Players Show Loyalty To Maple Leaf In ‘Logogate’
07/11/2008 04:02
TORONTO - While officials debate what jersey Team Canada will wear at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, it's clear that player loyalty to the Hockey Canada Maple Leaf logo in question runs deep.
''Simply put, a lot of us wore that jersey, wore that logo - we won a gold medal in that jersey,'' said Steve Yzerman, executive director of the 2010 men's team. ''It does have some special significance to us.''
''It signifies our pride and our tradition and our history,'' said women's coach Mel Davidson.
While it may not be a surprise that hockey still touches a chord in this country, who would have guessed that a simple logo held so much value?
That in itself should be considered a victory for Hockey Canada.
It wasn't all that long ago that Canadian hockey teams were sent to international competitions with all kinds of different emblems. That changed in the mid-90s when Hockey Canada adopted its current logo and started putting it on all national team jerseys.
''I think it's helped give players recognition of who they're playing for,'' said Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson. ''Before that time, we used to wear different logos and the general public didn't know who was playing. Now they know when they see that logo on the ice that it's Team Canada.''
Ironically, the Olympics played a big part in creating that awareness - both for fans and the players themselves.
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SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Rather than scrap the Hockey Canada logo, why don’t we just scrap the Olympics? That make much more sense to me.