Hockey - A People's History
Oct 10, 2006 6:33:54 GMT -5
Post by Skilly on Oct 10, 2006 6:33:54 GMT -5
While I admit I didn't watch all of this series and I only caught a few glimpses and discussed some of the show with friends, there were a certain few aspects that had me wondering what the show's producers were trying to say. The following is a compliation of discussions I have had with friends about the show's 1980's episode:
Sunday's episode on the 1980's claims Gretzky saved Canadian hockey in the 80's by winning all those Cups with the Oilers, after the goon era of the 1970's. Here are a few things that were not mentioned during the 1980's episode.
1. For the only time I can think of, an American team actually moved to Canada in 1980. On top of this, the Blues almost moved to Saskatchewan in the early 80's. Does this sound like Canadian hockey was in trouble? By the way, in a little known fact, the Calgary Flames reached the NHL semifinals before the Oilers ever did.
2. They did note that Winnipeg and Quebec also got teams, and their features on the Oilers-Flames and Habs-Nordiques rivalries were pretty good, but this in itself is a statement that hockey was healthy in Canada in the 1980's. How did Gretz save something that was never in danger?
3. In between the goon era and Gretzky being the saviour, the Habs won 4 Cups in a row. This had been mentioned in an eariler episode, but if the state of hockey in Canada depends on whether a Canadian team wins the Cup (which this show implies far too often) then hockey should still have been in good shape at the start of the 1980s.
4. How could a show on the 1980's not have even a passing mention of Mario Lemieux? Granted, his greatest successes were with the Penguins, a team outside the scope of the program, and his Cups were won in the 90's, but come off it! He was still dominant in the 80's. They had segments on the rise of Orr, Howe, Gretz, and Rocket Richard from the time each was playing minor hockey. Lemieux deserves equal billing. And no mention of Marcel Dionne, a Canadian who climbed to number 2 on the all-time points list?
5. No mention of the Canucks, another Canadian team, reaching their first Final in 1982 (again, before the Oilers ever got that far).
6. What is the big deal about a Canadian team winning the Cup? Any Flames fans should have been near the point of throwing up during the segment about the rise of the OIlers. Back in the 70's when the Bruins won, I bet you could count the number of non-Canadians on that team on one hand. A few years ago, I bet you could count the number of Canadians on the Ottawa Senaors on one hand.
7. To their credit, in mentioning the show "He Shoots, He Scores" they correctly identified the Quebec Nationals as a team closely modeled after the Nordiques, unlike Sports Illustrated who once cluelessly wrote that the Quebec Nationals were based in the Habs (even though you frequently saw clips of the Nationals playing against the Habs). But then again, SI also said in the 80's that the Canada Cup was an unimportant waste of time. SI had a real hate on for hockey in the 80's.
Sunday's episode on the 1980's claims Gretzky saved Canadian hockey in the 80's by winning all those Cups with the Oilers, after the goon era of the 1970's. Here are a few things that were not mentioned during the 1980's episode.
1. For the only time I can think of, an American team actually moved to Canada in 1980. On top of this, the Blues almost moved to Saskatchewan in the early 80's. Does this sound like Canadian hockey was in trouble? By the way, in a little known fact, the Calgary Flames reached the NHL semifinals before the Oilers ever did.
2. They did note that Winnipeg and Quebec also got teams, and their features on the Oilers-Flames and Habs-Nordiques rivalries were pretty good, but this in itself is a statement that hockey was healthy in Canada in the 1980's. How did Gretz save something that was never in danger?
3. In between the goon era and Gretzky being the saviour, the Habs won 4 Cups in a row. This had been mentioned in an eariler episode, but if the state of hockey in Canada depends on whether a Canadian team wins the Cup (which this show implies far too often) then hockey should still have been in good shape at the start of the 1980s.
4. How could a show on the 1980's not have even a passing mention of Mario Lemieux? Granted, his greatest successes were with the Penguins, a team outside the scope of the program, and his Cups were won in the 90's, but come off it! He was still dominant in the 80's. They had segments on the rise of Orr, Howe, Gretz, and Rocket Richard from the time each was playing minor hockey. Lemieux deserves equal billing. And no mention of Marcel Dionne, a Canadian who climbed to number 2 on the all-time points list?
5. No mention of the Canucks, another Canadian team, reaching their first Final in 1982 (again, before the Oilers ever got that far).
6. What is the big deal about a Canadian team winning the Cup? Any Flames fans should have been near the point of throwing up during the segment about the rise of the OIlers. Back in the 70's when the Bruins won, I bet you could count the number of non-Canadians on that team on one hand. A few years ago, I bet you could count the number of Canadians on the Ottawa Senaors on one hand.
7. To their credit, in mentioning the show "He Shoots, He Scores" they correctly identified the Quebec Nationals as a team closely modeled after the Nordiques, unlike Sports Illustrated who once cluelessly wrote that the Quebec Nationals were based in the Habs (even though you frequently saw clips of the Nationals playing against the Habs). But then again, SI also said in the 80's that the Canada Cup was an unimportant waste of time. SI had a real hate on for hockey in the 80's.
Besides I think they have my email address filtered out after they stopped showing Habs games!! 
