The Hockey Stop

Darren Pang is one of the most respected hockey analysts in the NHL. But his Freudian slip on TSN (thanks to the GetReal Hockey blog for catching this) when talking about the benching of Montreal Canadians defenseman P.K. Subban, who happens to be black, is sure to open up the question of race in professional hockey that has always simmered under the surface.

Basically, Pang said that Subban, whose freewheeling offensive style is apparently not to the liking of Habs coach Jacques Martin, should model himself after another young defenseman -- St. Louis Blues player Alex Pietrangelo, who happens to be white. Pang meant to say that Pietrangelo plays the "right way." But what he said instead was that he plays the "white way." Thus the Freudian slip.

Now, Pang is not a racist and later apologized for the unfortunate remark. But, as hockey becomes more diverse and reaches beyond Saskatchewan farm boys, the racial question is unavoidable.

As much as Don Cherry and others would like every player to have the personality and playing style of Joe Thornton, that just isn't going to happen. And nor should it. The many European players from Russia, Sweden and other countries bring their own unique style to the game. And there are an increasing number of African-American, African-Canadian, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Jewish and other non-WASP players in the league. And that is a great thing for the NHL because not only does it make it more diverse on the ice, but in the stands as well.

An example of the potential to bridge the racial divide in hockey is evident in the Atlanta Thrashers. The city of Atlanta has a large, educated and affluent black community, but many African-Americans traditionally have not embraced hockey because it is seen as a white sport played by mostly rural Canadians. But the Thrashers have a ton of black players -- Dustin Byfuglen, Evander Kane, Akim Aliu, Johnny Oduya, Sebastian Owuya and Nigel Dawes. That represents about 20% of the black players in the NHL. Hopefully that will translate to more fans in the seats at Phillips Arena. The fact that the Thrashers are surprising almost everyone by winning a lot of games so far this year should help as well.

While Pang didn't intend to, his comment will hopefully open up a much needed discussion on race in hockey. The trend towards diversity is a healthy one for hockey, and hopefully there will be a time when the benching of a player is only about his play on the ice, and not the color of his skin.

Here is the video:

Could there be a thaw in the Cold War between Canadian commentator Don Cherry and Russian hockey player Alexander Ovechkin?

In a shocking revelation during the first intermission of the Leafs-Caps game last Saturday night on CBC's "Hockey Night in Canada," Cherry actually had some positive things to say about the Great Eight. The comments came after Ovie's 87 mile-per-hour cannon that scorched the back of the twine at Air Canada Center.

For those who aren't familiar with the plaid suit-wearing personality, Cherry has a jingoistic view of hockey players. In other words, he prefers farm-bred boys from Saskatchewan over finesse-bred boys from Sweden.

And he has gained a reputation for having a particular dislike of Ovechkin. This was evident after Ovechkin's celebration following his 50th goal last year in which he pretended his stick was on fire and was too hot to touch. On CBC, Cherry defended the "Canadian way" and derisively compared Ovie to the "goofy" celebrations soccer players make after scoring a goal. He then predicted that someone was going to hurt Ovie by "cutting him in half."

Fast forward to last Saturday night.

Cherry still went on his same tired routine about the curve of Ovie's stick (as if the stick is the reason for AO's lighting the lamp every five seconds) and that Ovechkin is getting a "free ride" because he plays a physical game and finishes his checks but never has to drop the gloves (as if there is a correlation between the two).

But then the anti-Euro provocateur actually had something positive to say about Ovie when the topic turned to his two-game suspension for a knee-on-knee hit. When asked if Ovechkin should change the way he plays Cherry said this:

"You don't get it, I love the way he plays. I love that he is hell bent on banging and smashing and everything. I think he's great. I hope he keeps it up. All I'm saying is he's going to get hurt doing it. But you can't change your bull terrier. Your bull terrier's got to play like a pit bull. That's the way he is, that's the way he plays -- like a pit bull ... don't get me wrong, I like Ovechkin."

And considering how popular Ovechkin and the European-stacked Caps are in Canada, Cherry would be wise to tone down his inflammatory and provincial comments. The demand to see Washington is so high that they were featured on "Hockey Night in Canada" four times in the past five weeks, which is more than the Canadiens, Senators, Flames, Oilers and Canucks.

Could the rivalry between North America's National Hockey League and Russia's Kontinental Hockey League escalate into hockey's new cold war?

That remains to be seen. For now, to many observers the KHL is the equivalent of Major League Soccer -- a growing organization able to nab a star player once in a while such as the L.A. Galaxy's David Beckham but no legitimate threat to the powerhouse leagues in Europe who have the money, history and fanbase to attract the world's top players.

Still, with the report today that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told local sports newspaper Sovietsky Sport that he hopes the KHL expands into central and western Europe, the budding league is certainly giving notice to the executives at NHL headquarters in New York City.

After all, the league is only two years old and seems to have no shortage of rubles to snatch big-name talent from the NHL. With the Kremlin behind the league and Gazprom -- the world's largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company -- as its biggest benefactor, the KHL has already nabbed Jaromir Jagr and is making a play for another Czech -- Jiri Hudler.

However, the fate of Hudler is still up in the air because the NHL is arguing that even though he signed with Moscow Dynamo of the KHL, his election to file for salary arbitration obligates him to play for the Detroit Red Wings. A hearing is set for July 30 in Toronto. Also, the KHL experienced a tragic setback last year when New York Rangers' first-round draft pick Alexei Cherepanov died after an Avangard Omsk game.

But back to Putin's comments. He said the KHL should expand beyond the Former Soviet Union (currently teams are in Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan) and "become a pan-European league" with clubs in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland possibly joining.

If this expansion takes place, the KHL could become a formidable foe to the NHL in terms of the top talent, particularly from Russia and the rest of Europe. Perhaps that is one reason why the NHL is taking a stand in the Hudler case. It is one thing when veteran players like Jagr and Sergei Federov defect to the KHL, but a player in his prime such as Hudler?

For hockey fans such as myself who have enjoyed the renaissance the NHL has enjoyed of late thanks to the many skilled players from Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and other European and Former Soviet Union countries, I hope the NHL does everything in its power to retain these players who favor finesse over fighting.

Otherwise, no offense to Don Cherry, but without Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin and Henrik Zetterberg and players of their ilk the NHL will regress back to the boring North American style of the past.

A new cold war on ice? Not yet. But the Kontinental Hockey League has proven it is here to stay.