"Our Game Our Gold": newspaper narratives about the Canadian men's ice hockey team at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

The 2010 Winter Olympic Games (WOG) were held in Vancouver and the importance of winning gold in ice hockey, Canada's national winter sport, was of paramount symbolic importance to many Canadians. Although the Canadian women's team mirrored the men's team in the quest for a gold medal, greater media emphasis was given to the Canadian men's team (see Vincent & Crossman, 2012).

Several researchers have examined ice hockey's significance to Canadian culture and identity (Gruneau & Whitson, 1993; MacNeill, 1995; Norman, 2012; Poniatowski & Whiteside, 2012; Scherer, Duquette & Mason, 2007; Scherer & Koch, 2010; Whitson & Gruneau, 2006). This study extends this genre of literature by analyzing The Globe and Mail s narratives and images about the Canadian men's ice hockey team competing in the 2010 WOG.

After the disappointment of finishing in 7* place in the 2006 Turin WOG, the Canadian men's ice hockey team's quest for gold on home soil was framed as the marquee event and garnered extensive media coverage in Canada. For The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, the stakes were high in this 17 day commercialized sporting spectacle. Owned by CTVglobemedia, which was broadcasting the WOG in Canada through its CTV English language television network affiliate. The Globe and Mail was relying on the expertise of over 40 journalists to attract readers to its daily Olympic Winter Games section. For the first time ever, The Globe and Mail, as part of its plan to provide the most complete and comprehensive coverage of the WOG, published a Sunday newspaper in the British Columbia market on February 14, 21 and 28, making it the only seven-day newspaper in the region for the duration of the WOG.

National Identity, Sport, and the Media

Guibernau (2007) defined national identity as "[a] collective sentiment based upon the belief of belonging to the same nation and sharing most of the attributes that make it distinct from other nations" (p. 11). Gerd von der Lippe (2002) noted that national identity is defined by "how a citizenry sees and thinks about themselves in relation to others" (p. 374). National identity can comprise many dimensions, including a demarcated geographical territory, a common language, and a shared sense of historical connection, continuity, and culture. Thus, national identity unites citizens by evoking a shared collective sense of belonging and consciousness that focuses on unique national attributes and traditions. Reinforced in the collective ingrained memory of its citizens, the tenets of national identity receive further bolstering through the discourses of politicians, historians, and journalists (Guibernau, 2007).

Anderson (1983) and Hobsbawm (1983) both noted that national identity is constantly evolving and may be re-imagined or re-invented within contemporary contexts. However, the selective framing of history is vital in evoking a shared sense of national belonging and consciousness, which is reinforced through the celebrations of a nation's history which emphasize past successes. Selective historical celebrations then become part of the collective ingrained memory, which serve to not only differentiate the nation from other countries, but to also evoke a sense of exceptionalism (Aughey, 2007). As Guibernau (2007) noted, "identifying with our ancestors by celebrating their successes and remembering their tragedies is central to the construction of national identity" (p. 173). Stuart Hall (1997) noted how "all of us are composed of multiple social identities" (p. 57). Although collective identities such as gender, class, and race all coexist and intersect, national identity is perceived to be a unifying aspect for most people within a country (Smith, 1991). As Scherer and Davidson (2010) note Anderson's imagined community is envisioned as a "deep, horizontal comradeship, void of difference and inequality" (p. 66). Indeed, Guibernau suggested that a strong sense of national identity is important because regardless of their socio-economic status, to a certain extent people have a tendency to "... identify with and ... regard as their own the accomplishments of their fellow nationals" (p. 169).

The Orwellian notion that with the exception of war nowhere is this sense of national unity and consciousness more prevalent than in the context of international sporting competitions still resonates (Hobsbawm, 1990). This is particularly true in the way some Canadians regard ice hockey. In the rarified atmosphere of the 2010 WOG, Hobsbawm's (1990) comment seems particularly pertinent: "The imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of ... named people. The individual, even the one who only cheers, becomes a symbol of his nation himself' (p. 143).

As such, a national sports team's performance at the Olympic Games can revive, albeit temporary, a national consciousness and the team's success or failure can be reported as a symbol of the nation's vitality (Weight, 2002). That is one reason many countries put a significant amount of resources into nurturing high performance sport. The Olympic Games provide an opportunity for a nation to publicly celebrate victory and evoke a strong sense of national consciousness, which is carefully cultivated by mediated accounts (Vincent & Crossman, 2012). Thus, the media 'storytellers' who cover the Olympic Games play a pivotal role in constructing, (de)constructing, and reinforcing shared meanings and, understandings about national identity (Whannel, 2008). Although in the 21s' Century we view major sporting events instantaneously through various electronic media broadcasts and live streams, newspapers provide readers with post-game analyses, insights, and reflections, or the stories behind the stories.

