Understanding Hockey/Understanding Canada
Understanding the French/ English Conflict through Hockey Literature
Read Roch Carrier's "The Hockey Sweater,"Hugh MacLennan's "Two Solitudes" and the excerpt from Wayne Johnston's The Divine Ryans.
Questions for discussion or personal reflection:
- Why are the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs such intense rivals?
- Why did Carrier's narrator say that "The Maple Leaf's sweater weighed on my shoulders like a mountain"?
- Why does Johnston use the words "holy war" to describe the hockey game?
- *According to Carrier's narrator and Johnston's narrators, are the Leafs and Canadiens just hockey teams or do they signify something larger?
- Research these two teams: do they still have the same rivalry?
- Look for coverage and articles about Maurice Richard's death. Why was he such an important player? Why did all the boys in Carrier's team wear his number?
- What role do women play in these stories?