Habs interim Coach doesn't speak any French

[Boges]

So they're protesting this in Quebec.

Meanwhile, Quebec sovereignty supporters plan to protest against the Canadiens' hiring of Cunneyworth.

Mario Beaulieu, president of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal, and Denis Trudel, of the Mouvement Montréal français, issued a statement Thursday saying a rally would be held on Jan. 7 outside the Bell Centre to protest against "the anglicization of the Montreal hockey club."

The protest is scheduled to start at 5 p.m., two hours before a game between the Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"We will be providing Quebec flags to Canadiens fans who, in waving them during the game, can also express their opinion," Beaulieu and Trudel said in the statement.

The team's managers don't respect French as the language of Quebec, they allege.

Cunneyworth was named the Canadiens' interim head coach through the end of the season on Dec. 17, replacing Jacques Martin.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Rally+called+condemn+unilingual+head+coach/5902271/story.html#ixzz1hORYA1fr

Why is this really that big a deal? I know if the Leafs hired a uni-lingual francophone there might be a problem but Leafs fans are overwhelmingly English speaking. English is the language that binds the nation, not french.

I've been to Montreal, it's a fairly English-friendly place.

The truth is Quebec is an island North America as a French province. The Habs are severely limiting potential coaches if speaking french is a requirement for the job.

[cybercoma]

English is the language that binds the nation, not french.

It's this kind of thinking that's the problem. We are not a bilingual nation. We have two official languages. Francophones do not have to learn English whatsoever, nor should they be required to.

Likewise, English is also one of our official languages, so we ought not have to learn French as a requirement for anything. Same goes for the coach of the Canadiens. Bilingualism is completely irrelevant for his job. The organization has plenty of people who speak French to do PR. Moreover, NHL teams no longer represent the people of their given communities. Players are from all over the globe. The Habs are not a French team.

[August1991]

Why is this really that big a deal? I know if the Leafs hired a uni-lingual francophone there might be a problem but Leafs fans are overwhelmingly English speaking. English is the language that binds the nation, not french.

And Chinese is now the world's language of business. Not. And nor is English.

Boges, if you had to sell a product, would you speak your own language, or your clients' language?

----

For better or worse, Quebec politics are sadly now beyond this - I think. Vegas? Randy Cunneyworth?

BTW, Vegas will be on TLMEP for the 31 show. To me, Guy A. Lepage is an embarrassing product of Quebec State TV.

Tout le monde en parle mais comme Guy, ils sont vieux... On parle du passé...

Edited December 24, 2011 by August1991

[jbg]

I've been to Montreal, it's a fairly English-friendly place.

Not in the least. I don't call attempting to go to what I thought was a bathroom and being threatened with arrest because I couldn't understand the signage friendly at all. That was my last welcome to Montreal in March 2005.

The truth is Quebec is an island North America as a French province. The Habs are severely limiting potential coaches if speaking french is a requirement for the job.

Quite true. I think that Quebec should be bi-lingual and English-speaking areas should make an effort to accomodate French-speakers, not the other way around.

[cybercoma]

Montreal is almost entirely English, jbg. I'm not sure what you're talking about. I've been there many times and have always been served in English. There was only one idiot salesperson that was a jerk and my friend who spoke fluently tore her a strip and threatened to contact the tourism board. She smartened up after that.

[jbg]

Montreal is almost entirely English, jbg. I'm not sure what you're talking about. I've been there many times and have always been served in English. There was only one idiot salesperson that was a jerk and my friend who spoke fluently tore her a strip and threatened to contact the tourism board. She smartened up after that.

I was walking the from the Hyatt to the Convention Centgre underground. I saw what looked like an alcove on the left side of the passageway, after the shops and restaurants and before the escalators to the convention center. I started to enter the alcove, looking for a rest room. Tne security guard (it turned out the Gomery hearing was underway) started barking at me in gutteral French. I said I didn't understand, and tried to say I wanted the "saille de ban" (I'm sure my pronunciation wasn't good). Then he said in English "one more step and you're under arrest". I didn't bother asking further for a bathroom. I was tempted to relieve myself then and there but didn't want to risk the consequences.