Canadian National Identity and Ice Hockey--A Sociohistorical Context

Ice hockey, Canada's national winter sport has exerted a consistent influence on Canadian identity (Mason, 2002; Scherer & Jackson, 2004; Whitson & Gruneau, 2006). Gruneau and Whitson (1993) described hockey as a sport that "has had a tendency to make people feel 'Canadian'" (p. 214) and noted how learning the nuances of playing and watching hockey was considered a marker of becoming Canadian. Illustrating how some Canadians feel about hockey, poet Richard Harrison referred to hockey as "the national id," something that lies deep within the Canadian psyche and largely defines the nation. Author Roch Carrier even went as far to suggest that "Hockey is life in Canada" (Adams, 2006) and for some hockey is almost a metaphor for Canadianess. Many Canadians ritually watch Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night and ratings remain consistently high (Scherer & Whitson, 2009). With the advent of social media, many Canadian hockey fans use Twitter to proclaim that hockey is integral to Canadian identity (Norman, 2012). This feeling is not only generated by professional players, but by amateurs dotting the Canadian landscape skating on rural and urban ice hockey rinks, frozen ponds, rivers, and lakes or playing road hockey with a ball in place of a puck (Wilson, 2006). Not surprisingly Canadian politicians from different political spectrums have tried to promote their identity as hockey fans--the most recent being Prime Minister Stephen Harper who has written a book about hockey entitled A Great Canadian Game (Harper, 2013).

To assume though that all Canadians are besotted with hockey is inaccurate and as Adams (2006) noted, conflating hockey with Canadian identity is problematic because of the exclusionary nature of Canadian hockey culture, which is overwhelmingly white, masculine, and heterosexual. Further, as Canadian youth are increasingly exposed to an ever burgeoning variety of recreational pursuits, hockey's preeminent cultural significance is gradually being diluted as it becomes only one of many cultural practices through which youth negotiate and form their identities (Wilson, 2006). Thus, the meaning of hockey varies between Canadians. Likewise, it is important to recognize that the players on the Canadian men's ice hockey team competing at the 2010 WOG comprised a diverse hybrid of Canadians, both Anglophone and Francophone, from varied cultural backgrounds.

Since the men's ice hockey tournament was introduced at the 1924 WOG gold medals have been dominated by Canada and the Soviet Union. However, in the 1950s and 1960s "Canadian amateur and semi-professional teams began to lose major international matches" (Whitson & Gruneau, 2006, p. 5). The reason shared by most Canadians was that they were not sending their best National Hockey League (NHL) players. However, in 1972 during the Cold War, the Summit Series, a set of eight games, took place between the Canadian NHL players and the Soviet Union national team. The NHL did allow their best players to play on the Canadian side with the exception of those who had defected to the World Hockey Association (WHA). This series illustrated how a hockey tournament can create ardent nationalism. Paul Henderson's winning goal in game eight, which won the series for Canada, was dubbed the 'shot heard around the world' and became one of the most famous collective memories in Canadian sports history.' Earle (1995) recorded how "...fifteen million Canadians shared in the vicarious climax" (p. 114), and how in this celebratory moment "... disparate notions of class, ethnicity and gender were welded into a rare Canadian moment" (p. 108).

Americanization, Transnationalism, Canadian Identity, and Hockey

Hobsbawm (1998) described the pervasive influence of the United States as "... the global triumph of the United States and its way of life" (p. 1). Although in the era of globalization it is the subject of some debate, proponents of Americanization point to the powerful reach of American corporations to influence global fashion, taste, and patterns of consumption. These American companies' products and services evoke popular aspects of American culture for financial gain (Miller, Lawrence, McKay, & Rowe, 2001). Indeed, American culture permeates many facets of Canadian life including media products such as publishing and the Hollywood film industry, television programming, and, of relevance to this paper, sports (Wilson, 2006). Reflecting this, in 2002, an Ekos Research poll showed that 58% of Canadians felt that Canada was becoming more American (Adams, 2003). Kidd (1991) preferred to refer to this concept as "American capitalist hegemony " because Americanization oversimplifies the complex relationship that exists between the two countries (p. 178).

