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Macman
Registered User
- May 15, 2004
- 3,481
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Absolutely, we'd have an identity crisis. Hockey is a religion here. It's our culture and our passion, in much the same way soccer is in Brazil or Italy. We had a hockey summit, a naval-gazing exercise, after losing the '98 Olympics. Who else would do something like that? We show the naming of our Olympic and World Cup teams live on TV and I get misty-eyed watching it. How sick is that?
I personally could care less if we never win an Olympic medal other than hockey gold. It's the only thing that counts IMO. We have to win everything and it kills me when we don't.
I personally could care less if we never win an Olympic medal other than hockey gold. It's the only thing that counts IMO. We have to win everything and it kills me when we don't.
habfan4
Registered User
JR#9 said:
It should come as no surprise to anyone that hockey is a large part of the Canadian national identity (It's one of the few things we can all agree on). As has been pointed out, it's really no different than the way football (soccer) is treated in Europe etc... Or football is in the US.
In terms of a deserving/wanting a monopoly on hosting the WJC - I don't necessarily think that is true. However, if you're organizing a hockey tournament and you want sell outs (or very near sell outs) at every game, clearly Canada is the place where you're most likely to get great attendance results.
octopi
Registered User
- Dec 29, 2004
- 31,547
- 6
Rocky Saginuts said:Hey, what about Curling and Mister Dressup?....
I love Mr.Dressup! You left out angry beavers, however. Thats also a big part of Canada's identity.
Thankfully, hockey is a large part of our Canadian culture, but yeah, the fanatical homerism is a little much for me.
Identity crisis ?
Absolutely not.
There have been times in the past where Canada lost hockey tournaments, and the sun still came up in the morning.
Hockey is by far our favourite sport and that's why we want to win.
In the larger picture, probably only 20 - 25 % of Canadians are fans of sports anyways.
3/4 of the people I know don't give a damn about sports, and could care less if Canada wins hockey tournaments.
Sport is great entertainment for some, but in the great scheme of things it is quite trivial and means diddly.
Absolutely not.
There have been times in the past where Canada lost hockey tournaments, and the sun still came up in the morning.
Hockey is by far our favourite sport and that's why we want to win.
In the larger picture, probably only 20 - 25 % of Canadians are fans of sports anyways.
3/4 of the people I know don't give a damn about sports, and could care less if Canada wins hockey tournaments.
Sport is great entertainment for some, but in the great scheme of things it is quite trivial and means diddly.
i dissagree. i think we do have a bit of an identity crisis. let's face it, we're not particularily dominant at anything else on a global scale, and it hurts when we have poor results. the most painful loss of my life was when the USA beat us at the 1996 world cup. it felt like something had been taken away from me...if that makes any sense
Basically the only people who would have an identity crisis are people on this board who only like hockey...haha...hockey is important obviously to a certain degree, but not for a majority of the population...that's why we don't give tax breaks to NHL teams or believe in public funding of any kind for new arenas, etc. (although it does happen from time to time)...people care a lot about hockey, but without it, they would find other things to do...
For example, the USA doesn't really care that much about international competition in general because they always have something to fall back on...nobody in the USA really cares if they lose in basketball or baseball because they just enjoy their domestic leagues and the other international success they have and that's enough...but if they weren't good in any other sport and only had baseball to rely on, then it would be a huge deal if they didn't win an Olympic medal, etc...
It's all about perspective...everyone likes to celebrate when their country does well...but NHL hockey has been gone for a good 6 months now basically and there hasn't been as huge a loss as people were predicting...
For example, the USA doesn't really care that much about international competition in general because they always have something to fall back on...nobody in the USA really cares if they lose in basketball or baseball because they just enjoy their domestic leagues and the other international success they have and that's enough...but if they weren't good in any other sport and only had baseball to rely on, then it would be a huge deal if they didn't win an Olympic medal, etc...
It's all about perspective...everyone likes to celebrate when their country does well...but NHL hockey has been gone for a good 6 months now basically and there hasn't been as huge a loss as people were predicting...
Vlad The Impaler
Registered User
Zenator put it back in perspective nicely. I am a hockey fanatic. But among friends and relatives, I know many people who do not give a damn. Some couldn't even name more than 3-4 current hockey players and would have absolutely no idea whan the U20 WJC is, much less name any player.
To them, "phaneuf" might be a new brand of lawnmowers. Or being "Phaneufed" might mean getting ****faced
Even as a big hockey fan, the sun still rises at the end of the day. My quality of life and the things I appreciate in Canada have nothing to do with whether a bunch of Canadian teenagers hang gold medals around their neck or not. Nobody around here is going to hang himself because of the NHL lockout. Life goes on.
It is a passion but must be put in perspective.
To them, "phaneuf" might be a new brand of lawnmowers. Or being "Phaneufed" might mean getting ****faced
Even as a big hockey fan, the sun still rises at the end of the day. My quality of life and the things I appreciate in Canada have nothing to do with whether a bunch of Canadian teenagers hang gold medals around their neck or not. Nobody around here is going to hang himself because of the NHL lockout. Life goes on.
