No French Racism Here - Podnieks

In 2005-06, there were 482,483 male registered players in Canada. Of that number, 83,215 (or, 17.2 per cent) were from Quebec. There were 518 Canadians in the NHL that year, and 91 from Quebec (or, 17.6 per cent). The percentage of Quebec-born players in the NHL is almost identical to the overall number of participants.

Where’s the proof of racism here?

Andrew Podnieks objecting to Bob Sirois' claims of anti-French racism in the NHL.

Is The NHL Anti-Francophone?

This is Bob Sirois. The proud native of Montreal played 286 games in the NHL in the 1970s, primarily with lowly Washington. He scored 92 goals and 212 points. In his only two full NHL seasons he challenged the 30 goal mark, scoring 24 and 29 in back to back seasons. He was a great skater with a good shot, but an injuries really prevented him from becoming a full time NHL player.

Sirois has written a book (written in French and only available in Quebec) called Le Québec mis en échec (Quebec Bodychecked). He asserts his belief that Francophone hockey players are discriminated against at hockey's highest levels.

Buy The Book - Amazon.ca - Chapters

Graeme Hamilton of the National Post talked to Sirois about the book.

"A book published Monday by former National Hockey League player Bob Sirois, examining four decades of professional drafts, comes to the explosive conclusion that francophone Quebecers are systematically thwarted by an "anti-francophone virus" plaguing the NHL.

Francophone Quebecers are wrongly disparaged as too small, too lax on defence and not suited to the robust "Canadian" style of play, Mr. Sirois writes in the book. "Myths, prejudices, stereotypes and favoritism make up an integral part of every draft session in the National Hockey League."

The book contains highly detailed with charts detailing the fate of every Quebecer drafted by NHL teams over the past 40 years. The author's findings are that proportionate to their share of the population francophone Quebecers were less likely to get drafted than anglophone Quebecers and Francophones were generally selected lower in the draft.

I agree that there is a general reputation of the QMJHL that they produce highly skilled but often soft and one way players. Why is that? Hamilton's article does not really talk about it, and I can only assume the author does as I have not read this book.

What Hamilton does highlight is Sirois' high criticism of the Montreal Canadiens for employing so few Francophone players in recent. He suggests two solutions are to return the NHL to Quebec City and to ice an all Quebec team in international tournaments such as the World Junior Championships.

Sirois is a proud Quebecer and very successful businessman nowadays. I have no idea of his political views, but the solutions offered sound politically motivated, as we've seen in the past from Quebec.

I have not seen the book, but I hope Sirois offers a more in depth look at systemic issues in Quebec minor and junior hockey as well. What can the QMJHL do to improve? Perhaps various levels of government should be better investing in Quebec youth hockey in terms of facilities and coaching? Do population trends factor into this equation?

Cries of NHL racism are far too convenient for the sovereigntists in Quebec. As too are cries against Hockey Canada for discriminating against Quebecers at the World Juniors (and I guarantee you'll hear more of the same when the Olympic team is announced later this year). Quebec does represent itself at the U17 World Championships, and have won three times since 1986, and only once since 1995. Would competing at the U20s produce better results? Not without serious systemic remedies.

There seems to be some expectation that the Montreal Canadiens must have some level of Quebec grown content. It would be great if they did, but there should be no such expectation. Winning should be the expectation, regardless of where the players come from.

The Canadiens lack of success in recent has more to do with interest in hockey in Quebec and the resulting production of future players. The kids will come out in droves if Les Habitants are winning, regardless if the star player is from Turku, Togliatti or Trois Rivieres.