Canadians oftentimes not only define themselves by how similar they are to Americans but by how different they are. Thus, although Americanization has the potential to undermine culturally traditional sports, it can also galvanize local resentment and resistance. In the context of hockey, complexities resonate because the cultural hockey mosaic is formed from an almost idyllic blending of European and native cultures (Harrison, 2009). Invariably though hockey is the sport Canadians name to illustrate how they differ from the United States. Holman, referring to hockey said, "One of Canadians' national sports is telling themselves how different they are from Americans. It's sort of this need to have big brother's attention, but to be different from big brother" (2012, p. A11). However, the Americanization of ice hockey and the transnationalism of Canadian players were never more apparent than when, in 1988, the Edmonton Oilers, a Canadian-based NHL team, traded Canada's ice hockey superstar, Wayne Gretzky, to the Los Angeles Kings (Jackson & Ponic, 2001). As Wong and Trumper (2002) noted, Gretzky epitomized the transnational celebrity athlete, with dual nationality, an American wife, and global business interests. Gretzky's success in the United States helped promote hockey, which led to the development of new franchises in southern cities in the United States and the gradual Americanization of the NHL (Whitson, 1997). In the mid 1990s, two Canadian teams relocated to the U.S. These defections led to questions about the financial viability of professional hockey in Canada1. To assist Canadian professional hockey, the federal government, in 2000, announced that it was prepared to assist Canadian-based NHL teams. However, this announcement was met with an unexpected public outcry because taxpayers felt that the money should be spent on social programs. "NHL hockey was no longer regarded by most Canadians as a "priceless" part of our heritage, something to be saved at any cost" (Whitson & Gruneau, 2006, p. 13). Notably all but two players on Canada's roster for the 2010 WOG played for American NHL franchises.

Theoretical Considerations

This paper is informed by Montserrat Guibernau's (2007) strategies to mobilize and reaffirm a collective national identity. Guibernau outlined the role the media play in disseminating preferred discourses and images of the nation. These frequently draw on selective use of symbols and history, which serve to reify particular national traditions and values, while emphasizing the characteristics of 'good citizens' (p. 25). Guibernau articulated four strategies that are designed to promote a sense of national consciousness and belonging.

First, narratives and images of the nation usually feature the dominant racial and ethnic group. Thus, in the context of Canadian identity in the 2010 WOG, despite Canada's linguistic, ethnic, racial, and linguistic diversity, one would expect the focus to be on the predominantly white, Anglophones representing Canada.

Second, a shared sense of national community is achieved by (re)connecting the 'imagined community' with a common heritage and history. This is achieved through the adroit use of emotive national signifiers and symbols that evoke selective customs, rituals, and values, and perpetrate the myths of invented traditions. Hobsbawm (1983) defined invented traditions as "[a] set of practices, normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual of symbolic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behavior by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past" (p. 1). Hobsbawm noted how politicians, historians, and journalists draw on invented traditions to perpetuate an almost idealized sense of shared national consciousness.

The third strategy, to (re)create a shared sense of national identity rests on the civic rights and duties afforded to citizens. In the context of the WOG, athletes representing their nations in some ways become personifications of the national culture. This makes their deportment and behavior as role models the subject of intense media scrutiny.

Fourth, a nation's distinct sense of identity, community, and implied exceptionalism is frequently distinguished through the perpetuation of common enemies. The creation of a sense of who we are is juxtaposed with who they are, and usually reenacted through discursive us versus them dichotomies. This allows the collective us to reinforce our identity and differentiate ourselves from negative characteristics and traits of them.

Purpose

This study examines The Globe and Mail s portrayal of the Canadian men's hockey team competing in the 2010 WOG. What this study shows is how Canada's Anglophone newspaper of record (re)constructs narratives and images about the men's Canadian hockey team as representatives of Canadian national identity. Drawing theoretical insight from Guibernau's (2007) strategies for the construction of national identity, this paper provides a snapshot of how ideologies linking country, culture, and national identity politics are (re) produced and contested within the defined temporal context of a WOG. This analysis provides insights about how sports journalists evoke what Hobsbawm (1983, p.1) termed "invented traditions" and ascribed particular national characteristics to galvanize support from the "imagined community" (Anderson, 1983, p. 6) in the rarified atmosphere of a WOG on home soil.

Method

The Globe and Mail

The data from this study are from articles and photographs from The Globe and Mail. The coded articles were specific to the time frame during the WOG (February 12th until February 28th, 2010, inclusive). We also included 2 days before the WOG and 2 days after the WOG ended. This was done to examine pre-Olympic coverage and also the coverage of the men's final hockey game that occurred on February 28th. Analysis of narratives in The Globe and Mail provides insight into Canadian national identity through autotypification or self-image, or how the nation talks to itself. As the second most circulated daily Canadian newspaper after The Toronto Star (.Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, 2010), The Globe and Mail attracts a professional/managerial demographic readership with its centrist political persuasion (The Globe and Mail GlobeLink, 2011). Thus, it was anticipated that its coverage of the men's Canadian hockey team would represent a more balanced, nuanced, and less jingoistic approach than more popular newspapers.

Textual analysis and coding. Textual analysis allows researchers to gain insight about the dominant discourse in the text and also teases out how texts can be understood beyond their face value (McKee, 2003). As a means for generating multiple and layered elements of analyses, two specific levels of coding, open and axial, were used. The resulting codes were developed inductively and then interpreted through larger-ordered conceptualizations of national identity.

