Language Sniping Starts Early For the Habs

In my Saturday post I mentioned that the Montreal Canadiens are down to just three francophone players and that if Bob Gainey's team doesn't show a lot of improvement this season, that fact would haunt him as the public and media play the inevitable language card as the reason for the team's failure.

I was wrong.....It's started already.

Pierre Trudel, who now writes for fanatique.com, after coming over from La Presse, got the ball rolling quickly. I don't know if he's trying to make a splash at his new job by writing something inflammatory, but nonetheless, here it is;

"Bienvenue chez The Montreal Canadiens. Au rythme où le français régresse à Montréal, on n'est pas loin du jour où l'hymne national ne sera chanté que dans une langue, la présentation des joueurs faite dans une seule langue, l'annonce des buts dans une seule langue. J'exagère? Bien sûr. C'est un peu caricatural. Mais toute caricature a un fond de vérité"

"Welcome to the Montreal Canadiens. At the rate at which French is regressing in Montreal, it won't be long before the national anthem will be sung in just one language, the players lineup announced in just one language and the public address announcement of goals in just one language. Exaggerating?...Surely. It's somewhat caricatural. But all caricatures have a foundation of truth."

Let the fun begin.