Too foolish to talk about

The poor old Montreal Canadiens. Hmm, that don't sound right. Maybe they should be called the Montreal Foreign Legion. After all, how many Canadians do you find playing with that club?

Hockey is a Canadian game. It started in this country and went on to be the most popular sport in Canada. Sport. Did I say sport? My God, there are times when it is worse than when the Romans were throwing the Christians to the lions.

The WWF wrestling looks rough, but that is all acting. They got those moves down to a science. But now and again, an accident does happen. One of the earliest that I can remember was when Killer Kowalski - now that name is not spelled right but it the best I can do - jumped off the top rope and misjudged the distance. His foot glanced of the ear of Yukon Eric, ripping it from his head. It was a bad accident, but Killer added it to his image. He told all wrestling fans he did it on purpose.

But hockey is no fake. It is a rough and tumble game. With most players there is no mercy when they go in the corners. And with a check they are hitting harder than two bull moose butting heads in on the barrens.

Are they overpaid? Now that is a big question. Today, hockey players put their lives on the line whenever they step on the ice. But again, when our young soldiers march off to war, they are also putting their lives on the line. Today's hockey players face pucks, checks, elbows, high sticking, tripping and an odd fight, now and again.

Our troops face bullets, bombs, rockets and chemical warfare, which is far more dangerous than what the NHL hockey players face. Our troops lay down their lives for our country. The hockey players are just chasing after a Cup, and believe me, that Cup is not the Holy Grail.

Our fighting forces are risking their lives every day, 365 days out of a year. Now does Crosby and Company do that? Not likely. I don't know exactly how long a hockey player is on the ice, but it is nothing compared with our fighting forces.

Excuse me, but a goalie is on the ice for the length of the game.

But our soldiers don't get paid a million dollars for putting their lives on the line. Yet, they give it all they got, all for the sake of a better world.

It is not only the soldiers who are underpaid, there is the law enforcement. Now I don't mean the lawyers. They are overpaid. I mean the RCMP and our city cops. They too put their lives at risk. Then there is the coast guard. They are overworked and underpaid, risking their lives whenever they go out to sea.

And hockey players get paid millions, just for the sake of a darn Cup.

I love hockey, I really do. But today I'd rather see Lumsden taking on Newtown for a trophy than watching an all-star game. They didn't play for money. They just played for the fun of it. We had no stadium to play in. Lots of times it was just a frozen pond. I've seen goalies playing in the net, and the only padding they had was Eaton's catalogue. In fact, I knew one goalie that used to wear cotton gloves, and he used his hands to stop the puck. I bet even Johnny Bower couldn't do that.

Maybe he could. Bower stopped one with his mouth, and when asked if it hurt, he said only when I smile.

The NHL hockey is not like it used to be. It was a lot better when they had just six teams. At least we knew all the hockey players. Today, we only know those who score goals.

Our nurses have scored a lot of goals when it comes to health care. Unlike the hockey player, they don't get paid for what they are worth. And believe me, they are worth more than any hockey player. Yet, they are underpaid and overworked.

We must change the system. We must pay people for what they are worth. Hmmm, we can't do that when it comes to Danny Williams and his Cabinet. You see, if we had to pay them for what they are worth, it would be well down below the minimum wages.

It is a pity we have to waste that money.