Hi everyone! Some of you may know that I have been working as a French teacher for close to 20 years now, and most of that time has been spent helping Canada’s public servants pass their mandatory second-language tests. These tests are horrible, stressful, and unlike everyone’s high school or college exams, there is no guarantee you are going to pass even if you spend six months studying for it. As my school’s Academic Director, I’m often the person students approach to vent their frustrations. One of my many techniques to show empathy and build a relationship with a student is to try to blame the government for just about everything. Now, I know what you’re saying, “Steve, the government IS to blame for EVERYTHING.” Well, no that’s not exactly true. Except in my case, the government usually IS to blame. Or maybe they’re not, but they are an easy way out of a conversation you might not want to be part of. What I’m trying to say is that it is human nature to want to blame anything and everything for every problem we have. God forbid WE might be the reason for our shortcomings, right?

Hockey is no stranger to the blame game. Everyone and their puck-stopping dog has something to complain about, and we all know who bears the brunt of the blame: referees. Geez, the boys in stripes just don’t have a lot of friends, do they. It’s always their fault. Bad call here, missed penalty there, they seem to never get anything right, except for the most part, they are pretty damn good at what they do. That said, we just can’t help ourselves from pointing the finger at the zebras. Case in point, February 11, 1973. The Atlanta Flames have just beaten the California Golden Seals 3-1, and Fred Glover is mad at referee Ron Wicks. Glover’s Seals have already gone winless in nine (a streak which would eventually reach 14 games!), and so he may have been looking for something to justify his team’s poor performance. Give the guy a break though… his team hadn’t won in three weeks! I will let you decide whether or not Glover was just blowing off some steam, or if he was totally justified.

Unfortunately, I have to close on a sad note today. Former Seal Hartland Monahan passed away last week at the age of 72. He only suited up once for California, back in 1973-74, but he had a successful career elsewhere, notably with Washington, where he had seasons of 46 and 50 points before the end of the decade. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Monahan’s friends, family, and teammates. Stay gold…