[Wild Bill]

I said I didn't understand, and tried to say I wanted the "saille de ban" (I'm sure my pronunciation wasn't good). Then he said in English "one more step and you're under arrest". I didn't bother asking further for a bathroom. I was tempted to relieve myself then and there but didn't want to risk the consequences.

Reminds me of the mid 70's, when I was working for bands on the road, jbg. It was common knowledge to be very careful playing any gigs in Quebec.

It wasn't the people. They were great! Especially if you were a progressive rock band. Play a Yes or Genesis tune in a bar and the people would catch all your mistakes!

No, it was the cops! Despite the huge demand for Anglo bands from outside Quebec, the Quebec musician's union had their nose out of joint. They wanted only Quebec bands for Quebecois. What the Quebecois kids actually wanted was beside the point. They were expected to let their betters know what was good for them.

Anyhow, what brought it to a head for my crowd was when they played a gig in Hull. In the early morning hours the cops broke in the doors to the band's rooms and hauled them all away, claiming there were drugs.

The cops did indeed have a bag of drugs, but it didn't belong to anyone in the band. They all knew the corrupt reputation of the Quebec police and had been careful to not carry even any Tylenol! Yet this bag not only carried some marijuana and a few hits of acid but also a motley collection of relatively rare and varied drugs, some of which our crowd had never even heard!

The boys were thrown in a cell. They were denied any phone calls or any contact with friends or family. They went home on bail and had to return a couple of months later for trial.

Anyhow, when the trial began the cops found they had a big problem. Several of the waitresses had been still awake and had been keeping an eye on the band's bus, for fear of any thievery. They saw a man with a big dark coat break into the bus. He was carrying a paper bag with him and he was only on the bus for a moment. When he left, oddly enough he was no longer carrying the bag!

About 15 minutes later the police stormed the bus and left carrying the bag!

We never knew for sure if the judge was in on it but he made a big production of dressing down the cops before he dismissed the charges. We suspected it was all an act but we had no way of knowing for sure.

Anyhow, the Quebec police and the Quebec musicians' union actually won, since word quickly spread and few bands from outside Quebec were willing to take any gigs there.

Edited December 25, 2011 by Wild Bill

[August1991]

What a thread.

Tne security guard (it turned out the Gomery hearing was underway) started barking at me in gutteral French. I said I didn't understand, and tried to say I wanted the "saille de ban" (I'm sure my pronunciation wasn't good). Then he said in English "one more step and you're under arrest".

IME, whenever two people of different languages/cultures meet, they invariably conclude that the other person is an idiot. Having had to translate/interpret between people, I have seen this often. The phenomenon deserves a name: "The Law of Cultural Confusion" or some such.

IOW jbg, imagine what the Quebec security guard thought of you, and said to his wife later about Americans.

As to the coach, I think that if I ran a business, I would make sure that my PR people spoke the language of my customers. I reckon that a coach is part of PR. Heck, even Paul McCartney speaks some French.

----

Sadly, Quebec is somehow less than what it was. I am afraid that others accept so little.

[jefferiah]

As to the coach, I think that if I ran a business, I would make sure that my PR people spoke the language of my customers. I reckon that a coach is part of PR. Heck, even Paul McCartney speaks some French.

I'm a Habs fan.

It can be argued that a coach does have something to do with PR, because he does interviews, though I doubt it's in the actual job description. If that's the case, then you would think John Tortorella would not have a coaching job given his history of cussing at the media.

But all that aside, I know that the Habs hire bilingual coaches. It has worked that way for a while now. For years the coaches have been bilingual, and for the past couple decades they have all been native french speakers first. Owner, Geoff Molson, has even said he understands this and that he will look for another coach in the offseason.

