from Dave Hodge of TSN,

Not to take the hockey kibitzing of Prime Minister Trudeau and President Obama too seriously, but it got me thinking, and that got me asking the following questions: “If hockey fans in Canada could trade Olympic gold medals for Stanley Cup wins by their favourite NHL team, would they? Conversely, if hockey fans in the United States could trade Stanley Cups by all sorts of teams since 1993, and especially the ones by Chicago, about which President Obama likes to boast, for USA Olympic success, would they?”

I believe the answer on both counts is “No.”

And that might not seem logical, but in a week that celebrates a lot of what is similar in the two great neighbouring countries, hockey represents something of a difference.

Canadians don’t like the fact that all seven of the NHL franchises based in hockey’s homeland are likely to miss the Stanley Cup playoffs this season. They gripe about that and about the Stanley Cup drought since Montreal’s win in ’93, but dare I say they’re used to it? You want to hear bitching and complaining? Put Canada anywhere lower than first in the upcoming World Cup, and committees will be formed in every bar with a TV to figure out the reason.

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