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As an American, I have a ton of respect for your country, and enjoy travelling within Canada any chance I get. I regularly upset fellow Americans when I point out what you stated, and that's Canadian athletes are brought up properly, and that Canada is the epitome of having ever lasting pride in their country
I can say that from our experience here in Pittsburgh, your observation is spot-on.
We have had so many Canadians play sports in this town. The overwhelming majority
have been fine and upstanding citizens. Very engaged in the community and fan-approachable.
Everyone here agrees that Sid Crosby is as fine and upstanding a young man as you're likely to find, his amazing skills notwithstanding. As have been so many other Penguin players over the years. The team's owner, Mario Lemieux, is so highly thought of he could be our first Canadian Mayor if he wanted the job.
Also several baseball players such as Russell Martin and Jason Bay have been find and upstanding
representatives of Canada.
My cousin was briefly married to a Canadian hockey player, who turned out to be a jerk.
But he seems to be the exception.
Looks like the Coyotes are going to make their fourth straight playoffs from a full-season of play. If they can get more consistent with play and not give-up in a period like they have done, they are a team that I would not like to see in a playoff series as an opposing team.
Looks like the Coyotes are going to make their fourth straight playoffs from a full-season of play. If they can get more consistent with play and not give-up in a period like they have done, they are a team that I would not like to see in a playoff series as an opposing team.
They have a cushion right now but they have a rough final slate of games. If they play like they did against Florida last night, they could miss out.
A final point..... about 50 percent of the current NHL players are Canadians, and on some teams that runs up to 80 percent. In Canada there are NO sports scholarships at our Universities. None at all, so if a kid wants to make it to the "big leagues " they have to do it on their own merit, and on their families money. Yes , we do have scholarships, at our Universities, but they are for ACADEMIC advancement. Unlike in the USA, in Canada our post secondary institutions are for education, not as a stepping stone to a professional sports career. That is not to say that some Canadian NHL players have not gone to University, but it's not done on a "full ride " scholarship, and in many cases, it happens after their career is over.
Those with athletic scholarships or "full ride", as you say, are a small fraction of the overall collegiate student body. Most are in school for academic reasons only. The system is far from perfect but it does allow for a university education for some who may not otherwise receive one.
To refer to American universities as a "stepping stone to a professional sports career" is way off mark and a gross exaggeration.
My remarks were specifically about football and basketball players in the USA, who attend Colleges, to play their sport. Please understand my original point. Here in Canada, none of our Universities have a 100 thousand seat stadium, and none of them have a annual football budget in the millions of dollars. Can you say Michigan State, or Georgia Tech, or Ohio State, in football ?
How about basketball, as in the NBA, just WHERE do they get 90 percent of their rookies..... from top basketball Universities, that's where. My point is and was................US Colleges and Universities are the breeding ground for future pro foot ball and basketball players, not hockey players. A few NHL players came though US college training programs at places like Minnesota, or North Dakota, or Boston College, but they are few. Many more made it the hard way, without a scholarship assist.
Hockey players , in Canada, don't have that opportunity, for a number of reasons. They can apply to TRY to get into a US University, that has a good hockey reputation, but they are a "foreign student" who has to apply for and get a US government issued student visa, before they can enter the US, legally. Second point.... if they do get a US Student visa, they have to pay a LOT more for their education in the US, compared to the cost for the same degree, in Canada. In fact, it would be about double the costs.
That is why I outlined the path that most Canadian kids take to get to the Pro leagues . Hard work, going away from home at a early to mid teen age, to play for 9 months of the year, and keep up their high school marks at the same time, or the league makes them sit, if their marks fall below the required percentage levels.
A final point about the NHL compared to other major sports leagues...... For many years, the Stanley Cup has been taken "home " by the members of the winning team, so that EACH player gets to show it off to his family, friends, and the home town folks. As a result the Cup has been all over the world, as far as Russia, Sweden, Finland, Nigeria, ( guess who that was ) ? and on and on. Not only does the Cup have the names of every team member, and the coaches and the training staff on it, that have ever won it, it has it's own body guard, who travels with it, where ever it goes.
There are actually TWO identical Stanley Cups. One is on permanent display at the Hockey Hall Of Fame in Toronto, and the other one travels, and is the presentation cup, that you see at the end of each final game, being awarded to the winners. Its really heavy........ask Zedano Charra, how he cut his head, when he tried to lift it. Hit him self in the head with the rim. Somebody jammed a Bruins hat on his head, to hide the blood. What`s a little blood, if you are a Stanley Cup winner.
evidently the North Dakotans no longer have a moniker to go by anymore...
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