The argument about whether the Habs should care about what languages the coach speaks, is one thing. But the Habs are struggling right now. I think it's a safe bet that this is probably the end for the current management team. For better or for worse, the coach is often the first one canned. It is usually some sort of last ditch move. So they fired coach Jacques Martin. It was a bit of a knee-jerk firing perhaps, because he was told on a game day not long before game time. (There are rumors that Pierre Gauthier was not very classy about the firing either.) They promoted the current assistant coach as an interim coach. Anyway, the Habs might end up being a seller this year at the trade deadline, and if management is on its way out, I could see why they might not want to ink another coaching contract right now. Better to do that in the offseason, when you have more time to screen candidates and select the proper guy. And maybe one of the prospects they would like is not available right now. Randy Cunneyworth has the wonderful job right now of being coach of a team with rabid fans while the current ship is sinking. Now he has to face this controversy, as well. He is appointed to that job for a short amount of time. Someone else will take over when the smoke clears.

Edited December 26, 2011 by jefferiah

[kimmy]

Winning is the most successful marketing strategy for a pro sports franchise. If the Canadiens are winning, Montrealers will fill the arena to capacity whether the coach speaks French, English, or Swahili. (Montrealers will fill the arena to capacity if the Canadiens are losing as well, but that's another story...)

A coach's job isn't to communicate with the media, it's to communicate with the players. There's only 3 Quebec-born players on the Canadiens. There's more Europeans. There's more Anglo-Canadians. There's more Americans. More Canadiens players were born in Czechoslovakia than in Quebec. French is hardly a requirement for the job. The Canadiens have had more than a few players over the years who spoke extremely poor French, or none at all. Not the least of whom was Saku Koivu, an undersized Finn who caused a similar "uproar" when he was named Captain of the team. The uproar came not from Canadiens fans, who loved Koivu and nicknamed him "Captain Courage" when he battled cancer. The uproar over a non-French speaker being named Captain of the Canadiens didn't come from fans. It came from political figures who didn't care about hockey but seized on the issue because they perceived it as an insult to Francophones.

I propose that the "uproar" over this issue is likewise a fiction created by Quebec nationalists laboring under the misapprehension that the Montreal Canadiens are a national symbol of Quebec rather than a professional sports franchise.

-k

[jefferiah]

I propose that the "uproar" over this issue is likewise a fiction created by Quebec nationalists laboring under the misapprehension that the Montreal Canadiens are a national symbol of Quebec rather than a professional sports franchise.

-k

I agree. But as a fan it still concerns me. Some of these mouthpieces work in the media and Cunneyworth has already taken a hit from the journalists. All this over a guy who has been hired as a placeholder. I know he is an adult and coaches anywhere have to distance themselves from media nonsense, but the nonsense around the Habs is always that much louder, and you have to wonder how stuff likes this affects.....well let's say the decision of another coach to sign here or a free agent.

Edited December 26, 2011 by jefferiah

[Guest Manny]

Seems to me given a choice between hiring an excellent coach who cannot speak french, or one who is not as good but can, the decision comes down to form versus function. We can appease the political element by going with the one who speaks french, to the detriment of the teams success. The fans don't need to see or talk to the coach, all that matters is he can do his job effectively with the team. I don't see why the team would be in trouble, just because the coach cannot speak francois?

He only needs to know one line, "Fetchez le puck"...

[jefferiah]

He only needs to know one line, "Fetchez le puck"...

As far as that goes, he doesn't even need to know that much. The players speak English all over the league. The habs only have a few francophones. The Canadiens actually have more Americains than anything else.

Edited December 26, 2011 by jefferiah

[cybercoma]

I was walking the from the Hyatt to the Convention Centgre underground. I saw what looked like an alcove on the left side of the passageway, after the shops and restaurants and before the escalators to the convention center. I started to enter the alcove, looking for a rest room. Tne security guard (it turned out the Gomery hearing was underway) started barking at me in gutteral French. I said I didn't understand, and tried to say I wanted the "saille de ban" (I'm sure my pronunciation wasn't good). Then he said in English "one more step and you're under arrest". I didn't bother asking further for a bathroom. I was tempted to relieve myself then and there but didn't want to risk the consequences.

Sounds like a jerk. Not indicative of my experiences in Montreal at all. For the record, la salle de bain is quite literally a room for bathing. In English we use bathroom to refer to any room with a toilet, whether it has a shower or not. If you're looking for public washrooms, you would usually ask ou sont les toilettes? Someone that knows French better than I can correct me if I'm wrong.

