I was reading a news article this morning about the Florida panthers and their visit to the White House to meet the guy that currently lives there. In case you aren’t Canadian, the Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers last season to win the Stanley cup. Now this guy they went to meet in that Washington DC house, was throwing around a few taunts towards Canada. That can get to Canadian hockey fans since we do consider hockey “Our Game”. So I went and took a look at the rosters for the two teams. Here is what I found.
Line ups and players change so I just thought I would see what went on during the playoffs. While everybody involved gets you there, its those during the playoffs that bring it home. So first of all when you look at countries of birth, Florida had four US born players on the playoff roster. Edmonton on the other hand had 16 Canadians on the team. Two from Alberta. FYI… That is the province where Edmonton is located. To be fair we did have two US born players on the Edmonton team but… there were 8 Canadians on the Panther line up. So, for those two teams, six Americans played in the Stanley cup playoffs. Along with 24 Canadians. So you could kind of say it was actually two Canadian teams playing against each other in the final showdown. Unless you look at the rest of the guys who played.
Now I may have misspoken earlier. You see there can be guys on the roster who just didn’t play. I am talking about only people who made it into any of the games. Take the goalies for Florida. Only one played. And he was born in Russia. The other two were one from the US and one from the Czech Republic. But then again all of Edmonton’s goalies were Canadian. Only two played. I guess the Russian goalie took the prize for winning goalies then. The Panthers also had four players from Finland, a couple of Swedes, a guy from Latvia and even one German player. Edmonton also had some help from across the pond. Four players from Sweden, one from Finland, but their top player in the regular season was from Germany though he did play more games than the guy in second place. In the playoffs however they tied for points.
Now my hubby played defense as well as my two kids that played hockey. My daughter now plays both forward and D depending on what is needed for her team. But she is fast and can mess up and still get back to save the play. Because of their positions, goals and assists were not earth shattering. What I was always interested in was their plus/minus. Now that is the number that indicates the difference beween the goals scored by their own team vs the ones scored against their own team. While they are on the ice. Because a defenseman’s job is to keep the other teams forwards from scoring. The records for this stat in any season are huge. Bobby Orr set records no one can hit today as a defenseman. He had so many goals and assists, you might wonder if he knew he was a D-man. But last season the best Defencemen on the two teams, during the regular season, the Oilers three top plus/minus for defensemen were two Canadians and a Swede. For the panthers it was a Finn, a Russian and a Swede. Top points for regular season for Edmonton was the German guy and two Canadians. For Florida it was one American, a Canadian and on Finn.
So, in case you are bored and tired of Hockey stats, let me get to the point. Like Hockey, as can be said for families, friends, countries and Governments, more lies beneath the surface. Neither of these two teams are a complete representative of their own team, city, country or government. Neither of them would have made it to the final series without the input from each and every player regardless of how much they played. But then there are the people behind the scenes. From the owners all the way down to the janitors who clean. From coaches and managers to physio therapists to equipment managers. And don’t forget the families. My daughter dated a fellow who got an Ivy League education because of his hockey abilities. Yet he couldn’t have got into the school if for years his Mom hadn’t stressed good grades. Life was hard sometimes on my daughter when it came to playing after college. They were young parents and she followed him. To a strange city, a different country. With a baby in tow. Often players are traded and a Wife has to pack up and arrange a move on her own. Because her husband left with a days notice to play somewhere on the other side of the country.
People get complacent in life when it is all going well. We pat ourselves on the back because we think we don’t need anyone. We take pride in all we have done to make it so to speak. Sometimes the past is a little hazy. Even self made people had help whether it was a break, nepotism, opportunity, blessed with good genes or just being lucky enough to be born in a country that doesn’t kill it’s own people, just because. As Canadians we are proud of our game. Of our country. Of our everything. But some forget that it doesn’t matter how long you have been here. It doesn’t matter what colour you are or your gender or pronouns or religion. Without all who are here now, all who came before, we wouldn’t be the great nation we are. The future will bring even more people. And who knows what greatness will come from that. But the truth is, none of us can do it alone. A great business falls if no one supports it. Innocent people die if no one protects them. Great countries implode if no one says stop. History shows us what happens when selfish people seek power and control.
Just as that guy down south brags about how great their hockey team is, people believe him. Just as he tells his country how great they are, they believe him. Just as he tells them he is the one who can fix the world, they believe him. The bottom line is so many believe when things go well it is because they worked hard. Did everything right. Are proud of what they made of themselves. They don’t give credit to those around them. They don’t want anyone to interfere. They want it all. But what about if things go sideways? Well then people want someone to blame. They want someone to fix it it. They want someone to step in and give them what they deserve. Well, if that resonates with you, all I can say is be careful what you wish for. You may be the next scapegoat in one mans climb to the top. If we turn our backs on others, who will help us in our time of need. Because the world, as in anything, rises and falls. Ebbs and flows. Wins and loses. We need each other. All of us. If we just take, there may come a time when we are taken from. And no one will be there to help. Hmmm. I wonder how Hitler felt as he hid out, afraid. Waiting to die. That was a long fall from the top to the gutter. Even decades later his name is synonymous with evil.
One great lesson we can all learn is to look behind the team. Look beyond the words. Put ourselves in the shoes of others. As my Mom used to say, do not place yourselves above another. Jantelaven in Denmark is just that. People are valued for what they bring to society. Not their personal efforts. Bragging is frowned upon. Society and all who belong are valued and cared for. Sadly, the States are a country where individual rights reign supreme and those who make more or have more are honoured. Regardless of who gets stepped on in the process. Here in Canada in many ways we are like the Danes. Caring for others through social programs and such. Yet we are influenced more and more by that large country below. Nowhere is that more evident than where I live in Alberta. It’s pretty me, me, me here. But what I have learned in the almost seven decades I have lived here is this. The me people all grovel for help when they fall from their ivory towers. Help me becomes their cry. Because it wasn’t their fault. It was the government. The immigrants. The Eastern provinces. The federal government. Insert favourite scapegoat here Because in the end, when we hit bottom, we never blame ourselves. It’s never our fault. And somebody better fix it for us. Why? Because we deserve. Kinda sounds like a four year old. Don’t you think? Maybe its time we all grew up a bit.
Things I've learned since I thought I knew everything... 