Hickey on Hockey: Legault’s focus on Quebec hockey is wrong

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There are many things that should be of concern to the Prime Minister of Quebec, Françi o Legault.

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Several hospitals in the province have had to close, at least in part, their emergency departments.

there there is a severe shortage of nurses (and doctors) in Quebec.

Many paramedics have fired because of working conditions, and their union went on strike on Thursday.

Opioid abuse claimed 547 lives in Quebec last year.

Violent crime has increased in Montreal.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not going to go away.

And since this applies to me, I haven’t had a family doctor since I retired in June.

But the most urgent thing for Legault this week was how to get more Quebec players on the Canadiens list. He announced he would set up a 15-member committee to restart hockey in Quebec.

We don’t know how much taxpayer money is being spent – wasted – on this blue ribbon panel, but here are a few ideas for free:

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Small hockey registrations have decreased, but you can’t blame it for the lack of role models in Les Not-So-Glorieux.

This is because hockey places demands on families in terms of money and time.

This is because awareness of concussions is increasing.

This is because children prefer to play baseball, football, basketball, soccer, tennis or video games.

I know and respect many of the members of the committee, but there are also small hockey leaders in the group who have contributed to the problems they are trying to fix. I am afraid that there are too many people in underage hockey who have their own interest in maintaining the status quo, and too many parents are far too involved.

Legault expressed the shock that there are eight times more registered female players in Ontario than in Quebec. I am confident that Caroline Ouellette, Danièle Sauvageau and Kim St-Pierre will continue to work hard to close this gap, but this is a problem that requires local communities to be willing to provide opportunities for young girls.

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Legault talked about hockey as our “national sport” and he didn’t talk about it being a Canadian national sport. When he talked more about developing Quebec players for the NHL, he wasn’t thinking about Alex Killorn, Marco Scandella, or Michael Matheson.

There are some English-speaking hockey coaches in Quebec, and it could have been a good idea to include one on the committee. Someone like Peter Smith, who has been successful in coaching success at McGill University and the Olympics, or Jon Goyens, who knows small hockey thoroughly.

And when we talk about people who are not on the committee, we hope that it will ask psychologists and doctors who can weigh the potential negative physical and mental aspects of the sport.

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We are No. 1: The Canadiens may be a terrible team, but Montreal boasts the NHL with the most spectators.

Actually, we should change that statement because while the Canadiens may lead to ticket sales, many people simply don’t bother to spot. This suggests that the Canadiens has reached a point where you cannot give away tickets. There were several hundred empty seats in the lower bowl of the Bell Center in Thursday’s match against Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh Penguins. The game is generally considered a mandatory competition.

The Canadiens have an average turnout of 19,686, or 92.5 percent of capacity. Chicago, which has led the league in visitor numbers for ten years, has dropped to sixth, with an average of 18,142 fans.

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Five teams – Tampa Bay, Vegas, Boston, Washington and an extension to Seattle Kraken – are at 100% or better capacity. Better-than-expected Buffalo is at the bottom of the list, with an average turnout of 7,901.

Hurricanes hit again: The wild and crazy people who run the Carolina Hurricanes Twitter feed enjoyed themselves with the Canadians this week.

“We get to be a bunch of sudden, but we still care about our communities,” they tweeted. “In honor of World Kindness Day, sticks have made a donation to the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation. “

The tweet contained links to all NHL charities.

Carolina started knitting the Canadiens for the first time in the summer when Hurricanes hit Jesperi Kotkaniemi on a tender sheet.

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