Americans, Russians, and Europeans claim that because ice hockey is a Canadian sport, an unfair bias towards Canadian players is evident in hockey, especially at the NHL level. Is this true? Does a bias actually exist?
Let’s look at the facts: with the exception of Mike Modano, all Stanley Cup-winning captains have been Canadian. Keep in mind that Modano still played junior hockey in western Canada. The original Stanley Cup, donated by Lord Stanley, sits in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario. Every 23-man roster in the NHL today is 50% or more Canadian. In 2012-13, 53.5% of the league was Canadian, with the next largest supplier, the United States, following at a mere 23.6%. Americans keep saying they are sick of Canadians and their whining over unfair officiating and that there are fewer teams.
There have been several instances where the media supports Canadian players more than players of other nationalities. For example, in TSN’s rating of current NHL players, the top five players, Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Carey Price, and Jonathan Toews are Canadian, then comes Alex Ovechkin. Should Alex Ovechkin really be rated below Carey Price and Jonathan Toews? Although Price had an unbelievable season last year, according to advanced stats, he is extremely unlikely to repeat the playing level with which he played with this past season. Also, Jonathan Toews, one of the Chicago Blackhawks’ best players, is a 65-point producer at best. Why is he rated so highly on this list? He isn’t even the Blackhawks’ best player; Patrick Kane (who is American) has consistently scored more points than Toews and is a better all-around player.
On the other hand, hockey is a Canadian sport and Canadian fans are much more loyal. The Toronto Maple Leafs have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967, but they still have millions of fans in Canada. Had this been the Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, or any other American team (with the exception of the Detroit Red Wings and other northern US teams such as Minnesota), fans would have lost interest long ago. Canada has also produced some of the best and most famed hockey players:, such as, Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, Ken Dryden, Phil Esposito, Carey Price, Jean Beliveau, and too many more to mention, because this list could go on for hours. Now let’s see how many great players have come out of other countries: Alex Ovechkin from Russia and Jaromir Jagr from the Czech Republic. Let me know if you think of any more. Canada has nine Olympic gold medals, in contrast to the 2 which the USA and Sweden have each won. Lastly, listen to this speech by Wayne Gretzky at the 2002 Olympics, because he sums up Canadian hockey and the pressure on Canadians in hockey (watch the whole thing, because the Canadians were so inspired by this they ended up winning the gold medal):
As Gretzky was saying, during the 2002 Olympics, a Czech player cross-checked and speared another player in the head, causing him to fall to the ground. Had a Canadian player done that, he would have been suspended, and the Canadian team would have had to deal with name-calling from other teams. Also, Americans tend to automatically hate any Canadian player or team, because they seem to think it is Canada vs. USA vs. the rest of the world in hockey. Americans don’t care if they lose 5-0 to Finland; as long as they beat Canada it doesn’t matter. Not just that, but Gary Bettman, the NHL Commissioner, is focused on expanding the NHL to Las Vegas, which is not even a hockey market, rather than Quebec City, which deserves a team. To add to all this, in 2008, a study was done which showed that American NHL referees handed down tougher penalties to players of Canadian teams.
My conclusion is, as Gretzky said, the Canadians are like the Yankees of hockey. Because they are so good, and they win so often, everyone hates them. Sometimes, they will be arrogant about it, but I believe they have the right to be, because of their amazing legacy. Let me know what you all think in the comments: is there a bias towards or against Canadians in hockey?
