gotten a contract worked out yet? First time contracts usually aren’t outrageous things, so what’s the hold up?

Here’s my question. If the union strikes, and the arena brings in outside (scab) labor, will the players cross the picket line? Or, to look at it another way, will the members of the NHLPA, a labor union, cross another union’s picket line to play a hockey game?

Mind you, the NHLPA members:

• Punch each other in the head quite often (not normally acceptable in other labor unions)

• Issue the occasional career ending bit of violence

• Paid no attention to the lockout news

• Took jobs away from other players during the lockout (Europe, Minors)

• Didn’t send their top representative to the CBA negotiations during the lockout

Yep, I bet I know what the NHLPA union members will be saying. “What’s the hold up? Let’s play a game.” If the NHLPA members have any sense of what their union is supposed to mean, they will be moving the game to another arena in the event of a strike. In fact, I want to see the game played in the Air Canada Centre, should a strike occur. Want to see some fast drying ink on paper? How embarrassed would Capital Sports Properties Inc be if the game were held somewhere else, like the home of the Maple Leafs.

I know that won’t happen, and I hope, like the union, there is a quick resolution to the issue. Plus, I don’t know how Canadian labor law works, so I don’t know if they could bring in outside labor. But if there is not resolution, the strike happens, and the NHLPA crosses the line, they deserve all the Alan Eaglesons and Ted Saskins they could ever imagine.

OK, maybe not Eagleson. That would be cruel.

Considering how the Canadian Parliament has been getting involved in hockey issues, expect quick action from them. Can’t let a pesky little thing like making a living get in the way of playoff hockey.

Update: Scotiabank says things will go on as scheduled if there is a strike.  From the newly updated CBC article:

Scotiabank Place vice-president and executive director Tom Conroy gave assurances Tuesday that a strike would not shut down the arena during the playoffs. He would not provide further details.

“Until we’re in a strike position … I’m not going to speculate on how we’re going to operate other than to say we’re going to operate in a business as usual position,” Conroy told CBC.ca Tuesday.

If that means no Zamboni, I would eat a skate for dinner (no, I would not).  This is going to be an interesting week for some people.  Stay tuned.

Technorati : Hockey, Labor, NHLPA, Unions

Shane Doan cannot escape the iron fist of a Canadian Parliament scorned. The sheer accusation of remarks he may or may not have made about French Canadians in an NHL game have followed him to the World Championships. From the IHWC.net website:

Meanwhile, back in Canada, the appointment of Shane Doan as the captain of Team Canada has become an issue in the nation’s Parliament, reports Canadian Press. Shane Doan may have scored the winning goal in Canada’s 4-2 win over Norway at the world championships in Russia on Monday, but he found few fans in Parliament as opposition parties criticized his choice as the team’s captain.

At the heart of the controversy are comments about French-Canadians that Doan allegedly directed towards officials during a December 2005 game between his Phoenix Coyotes and the Montreal Canadiens.

Though Doan denies making the comments, all three opposition parties questioned whether Doan was an appropriate choice to represent the team given the allegations. Opposition leaders were also irked by the government’s unwillingness to deal with the issue.

“It’s not a government decision,” said Secretary of State for Sport Helena Guergis to repeated questions in the House of Commons.

I’m starting to wonder if the Canadian people aren’t getting a little sick of the Canadian government getting the most press and the most vocal about hockey issues. Remember how they issued a statement about the NHL placing a Saturday playoff game between the Senators and the Penguins in the afternoon? This is you government working for you.

Now let the comedy begin.

But Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe rejected those claims.

“I cannot understand why the government wouldn’t put out a single comment to say that this is disrespectful to French Canadians,” Duceppe said.

Umm. Perhaps Robert for Eyes on the Prize can tell me, do they not have a French Canadian word for “allegedly?” (sorry, was that insensitive?) He hasn’t been convicted of anything, one man’s word against his being the only evidence brought to light. Perhaps that is why. Wasn’t this the same party that didn’t want to listen to it’s own people on the real issue of seperation? This is how they pass their time?

The NDP’s Jack Layton suggested that Doan’s captaincy will “cast a shadow on (Canada’s) participation on the international stage.”

Actually, the Canadian government making an issue about an accusation that hasn’t been proved and placing it on the international stage casts a bigger shadow. Or, even worse, pardoning Alan Eagleson casts a bigger shadow on the international stage of the Canadian government.

So, the government doesn’t mind someone stealing from hockey players pensions, but does mind a hockey player possibly making an insult toward their own? Getting a grip doesn’t even cover it.

Technorati : Championship, Doan, Hockey, IIHF, World