News Article: NYR to attend France St Louis' funeral as a team

[Balthazar]

I'd guess it's probably Catholic if it's out of a church--St. Louis is French Canadian. Anybody can go to a funeral.

I'm pretty sure the funeral's a private event.

Catholic here and I can confirm that there's no such thing as "private funerals" (anyone can go to the Church at any time), but it would be extremely disrespectful to both, the family and the Church, to show up for "hockey reasons". So unless MSL have close friends that are playing for the Habs, none will show up.

 

[Hockey Team]

Catholic here and I can confirm that there's no such thing as "private funerals" (anyone can go to the Church at any time), but it would be extremely disrespectful to both, the family and the Church, to show up for "hockey reasons". So unless MSL have close friends that are playing for the Habs, none will show up.

Well, what I mean is unless you're a family member / friend of a family member, you're not invited and shouldn't show up. (And yes, i know, cemeteries are generally a public place)

Going there uninvited to try to chat up a hockey player would be totally classless and you should be punched in the face for that.

 

[Cake or Death]

People do realize that other teams would most likely do the same, right?

Not sure what other teams have to do with this team, but can you confirm that with anything, because in my decades of watching and playing sports I've only seen or heard of a handful of instances of it. My first memory is the entire NYY team showing up for teammate Thurman Munson's funeral. Beyond that, I can only recall a few times an entire team went to a funeral. My most recent memory is Brian Urlacher's mom passing and about half his team did not go to the funeral.

 

[eco's bones]

Catholic here and I can confirm that there's no such thing as "private funerals" (anyone can go to the Church at any time), but it would be extremely disrespectful to both, the family and the Church, to show up for "hockey reasons". So unless MSL have close friends that are playing for the Habs, none will show up.

St. Louis is a French Canadian hockey icon. Montreal and Quebec City are the two major cities in French speaking Canada. I'm sure there's numerous people in the Canadiens organization with some kind of tie to the St. Louis family.

Anyway I was born and raised RC--mostly Irish on my father's side--mostly French on my mother's. Both families when they originally came to North America settled in Canada first--my father's in Prescott, Ontario which is I don't know about half hour-45 minutes south of Ottawa and my mother's in Quebec City. I'm aware of what catholic funerals are about. I've also been a non-believer for decades. If the Canadiens team showed up en masse it might be considered by some to be in questionable taste I suppose but it's a matter of subjective perception IMO. In any case nobody is going to stop anybody from entering a catholic church--unless maybe if there's no room left inside.

 

[Placid]

Very classy by the Rangers, i have to say

 

[SixGoalieSystem]

Just showing up or declaring to the media that they will be attending, would be in poor taste. Going as a gesture of respect for MSL and to show support, even if they are enemies on ice, I don't see a problem with as long as it was cleared wih MSL and the St Louis family.

 

[Stanley Foobrick]

I'm pretty sure the funeral's a private event.

I can't really think of much that's more classless then showing up to a funeral uninvited.

Do you really "invite" people to a funeral?

You call/ contact all the people you can think of that had relationships with the deceased but you also put a death notice in public places like a newspaper or on line.

My Dad passed recently and there was quite a few people at the visitation and the funeral that I didn't know, didn't seem strange to me though.

 

[Stanley Foobrick]

Not sure what other teams have to do with this team, but can you confirm that with anything, because in my decades of watching and playing sports I've only seen or heard of a handful of instances of it. My first memory is the entire NYY team showing up for teammate Thurman Munson's funeral. Beyond that, I can only recall a few times an entire team went to a funeral. My most recent memory is Brian Urlacher's mom passing and about half his team did not go to the funeral.

Let's be honest though, really didn't hurt that the whole team was already together in Montreal with the following day off, all travelling together.

Seems like a very favourable set of circumstances that don't usually occur in this type of situation.

 

[Rosalie]

My heart is with the Blue Shirts.

 

[Cake or Death]

Let's be honest though, really didn't hurt that the whole team was already together in Montreal with the following day off, all travelling together.

Seems like a very favourable set of circumstances that don't usually occur in this type of situation.

For sure that helps. On the flip side, I've seen numerous instances of people passing where friends who lived right near the services didn't show. And my own experiences and observations of teams are more of divisiveness and/or cliques in locker rooms. This is true of pro teams I have observed or seen first hand. And I have experienced the same with myself and all my siblings who all played up to NCAA level sports (football, basketball, hockey, softball), and with my older brother making it pro (NFL). I mean, honestly, what's really to stop any pro team from going to a funeral, especially in the off-season? It certainly isn't because the players can't afford it. Yet it still rarely happens.