Cunneyworth and French

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bonnev659

bonnev659

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Interesting but ....

from http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=383121
HABS ISSUE STATEMENT AMID CONTROVERSY OVER NON-FRENCH COACH


From facebook
Montreal Canadiens, THE CANADIAN PRESS : The hiring of Randy Cunneyworth was enough to prompt calls, from nationalist fringe groups, for a boycott of products related to the Habs. One political commentator even suggested local hockey journalists should refuse to address Cunneyworth in English. And Quebec's entire political class predictably weighed in, with politicians of every stripe calling the move unacceptable.
 
Hmm, I thought that was an interim hire? If not I guess if they were winning no one would say a word!
 
"The hiring of Randy Cunneyworth was enough to prompt calls, from nationalist fringe groups, for a boycott of products related to the Habs. One political commentator even suggested local hockey journalists should refuse to address Cunneyworth in English"



To quote Lindy Ruff........"that is the definition of a joke"

.
 
bonnev659 said:
One political commentator even suggested local hockey journalists should refuse to address Cunneyworth in English.
Click to expand...


Let them. All that is going to do is ensure that some 'local hockey journalists' won't have anything to wirte.
 
To be honnest we look stupid in that story...politicians shouldn't even comment that type of thing it is so stupid. Nobody liked Martin now he's gone and everyone complaints. I think we would put GOD the man himself behind the bench and it wouldn't be enough!!!

Who cares if he doesn't speak French just as long as he gets the job done!!!
 
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3/4 of the team can't speak French, that's not an issue. The team captain not only doesn't speak French, he's American, that's not an issue. The owner of the team probably couldn't even identify Quebec on a map, that's not an issue. But the just hired coach doesn't know the language and were on the verge of the Richard riots V2.0? Wassupwitdat!

I understand the Francophone community wanting to protect their culture, but there has to be a limit. In a perfect world every Canadian would be bilingual and there would be fewer issues. But, we don't live in a perfect world so could you at least give the man a chance to learn. I have, at best, an intermediate grasp of French and likely couldn't carry a conversation more than 5 minutes, but if I ever landed in a situation where French was not only expected of me, but would actually benefit me, I would do my damnedest to learn as fast as I could.
 
Maybe they should ban all french only speaking journalists and politicians from the Bell Centre, maybe that might shut them up. Or, move them out of Montreal to another Canadian city/province that would be happy to have a team no matter what. Only in Montreal....
 
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In today's english newspaper "The Montreal Gazette", there is an article written by one of their columnists, a Henry Aubin in which he chastises the Montreal Canadiens and the Molsons for the hiring. In it he laments the lack of french players on the team among other things. That the Canadiens are owned privately in name only - that they are in fact owned by the public which is 80% french.

I'm not sure if he is a sports columnist or a "political news" guy, but it appeared that if he could run the team his way, it'd be all francophone players on the team and run by a francophone coach and assistant coaches.

So, how does one create such a team? Draft only players based on their native tongue? So if you have a chance to draft a Taylor Hall or a Tyler Seguin, you skip these guys to pick Louis Leblanc, who is the best french player available?

Ridiculous! How long would it take before the (french) masses stop coming to games because a "good" all-Quebec team can never be achieved? Sure, there are many good french players, but you will not be able to corner the market on all of them.
 
...and everyone in Quebec wonders why the rest of Canada thinks they're bananas.
With the French media going on about this and the politicians, listen to the interviews on the street. The consensus as I've heard it from the mouths of fans is...


wait for it...


WHO CARES!

I mean no disrespect to anyone from Quebec (my wife is from Montreal) but THIS is why the rest of the country can't take you seriously. Politicians calling a hiring by a hockey team "unacceptable" is, to me, unacceptable. They should maybe stick to running the province instead of worrying about who is standing behind the Habs bench.
Frankly, it's just shy of shameful.
 
The Montreal French Media is a funny bunch - they'd rather have a Loser of a coach who speaks French than a winning coach who speaks English. Don't forget, this is the same bunch of dolts that protested a free Paul McCartney Concert because he wasn't French.

Not that Cunneyworth is going to be a great coach - I'm certain he's keeping the coaches seat warm for a former Habs goaltender.

Molsons beer sucks as it is.
 
I hope the Habs do hire Patrick Roy. I can see a crash-and-burn type scenario happening. His ego is way too big to come into Montreal and be the head coach. I'd look forward to his press conferences after 4-5-6 game losing streaks. It would provide us with great entertainment
 
I tire of this.

Honestly, the players (and maybe even the team) should weigh in here and refuse to offer press to any publications that have spoken in support of the boycott, or have published their support of it. It's a privilege for you to be offered intimate access to the team. It's on their terms, not yours. Don't enforce your personal narrow-minded agendas to those who choose to embrace diversity.
 
Someone needs to give these people a history lesson.

From Elliotte Friedman's article:

Sad but true for fans of the Canadiens -- both French and English -- that Randy Cunneyworth's hiring became a language debate. The honest truth is this: You can't win without the best people in place. You don't need to be French to understand the franchise's tradition and importance. You don't need to be French to want to get behind the bench and bring a Stanley Cup to the city, as did **** Irvin Sr., Toe Blake and Scott Bowman. Incidentally, that trio coached 16 of Montreal's 24 championship teams.
 
Glad to see so many people accepting an English only speaking coach in Montreal. I look forward to seeing people supporting the following headlines too.

New Toronto coach only speaks Punjabi.

New Detroit coach only speaks Swedish.
 
reoddai said:
Glad to see so many people accepting an English only speaking coach in Montreal. I look forward to seeing people supporting the following headlines too.

New Toronto coach only speaks Punjabi.

New Detroit coach only speaks Swedish.
Click to expand...
I think you're missing the point. A coach's job is to communicate, clearly, his plans to the team so that they execute the job on the ice, NOT to cater to the media. If the majority of the team speaks English (or at least understands it) then the coach is most effective when he speaks English.
 
hederman said:
I think you're missing the point. A coach's job is to communicate, clearly, his plans to the team so that they execute the job on the ice, NOT to cater to the media. If the majority of the team speaks English (or at least understands it) then the coach is most effective when he speaks English.
Click to expand...

What about with his other employees? Scouting staff? Equipment manager? There's more to the team than just the players on the ice.

And my Detroit Swedish example is still extremely valid. Don't you think Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Kronwall, Erikson, Brunnstrom and Franzen would all benefit from a Swdish speaking coach?

I think my original point is still extremely valid and, while the Toronto / Punjabi isn't particularly realistic right now, pick any language you want that isn't English for any English speaking region and please... support it.
 
reoddai said:
What about with his other employees? Scouting staff? Equipment manager? There's more to the team than just the players on the ice.

And my Detroit Swedish example is still extremely valid. Don't you think Zetterberg, Lidstrom, Kronwall, Erikson, Brunnstrom and Franzen would all benefit from a Swdish speaking coach?

I think my original point is still extremely valid and, while the Toronto / Punjabi isn't particularly realistic right now, pick any language you want that isn't English for any English speaking region and please... support it.
Click to expand...
So you don't want a FRENCH coach, you want a BILINGUAL coach. Like I said, give the man a chance to learn.

This issue is being taken WAY to seriously. I mean would a team avoid drafting Russian players because they can't speak English? No. You get them because they can get the job done.

Like it or not, English is the global language and if Quebeckers can't accept that, they're going to be left in the dust.
 
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