Hockey world rejects Duceppe's plan

ik - Oh my God. You mean they're Quebecers but also proud Canadians??? Sacre bleu, c'est impossible!

Kevin Lowe, assistant manager of Canada's 2006 men's Olympic team, doesn't think much of Gilles Duceppe's idea of entering a separate Quebec team in international hockey competition — and he has company in the hockey world.

Lowe, who grew up in Montreal and is fluently bilingual, flatly rejected the Bloc Québécois leader's proposal, which was unveiled Wednesday as part of his party's election platform.

"Those politicians should stick to politics," said Lowe. "If they want to come and apply for a job in hockey, then they can have their say."

Lowe was Wayne Gretzky's No. 1 assistant on the 2002 Canadian men's Olympic team that ended a 50-year gold-medal drought in Salt Lake City and was also part of the management team for Canada's 2004 World Cup championship squad. Both those teams featured a handful of prominent Francophone players, including goaltender Martin Brodeur and team captain Mario Lemieux.

"Marty Brodeur, at the Olympics, was one of the most patriotic players there," said Lowe. "No French kid that I know of is going to want to play for a Quebec team over a Canadian team. I don't know of any that would want to, at least, none that are in the NHL right now."

Canada unveiled a preliminary list of 81 candidates for the 2006 Olympic team in October. Within that group, there were 13 players listed from Quebec: Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Jose Theodore in goal; Eric Desjardins on defence; plus Lemieux, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Simon Gagne, Alex Tanguay, Patrice Bergeron, Daniel Briere, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Marc Chouinard up front.

Lecavalier was the MVP of the 2004 World Cup.

When the matter of Duceppe's proposal came up in Tampa Wednesday, Lecavalier rejected the notion of playing for an independent Quebec team, telling the Globe and Mail's David Shoalts: "I'm part of Team Canada and Canada as a whole. I'm proud to be Canadian."

Bob Nicholson, the president of Hockey Canada, has overseen the selection process for Canada's national teams — men's and women's — for more than a decade.

"I've been around naming national teams from under-18 and juniors to men's and women's world championship and Olympic teams and when I look at Quebec players, there's disappointment when they're not named and elation when they are," said Nicholson. "I can't speak for players from Quebec, but the Vince Lecavalier comment today reflects what I've heard in the past from Martin St. Louis and Gagne and Mario Lemieux. They want to play for Team Canada.

St. Louis, the NHL's reigning scoring champion and most valuable player, said in a telephone interview Thursday that Francophone players in the NHL do not even talk about the possibility of an independent Quebec team unless the subject is brought up by a reporter or a politician.

"I haven't talked to any other players about this," said St. Louis. "It hasn't been part of any conversation, to be honest."

St. Louis reiterated his teammate Lecavalier's point: "I'm proud to be Canadian. I'm proud to play for Team Canada. I think there are bigger issues (for politicians) to worry about than trying to make a Team Quebec."

Like solving some of the province's economic or social problems?

"Like that," said St. Louis. "I think they should worry more about that. I'm proud to be Canadian," he repeated, "and I'm proud to play for Team Canada and I'll just leave it at that."

Lowe indicated that a big part of Canada's international hockey success in recent years stemmed from the fact that it could draw on players from across the country.

"It's cyclical too," said Lowe. "In the past, we've relied on Grant Fuhr's goaltending in the West and Mike Bossy and Michel Goulet's scoring from Quebec. That's why Canada's had success."

Nicholson said he is not surprised that a politician would try to use hockey as a means of drawing attention to his cause.

"We deal with that kind of thing all the time," said Nicholson. "I'm real proud of how we select teams. Quebec players have been a big part of Team Canada and we certainly look forward to that in the future."

According to Nicholson, under International Ice Hockey Federation rules, Quebec would not be allowed to enter a separate team. When Czechoslovakia separated into two distinct political entities — the Czech Republic and Slovakia — the new nations were obliged to qualify for major international competitions by starting at the bottom rung of international competition.

"If they want to play in an International Ice Hockey Federation-sanctioned tournament, there's only one team per country — end of story," said Nicholson.