Open coding was employed as an initial means of organizing raw document data into overarching themes. Open coding brings themes to the surface from deep inside the data. The themes come from the researcher's initial research focus, concepts in the literature, or new thoughts stimulated by immersion in the data (Neuman, 2003, p. 443). To achieve this, each article was read twice and narratives that were perceived to relate to aspects of Canadian national identity in relation to the men's Canadian ice hockey team were highlighted before being typed into a Word document, arranged by newspaper and date. Included in the analysis were all articles about the men's Canadian hockey team, supporters, and discourses about national identity politics. The Word document transcripts were examined multiple times with the goal of identifying dominant narratives as well as contradictions and inconsistencies. This inductive analysis employed a constant comparison method to search for, analyze, and interpret emerging themes (Creswell, 2003).

We also organized the data through axial coding as a means of linking previously identified themes and categories within the data. Axial coding links and relates codes to each other and brings greater depth to initial themes (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Through axial coding, organizing themes developed which, in turn, were interpreted drawing on Montserrat Guibernau's (2007) strategies to create and unite citizens around a collective national identity. Thus, this textual analysis does not aim to reproduce the newspaper's coverage, but to uncover the dominant or preferred readings about the men's Canadian team as signifiers of Canadian identity during the 2010 WOG.

Delimitations of the Study

1. The results of this study are specific to The Globe and Mail, an English-language newspaper that is focused on an Anglophone (re) construction of Canadian identity.

2. The results of this study are specific to coverage of the 2010 WOG and are not applicable to coverage of other sporting events.

3. The coded articles from The Globe and Mail were specific to the time frame during the WOG (February 12th until February 28th, 2010, inclusive).

Results and Discussion

In total, 37 newspaper editions were analyzed which included 95 articles. Five themes emerged from the textual analysis: Hockey in Canada Transcends Sport, The Canadian Brand of Hockey We All Know, The United States--"those football digging varmints to the South," "The Shot Heard Around the World," and "Our Game Our Gold."

Hockey in Canada Transcends Sport

In Canada hockey is mythically portrayed as an integral part of Canadian culture and a traditional signifier of belonging. Gruneau and Whitson (1993) recalled how hockey is an 'invented tradition' which ".. .acts both as myth and allegory in Canadian culture ... a story that Canadians tell themselves about what it means to be a Canadian" (p. 13). Reflecting the importance of hockey to Canada combined with hosting the games sport journalist Eric Duhatschek articulated, "The Games in your own country transcend sport and hockey often in this country transcends sport. If you put the two of them together, the potential is just gargantuan" (The Globe and Mail, February 13, 2010, p. V23). This theme echoed throughout The Globe and Mail s coverage. At the outset of the men's hockey tournament, which McGregor had described as ".. .the centerpiece of the cold-weather Olympics" (The Globe and Mail, February 22, p. A2), Stephen Brunt described it as ".. .arguably the most anticipated event in the history of the sport, and for a large number of those who call this country home, it is the only thing that matters" (The Globe and Mail, February 16, p. 04). At the midway point of WOG various journalists reported how Canadian nerves had been frayed by hydraulic lift malfunctions during the Opening Ceremonies, the death of a Georgian Luger on the opening day, and the failure at that point for Canadian athletes to live up to the high expectations of the Own the Podium program. A Globe and Mail headline looked forward though to the much anticipated hockey contests thus: "One thing can save these Olympics: A Canadian victory ..." The subtitle opined: . the hockey drum is beating and pride is at stake" (The Globe and Mail, February, 18, p. A19)

The construction of national identity though is not fixed, but fluid and contested. Reflecting this, the narratives about the symbolic importance of hockey to Canadian identity was not absolute. Problematizing the sports journalists' hockey in Canada transcends sport discourse, public affairs columnist Lawrence Martin's dissenting narrative articulated how tying Canada's national identity solely to hockey is exaggerated.

The sporting press has gone into overdrive telling Canadians that they are defined by hockey, that it's in their soul and blood. It's overdone. While we move nicely on blades and can wield sticks, some might prefer to think of other attributes as our essence. (The Globe and Mail, February 18, 2010, p. A19)

Further, the exaggerated importance of hockey to Canadian identity found in the almost formulaic trope of build-them-up narratives, designed to elicit interest and support from the imagined community, all too predictably gave way to the knock-them-down rhetoric of disappointment. This was reflected in the sports journalists' narratives about how national nerves were frayed, followed by the all too predictable recriminations, in the aftermath of Canada's loss to the United States in a preliminary round game.

