“I don’t understand that Nick Suzuki, the captain, hasn’t learned French in five years!”

A 31-year drought without a championship, seven exclusions in 10 seasons. It has been a long time since the Canadian was nicknamed the “Glorious” or the “Sainte-Flanelle”. In order for the team to regain its letters of nobility, the author of the book The CH and its people proposes that its stars speak in French.

• Also read: The history of the Canadian and that of Quebec are closely linked

• Also read: It was the Stanley Cup or nothing

“I don’t understand that Nick Suzuki, the captain, hasn’t learned French in five years!”

It’s an English speaker who says that. Brendan Kelly. A Scottish man who moved to Montreal at the age of 5 and grew up in an English-speaking environment. At age 16, he decided to seriously learn French because he wanted to “understand Quebec culture.”

“Serge Savard went to Russia for two weeks for the Series of the Century and learned a few phrases in Russian,” he told Journal the former journalist assigned to French-speaking culture for The Gazette.

Wearing a hoodie in homage to the band Ramones, Kelly remembers that Bob Gainey, Larry Robinson and Ken Dryden learned French out of respect for the fans in the 1970s and 1980s.

“Why were they able to?” asks the man who spoke in French with Gainey to document his book.

Just as he did with Hollywood actor Viggo Mortensen, a big fan of the Canadian who learned French by listening to René Lecavalier at Hockey Night.

Birch, Gionta et Pacioretty

Captains Saku Koivu, Brian Gionta and Max Pacioretty did not interact with the media in the language of Molière, nor did Carey Price.

“History is not just the 24 Stanley Cups. It starts from the language. If you don’t understand French, you won’t understand the culture here,” assures the proud 62-year-old Montrealer.

A trio singled out

With each an eight-year contract under their belt, Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky are focusing on hockey, but there’s no doubt in Kelly’s mind that they need to find time to take classes.

“When you speak with the media, you speak with the people. If an 8 year old child or a 93 year old grandmother doesn’t speak English, they don’t understand Nick Suzuki. This is not correct,” he maintains, specifying that players do not need to be bilingual.

“The Canadian often recalls French-speaking heroes like Maurice Richard, Jean Béliveau, Guy Lafleur, Patrick Roy. Do current players understand the impact these icons had? I’m not convinced, otherwise they would speak French,” insists Kelly.

Gorton’s bad message

For him, everything starts from above. Leaders must lead by example. When Jeff Gorton was hired as executive vice president, hockey operations, he promised to try to learn French. Three years and several lessons later, he still has not granted an interview in the main language of his workplace.

“That’s not cool. He’s a very intelligent guy who does a good job. But he doesn’t seem to be making any effort. It sends the message that it is not necessary or a priority,” denounces Kelly.

The Alouettes’ American coach, Jason Maas, demanded that his charges study a few words and their numbers in French. Kori Cheverie, the women’s hockey coach, gave interviews to French-speaking journalists after only three months of private lessons. Not three years, three months.

The example of Messi

And Montreal is no exception. A former FC Barcelona manager confirmed to Kelly that Lionel Messi’s contract stipulated that he had to make an effort to learn Catalan.

“It’s just normal. Can you imagine a unilingual French-speaking coach in Toronto? suggests with a laugh the one who dreams of his book being read by the Canadiens players.

As the work is only offered in French for the moment, it “could serve as a lesson for them.” They will also be able to fall back on the documentary series (four 60-minute episodes) soon to be broadcast on illico+.

The CH and its people: a province, a team, a common history

● Written by Brendan Kelly

● Les Éditions de l’Homme

● 224 pages

● Preface by actor Claude Legault

Who is Brendan Kelly?

● Born in Glasgow, Scotland

● Raised in Montreal

● Co-founder of the alternative weekly Montreal Mirror

● Journalist to the deceased Montreal Daily News

● Music columnist on CBC radio for 30 years

● Author of the weekly sports column What the Puck

● Works for The Gazette since 1996

● Columnist at Radio-Canada