Montreal Canadiens Conspiracy: Where are the Frenchmen? Not Playing in Montreal

A couple of days ago I came across the story of Parti Quebecois' Pierre Curzi's comments about a supposed conspiracy concerning the Montreal Canadiens.

He suggested that the lack of Francophone players playing for the Canadiens was part of a federalist plot to keep Quebec a province of Canada. I thought this politician, who obviously knows nothing about hockey, should shut his mouth, but then I remember he that he's a politician and know it's impossible.

According to hockey-reference.com, there are 73 Quebecers who will either be playing in the NHL or the AHL this year. Thirteen of them are goalies, 12 of them are defensemen, leaving 48 forwards. Now, I'm not to sure about this, but I think teams usually consist of two goalies, six defensemen, and 12 forwards.

Now, even if the Canadiens were to consist of all Quebec-born players, and assuming Canadiens fans want the best roster, they would be way over the salary cap. Obviously, Mr. Curzi doesn't pay any attention to NHL rules.

Now, there are three Quebec-born players playing for Les Canadiens: Mathieu Darche, Maxim Lapierre, and Alexandre Picard. Those aren't names that really pop out at you.

Take into account that Montreal has traded away Quebec born players such as Jose Theodore and Guilluame Latendresse, let Francois Beauchemin get claimed off waivers, and let go of Georges Laraque and you realize that the owners and/or general manager doesn't care about having Frenchmen on this team, and they shouldn't.

Pierre Gauthier's job as general manager is put together a team that he believes can challenge for the Stanley Cup, not to cater to the whims of a politician who doesn't know what he's talking about.

As Dimitri Soudas, the director of communications for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said, "No political party should play wedge politics against the Montreal Canadiens. I'm not sure it's a good idea to run against a hockey team, like the Canadiens, that has more victories than the Parti Quebecois and Bloc Quebecois combined."

I agree whole-heartedly with the Prime Minister's office. I hate to admit it as a Maple Leafs fan, but the Montreal Canadiens team is the longest serving and most historic team in NHL history and they are a team, along with any of the Original Six, that no politician should touch.

Maybe this politician will actually think before he opens his mouth next time.