"The Canadian Brand of Hockey We All Know"

One of Guibernau's (2007) strategies to unite citizens around a collective national identity noted how the media disseminate a particular image of the nation, replete with signifiers and symbols. Sociohistorical notions of Canadian national identity and character are drawn from the strength and courage of the early settlers who had to cope with the harsh winter weather and rural wilderness. Lipset (2001) noted how these myths of primal Canadianism have become ingrained in the collective national psyche. The idealized Canadian physical hardiness and hypermasculinized toughness, courage, and self-reliance are virtues which are celebrated in Canadian hockey (Kennedy, 2009). These ideas about Canadian national identity resonated throughout, emphasizing the physical play of Team Canada on the rink. Before Canada played the United States in a preliminary round game, Stephen Smith, commented about the Canadian brand of physical hockey expected: "It's .. .a willingness to block shots and lose teeth, play hurt, or swing your stick like a mad woodchopper in case the national interest might be served by someone's ankle being broken" (The Globe and Mail, February, 16, 2010, p. A23).

In the same edition, Canada's star player Sidney Crosby was quoted predicting that Canada would play a "fast, physical game, the Canadian brand of hockey we all know ..." (The Globe and Mail, February 16, 2010, p. 08). Sport journalist Eric Duhatschek's post-game analysis praised the way Team Canada lived up to Crosby's prediction, by "physically" dominating the United States team and "... dishing out major open-ice hits" (The Globe and Mail, February, 20, 2010, p. A2). The same journalist enthused about how Canada "wore down" the Russians in their quarter-final game "with their physical play," the ferocity of which "left the Russian bear bewildered and unable to respond" (The Globe and Mail, February, 26, 2010, p. O10).

This Canadian penchant for hypermasculinized toughness, aggression, and violence on the hockey rink, and rapid, boisterous support by fans off the rink is contradicted with the traditional portrayal of Canadians as diffident, humble, modest, and polite (Robidoux, 2002). As Lipset (2001) noted "Canadians repeatedly remind themselves that they are and should be the quiet North Americans" (p. 60). This myth of Canadian diffidence serves an important rhetorical function in popular cultural representations of Canadian national identity (Millard, Riegel, & Wright, 2002). Without this myth of diffidence, contemporary outpourings of popular Canadian nationalism could be perceived as indistinguishable from the American version, which is generally portrayed in the popular Canadian imaginary as brash and arrogant. As Millard et al. (2002) articulated,

   ... the central paradox of contemporary English-Canadian
   nationalism: its adoption of a quintessentially American mode of
   nationalism in order to proclaim that Canada is superior to the
   United States precisely because it does not have such a
   nationalism. Diffidence remains the operative trope, an important
   justificatory device, (p. 24)

Reflecting this Canadian myth of diffidence and illustrative of Guibernau's (2007) strategy to unite citizens around a collective national identity, the narratives conveyed Team Canada's responsibility to uphold their civic responsibilities as Canadians on and off the rink for the expectant nation. As a symbol of the nation, off the rink Crosby was variously described throughout as humble, unassuming, "... quiet, mannered and private" (The Globe and Mail, February 12, 2010, p. O10).

The United States--.. those football-digging varmints to the South"

Guibernau (2007) noted how national consciousness is achieved through the creation of "common enemies," that draws on simplistic divisive rhetoric (p. 25). After dominating traditional rival Russia 7-3 in an anticlimactic quarter-final, the journalists divisive us versus them discourses continued in the buildup to Canada's match against the United States. Many Canadians have developed a collective sense that hockey, their national pastime has been negatively influenced by a gradual Americanization of the NHL. Examples of the perceived Americanization have included the relocation and addition of Canadian NHL franchises and players to the United States; the appointment of an American, Gary Bettman, as NHL commissioner; and the NHL's subsequent commercialization and commitment to the United States' television networks. All these examples were recounted and critiqued in the sports journalists' lexicon during the WOG. Many of the Canadian players including Sidney Crosby, who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins, had followed Wayne Gretzky's example and migrated to wealthier franchises in the United States. Noting this, MacGregor commented how these issues which had bred resentments had also generated greater collective interest in Team Canada during the WOG.

Canadians also have not seen a Stanley Cup parade since 1993 and the fiscal realities of today's game--where the truly elite players can dictate where they live and play-- means the next Cup could well take forever. No wonder, then, that the assemblage of Team Canada became such a national obsession--with each player, from third-string goalie to the captain, more widely and hotly debated than the performance of the prime minister. (The Globe and Mail, February 20, 2010, p. A2)

The sense that Canadians respect the traditions and heritage whereas United States capitalism exploits hockey, lingered in the narratives. This resentment anchored the collective us versus them binary and an inferiority complex when Canada and the United States were drawn in the same preliminary round group. Prior to the group game, journalist Matthew Sekeres warned,

Beware Canada. The elephant to the south is rolling over. It's heading in this direction, primed to crush our title as the world's foremost hockey nation. We've always known that if Uncle Sam put all its financial and infrastructural might behind our game, than we'd have pan-Canadian panic (The Globe and Mail, February 16, 2010, p. 09).