Regardless, I've never had to use French in Montreal and everyone there was extremely pleasant. I was most impressed with a clerk at a different SAQ on Rue Ste-Catherine (I've spent a lot of time in liquor stores, what can I say?). He served a customer in French, the next customer in Italian, the following customer in what sounded like Portuguese, then he helped me in English. His English was nearly flawless, but had a hint of what seemed like a South African accent. I was very impressed with how proficient he was in all these different languages. He didn't just help the customers, he seemed to chat with them as well. It was really something else. When he helped me he was incredibly pleasant and helpful, taking the time to chat with me as a person rather than just asking me what I want and grabbing the bottle.

[jbg]

Seems to me given a choice between hiring an excellent coach who cannot speak french, or one who is not as good but can, the decision comes down to form versus function.

On the other hand, there's the one about the public swimming pool in BC that hired a lifeguard. On the opening day, Victoria Day, a swimmer drowned. Someone questioned how good a job the lifeguard did.

Management answered: "He speaks French. That's his qualification".

[August1991]

Winning is the most successful marketing strategy for a pro sports franchise. If the Canadiens are winning, Montrealers will fill the arena to capacity whether the coach speaks French, English, or Swahili. (Montrealers will fill the arena to capacity if the Canadiens are losing as well, but that's another story...)

I disagree.

There are many profitable sports teams that have not won trophies or cups for a generation or more.

A coach's job isn't to communicate with the media, it's to communicate with the players.

I disagree.

A coach is part of the PR apparatus of a sports team.

----

Word of Warning: I play pick-up hockey every so often on a local rink (but far prefer the free skate). I know little about professional sports.

IMV, the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers (etc) may be Institutions for the fans but for me, they are businesses.

As a business, I'd worry about ticket sales and broadcast rights. As such, in Montreal, I'd have a coach (and players) who spoke French - or connected to the local fan base. If I understand properly, the Canadiens once had first access to the best Quebec hockey players. IMV, that's a good business model.

How many players for Edmonton or Calgary come from Alberta or Saskatchewan?

Edited December 28, 2011 by August1991

[LonJowett]

On the other hand, there's the one about the public swimming pool in BC that hired a lifeguard. On the opening day, Victoria Day, a swimmer drowned. Someone questioned how good a job the lifeguard did.

Management answered: "He speaks French. That's his qualification".

Too bad you can't cite your imagination when you make up stuff.

[jefferiah]

I disagree.

A coach is part of the PR apparatus of a sports team.

If coaches were PR specialists, then guys like Tortorella would not get a job. Seriously though, it's not as if the Habs brass committed a heinous crime here. They appointed the assistant coach to take over as an interim head coach. Cunneyworth made an effort to speak some French after tonight's game as a matter of fact.

As a business, I'd worry about ticket sales and broadcast rights. As such, in Montreal, I'd have a coach (and players) who spoke French - or connected to the local fan base. If I understand properly, the Canadiens once had first access to the best Quebec hockey players. IMV, that's a good business model.

That would not fly in today's NHL. More players are produced in some areas than others. This is an international game, now. And in recent years there are less and less star players coming out of Quebec, anyways. The Habs will survive this tempest in a teapot. While there is such thing as bad management that is worthy of criticism, a good manager (or even a bad manager) would have to be completely off his/her rocker to allow the crowd to dictate who gets to be coach. Businesses have to please their customers, but there is a point at which obeying their whims is nutty, and this is definitely it.

The Habs definitely are a business. And for as many people are making a stink about this, there are fans who think it is ridiculous. As a business, there are other issues to be considered as well. If I am an unrestricted free agent or a prospective coach and I have an offer from the Habs and another city, this kind of media nonsense might turn me off from signing a contract with Montreal. And there have been Quebec-born, francophone players who have turned down deals to play with the Habs to play a little farther from the madding crowd.

Edited December 28, 2011 by jefferiah

[sharkman]

Well, a win for the coach, maybe they can build on it. I hate racism of any kind.