The World Juniors wrapped up this week in Calgary, with Sweden taking home the gold in a thrilling overtime win over the Russians. The tournament itself was a huge success, with attendance records being shattered and official broadcaster TSN reaching all-time highs for viewership. As always, there were several controversial subjects to be broached, the excessive celebrations by several players and the use of embellishing and diving to draw penalties being a couple. However, the one that I want to discuss is the issue of Canadian (dare I say it?) arrogance.
Image courtesy of Canadian Press
On one hand, Canadians are extremely proud of what Hockey Canada provides – whether it be the World Juniors, the World Championships or the Olympics, Canada has a history of excellence when it comes to hockey. With the most gold medals in history, along with medaling for the past 13 consecutive years, it is clear that Canada is dominant at the Under-20 level. Canada has quite literally spread the game of hockey across the world, popularizing it in regions ranging from Europe to the Middle East. This has manifested in Canadians’ minds in that supremacy is now an expectation when it comes to hockey. Slogans such as “Gold or bust” or the justification of any Canadian player’s actions, legal or otherwise, have come to the forefront of cheering for Canada. Simply put, Canadian hockey has been so good for so long, that Canadians expect it to carry on with a legacy of excellence.
Image courtesy of CTV Media Archives
On the other hand, however, sits the rest of the world. Fact of the matter is that between Sweden, Russia, the United States, the Czech Republic and Finland, there are at least five other nations that can win against any team in the world on any given day. That being said, the arrogance and sense of entitlement that Canadians can sometimes feel truly is disrespectful. Take the semi-final game against Russia, for example. Rather than accepting that the Russians have a highly skilled team, Canadians instead chose to blame their own team for having a bad game. I heard things like “Canada beats Russia nine out of ten times, by five or six goals, easily.” The reality of the situation, however, is that Canada was losing 6-1 at one point, and very rarely does a team get a five goal lead while being inferior to the other team. Furthermore, the booing of Russian players like tournament MVP Yevgeni Kuznetsov shows a huge lack of respect and sportsmanship. The man played an excellent game, scoring a hat trick to ensure Russia’s victory, and to boo his Player of the Game award is petty and disrespectful. This goes beyond the fans, with media outlets like TSN choosing to focus more on the failures of Canada, rather than the successes of other nations (if you were to go to TSN’s website, you would see the headline story is Canadian bronze, NOT Swedish gold).
Image courtesy of Canadian Press
Ultimately, should Canadians be proud of the talent that Hockey Canada produces year in and year out? Yes. It’s one of the best in the world and has the history to prove it. However, there is a fine line between pride and arrogance, one that Canadians often tread rather carefully when it comes to hockey. I understand that there is an expectation for excellence based on the talent that we see – I want Canada to win gold each year, too. However, this should not become entitlement. There are several other “hockey nations” in the world, all of which bring a competitive roster virtually each year, and all of which have just as much of a shot at gold as Canada does. Furthermore, yes, there are rivalries with the Russians and the Americans, even the Swedes, and yes, I know everyone, myself included, wants to see Canada lay a beatdown on said nations. That being said, I think it’s still important to be able to recognize the talent present on other teams. We should applaud the efforts of players like Kuznetsov, Yakupov, Campbell, and Friberg.
Canadians have this reputation of being welcoming and amiable, but that goes out the door when it comes to hockey. We scoff at American patriotism, but at the same time, do the same during the Olympics and the World Juniors. Maybe it’s time to recognize that while Canada is great, other countries can be great too. Losses can be bitter, but we should still be able to appreciate the showcase of upcoming talent that the World Juniors is really all about. These players are 17, 18, 19 – kids, really, and we should show appreciation and acknowledgement of their skill. The best way to get back at them is not to boo them, but to beat them. If we can’t beat them, then celebrate their successes.
But hey, at least we didn’t riot this time around. 😉
Well there is arrogance and then there is identity. Hockey, and performing well in the winter olympics is essential for defining our identity. That is probably why you see a very avid, and possibly arrogant, fan base. I think that this sort of enthusiasm is great, in moderation. I’m looking at you Vancouver…
I agree that hockey is a part of Canadian identity, and have no problem with the expectation to do well in each tournament. However, the problem I have is that there seems to be an overarching sense of entitlement when it comes to the medal round.
I love the passion that Canadian fans show when it comes to hockey, but at the same time, I think that fans should be a little more accepting of losses. At the end of the day, if the team loses, I want to hear an acknowledgement of the hard work and skill of both teams, not excuses and the boobirds.
Keeping the flipped cars and broken windows to a minimum is preferable, however.
Well said, I definitely think we could all stand to take a step back and look at what we’re doing. Actually I feel like this scrutiny is what really separates Canada from some other ‘fanatic’ countries.
Hm, you raise an excellent point – I think the fact that this is considered an issue by some allows us to hold somewhat true to the stereotype of amiability.