Typifying the hostile us versus them narratives, on the eve of the group game journalist, Chris Eskine described how Canadian's view the United States as "... those football-digging varmints to the south" (The Globe & Mail, February, 23, 2010, p. 04). English guest columnist Simon Barnes, chief sports writer for the London Times, described his perception about the rivalry thus:

America is not a subject Canadians are wholly rational about. Just as you can have a splendid and thoughtful conversation with a certain type of Scot until you mention England, the same is true with Canadians and the United States. (The Globe and Mail, February 26, 2010, p. All)

Canada's loss to the United States in the preliminary round game was reported to have dented confidence in the existing hockey hierarchical pecking order and damaged the fragile collective Canadian psyche. The United States' win also provided the journalists with the substance they required to present the United States as a worthy opponent, and a compelling 'other.' This seemed designed to reignite Canadian interest and heighten the sense of drama and tension.

"The Shot Heard Around the World"

Paul Henderson's winning goal against the Russians in the Summit Series hi 1972 became collectively celebrated and reminisced about through the ages with the phrase the 'shot heard around the world.' This phrase is part of romanticized Canadian folklore and consciousness and has become an invented tradition of Team Canada's victory (Hayes, 2001). Scherer, Duquette, and Mason (2007) noted how

   Paul Henderson's goal and the entire 1972 Summit Series have been
   mythologized as emblematic of a preferred version of Canadian
   character; an ongoing story Canadians continue to re-invent and
   tell themselves about themselves, more often than not through the
   carefully crafted vantage point of nostalgia, (p. 164)

As such, it is a selectively preserved collective memory that evokes a particular sense of Canadian national consciousness, affiliation, and belonging and feeds into the myth that hockey is Canada's game.

In the gold medal game at the WOG in 2010, at the end of regulation time, Canada and the United States were tied, which meant sudden-death overtime. Seven minutes and 40 seconds into overtime, Sidney Crosby, Canada's current star, beat United States' goalie, Ryan Miller, with a spectacular 6-foot shot from the angle. Evoking the invented tradition of Henderson's goal, journalists Brenda Bouw and Jane Armstrong celebrated Crosby's winning goal under the headline "The Shot Heard Around the World" (The Globe and Mail, March 1, 21010, p. A3). MacGregor suggested Crosby's goal would become his signature moment and a marker of Canadian-ness for future generations thus: "This winning goal will stand with the ones scored by Paul Hendserson, hero of the 1972 Summit Series, and Mario Lemieux, hero of the 1987 Canada Cup.... He will be forever known for it ..." (The Globe and Mail, March 1,2010, front page). Duhatschek's narratives also suggested that the shared experience of Crosby's winning goal would become an indelible Canadian memory, providing his generation with "... its Paul Henderson moment ..." "... in a game for the ages ..." (The Globe and Mail, March 2, 2010, p. 04). These narratives resonated with Canadian cultural icon, Peter Gzowski's (1981) contention that hockey is central to a romanticized version of Canadian identity and character. As Hayes (2001) articulated, Henderson's goal is still important to Canadians because it connects them with a mythical idea of a nation that never was. The idea of which, however, still gave promise and impetus to an independent and selectively alternative notion of an "... other North America" (p. 182).

The journalists' celebratory rhetoric about Crosby's version of "the shot heard around the world" suggested he would join the pantheon of Canadian hockey greats and was used as evidence of Canadian hegemony and exceptionalism in their national pastime--hockey. This heralded a euphoric outpouring of self-congratulatory patriotism.

"Our Game Our Gold"

Both Guibernau (2007) and Hobsbawm (1983) suggested that national consciousness is reinforced through the dissemination of a common set of unifying symbols. Legare (2002) noted how symbols serve to both reinforce and reflect a collective sense of identity, belonging, and tradition, and how "... to be efficient, symbols must be exaggerated and dramatized by actors who create reinterpretation of a group's past history and traditions in order to organize the social relevance of political or social traditions" (p. 79). The Globe and Mail featured numerous images of the spectacle of Canadian hockey supporters, wearing replica Canadian hockey shirts and many waving Maple Leaf flags. Photographs of their exhibitionist performances of popular Canadianism seemed designed to provide a symbolic sense of unity and feel good ambience. The narratives and photographs conveyed how many Canadians embraced the 2010 Games with unabashed pride, hanging their hopes on Vancouver to be the host city to break the gold drought. Typifying this and evoking notions of what Billig (1995) termed banal nationalism, journalists Brenda Brouw and Jane Armstrong reported how "Vancouver's two-week Olympic party ended with an explosion of patriotism onto the city streets..." with ".. .rowdy revelers" forming "... .a chanting sea of red and white"(77/e Globe and Mail, March 1, 2010, p. A3).

