MEDIA RESPONSIBILITY
Q. I have the impression that it is often the same Canadiens players who are present at the post-match / practice interviews. Jonathan Drouin, for example, seems to me to do it more often than the other francophones on the team. Who decides which players are available? Do journalists have a say?
Stephanie Tremblay
Response from Guillaume Lefrançois:
Journalists do have something to do with it. Normally, public relations officers consult journalists (during training or in the third period of a match) to find out who they would like to talk to. We agree on names to propose. Our requests are often accepted, but it will happen that the team refuses to “take” a player under the pretext of “protecting” him. In addition, certain constraints mean that the number of candidates is reduced.
Among the players excluded from the exercise:
– goalkeepers on match mornings. The Canadian, like some teams (but not all), has a policy that goaltenders do not speak before games; – again on match mornings, a player with uncertain status, whether because he is injured or because he is threatened with being left out; – The wounded ; – players who receive treatment, an excuse that is not valid according to the media policy of the NHL, but that teams invoke.
Other factors weigh in the balance. Some players are clearly not comfortable in interviews, whether for language or personality issues. Alexander Romanov does not yet have fluent English; it is normal that we ask for it less often. Joel Armia, Artturi Lehkonen and Christian Dvorak are men of few words in front of the cameras. Note that Carey Price is hardly more talkative, but given his importance in the team, he is often in demand.
THE STEELERS HELMET
Q. I have found that the Pittsburgh Steelers logo only appears on one side of their helmet. Why ?
David Trudeau
Response from Alexandre Pratt:
Because initially the Steelers weren’t sure their logo would stand out well on a gold helmet. So they stuck it on only one side – and it hasn’t changed since. It is the only team in the NFL to display its logo only on one side of the helmet.
THE MORE RING
Q. I have noticed that some hitters in the major leagues wear a thumb ring. What is this ring for?
Pierre Maltais
Response from Alexandre Pratt:
It’s a tiny protective device that supposedly reduces vibrations and pain for the batter when hitting the ball from a wrong angle, or when making contact with the ball near the stick of the stick.
THE COST OF SPORT
Q. Mr. Drouin, I have just learned with amazement that an athlete on the Canadian World Cup team has to pay for his ski season. In your opinion, is Alpine Canada doing a good job, well administered? Or is it just underfunded? Without taking anything away from freestyle skiers, reaching this level in technical events (slalom, giant slalom) is a feat, unheard of for alpine skiing in Quebec. That she has to sell chocolate to pay for her season doesn’t make sense.
Bruno Phaneuf
Response from Simon Drouin:
The self-financing of their season by alpine ski athletes is nothing new in Canada. What may have changed is that a skier who is part of the top 10 world like Laurence St-Germain, to whom you refer, is obliged to pay $ 30,000 this year. At the start of the Olympic cycle, Alpine Canada’s budget shrank by 20% for lack of interested sponsors. Vania Grandi, the previous CEO, knocked on the doors of 80 large companies. Its success rate: 0%.
A new board of directors was put in place in 2019. It is mainly made up of wealthy business people and former skier Erik Guay. They all put their own money into the operation. Their ambition: to make Canada one of the three best alpine nations at the Cortina Olympics in 2026. A new CEO was appointed last year, Thérèse Brisson, former hockey player for the Canadian team. Clearly, the new management is in control of the tight budget. And you have to consider the impact of the pandemic. I very much doubt that there is money being wasted in the Calgary offices right now. To be continued.
THE PRICE PRICE?
Q. Columnists seem to consistently dismiss the idea that Carey Price could be traded, because his massive contract would weigh too heavily on the payroll of any of the other 31 teams, which seems obvious. But wouldn’t it be possible for the Canadian to exchange it by withholding part of his salary? A Carey Price of 6, 7 or even 8 million could be interesting for some teams, right?
Louis M. Desautels
Response from Simon-Olivier Lorange:
There are several parts to your question, which I will cover one at a time. First, your premise is correct: the weight of Carey Price’s salary, obviously, makes him little, if at all, attractive to other teams. We have seen this over the past summer, when the Seattle Kraken, whose payroll was at zero, passed its turn. We did not want to pay so much for a guard who, moreover, brings with him various health issues.
Then, on the possibility of withholding part of his salary: you are right, subtracting 2, 3 or 4 million from his weight on the payroll would make Price a more attractive bait. But that would also mean that the Canadian should honor these sums until the end of the agreement, in 2026. Transactions with a portion of salary retained, with some exceptions (Phil Kessel, Roberto Luongo), overwhelmingly involve players in end of contract. With the salary cap fixed until further notice, that’s a think about it.
Finally, there is the philosophical foundation that underlies this whole discussion: does the Canadian want, or has he ever wanted, to trade Price? His performances in the last playoffs, as well as the instability in goal in his absence since the start of the season, demonstrate how essential he is, time and time again, to the survival of CH.