The Rocket as cultural myth
December 12th, 2009
There is such a thing as a consensus, at least in some realms of debate. So I’m not going out on a limb in suggesting that Rocket Richard was one of the greatest hockey players of all time, perhaps the best right winger to ever play the game. Again, the “consensus” is that he was perhaps the most dangerous player from the blue-line in; fiery, and fixed on one thing and one thing alone, lodging the rubber in the back of the net.
With the recent the centennial celebrations for the Montreal Canadiens, all the great old stories – the early crippling injuries, the fifty goals in fifty games, skating in to score with a defenseman riding piggyback, and (of course) the riot. Unfortunately, the old socio-political baggage was all dragged out too.
What I’m talking about is this. Firstly, it’s the vaunted synonymy of the Rocket with the French Canadian nation. Every triumph but, more importantly, every indignity that he faced as a player was somehow symbolic of the “struggle” of “his people”. Every bit of on-ice trash talk was somehow a slight, every laying on of the lumber a blow against the dignity of the nation.
Lets face it, the NHL of the 40’s was not for the faint of heart. Every indication is that the Rocket could give it as well as take it. But there lingers to this day the view that the ownership, and by extension Les Anglais in general, did not accord the Rocket the respect due him as a superstar in the league. Forget that other stars of the era weren’t particularly shown respect as a matter of course. Then there’s the fact that players, and the whole league, in general were in the tight grip of a small group of owners, managers and executives. So there wasn’t a lot of respect being thrown around particularly in the direction of the players. One need only think about those like Doug Harvey and Ted Lindsay who, when they tried forming a players association in the 1950’s, were black-balled and traded to the B-teams before they could say Jackie Robinson.
Which brings me to the more serious point. This huge exercise in mass psychological transference has an added dimension, layered on top of mere collective indignation. During the Canadiens’ centenary several commentators, including actor Roy Dupuis who played Richard in the well-known bio-pic, compared the Rocket to Jackie Robinson, the courageous player who broke the colour barrier in baseball. Robinson famously endured years of abuse and humiliation with tremendous dignity and forbearance.
What’s wrong with this comparison? Well, for one thing, there was no language barrier in hockey as there was a race barrier in baseball. Since the earliest days of the game there had not only been French Canadian players, but great French stars in the game. One need only think of Newsy Lalonde, who began playing in the early days of the last century, Jack Laviolette, Didier Pitre, Georges Vezina (all Hall-of-Famers) and many others. The Canadiens themselves were of course formed as a vehicle for French Canadians, to be an object of adoration for French Montrealers - natural rivals to Montreal’s “English” (and Irish) teams, the Wanderers and Shamrocks. Perhaps these men are considered Uncle Tom’s in the eyes of Quebecois nationalists? At a minimum, they don’t fit the narrative of Richard as symbolic vanguard of national liberation.
Looking at the facts, the comparison to Robinson is a stretch at best, insulting at worst. Unfortunately, it fits into a meme derived from an ultranationalist worldview a la Pierre Vallières that has percolated down to become one of the pernicious myths of Quebec and Canadian politics. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Richard himself was uncomfortable having the nationalist mantle thrust upon him. His portrayal as representative victim of English oppression is merely another of the popular misconceptions cultivated to ennoble Quebec nationalism and separatism. Others, like the concept of the “Two Founding Peoples” are similarly pernicious, and there are few (William Johnson is one) who have the cojones to actually talk about them.
The Habs centenary was a great time for reveling in the team’s many amazing exploits. Too bad that, even after more than 50 years, myths propagated for political purposes are still too readily believed.