Canadian popular national consciousness was reinforced with symbols and images of the nation beyond Canadian shores. Brouw and Armstrong reported how Canadian expatriates were . . lining up nine hours before game time to guarantee themselves a seat in London's only Canadian bar---The Maple Leaf' (The Globe and Mail, March 1, 2010, p. A3). Billig (1995) noted that sport is a site where 'banal nationalism' reinforces dominant ideologies about national identity and where expressions of national pride and symbolism are commonly found. Within these expressions of 'banal nationalism' Billig claimed "... men are encouraged to emulate the national heroes, (and) women are invited to love them" (p. 126). Reflecting these sentiments, and even suggesting the normal gender boundaries had been transcended, journalist Gary Mason reported,

Long after the game was over, the crowd stood cheering. So did a nation. Before the Canadian hockey team left the ice yesterday to celebrate in their dressing room, the players took turns skating around with a huge Canadian flag. There were people crying everywhere. Sidney Crosby graded the flag and the crowd gave him a loud, sustained roar of approval. "We love you Sidney," one man shouted. Millions of Canadians watching were thinking the same thing. The Olympics were over. But the party was just getting started. {The Globe and Mail, March 1, 2010, p. A8)

The front page of The Globe and Mail Olympic Games section on March 2, 2010 contained a full page color photograph of Crosby, arms aloft, celebrating his winning goal against the United States. The top half of the photograph captured the Canadian supporters, resplendent in red and white, and placards declaring, "Hockey is Canada's Game." An overtly patriotic headline in the March Is' edition of The Globe and Mail read "Our game our gold" (p. 04). These narratives underlined how victory against the United States in the final was used to reaffirm the stock Canadian myths of their exceptionalism in their national sport. The sports journalists' rhetoric seemed designed to convey the feel good factor of the nation basking in the reflected glory of the victory. Simultaneously, the narratives engendered a sense that the men's hockey team personified the romance of Canadian diffidence, and extolled the virtues from a simpler, bygone era. Reflecting these sentiments and displaying a political desire to be associated with national sporting success, Michael Ignatieff, the then Canadian Liberal party leader, was quoted thus:

The Games leaves Canada a much more confident and competitive country. Our athletes displayed grace in victory, showing that we can win without losing the qualities that foreigners like about us; our courtesy, our civility and our capacity to share success with others. We showed we can be really competitive, sure, but in a Canadian way. (The Globe and Mail, March 1,2010, p. A19)

Reflecting on the 17 days of competition the front page headline read "A Nation's Triumph" and the subheadline summarized the Vancouver WOG thus:

After 17 remarkable days, Canada defines itself as a proud and resilient nation. United in victory, tragedy, frustration and celebration, this country achieved more than it dreamed possible--a gold in our game, and a global triumph in our Games. The men's hockey win breaks the record for the most gold medals in a Winter Olympics and transforms the country on the world stage: Now, Canada is the one to beat. (The Globe and Mail, March 1, Front Page)

Concluding Remarks

The Globe and Mail's narratives about Team Canada generally drew on a selective use of history and continuity with the past, to provide the Canadian imagined community with a sense of temporal and historical consciousness. As Guibernau (2007) articulated,

The collective memory shared by the national community emphasizes continuity over time and differentiation from others while strengthening its unity. The selective use of the past.. . makes up the backdrop against which intellectuals engage in the construction of a shared national history--one usually based on a myth of common origin connected with a sentiment of forming an extended family, (p. 174)

The narratives about the invented traditions of the Summit Series served to link highly selective, favorable moments from the past with the present in a way that would mobilize collective identification, unity, and support from readers, as well as sell more copies.

The success or failure of the Canadian men's team, particularly against the United States, was reported as though it was a measure of the competitive health of the nation. The rivalry between Canada and the United States permeated the narratives and illustrated Canadian frailty and insecurity, particularly after losing to its neighbor south of the border in a preliminary round game. The narratives featured numerous examples of how the sport journalists portrayed the rivalry in us versus them binary discourses to unify and entertain the imagined community in opposition to the visible 'other.' The intense nature of the coverage in the buildup to the men's gold medal game against the United States also seemed to be a perfect illustration of what Whannel (2008) termed vortextuality, where .. the media become temporarily drawn into one central story" (p. 189).

