The Language of Beliveau

I have heard this more than once in the last few weeks that newly hired Habs VP Jeff Gorton should speak the language of Beliveau. I agree. However, the language of Beliveau was never french.

The language of Beliveau was exciting hockey that included nifty stickhandling, great passing, smooth skating, and leadership that led to 10 stanley cups during his career. Beliveau loved hockey and his class on the ice was the true language he spoke. He had english players on his line throughout his career from Dickie Moore to Dick Duff and finally in his last year John Ferguson. 

Marc Bergevin spoke french. His favored brand of hockey was not reminiscent of Beliveau and the flying frenchmen but of Bobby Clarke and the broad street bullies. The habs made the stanley cup final last year because of man-handling, cross checking defencemen and forwards and Bernie Parent goaltending. It was not the game Beliveau played and the 1976 habs tried to put an end to when they eliminated the ugly hockey the flyers were displaying. They call soccer the beautiful game but the dynastic habs franchise played a beautiful game of hockey that was saluted by the Soviet Red Army in 1976. 

Another contradiction in this french whining is that few quebecois elite hockey players play in Quebec. The list is long of quebecois players shunning the habs. Vincent Lecavalier and Daniel Briere avoided the habs in their prime and signed elsewhere. Kris Letang and Patrice Bergeron never contemplated reaching free agency to go back to Quebec as John Tavares did. For french players  winning hockey, climate, and money spoke before language.

Getting back to language, sports is now entertainment without national boundaries or language. Soccer supposedly started in England but it has not stopped english teams from hiring foreigners.  The list is long of Italian coaches in English soccer leading club teams and even the national team with their broken english. Fabio Capello, Antonio Conte, Carlo Ancelotti, and Claudio Ranieri to name a few of the coaches that have been asked to bring their know-how to England and even Spain. The same is true throughout Europe as foreign coaches have been hired including Italy.

The habs situation is quite different from the Air Canada fiasco where someone born in Montreal is hired as CEO and does not speak any french. This is precisely why the sovereignist movement grew in Quebec. It was mainly a revolt against the upper class English business-elite ruling over the french masses. 

I think the main priority for Gorton is getting the habs to play an exciting style of game akin to the historic flying frenchmen and maybe win something as well. Gorton should be judged on this and nothing else. I do agree it would be ideal if Gorton could speak french but at his age it might be difficult. Anyways they will hire a bilingual GM than can satisfy the media hordes.