It is a passion but must be put in perspective.
Coburnfan05
Registered User
JR#9 said:
I've said this several times...If the rest of the world cared about the world jrs, I could care less where the tourny is played. Every year there are always attendance issues except when it is played in Canada...Even this year Canadian games even out drew the American games.
Exactly, & very well put. I think that some who dont live here may get the "wrong" impression cause they hang out on these boards. But these boards dont accuratly reflect the population at large, but only a pretty small segment of the Canadian public (like the hockey fanatics).Vlad The Impaler said:Zenator put it back in perspective nicely. I am a hockey fanatic. But among friends and relatives, I know many people who do not give a damn. Some couldn't even name more than 3-4 current hockey players and would have absolutely no idea whan the U20 WJC is, much less name any player.
To them, "phaneuf" might be a new brand of lawnmowers. Or being "Phaneufed" might mean getting ****faced
Even as a big hockey fan, the sun still rises at the end of the day. My quality of life and the things I appreciate in Canada have nothing to do with whether a bunch of Canadian teenagers hang gold medals around their neck or not. Nobody around here is going to hang himself because of the NHL lockout. Life goes on.
It is a passion but must be put in perspective.
He to me being 'Phaneufed' means nothing because personally I feel that is absolutely the dumbest thing I have every heard. Where I come from, Canada, they are called body checks.
Because Gretzky owned behind the net, does that mean that any time somebody has the puck behind the net and scores/assists they 'Gretzkyed?" Absolutely not. Why does a body check have to have a stupid nickname associated with it...because Pierre Maguire is a hack and shouldn't be broadcasting games because he doesn't have the creativity to do so. I give him credit for his prospect knowledge, but he just isn't a good commentator, he lacks that on air charisma. He has charisma, but it is more the kind that has you get all worked up about stupid things and come up with dumb tag lines for common events.
As for Canada having an identity crisis, yes and no. Would there be infighting within the system regarding how prospects/NHL talent have developed, absolutely, but I don't think Canada would be confused as to whether they were still the most important nation when it comes to hockey. Even if Canada won no medals over the period, Canada would still be just as ravenous about hockey, which is at a higher level than any other country.
Because Gretzky owned behind the net, does that mean that any time somebody has the puck behind the net and scores/assists they 'Gretzkyed?" Absolutely not. Why does a body check have to have a stupid nickname associated with it...because Pierre Maguire is a hack and shouldn't be broadcasting games because he doesn't have the creativity to do so. I give him credit for his prospect knowledge, but he just isn't a good commentator, he lacks that on air charisma. He has charisma, but it is more the kind that has you get all worked up about stupid things and come up with dumb tag lines for common events.
As for Canada having an identity crisis, yes and no. Would there be infighting within the system regarding how prospects/NHL talent have developed, absolutely, but I don't think Canada would be confused as to whether they were still the most important nation when it comes to hockey. Even if Canada won no medals over the period, Canada would still be just as ravenous about hockey, which is at a higher level than any other country.
We did (sort of) in 98-99 after we lost the world cup, the Olympics had an 8th place finish at the juniors. People complained about our style of teaching the game, the lack of creativity, etc. Now, it's not like we actually took to the streets, and even in these times there were cooler heads, but if we went a 5-7 year stretch with nothing? Hockey fans would be pissed, and probably pretty critical. Sports commentators would probably state that it was an identity crisis. But like Vlad said that's still just the hockey fans, not the entire country, and even then this whole idea gets way too generalized.
"3/4 of Canada doesnt give sh$t about sports" ??????????????????????????
While your point is valid, i just want to correct this. It's a lot closer to 50% if we talk about hockey and probably even less if you take all sports into account.
Even if they are not the most fanatics out there, i'm sure finding a guy in Canada who dont bother about hockey AT ALL is hard (well of course you can...)
While your point is valid, i just want to correct this. It's a lot closer to 50% if we talk about hockey and probably even less if you take all sports into account.
Even if they are not the most fanatics out there, i'm sure finding a guy in Canada who dont bother about hockey AT ALL is hard (well of course you can...)
Vlad The Impaler said:Zenator put it back in perspective nicely. I am a hockey fanatic. But among friends and relatives, I know many people who do not give a damn. Some couldn't even name more than 3-4 current hockey players and would have absolutely no idea whan the U20 WJC is, much less name any player.
To them, "phaneuf" might be a new brand of lawnmowers. Or being "Phaneufed" might mean getting ****faced
Even as a big hockey fan, the sun still rises at the end of the day. My quality of life and the things I appreciate in Canada have nothing to do with whether a bunch of Canadian teenagers hang gold medals around their neck or not. Nobody around here is going to hang himself because of the NHL lockout. Life goes on.
It is a passion but must be put in perspective.
:lol
Vlad the Impaler said:
Holy Crap!!!
See that's it exactly, when Canada doesn't win the earth is in crisis and begins to spin in the opposite direction. Its not a Canadian Identity crisis, but one of epic global proportions and involving serious climate change.
:lol
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