Word: salutin
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...sixth floor of a Masonic temple, at the intersection of Sherbrooke and St. Marc in Montreal, actors wielded hockey sticks as they rehearsed a play called Les Canadiens. The author, Rick Salutin, sat to one side, commenting on his work with noncommittal tenderness...
Proud Traditions. As Salutin's play suggests, there was a time when Les Canadiens worked as a symbol for Quebec spirit. The French of Canada, proud of their traditions and staunch in their Roman Catholicism, felt repressed by Anglo-Saxon Protestantism. In 1955, when Maurice Richard, the great Montreal forward, was suspended by Clarence Campbell, the league president, for scuffling with an official, French fans smashed shop windows along Rue Ste. Catherine. Although this was a melee, not a rational debate, popular sociologists went as wild as the fans. Les Canadiens, they suggested, were not merely a hockey team...
...They're both," suggested Salutin, an existentialist. I polled his cast. Every actor supported Quebec independence. I polled more hockey players. Well nourished and prosperous, Les Canadiens like Quebec...
Home Ice. The actors played a symbolic scene with intensity. The athletes talked about endurance. The director smoothed some rough spots. Scotty Bowman discussed "home ice advantage." Les Canadiens represent good hockey The Parti Québécois represents French Canadian political protest. The two meet only in Salutin's play. One can appreciate the intensity of hockey in Quebec, deeply and pleasurably, without having to see slapshots as metaphors...