The Globe and Mail s narratives about Team Canada generally bore the imprint of an essentialized national character projected on the Canadian team and reflected the high stakes of living up to the hype of winning the gold medal in the nation's favorite pastime. This was particularly so in the context of the impression given that Canadian national identity had been somewhat subsumed by American popular culture and had struggled for years to forge its own distinctive identity. Mason (2002) noted how "... hockey has become a means of defining and distinguishing one's "Canadianness," particularly in the face of American dominance in many sporting pursuits" (p. 142). Given that all but two of Team Canada's 2010 WOG roster plied their trade for American NHL franchises, the narratives seemed to represent defensiveness in the context of the perceived Americanization of the NHL. The narratives reflected how, at the Vancouver 2010 WOG, Canadian hockey success against the local rival, the hegemonic world power, provided the country with a positive sense of national pride and euphoria. This nationalistic feel-good factor in the newspaper narratives may have also stemmed from Canada's defensiveness related to its failure to win any gold medals when it previously hosted the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary (MacAloon, 1993).

Given that The Globe and Mail was chosen because of its serious approach to covering the news, the authors of this study had an expectation of balanced, nuanced coverage, in contrast to the jingoistic tub-thumping genre one might expect from more popular Canadian newspapers. However, the narratives illustrated the potency of Guibernau's (2007) strategies for unifying the nation around a selective homogeneous (re)construction of national identity. In doing so, the coverage generally reflected Jackson and Ponic (2001) and Robidoux's (2002) assertion that Canadian ice hockey privileges Anglophone, White, masculine, heterosexual identity. The dominant themes also illustrated how the politics of national identity construction were (re)articulated in a populist discourse of Canadianness, which mostly drew on the preferred, essentialized version of what Mackey (2002) referred to as "ordinary Canadians." The notion of the "ordinary Canadian," seemed to have been evoked to transcend differences of class, gender, race and ethnicity, and sexuality, in an effort to unite and entertain an imagined homogenous Canadian community. The quintessential, nostalgic Canadian hockey identity culture portrayed was celebrated with selective, well-worn, historical tropes ingrained in a hypermasculine, violent, heterosexist, white, middle-class hockey culture, many of which drew on the invented traditions of the rugged individualism and hardiness of the original settlers. These narratives were naturalized by selective quotes in the newspaper discourses by politicians, players, fans, and journalists alike and illustrated how unequal power relations are maintained.

By anchoring their discourses in an almost formulaic fashion on the invented traditions of the Summit Series and the discursive rituals, symbols, and displays of the banal nationalism of Canadian fans, The Globe and Mail's coverage ignored the fluidity and complexity of national identity, particularly the competing and fragmenting local, urban, regional, and supranational identities that have proliferated in an era of globalization. This largely unchallenged version of Canadianness ignored the inherent divisions and tensions of Quebec separatism, while socioeconomic inequalities and subordinated groups were also glossed over with equal aplomb. In short, The Globe and Mail's narratives failed to reflect the ethnic diversity and hybridity of a multicultural society, which is problematical given that the tone of the narratives for the most part suggested that hockey is an important component of Canadian cultural citizenship and identity. Thus, Rowe, McKay, and Miller's (1998) call for ".. . sports media to recast their regimented images of sporting citizens and represent them in all their chaotic, hybridic diversity" (p. 133) still seems pertinent.

Limitations and Future Research

Billig (1995) claimed "the study of national identity should search for the common sense assumptions and ways of talking about nationhood" (p. 61). A limitation of this study is it provides a snapshot of the dominant or preferred readings about the men's Canadian team as signifiers of Canadian identity in the defined temporal period of the 2010 WOG. As national identity is fluid and evolves, particularly within different sociohistorical contexts, future lines of enquiry should examine different genres of mediated (re)constructions of Canadian national identity, and investigate how readers and viewers of mediated accounts and images interpret or decode dominant themes. Future research projects would make a contribution to the extant contemporary literature by surveying and interviewing representative samples of Canadians about their perceptions about national identity, culture, and politics. Such future research would provide insights about "...common sense assumptions and ways of talking" about Canadian national identity, and in doing so add to the existing empirical research.

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Notes

In 2011 the Jets returned from Atlanta back to Winnipeg and in 2012 Quebec City, in partnership with Quebecor media group, announced the plans to construct a new NHL style arena with the goal of luring back an NHL franchise back to Quebec City, which lost the Nordiques to Colorado in 1995.

John Vincent

The University of Alabama

Jane Crossman

Lakehead University

Address all correspondence to: Dr. John Vincent, Coordinator of Graduate Sport Management Program. The University of Alabama, Department of Kinesiology, College of Education. 2010 Moore Hall, Box 870312 Tuscaloosa AL, 35487-0312 Email: JVincent@bamaed.ua.edu

Article Details

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Author:	Vincent, John; Crossman, Jane
Publication:	Journal of Sport Behavior
Article Type:	Report
Geographic Code:	1CANA
Date:	Feb 26, 2015
Words:	8269
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