On Nationalism In The NHL.

Aside from the 14 goals scored, the 12 fighting majors and 182 penalty minutes served in the recent Habs-Bruins gong show there was one moment that really stuck-out to me.

In the heat of all the fighting and goal scoring, Bruins fans rallied a "USA, USA," chant.

After some close research there are 15 Canadians and just three Americans playing for the Boston Bruins this year. The Bruins top points leader is a Canadian (Patrice Bergeron of Quebec) and their captain Zdeno Chara is Slovakian.

There are six Americans playing for the Habs including captain Brian Gionta.

I'm not sure if the Bruins fans realise these statistics but perhaps after reading this blog they might think twice about their proud nationalism.

There's more to this specific history between these two teams though.

Going back to the NHL play-offs in 2004 the Montreal Canadiens' fans "boo-ed" the American national anthem at the Bell Centre and the Boston fans replied at the TD Garden with cheers during the Canadian anthem. Don Cherry of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada had this to say...



What happened to the "class?"

Or perhaps it isn't about class in this case at all, I would argue it's a case of ignorance.

Come on Bruins' fans, open your eyes and look closer at your roster before you disrespect your fellow countrymen!

There was another separate case in TD Garden earlier this year in a regular season game between the Bruins and the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.



A little background on the situation. Phil Kessel (former Bruin) was traded to the Leafs for two first-round draft picks in 2011 and 2012. The Bruins ended up getting the 2nd over-all pick in 2011 and drafted highly-touted, Tyler Seguin.

Kessel scored 36 goals for the Bruins in 2009 before his trade to Leafs Land (he was the odd man out after the Bruins' GM had to sign other quality players to contracts) and recorded 60 points in that same year.

I fail to see how Kessel's name should be in this particular chant. He played remarkably well for the team, why disrespect him? Should it not have been "Thank-you Burke"? (Brain Burke, Leafs GM) What did Kessel have to do with being the odd man out or being traded for two first-round picks?

Call me biased, but after chants like these two examples, I have to wonder what type of beer these fans are drinking to make them come-up with these thoughtless chants.

I think Mike Komisarek says it best in this video.



Unfortunately I could not edit the last sentence in the video.