BOB GAINEY HATES FRENCH PLAYERS?

Bob Sirois makes the argument in Le Quebec mis en echec: la discrimination envers les Québécois dans le LNH (Quebec Bodychecked: Discrimination against Quebecers in the NHL ), which is being released today.

In the book Sirois singles out the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers for praise in mining Quebec for talent, but criticizes Stars Stanley Cup architect Bob Gainey for his term as general manager in Dallas.

Sirois writes, "He was there [in Dallas] for eight years, and in the eight-year period he was there, he drafted two Quebecers,". "I don’t think he would have done that if he would have been eight years in Montreal and drafting only two Quebecers in Montreal."

Just to help Mr. Sirois with his facts in this latest “Woe is Quebec” claim, Bob Gainey was the G.M. for parts of 10 years and four players were selected from the QMJHL including Patrick Cote (Beauport). He’s the tough guy who almost accidentally hanged himself goofing around with the heavy bag in the Stars practice facility in Valley Ranch. In the eight NHL Entry Drafts since Gainey resigned the Stars four G.M.s (Armstrong, Hull & Jackson, and Nieuwendyk) have selected two players from the Quebec Junior Hockey League, Francis Wathier and Russian-born Ivan Vishnevskiy. And in the eight years prior to Gainey taking the reins the franchise drafted three players from Quebec.

That’s a 26 year sample of the Stars organization draft philosophy and maybe, just maybe, the fact that teams from Quebec have won just four of the last 28 Memorial Cups (Major Junior hockey’s championship) has had an effect on that. Perhaps they’ve looked at winning pedigrees, not birth certificates.

He also brings up the 2008 Canadian Junior team’s decision to bypass French-Canadian goalie Jonathan Bernier in favor of Anglophone Steve Mason. Ya Bob, what a slight, what a national disgrace. Mason backstopped Canada to gold, was Player of the Game in the gold medal tilt, voted Top Goaltender, and named Tournament MVP. Oh, and at last check he was the guy who registered 10 shutouts for Columbus and was runner-up for NHL Rookie of the Year last season while Bernier was unable to stop enough pucks to be kept ahead of Jonathan Quick and Erik Ersberg with the L.A. Kings.

Bob Sirois is crying “discrimination” but his tears are merely pooling in age-old French-Canadian self-pity and entitlement.