Dear Bruins fans,
I’m writing to you as a Bruins, Red Sox and Celtics fan living north of the border, in Canada. Yes, this makes me a Canadian, not a Canadien, which is why I write.
A quick linguistics lesson may be in order before we proceed. A Canadian is someone who lives in the country of Canada. A Canadien is a fan/player for Montreal, a team that plays in the province of Quebec. So you’re up to speed, Quebec actually held a vote a while back seeing if the province could vote itself out of Canada. Now that you see the divide, let’s move on.
When the Zdeno Chara–Max Pacioretty incident occurred, Canadiens were sent into an uproar. They called police departments and created protests, and several companies threatened the NHL. These companies? Air Canada and Molson. What you may not be aware of is that Air Canada is headquartered in Montreal, and Molson, well, the family owns the team. Air Canada’s actions were arguably a publicity stunt, and Molson’s self-interests, I should hope, are obvious.
The rest of Canada watched the clip, and commented on it in the following ways: “Perhaps it was dirty. Perhaps it was clean. Perhaps the NHL should really look into the safety of arenas, an awful lot of injuries have occurred in that spot.” So as you can see, the rest of us had some pretty sensible reactions. We didn’t flip over cars or throw tantrums. We didn’t begin to boo “The Star-Spangled Banner,” either. That’s something those Canadiens usually do.
I can already hear all of you saying: “So what? Why are you telling us this?” I’m telling you these things because right now a lot of your frustration is being directed at the entire country. For example:
Tim: I hate Canada byah!!!!
Daniel: BLAME CANADA!
Allyn: Canadians are whiny little babies!!!
“Canadians” and “Canadiens” are different things. Don’t blame Canada. Blame Canadiens. Canadians aren’t whiny. Canadiens are whiny. Don’t hate Canada, and actually don’t hate Canadiens, either, because that’s pointless and a waste of energy.
Also, while many of you rant on about Canada as a whole, declaring your hate and throwing insults, consider that every time you do, you’re insulting Patrice Bergeron, Gregory Campbell, Nathan Horton, Chris Kelly, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Daniel Paille, Rich Peverley, Mark Recchi, Michael Ryder, Marc Savard, Tyler Seguin, Shawn Thornton, Johnny Boychuck, Andrew Ference, Shane Hnidy and Adam McQuaid. I’m sure you’ll recognize all of those names from the Bruins’ roster, which, by my count has only seven non-Canadians on it. It’s kind of hard to love the Bruins and hate Canadians, eh?
So please, my Bruins brethren, don’t hate Canada. Show the love. Direct your frustration where it needs to be directed, at Montreal.
Lots of love,
Meg
