French among members of the CH organization is a subject that gets a lot of attention. Should Nick Suzuki make more of an effort to speak French? Cole Caufield? Jeff Gorton even?
None of the three important figures at the CH did the semblance of a full interview in French and that is something incomprehensible, according to Brendan Kelly, author of a brand new book: The CH and its people.
Who is Brendan Kelly? He is a journalist from The Gazette who is of Scottish origin. He moved to Quebec at a young age and learned the French language to better understand the people and their culture.
Today, while he speaks very well in French, he is promoting his book and took the opportunity to send a message to the Canadian players and more particularly to his captain Nick Suzuki.
“I don’t understand that Nick Suzuki, the captain, hasn’t learned French in five years!” –Brendan Kelly
These comments were collected by Mylène Richard, from the Journal de Montréal.
In the article, we discover Kelly’s theory regarding the importance of French. According to him, if the players don’t understand him, they can’t understand the culture here.
He spared no one, even criticizing Jeff Gorton, who had promised to take French lessons, but who still has not given an interview or even answered a few questions in French.
It’s definitely a touchy subject and it’s hard to impose something like a language in 2024 on NHL players. On the other hand, could there be a better effort on the part of the players to communicate in French? Certainly. The CH could take inspiration from Jason Maas, the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, who pushes his players to understand the history of football in Quebec and encourages them to learn words and expressions in French. After victories, they count their points in French for example. These kinds of small gestures united the team on the way to their first Gray Cup in thirteen years.
The biggest problem in Montreal is that everything is taking on exponential proportions. Even if a player makes a misstep in an interview in French, it will make the front page of all the newspapers in town. Can some of the caution come from this aspect? Maybe and we should be aware of that too.
It takes the right balance in all of this, and Kelly makes that clear in her point of view. He doesn’t expect all players to be bilingual, either.
In burst
– It’s going to be played out on the ice.
– Ouch.
– He’s going to have to be better, that’s for sure.
